Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

GNU Health vs Sectra

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
Sectra logo

Sectra

Healthcare

Enterprise imaging and PACS from a Swedish vendor that also sells the pathology and cardiology modules on one platform

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.; Sectra sectra does not make scanners, so it cannot cross-subsidise software against modality hardware the way an integrated manufacturer can, and it often loses on headline price in a bundled tender.
  • They diverge on capability: GNU Health covers Electronic medical record, Sectra covers Sectra IDS7.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where GNU Health and Sectra differ
AttributeGNU HealthSectra
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Web, Self-hostedWindows, Web, Cloud, On-premise

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 Sectra

  • Sectra IDS7
  • Digital pathology module
  • Sectra VNA
  • Sectra UniView
  • Image Exchange Portal
  • Sectra Amplifier
  • Breast imaging workflow
  • Sectra One Cloud

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 Sectra
  • A ministry building a national health network where source code inspection and data sovereignty are policy requirementsnot Sectra
  • A university teaching health informatics that needs a complete, inspectable system rather than a vendor demonstrationnot Sectra
  • A community health programme that needs socioeconomic determinants recorded alongside clinical datanot Sectra

Sectra

  • A hospital group digitising histopathology that does not want a second image archive and a second integration project alongside radiologynot GNU Health
  • A regional health service replacing several departmental PACS with one archive and one clinician viewernot GNU Health
  • An imaging provider moving off a capital refresh cycle to a cloud subscription with predictable annual costnot GNU Health
  • A trust that needs to send and receive studies with neighbouring organisations routinely, where the Image Exchange Portal is already the regional normnot 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.

Sectra

  • Sectra does not make scanners, so it cannot cross-subsidise software against modality hardware the way an integrated manufacturer can, and it often loses on headline price in a bundled tender.
  • Diagnostic AI is not built in house; Amplifier orchestrates third party algorithms, so the algorithms themselves need separate licences, separate clinical validation and separate information governance sign off.
  • Sectra One Cloud is priced against a committed annual study volume, and organisations whose imaging activity grows faster than forecast meet overage charges partway through the term.
  • The pathology module assumes you have already solved slide scanning and laboratory workflow, which is the larger and more expensive part of digitising histopathology and is not in Sectra scope.
  • Depth of Epic and Oracle Health integration varies by region and by which modules you buy, so a reference site in Sweden is a weak predictor of what integration will cost a United States buyer.

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

Sectra

On request
  • Sectra Enterprise Imaging$undefined/year
    • Perpetual licence plus annual maintenance, or Sectra One Cloud subscription
    • Priced on committed annual study volume and modules selected
    • Pathology, cardiology and ophthalmology licensed as separate modules

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 Sectra if

  • You need sectra ids7.
  • You work on Windows, Web, Cloud, On-premise.
  • You also want digital pathology module.
Sectra review

Questions people ask

Is GNU Health or Sectra better?
Neither clearly leads. GNU Health starts at Free and Sectra at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GNU Health or Sectra?
GNU Health has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for GNU Health and On request for Sectra.
Does GNU Health or Sectra run on more platforms?
GNU Health runs on Linux, Web, Self-hosted. Sectra runs on Windows, Web, Cloud, On-premise.
Can I use GNU Health for free?
Yes. GNU Health has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Sectra 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 Sectra is typically brought in for.
What can GNU Health do that Sectra cannot?
GNU Health covers Electronic medical record, Hospital management, Laboratory information system, Social medicine modules. Sectra covers Sectra IDS7, Digital pathology module, Sectra VNA, Sectra UniView.

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.

Sectra: Does Sectra include diagnostic AI?

No. Sectra Amplifier is a marketplace and orchestration layer for third party algorithms, each licensed and validated separately.

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.

Sectra: Is pathology really on the same platform as radiology?

Yes, the pathology module uses the same archive and workflow engine, which is the main reason buyers digitising histopathology shortlist Sectra.

GNU Health: What is it built on?

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

Sectra: How is Sectra One Cloud priced?

On committed annual study volume plus the modules selected, as a subscription rather than a capital purchase. The vendor does not publish rates.

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.

Sectra: Is Sectra CE marked and FDA cleared?

The diagnostic viewing software carries CE marking under the medical device regulation and FDA 510(k) clearance for diagnostic interpretation, but the exact cleared indications differ per module and per market, so confirm for pathology specifically.

Share

Related pages

More on GNU Health

More on Sectra

Keep looking

Other head to heads