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Healthcare · head to head

Halaxy vs Shepherd

Halaxy logo

Halaxy

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Shepherd logo

Shepherd

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management built by a practising vet

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Halaxy has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; Shepherd quote-only pricing with no published rates
  • They diverge on capability: Halaxy covers No licence fee, Shepherd covers Consultation-first records.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Halaxy and Shepherd actually diverge.

Attributes where Halaxy and Shepherd differ
AttributeHalaxyShepherd
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree software, revenue taken on payments and creditsquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Cloud
CategoryHealthcareVeterinary

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

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 Shepherd

  • Consultation-first records
  • Charges from treatment
  • Inventory
  • Cloud-based

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 Shepherd
  • A physiotherapy clinic that wants patient reminders, online booking and card payments reconciled against invoices in one systemnot Shepherd
  • An NDIS provider that needs claim generation and service agreement tracking built into the same record as clinical notesnot Shepherd
  • A multi-location allied health group in Australia that wants one diary across sites without paying per practitioner licencesnot Shepherd

Shepherd

  • Practices losing revenue to treatment delivered but never billednot Halaxy
  • Clinics replacing on-premise legacy systemsnot Halaxy
  • Independent practices wanting something designed around clinical work rather than administrationnot 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.

Shepherd

  • Quote-only pricing with no published rates
  • A smaller vendor than the established systems, with a correspondingly shorter track record
  • Cloud-only, so consultations depend on clinic connectivity

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

Shepherd

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Shepherd review.

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 Shepherd if

  • You need consultation-first records.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want charges from treatment.
Shepherd review

Questions people ask

Is Halaxy or Shepherd better?
Neither clearly leads. Halaxy starts at Free and Shepherd at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Halaxy or Shepherd?
Halaxy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Halaxy and On request for Shepherd.
Does Halaxy or Shepherd run on more platforms?
Halaxy runs on Web, iOS, Android. Shepherd runs on Web, Cloud.
Can I use Halaxy for free?
Yes. Halaxy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Shepherd starts at On request.
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 Shepherd is typically brought in for.
What can Halaxy do that Shepherd cannot?
Halaxy covers No licence fee, Integrated claiming, Credit-based extras, Online booking. Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, Charges from treatment, Inventory, Cloud-based.

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.

Shepherd: What does Shepherd cost?

Pricing is quoted per practice and not published.

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.

Shepherd: What makes it different from other veterinary systems?

It was designed by a practising vet around the consultation workflow, so charges accrue from recorded treatment rather than being entered as a separate billing step.

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.

Shepherd: Is it cloud-only?

Yes, which removes server maintenance and makes connectivity a dependency.

Halaxy: Does it handle NDIS?

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

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