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Veterinary · head to head

Hippo Manager vs Shepherd

Hippo Manager logo

Hippo Manager

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management software with flat per-user pricing

From
On request
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: Hippo Manager pricing is per user, so a practice with a rota of part-time technicians and relief veterinarians pays full seats for people who log in a few times a month.; Shepherd quote-only pricing with no published rates
  • They diverge on capability: Hippo Manager covers Cloud patient records, Shepherd covers Consultation-first records.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hippo Manager and Shepherd actually diverge.

Attributes where Hippo Manager and Shepherd differ
AttributeHippo ManagerShepherd
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Cloud

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Veterinary).

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 Hippo Manager

  • Cloud patient records
  • Scheduling
  • Invoicing and payments
  • Laboratory results
  • Reporting

Only in Shepherd

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

Both cover

  • Inventory

What people use each for

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

Hippo Manager

  • A new clinic opening with no server, no IT provider and a need to be running within weeksnot Shepherd
  • A mobile or house call veterinarian working from a tablet between appointmentsnot Shepherd
  • A two doctor practice replacing a legacy on-premise system and wanting predictable monthly costnot Shepherd
  • A veterinary teaching programme needing many inexpensive logins on shared recordsnot Shepherd

Shepherd

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

Where each one falls short

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

Hippo Manager

  • Pricing is per user, so a practice with a rota of part-time technicians and relief veterinarians pays full seats for people who log in a few times a month.
  • Inpatient and treatment sheet workflows are lighter than in systems built for referral and emergency hospitals, which pushes overnight care onto paper.
  • The integration catalogue is short relative to the larger cloud platforms, so a practice with an existing imaging, communications or payment preference may find no connector.
  • Multi-location reporting is basic, which limits its usefulness to a group beyond a handful of sites that wants consolidated production figures.
  • As a browser only system it stops when the internet does, and a practice without a backup connection loses records, scheduling and invoicing at the same time.

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

Hippo Manager

On request
  • Hippo Manager$undefined/month
    • Flat monthly subscription charged per user
    • Core clinical, billing and inventory functionality included
    • Data conversion and onboarding quoted separately

Shepherd

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Shepherd review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Hippo Manager if

  • You need cloud patient records.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want scheduling.
Hippo Manager 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 Hippo Manager or Shepherd better?
Neither clearly leads. Hippo Manager starts at On request and Shepherd at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hippo Manager or Shepherd?
Hippo Manager starts at On request and Shepherd at On request.
Does Hippo Manager or Shepherd run on more platforms?
Hippo Manager runs on Web, iOS, Android. Shepherd runs on Web, Cloud.
What is Hippo Manager best used for?
Hippo Manager is most often used for a new clinic opening with no server, no it provider and a need to be running within weeks, a mobile or house call veterinarian working from a tablet between appointments, a two doctor practice replacing a legacy on-premise system and wanting predictable monthly cost, a veterinary teaching programme needing many inexpensive logins on shared records. Of those, a new clinic opening with no server, no it provider and a need to be running within weeks and a mobile or house call veterinarian working from a tablet between appointments are not what Shepherd is typically brought in for.
What can Hippo Manager do that Shepherd cannot?
Hippo Manager covers Cloud patient records, Scheduling, Invoicing and payments, Laboratory results. Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, Charges from treatment, Cloud-based. Both handle Inventory.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hippo Manager: Is this veterinary software?

Yes. Hippo Manager is a veterinary practice management system for animal clinics, unrelated to similarly named products in other software categories.

Shepherd: What does Shepherd cost?

Pricing is quoted per practice and not published.

Hippo Manager: How is it priced?

As a flat monthly fee per user with the feature set included, rather than a base licence plus paid modules.

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.

Hippo Manager: Does it suit an emergency or referral hospital?

Not well. Inpatient workflow depth is limited and specialist practices should look at systems built for that setting.

Shepherd: Is it cloud-only?

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

Hippo Manager: Is there an on-premise version?

No. It is browser only, which means no server to maintain and no offline working.

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