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Veterinary · head to head

Hippo Manager vs Vetstoria

Hippo Manager logo

Hippo Manager

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management software with flat per-user pricing

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vetstoria logo

Vetstoria

Veterinary

Real-time online appointment booking that writes directly into the veterinary PIMS diary

From
£199/month
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.; Vetstoria it is a booking layer and nothing else, so a practice also wanting reminders, two way client messaging, loyalty or marketing buys a second product, most likely a sibling Petvisor brand, and pays two subscriptions.
  • They diverge on capability: Hippo Manager covers Cloud patient records, Vetstoria covers Real-time PIMS write-back.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Hippo Manager and Vetstoria differ
AttributeHippo ManagerVetstoria
Starting priceOn request£199/month
Pricing modelquotePer month by clinician band
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: 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
  • Inventory
  • Laboratory results
  • Reporting

Only in Vetstoria

  • Real-time PIMS write-back
  • Appointment triage rules
  • Deposits and payments
  • Regional currency pricing
  • Multi-site rules
  • Client-facing booking page
  • Practice websites add-on
  • Analytics

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 Vetstoria
  • A mobile or house call veterinarian working from a tablet between appointmentsnot Vetstoria
  • A two doctor practice replacing a legacy on-premise system and wanting predictable monthly costnot Vetstoria
  • A veterinary teaching programme needing many inexpensive logins on shared recordsnot Vetstoria

Vetstoria

  • An independent small animal practice losing bookings to out of hours calls that go to voicemailnot Hippo Manager
  • A three site group that needs different appointment types and clinician rules per branch but one client facing booking pagenot Hippo Manager
  • A practice with a high no show rate that wants a deposit taken at the point of bookingnot Hippo Manager
  • A practice on ezyVet or Provet Cloud that wants booking to write into the real diary rather than create a manual rekeying job for receptionnot 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.

Vetstoria

  • It is a booking layer and nothing else, so a practice also wanting reminders, two way client messaging, loyalty or marketing buys a second product, most likely a sibling Petvisor brand, and pays two subscriptions.
  • Pricing bands are set by number of practising clinicians and step up sharply, so a practice adding a fourth or eighth vet crosses a band boundary and takes a large percentage price rise for one hire.
  • In the United States the product is sold as PetDesk rather than Vetstoria, so American buyers comparing the two are often comparing the same underlying company against itself without realising it.
  • Value depends entirely on the depth of your PIMS integration, and the quality varies considerably between systems; on a weaker integration you lose the real time write back that is the entire reason to buy it.
  • Website plans carry one off setup fees running into the thousands of euros on top of a monthly fee, which turns an apparently modest booking subscription into a significant first year cost if you take the bundle.

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

Vetstoria

£199/month
  • Small Team$199/month
    • Up to two practising clinicians
    • Real-time booking
    • Payments
  • Medium Team$299/month
    • Up to four practising clinicians
    • All Small Team features
  • Large Team$399/month
    • Up to seven practising clinicians
    • All Medium Team features
  • Custom$undefined/month
    • Groups and non-standard configurations
    • Advanced analytics
    • Quarterly business reviews

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 Vetstoria if

  • You need real-time pims write-back.
  • You also want appointment triage rules.
Vetstoria review

Questions people ask

Is Hippo Manager or Vetstoria better?
Neither clearly leads. Hippo Manager starts at On request and Vetstoria at £199/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hippo Manager or Vetstoria?
Hippo Manager starts at On request and Vetstoria at £199/month.
Does Hippo Manager or Vetstoria run on more platforms?
Hippo Manager runs on Web, iOS, Android. Vetstoria runs on Web.
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 Vetstoria is typically brought in for.
What can Hippo Manager do that Vetstoria cannot?
Hippo Manager covers Cloud patient records, Scheduling, Invoicing and payments, Inventory. Vetstoria covers Real-time PIMS write-back, Appointment triage rules, Deposits and payments, Regional currency pricing.

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.

Vetstoria: Does Vetstoria book directly into my PIMS?

Yes, that is the core function. Bookings write into the practice diary in real time rather than queuing as requests, where the PIMS integration supports it.

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.

Vetstoria: Who owns Vetstoria?

Petvisor, which also owns PetDesk, WhiskerCloud and Kontak, and which raised over 100 million dollars from Apax Digital in 2023. It is not owned by IDEXX; IDEXX is an integration partner.

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.

Vetstoria: Is it available in the United States?

The same company serves the United States, but under the PetDesk brand rather than the Vetstoria name.

Hippo Manager: Is there an on-premise version?

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

Vetstoria: Is there a setup fee?

Not for online booking. The optional website plans do carry substantial one-off setup fees.

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