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Healthcare · head to head

GNU Health vs Lyra Health

GNU Health logo

GNU Health

Healthcare

Free hospital and health information system from a small NGO, built on the Tryton framework

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lyra Health logo

Lyra Health

Healthcare

Employer purchased mental health benefit with a curated provider network and measurement based care

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GNU Health has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: GNU Health development depends on GNU Solidario, a very small nonprofit funded by donations and training, so release cadence and long-term continuity are tied to a handful of people rather than to an engineering organisation.; Lyra Health covered sessions per member per year are set in the employer contract and vary widely between clients, so employees at two companies both using Lyra can receive very different benefits and the number is never published.
  • They diverge on capability: GNU Health covers Electronic medical record, Lyra Health covers Curated provider network.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GNU Health and Lyra Health actually diverge.

Attributes where GNU Health and Lyra Health differ
AttributeGNU HealthLyra Health
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Web, Self-hostedWeb, 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 GNU Health

  • Electronic medical record
  • Hospital management
  • Laboratory information system
  • Social medicine modules
  • Tryton business modules
  • Health federation
  • ICD and standards support
  • Modular installation

Only in Lyra Health

  • Curated provider network
  • Measurement based care
  • Self guided digital programmes
  • Coaching tier
  • Dependant and household coverage
  • Higher acuity pathways
  • Employer reporting
  • Global delivery

What people use each for

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

GNU Health

  • A public hospital in a low-resource setting that cannot fund commercial EMR licensing and has in-house Linux capabilitynot Lyra Health
  • A ministry building a national health network where source code inspection and data sovereignty are policy requirementsnot Lyra Health
  • A university teaching health informatics that needs a complete, inspectable system rather than a vendor demonstrationnot Lyra Health
  • A community health programme that needs socioeconomic determinants recorded alongside clinical datanot Lyra Health

Lyra Health

  • An employer whose legacy employee assistance programme has utilisation in the low single digits and cannot demonstrate any clinical outcomenot GNU Health
  • A company with a distributed workforce needing therapist availability outside major metropolitan areas where the health plan network is thinnot GNU Health
  • An employer wanting behavioural health outcomes measured with validated instruments so the benefit can be evaluated rather than merely offerednot GNU Health
  • A multinational standardising mental health support across several countries under one contract and one reporting viewnot GNU Health

Where each one falls short

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

GNU Health

  • Development depends on GNU Solidario, a very small nonprofit funded by donations and training, so release cadence and long-term continuity are tied to a handful of people rather than to an engineering organisation.
  • It is built on Tryton, a framework few health IT staff know, so hiring or contracting people who can extend and maintain it is materially harder than for a mainstream stack.
  • Installation, upgrades and database administration assume Linux and Python competence, which puts the real cost on staffing rather than on licensing and defeats hospitals that lack that team.
  • The interface is functional rather than designed, and clinician acceptance is a genuine deployment risk compared with commercial systems that have invested heavily in usability.
  • Certification, regulatory conformance and interoperability testing that some jurisdictions demand of clinical systems are not provided by a vendor, so the adopting institution has to carry that work and that liability itself.

Lyra Health

  • Covered sessions per member per year are set in the employer contract and vary widely between clients, so employees at two companies both using Lyra can receive very different benefits and the number is never published.
  • When a member exhausts the employer funded session allowance, care transitions to the health plan network with its deductibles and copayments, or ends, and this handover is the most common source of employee dissatisfaction with the benefit.
  • The per employee per month fee is charged across the whole eligible population regardless of use, so an employer with low utilisation pays for the entire workforce to serve a small fraction of it.
  • Lyra costs materially more than a traditional employee assistance programme, and the business case depends on utilisation rising enough to justify the difference, which is not guaranteed by the contract.
  • International coverage is real but uneven, and a multinational will find provider depth and language availability in secondary markets well below what is available in the United States, which undermines the single global standard the contract implies.

Pricing, plan by plan

GNU Health

Free
  • GNU HealthFree
    • GNU GPL licence
    • All modules included
    • No patient, bed or user limits
  • Support and training$undefined/year
    • Paid support and implementation from GNU Solidario
    • Training courses and certification
    • Quoted per institution

Lyra Health

On request
  • Lyra Health$undefined/year
    • Per employee per month fee across the eligible population, quoted not published
    • Covered sessions per member per year negotiated separately and varying widely by client
    • Dependant and household eligibility affects the rate

Which should you pick?

Choose GNU Health if

  • You need electronic medical record.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want hospital management.
GNU Health review

Choose Lyra Health if

  • You need curated provider network.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want measurement based care.
Lyra Health review

Questions people ask

Is GNU Health or Lyra Health better?
Neither clearly leads. GNU Health starts at Free and Lyra Health at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GNU Health or Lyra Health?
GNU Health has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for GNU Health and On request for Lyra Health.
Does GNU Health or Lyra Health run on more platforms?
GNU Health runs on Linux, Web, Self-hosted. Lyra Health runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use GNU Health for free?
Yes. GNU Health has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lyra Health starts at On request.
What is GNU Health best used for?
GNU Health is most often used for a public hospital in a low-resource setting that cannot fund commercial emr licensing and has in-house linux capability, a ministry building a national health network where source code inspection and data sovereignty are policy requirements, a university teaching health informatics that needs a complete, inspectable system rather than a vendor demonstration, a community health programme that needs socioeconomic determinants recorded alongside clinical data. Of those, a public hospital in a low-resource setting that cannot fund commercial emr licensing and has in-house linux capability and a ministry building a national health network where source code inspection and data sovereignty are policy requirements are not what Lyra Health is typically brought in for.
What can GNU Health do that Lyra Health cannot?
GNU Health covers Electronic medical record, Hospital management, Laboratory information system, Social medicine modules. Lyra Health covers Curated provider network, Measurement based care, Self guided digital programmes, Coaching tier.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GNU Health: Who develops GNU Health?

GNU Solidario, a Spanish nonprofit NGO, as an official GNU package under the GPL.

Lyra Health: How is Lyra priced?

Per employee per month across the eligible population, billed to the employer. The rate is quoted, never published, and depends on headcount, dependant eligibility and the contracted session allowance.

GNU Health: Is there commercial support?

Yes, in a limited form, from GNU Solidario itself and a small number of implementers. It is not a vendor support organisation.

Lyra Health: How many therapy sessions do employees get?

It depends entirely on what the employer bought. Session allowances vary widely between clients, so ask your benefits team for the contracted number rather than assuming a standard.

GNU Health: What is it built on?

Tryton, a Python business application framework, which is where its accounting, stock and HR modules come from.

Lyra Health: Who pays, the employer or the health plan?

The employer pays the per employee per month fee and funds the covered sessions. After the allowance is exhausted, cost typically shifts to the health plan and the member.

GNU Health: Is it suitable for a large hospital?

It is deployed in hospitals, but the deciding factor is whether you have internal Linux, Python and Tryton capability rather than the size of the institution.

Lyra Health: Is there a minimum headcount?

Lyra does not publish one, but it sells primarily to mid sized and large employers and the commercial model does not suit small companies.

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