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Healthcare · head to head

Healthie vs Shepherd

Healthie logo

Healthie

Healthcare

EHR, scheduling and client engagement for nutrition, wellness and virtual-first care

From
$19/month
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

  • Each has a real cost: Healthie the Core plan is capped at ten active clients, which no working practice stays under, so the real entry price for anyone with a caseload is the 49 dollar Essentials tier or higher.; Shepherd quote-only pricing with no published rates
  • They diverge on capability: Healthie covers Active client based tiers, Shepherd covers Consultation-first records.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Healthie and Shepherd actually diverge.

Attributes where Healthie and Shepherd differ
AttributeHealthieShepherd
Starting price$19/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by active client countquote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, APIWeb, Cloud
CategoryHealthcareVeterinary

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Healthie

  • Active client based tiers
  • Charting and templates
  • Telehealth
  • Food and symptom journalling
  • Programmes and courses
  • Public API
  • ePrescribing
  • Insurance claims

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.

Healthie

  • A registered dietitian in private practice who needs charting, scheduling, superbills and a client food journal in one subscriptionnot Shepherd
  • A virtual care startup using the API as a compliant clinical backend rather than building charting and scheduling from scratchnot Shepherd
  • A wellness group practice selling packaged twelve week programmes with group video sessions and course contentnot Shepherd
  • A health coaching business that bills clients directly and needs card payment, intake forms and messaging without insurance complexitynot Shepherd

Shepherd

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

Where each one falls short

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

Healthie

  • The Core plan is capped at ten active clients, which no working practice stays under, so the real entry price for anyone with a caseload is the 49 dollar Essentials tier or higher.
  • Insurance billing is not native: claim submission runs through a separately priced ClaimMD integration starting around 30 dollars a month, so a practice that bills payers is buying and reconciling two systems.
  • Costs stack quickly beyond the headline plan, with ePrescribing at 40 dollars per clinician per month, inbound fax at 10 dollars, additional Group clinicians at 50 dollars each and card processing at 2.9 per cent plus 30 cents.
  • Client counting is based on active clients, and the definition of active is set by the vendor rather than by you, so seasonal or intermittent caseloads can push a practice into a higher tier for clients it is barely seeing.
  • It is built around ambulatory wellness and virtual care, so specialties needing lab ordering, imaging, in house dispensing or complex care coordination will find the clinical model too thin and will not find those modules to buy.

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

Healthie

$19/month
  • Core$19/month
    • Up to ten active clients
    • Scheduling and payments
    • Charting and telehealth
  • Essentials$49/month
    • Up to 250 active clients
    • Custom forms
    • CMS 1500 generation
  • Plus$129/month
    • Unlimited active clients
    • Group telehealth
    • Online programmes
  • Group$149/month
    • Unlimited active clients
    • Shared calendar and team management
    • Roles and permissions

Shepherd

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Shepherd review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Healthie if

  • You need active client based tiers.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
  • You also want charting and templates.
Healthie 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 Healthie or Shepherd better?
Neither clearly leads. Healthie starts at $19/month and Shepherd at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Healthie or Shepherd?
Healthie starts at $19/month and Shepherd at On request.
Does Healthie or Shepherd run on more platforms?
Healthie runs on Web, iOS, Android, API. Shepherd runs on Web, Cloud.
What is Healthie best used for?
Healthie is most often used for a registered dietitian in private practice who needs charting, scheduling, superbills and a client food journal in one subscription, a virtual care startup using the api as a compliant clinical backend rather than building charting and scheduling from scratch, a wellness group practice selling packaged twelve week programmes with group video sessions and course content, a health coaching business that bills clients directly and needs card payment, intake forms and messaging without insurance complexity. Of those, a registered dietitian in private practice who needs charting, scheduling, superbills and a client food journal in one subscription and a virtual care startup using the api as a compliant clinical backend rather than building charting and scheduling from scratch are not what Shepherd is typically brought in for.
What can Healthie do that Shepherd cannot?
Healthie covers Active client based tiers, Charting and templates, Telehealth, Food and symptom journalling. Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, Charges from treatment, Inventory, Cloud-based.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Healthie: Is the API available without an enterprise contract?

Yes. API access is available on standard published plans, which is why digital health startups use it as a clinical backend.

Shepherd: What does Shepherd cost?

Pricing is quoted per practice and not published.

Healthie: Can Healthie submit insurance claims?

Only through the separately priced ClaimMD integration. Native CMS 1500 generation is included, but submission is an add-on.

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.

Healthie: What does an active client mean for billing?

It is a client with recent activity in the platform, not everyone in your database. Tiers are set by that count, not by seats.

Shepherd: Is it cloud-only?

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

Healthie: Is it HIPAA compliant?

Yes, and a business associate agreement is available. The client-facing mobile app and portal are covered.

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