Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

Halaxy vs OpenMRS

Halaxy logo

Halaxy

Healthcare

Practice management for allied health that charges nothing for the software and earns on payments

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenMRS logo

OpenMRS

Healthcare

Open source electronic medical record platform for low-resource settings, with no vendor and paid implementers instead

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Halaxy the software being free does not mean the platform is cheap: a clinic taking most payments by card pays roughly 1.5 to 1.9 per cent plus a fixed fee on every transaction, which on a high volume practice comfortably exceeds what a flat AUD 60 per practitioner subscription would have cost.; OpenMRS there is no vendor and no support contract from OpenMRS itself, so a procurement that requires a named supplier with a service level must instead contract an implementer, and the quality of that implementer determines the outcome more than the software does
  • They diverge on capability: Halaxy covers No licence fee, OpenMRS covers Concept dictionary.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Halaxy and OpenMRS actually diverge.

Attributes where Halaxy and OpenMRS differ
AttributeHalaxyOpenMRS
Pricing modelFree software, revenue taken on payments and creditsOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidLinux, Web, Windows

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Halaxy

  • No licence fee
  • Integrated claiming
  • Credit-based extras
  • Online booking
  • Clinical notes and templates
  • Card payments
  • Multi-practitioner diary
  • Patient portal

Only in OpenMRS

  • Concept dictionary
  • Modular architecture
  • Modern front end
  • FHIR support
  • Offline tolerance
  • Patient matching and registration
  • Distributions

What people use each for

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

Halaxy

  • A solo psychologist starting out who wants Medicare and private health claiming without committing to a monthly subscription before there is any incomenot OpenMRS
  • A physiotherapy clinic that wants patient reminders, online booking and card payments reconciled against invoices in one systemnot OpenMRS
  • An NDIS provider that needs claim generation and service agreement tracking built into the same record as clinical notesnot OpenMRS
  • A multi-location allied health group in Australia that wants one diary across sites without paying per practitioner licencesnot OpenMRS

OpenMRS

  • A ministry of health standardising HIV treatment records across hundreds of facilities where per-patient licensing would be unaffordablenot Halaxy
  • A hospital network in a country where no commercial vendor supports the local language, clinical forms or reporting requirementsnot Halaxy
  • An NGO running a tuberculosis programme that must report into DHIS2 and needs the clinical record beneath it to be modifiablenot Halaxy
  • A health system that wants to own its clinical data model outright rather than depend on a vendor to extend itnot Halaxy

Where each one falls short

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

Halaxy

  • The software being free does not mean the platform is cheap: a clinic taking most payments by card pays roughly 1.5 to 1.9 per cent plus a fixed fee on every transaction, which on a high volume practice comfortably exceeds what a flat AUD 60 per practitioner subscription would have cost.
  • Credits are prepaid and consumed by ordinary daily activity including SMS reminders and Medicare claims, so running out mid-week silently stops reminders going to patients, which shows up as no-shows rather than as an error message.
  • Features that competitors treat as standard, including two-way calendar sync, API access and a dedicated SMS number, are locked behind the credit subscription, so the headline free tier is thinner than it first appears.
  • Claiming, funding and payment integrations are deeply Australian, so practitioners in the UK, Canada or the United States get the diary and notes but very little of the automation that makes the product worth choosing.
  • Because the vendor earns on payment volume, its interests and yours diverge on card processing: switching to a cheaper acquirer breaks the automatic reconciliation that is the main operational reason to stay on the platform.

OpenMRS

  • There is no vendor and no support contract from OpenMRS itself, so a procurement that requires a named supplier with a service level must instead contract an implementer, and the quality of that implementer determines the outcome more than the software does
  • It is a framework rather than a ready product, so a deployment requires clinical content, form design, concept dictionary work and integration before a single patient is registered, and that work is months of skilled effort
  • Funding comes largely from donor programmes, which makes the pace of core development dependent on grant cycles rather than on a commercial roadmap, and priorities can shift when a funder does
  • Distribution choice, core OpenMRS against Bahmni against Ozone, locks in a different set of components and a different implementer pool, and migrating between distributions later is close to a fresh implementation
  • The people cost never goes away: a national deployment needs permanent internal informatics capacity or a permanent support contract, and organisations that budget only the zero licence fee run out of money at the point the system becomes clinically critical

Pricing, plan by plan

Halaxy

Free
  • HalaxyFree
    • Unlimited practitioners with no subscription fee
    • Diary, patient records, clinical notes and invoicing
    • Online booking page
  • Premium subscription$25/month
    • Priced at 25 credits per month, so roughly AUD 4 to 6 depending on credit rate
    • Two-way calendar sync
    • White-label branding

OpenMRS

Free
  • OpenMRSFree
    • Openly licensed, no licence fee and no seat limits
    • Community support through forums and the OpenMRS Talk platform
    • No support contract available from OpenMRS itself

Which should you pick?

Choose Halaxy if

  • You need no licence fee.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want integrated claiming.
Halaxy review

Choose OpenMRS if

  • You need concept dictionary.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Windows.
  • You also want modular architecture.
OpenMRS review

Questions people ask

Is Halaxy or OpenMRS better?
Neither clearly leads. Halaxy starts at Free and OpenMRS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Halaxy or OpenMRS?
Halaxy starts at Free and OpenMRS at Free.
Does Halaxy or OpenMRS run on more platforms?
Halaxy runs on Web, iOS, Android. OpenMRS runs on Linux, Web, Windows.
Can I use Halaxy for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Halaxy best used for?
Halaxy is most often used for a solo psychologist starting out who wants medicare and private health claiming without committing to a monthly subscription before there is any income, a physiotherapy clinic that wants patient reminders, online booking and card payments reconciled against invoices in one system, an ndis provider that needs claim generation and service agreement tracking built into the same record as clinical notes, a multi-location allied health group in australia that wants one diary across sites without paying per practitioner licences. Of those, a solo psychologist starting out who wants medicare and private health claiming without committing to a monthly subscription before there is any income and a physiotherapy clinic that wants patient reminders, online booking and card payments reconciled against invoices in one system are not what OpenMRS is typically brought in for.
What can Halaxy do that OpenMRS cannot?
Halaxy covers No licence fee, Integrated claiming, Credit-based extras, Online booking. OpenMRS covers Concept dictionary, Modular architecture, Modern front end, FHIR support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Halaxy: Is Halaxy genuinely free or is there a hidden subscription?

The core practice management software has no subscription fee for any number of practitioners. Halaxy earns from card processing fees, prepaid credits for SMS and claiming, and an optional premium subscription priced at 25 credits a month.

OpenMRS: Who supports OpenMRS if it breaks?

Not OpenMRS itself. Support is bought from implementers such as Mekom Solutions, which offers long-term production service level agreements for OpenMRS, Bahmni and Ozone deployments, or from regional partners.

Halaxy: What does it actually cost a busy clinic?

Budget for card fees of roughly 1.5 to 1.9 per cent plus 75 cents to a dollar per transaction, plus credits at about AUD 0.15 to 0.22 each for every SMS, claim and telehealth session. A clinic with heavy card volume can pay more in total than a flat-rate competitor.

OpenMRS: Is it really free?

The software has no licence fee. Hosting, configuration, clinical content, integration and support are the real cost, and they are ongoing.

Halaxy: Can I use it outside Australia?

Yes for the diary, notes, invoicing and booking. No for Medicare, DVA, NDIS and Australian health fund claiming, which is where most of the value sits.

OpenMRS: What is the difference between OpenMRS, Bahmni and Ozone?

OpenMRS is the core platform. Bahmni and Ozone are distributions that package it with billing, laboratory and inventory components. Choosing a distribution constrains your implementer options.

Halaxy: Does it handle NDIS?

Yes, including NDIS claim generation, service agreements and plan management alongside clinical records.

OpenMRS: Does it support FHIR?

Yes. FHIR support is the standard route for integrating laboratory, pharmacy and national reporting systems.

Share

Related pages

More on Halaxy

More on OpenMRS

Keep looking

Other head to heads