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Healthcare · head to head

Kareo Clinical vs VetBadger

Kareo Clinical logo

Kareo Clinical

Healthcare

Specialized EHR and practice management for independent and small practices

From
$89/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VetBadger logo

VetBadger

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management sold in user bands rather than per seat

From
$99/month
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; VetBadger pricing is banded rather than per seat, so a three-user clinic pays USD 249, the same as a ten-user one, which is roughly USD 83 per user against USD 25 for a practice that fills the band.
  • They diverge on capability: Kareo Clinical covers Electronic Health Records, VetBadger covers Chart-centric workflow.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kareo Clinical and VetBadger actually diverge.

Attributes where Kareo Clinical and VetBadger differ
AttributeKareo ClinicalVetBadger
Starting price$89/month$99/month
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by user band
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, iOS, Android
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 VetBadger

  • Chart-centric workflow
  • Banded pricing
  • Chart SMS and email
  • Integrated telehealth
  • Exam reporting
  • QuickBooks sync
  • Cloud hosting
  • Reminders

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 VetBadger
  • Electronic health records and e-prescribing for small clinicsnot VetBadger
  • Insurance claim submission and patient payment collectionnot VetBadger

VetBadger

  • A two-vet small animal clinic moving off an ageing on-premises server that nobody wants to maintainnot Kareo Clinical
  • A practice that wants client texting logged against the medical record rather than sitting in a separate messaging toolnot Kareo Clinical
  • A clinic adding telehealth consultations without buying a separate video and payment stacknot Kareo Clinical
  • An owner who wants exam and revenue reporting without exporting to a spreadsheet every monthnot 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

VetBadger

  • Pricing is banded rather than per seat, so a three-user clinic pays USD 249, the same as a ten-user one, which is roughly USD 83 per user against USD 25 for a practice that fills the band.
  • Crossing a band boundary is a step change, so hiring one extra person can raise the software bill by USD 150 or USD 250 overnight with no extra capability in return.
  • The integration list is short compared with the market leaders, and in-house laboratory and imaging equipment support is the usual gap, which can mean manual result entry.
  • It is aimed at general small animal practice, with none of the specialty, referral, equine or ambulatory workflow depth that larger platforms carry.
  • As a smaller vendor it has less migration tooling and fewer conversion specialists than the large incumbents, so moving years of legacy records in is more of a project than a service.

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

VetBadger

$99/month
  • 1 to 2 users$99/month
    • Cloud hosting and backup included
    • Full medical records and scheduling
    • Chart-centric SMS and email
  • 3 to 10 users$249/month
    • Same feature set across the band
    • Flat price whether you have three users or ten
    • Exam detail reporting
  • 11 to 20 users$499/month
    • Multi-user scheduling
    • Full reporting
    • Priority support
  • 21 to 40 users$599/month
    • Largest published band
    • All features included
    • Support for larger single-site practices

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 VetBadger if

  • You need chart-centric workflow.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want banded pricing.
VetBadger review

Questions people ask

Is Kareo Clinical or VetBadger better?
Neither clearly leads. Kareo Clinical starts at $89/month and VetBadger at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kareo Clinical or VetBadger?
Kareo Clinical starts at $89/month and VetBadger at $99/month.
Does Kareo Clinical or VetBadger run on more platforms?
Kareo Clinical runs on Web, Mobile. VetBadger runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 VetBadger is typically brought in for.
What can Kareo Clinical do that VetBadger cannot?
Kareo Clinical covers Electronic Health Records, Scheduling, Patient Portal, Medical Billing. VetBadger covers Chart-centric workflow, Banded pricing, Chart SMS and email, Integrated telehealth.

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
VetBadger: How is VetBadger priced?

By user band: roughly USD 99 a month for one to two users, USD 249 for three to ten, USD 499 for eleven to twenty and USD 599 for twenty-one to forty.

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
VetBadger: Is hosting extra?

No. Cloud hosting and backup are included in the subscription, with no server to buy or maintain.

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
VetBadger: Does it do telehealth?

Yes, integrated telehealth is included rather than sold as an add-on.

VetBadger: Is it suitable for a specialty or referral hospital?

Not really. It is built for general small animal practice and lacks specialty, referral and equine workflow depth.

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