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Healthcare · head to head

Kareo Clinical vs Shepherd

Kareo Clinical logo

Kareo Clinical

Healthcare

Specialized EHR and practice management for independent and small practices

From
$89/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: Kareo Clinical kareo is now part of Tebra and sold under the Tebra brand rather than as a standalone product; Shepherd quote-only pricing with no published rates
  • They diverge on capability: Kareo Clinical covers Electronic Health 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 Kareo Clinical and Shepherd actually diverge.

Attributes where Kareo Clinical and Shepherd differ
AttributeKareo ClinicalShepherd
Starting price$89/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Cloud
CategoryHealthcareVeterinary
Founded2010Unknown

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 Kareo Clinical

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Scheduling
  • Patient Portal
  • Medical Billing
  • ePrescribing
  • Analytics
  • Labs
  • Pharmacies

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.

Kareo Clinical

  • Practice management, scheduling and billing for independent medical practicesnot Shepherd
  • Electronic health records and e-prescribing for small clinicsnot Shepherd
  • Insurance claim submission and patient payment collectionnot Shepherd

Shepherd

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

Where each one falls short

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

Kareo Clinical

  • Kareo is now part of Tebra and sold under the Tebra brand rather than as a standalone product
  • Tebra publishes no rate: pricing varies with provider count, features and implementation requirements and is quoted during a demo
  • Billing counts clinical providers such as MDs, DOs, NPs and PAs, so adding a prescriber raises the bill even though non clinical staff are free
  • Electronic prescribing of controlled substances setup costs about $75 per provider as a one time fee
  • PDMP integration costs $500 one time per facility plus about $50 per user per year

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

Kareo Clinical

$89/month
  • Clinical Starter$89/month
    • EHR
    • Scheduling
    • Patient Portal
  • Clinical Plus$189/month
    • Everything in Starter
    • Billing
    • Analytics

Shepherd

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Shepherd review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Kareo Clinical if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want scheduling.
Kareo Clinical 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 Kareo Clinical or Shepherd better?
Neither clearly leads. Kareo Clinical starts at $89/month and Shepherd at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kareo Clinical or Shepherd?
Kareo Clinical starts at $89/month and Shepherd at On request.
Does Kareo Clinical or Shepherd run on more platforms?
Kareo Clinical runs on Web, Mobile. Shepherd runs on Web, Cloud.
What is Kareo Clinical best used for?
Kareo Clinical is most often used for practice management, scheduling and billing for independent medical practices, electronic health records and e-prescribing for small clinics, insurance claim submission and patient payment collection. Of those, practice management, scheduling and billing for independent medical practices and electronic health records and e-prescribing for small clinics are not what Shepherd is typically brought in for.
What can Kareo Clinical do that Shepherd cannot?
Kareo Clinical covers Electronic Health Records, Scheduling, Patient Portal, Medical Billing. Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, Charges from treatment, Inventory, Cloud-based.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kareo Clinical: How much does Kareo Clinical (now Tebra) cost?

Kareo Clinical pricing is not published publicly. Pricing is based on the number of clinical providers in your practice, not seat licenses. Setup includes optional EPCS at $75/provider and PDMP Integration at $500 one-time per facility plus $50/user/year.

Source
Shepherd: What does Shepherd cost?

Pricing is quoted per practice and not published.

Kareo Clinical: Does Tebra charge for front desk staff and medical assistants?

No. Tebra provides unlimited non-clinical staff access at no extra cost. Front desk staff, medical assistants, billers, and office admins can all access scheduling, charting, and claims modules without increasing billing.

Source
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.

Kareo Clinical: Are there reduced rates for low-volume practices on Tebra?

Yes. Practices with providers billing under 100 claims monthly receive lower-tier pricing for those low-volume providers.

Source
Shepherd: Is it cloud-only?

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

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