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Healthcare · head to head

Fullscript vs OpenClinica

Fullscript logo

Fullscript

Healthcare

Supplement dispensing for practitioners, free to use because it earns on the products

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenClinica logo

OpenClinica

Healthcare

Clinical trial EDC with a genuinely open source community edition alongside a quoted commercial platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Fullscript has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Fullscript the practitioner sets their own margin on products they clinically recommend, which is a conflict of interest that some professional bodies and patients view badly, and the platform makes the arrangement easy rather than making it visible.; OpenClinica the free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.
  • They diverge on capability: Fullscript covers Protocol dispensing, OpenClinica covers Open source community edition.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fullscript and OpenClinica actually diverge.

Attributes where Fullscript and OpenClinica differ
AttributeFullscriptOpenClinica
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer user per monthquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Fullscript

  • Protocol dispensing
  • Profit dispensary
  • Auto refill
  • Lab ordering
  • Patient app
  • EHR integration
  • Enterprise catalogue control

Only in OpenClinica

  • Open source community edition
  • Electronic data capture
  • eConsent
  • eCOA and ePRO
  • Randomisation
  • EHR-to-EDC
  • Audit trail
  • Reporting and analytics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Fullscript

  • A functional medicine practice that wants to stop holding supplement stock, cash and expiry risk in the clinicnot OpenClinica
  • A dietitian or naturopath adding a dispensary revenue stream without buying inventory upfrontnot OpenClinica
  • A clinic that needs patients to actually keep taking a protocol, where auto refills and dose reminders address the adherence problem directlynot OpenClinica
  • A multi site integrative health group that wants a single approved catalogue rather than each clinician choosing their own brandsnot OpenClinica

OpenClinica

  • An academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs Part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eClinical budgetnot Fullscript
  • A registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over yearsnot Fullscript
  • A small device sponsor that needs eConsent and ePRO in the same system as its case report formsnot Fullscript
  • An informatics group that wants to self-host the open source edition for a non-regulated internal studynot Fullscript

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Fullscript

  • The practitioner sets their own margin on products they clinically recommend, which is a conflict of interest that some professional bodies and patients view badly, and the platform makes the arrangement easy rather than making it visible.
  • The account is free but the practice does not control pricing, catalogue, shipping cost or the patient discount, so the entire economics of the dispensary can be changed by the vendor without the practice having any lever.
  • Converting to a profit account requires personal identity verification, tax details and a bank account, and makes dispensary earnings the practitioner personal taxable income to report, which is administrative work no one warns about at signup.
  • Product availability and shipping are geographically limited, so practices outside the supported countries cannot use it at all and cross border patients will find items unavailable at checkout.
  • Patient refill schedules, plan history and a slice of practice revenue accumulate inside a platform the practice cannot export in a form another dispensary would accept, so switching later means asking every patient to re-enrol somewhere else.

OpenClinica

  • The free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.
  • The vendor provides no support or services at all for the community edition, which means outages, patching, database upgrades and validation documentation are entirely your problem.
  • Commercial pricing is not published, so you cannot benchmark it against alternatives without entering a sales process, and third-party figures around USD 1,000 a month are indicative rather than contractual.
  • Study build is skilled work: complex edit checks, randomisation schemes and integrations usually mean paying for vendor or consultant configuration services on top of the licence, which is a frequently underestimated line in the budget.
  • As a smaller vendor than the large eClinical suites it has a thinner partner and consultant ecosystem, so finding experienced build staff or a CRO already fluent in the platform is harder than with the market incumbents.

Pricing, plan by plan

Fullscript

Free
  • PractitionerFree
    • Full catalogue and dispensing at no account fee
    • Lab ordering and results
    • Standard EHR integrations
  • PatientFree
    • No account fee
    • Mobile app with dose reminders
    • Auto refills, cancellable at any time
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Quoted for health systems and multi site groups
    • Centrally managed catalogue with quality standards
    • API level EHR integration

OpenClinica

On request
  • Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Free and open source under the LGPL
    • Self-hosted, on the older 3.x line
    • No vendor support or services of any kind
  • OpenClinica Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Pricing only through a sales process
    • Hosted and validated instance
    • EDC, eConsent, eCOA, randomisation and analytics modules

Which should you pick?

Choose Fullscript if

  • You need protocol dispensing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want profit dispensary.
Fullscript review

Choose OpenClinica if

  • You need open source community edition.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
  • You also want electronic data capture.
OpenClinica review

Questions people ask

Is Fullscript or OpenClinica better?
Neither clearly leads. Fullscript starts at Free and OpenClinica at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fullscript or OpenClinica?
Fullscript has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Fullscript and On request for OpenClinica.
Does Fullscript or OpenClinica run on more platforms?
Fullscript runs on Web, iOS, Android. OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
Can I use Fullscript for free?
Yes. Fullscript has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. OpenClinica starts at On request.
What is Fullscript best used for?
Fullscript is most often used for a functional medicine practice that wants to stop holding supplement stock, cash and expiry risk in the clinic, a dietitian or naturopath adding a dispensary revenue stream without buying inventory upfront, a clinic that needs patients to actually keep taking a protocol, where auto refills and dose reminders address the adherence problem directly, a multi site integrative health group that wants a single approved catalogue rather than each clinician choosing their own brands. Of those, a functional medicine practice that wants to stop holding supplement stock, cash and expiry risk in the clinic and a dietitian or naturopath adding a dispensary revenue stream without buying inventory upfront are not what OpenClinica is typically brought in for.
What can Fullscript do that OpenClinica cannot?
Fullscript covers Protocol dispensing, Profit dispensary, Auto refill, Lab ordering. OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fullscript: Is Fullscript really free for practitioners?

Yes, the account has no fee. Fullscript earns on the supplements sold through it, and a practitioner on a profit account also earns a margin on those sales.

OpenClinica: Is OpenClinica free?

There is a genuinely free, LGPL licensed community edition you host yourself with no vendor support. The commercial platform with eConsent, eCOA and a validated hosted instance is quoted and paid.

Fullscript: How do practitioners make money on it?

By converting to a profit dispensary and setting a margin. That requires tax information and a bank account, and the earnings are taxable income.

OpenClinica: Is the open source version still maintained?

Yes, releases on the 3.x line continued through 2025, but it is a separate and older architecture from the commercial product.

Fullscript: What do patients pay?

No account fee, and a ten per cent discount on orders if the practitioner runs a no profit dispensary rather than taking a margin.

OpenClinica: Does it meet 21 CFR Part 11?

The commercial hosted platform is built for Part 11 and GCP compliance. If you self-host the community edition, compliance and validation are entirely your responsibility.

Fullscript: Is there an enterprise option?

Yes, quoted for health systems, adding central catalogue control, API EHR integration and cross site reporting.

OpenClinica: What does the commercial version cost?

Not published. Third-party listings suggest enterprise arrangements from around USD 1,000 per month, but real cost depends on study count, subjects, modules and build services.

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