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Healthcare · head to head

Halaxy vs TheraNest

Halaxy logo

Halaxy

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TheraNest logo

TheraNest

Healthcare

Mental health EHR and practice management priced per therapist

From
$29/month
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.; TheraNest the Essentials plan includes no insurance claims at all, so any practice that bills a payer is effectively on the 59 USD tier or above and the advertised 29 USD entry price does not apply to it.
  • They diverge on capability: Halaxy covers No licence fee, TheraNest covers Progress notes and treatment plans.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Halaxy and TheraNest actually diverge.

Attributes where Halaxy and TheraNest differ
AttributeHalaxyTheraNest
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelFree software, revenue taken on payments and creditsPer user per month
Free tierYesNo

Identical on both: platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 TheraNest

  • Progress notes and treatment plans
  • Insurance claims
  • Client portal
  • Telehealth
  • Group and family sessions
  • Payroll and staff reporting

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

TheraNest

  • A solo therapist who needs a HIPAA aligned note and scheduling system and does not bill insurance, where the 29 USD entry tier is genuinely sufficientnot Halaxy
  • A group practice of six to twenty clinicians that wants per clinician productivity and payroll reporting without buying a separate practice management layernot Halaxy
  • A practice moving off paper or a general purpose calendar that needs a client portal for intake forms and consent signaturesnot Halaxy
  • A behavioural health organisation that bills a steady volume of insurance claims each month and can size the Advanced allowance against its actual claim countnot 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.

TheraNest

  • The Essentials plan includes no insurance claims at all, so any practice that bills a payer is effectively on the 59 USD tier or above and the advertised 29 USD entry price does not apply to it.
  • Telehealth is only in the Premier plan, so a practice that wants video sessions pays 89 USD per therapist per month even if it needs nothing else from that tier.
  • An annual AMA CPT licence fee is billed separately each December on top of subscription cost, which surprises practices that budgeted only the monthly figure.
  • Additional administrative users are chargeable, so a practice with front desk and billing staff who never see clients still pays 19 to 29 USD per head for people who generate no revenue.
  • The product sits inside a consolidated portfolio that has already renamed the parent company from Therapy Brands to Ensora Health, and product investment in a portfolio is directed by the owner rather than by this product line, so roadmap commitments are worth less than they would be from a single product vendor.

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

TheraNest

$29/month
  • Essentials$29/month
    • Per therapist
    • Scheduling and client portal
    • HIPAA aligned notes and documentation
  • Advanced$59/month
    • Per therapist
    • 30 insurance claims per month included
    • Custom forms
  • Premier$89/month
    • Per therapist
    • Unlimited insurance claims
    • Billing automation

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 TheraNest if

  • You need progress notes and treatment plans.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want insurance claims.
TheraNest review

Questions people ask

Is Halaxy or TheraNest better?
Neither clearly leads. Halaxy starts at Free and TheraNest at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Halaxy or TheraNest?
Halaxy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Halaxy and $29/month for TheraNest.
Does Halaxy or TheraNest run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
Can I use Halaxy for free?
Yes. Halaxy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. TheraNest starts at $29/month.
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 TheraNest is typically brought in for.
What can Halaxy do that TheraNest cannot?
Halaxy covers No licence fee, Integrated claiming, Credit-based extras, Online booking. TheraNest covers Progress notes and treatment plans, Insurance claims, Client portal, Telehealth.

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.

TheraNest: Is TheraNest still sold under that name?

Yes. The company rebranded from Therapy Brands to Ensora Health and the product is now marketed as TheraNest by Ensora Health, but you still buy TheraNest.

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.

TheraNest: Can I bill insurance on the cheapest plan?

No. Essentials includes no claims. Advanced includes 30 claims a month and Premier is unlimited.

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.

TheraNest: Are there hidden costs?

Two. Additional admin users are charged per head, and an AMA CPT licence fee is billed annually in December per therapist.

Halaxy: Does it handle NDIS?

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

TheraNest: Does it support group practices?

Yes, with per clinician reporting and payroll figures, though every clinician and every admin is a paid seat.

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