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Healthcare · head to head

Kareo vs OpenClinica

Kareo logo

Kareo

Healthcare

Cloud-based EHR and billing for small practices

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenClinica logo

OpenClinica

Healthcare

Clinical trial EDC with a genuinely open source community edition alongside a quoted commercial platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Kareo kareo is now part of Tebra and sold under the Tebra brand rather than as a standalone product; OpenClinica the free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.
  • They diverge on capability: Kareo covers Electronic Health Records, OpenClinica covers Open source community edition.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kareo and OpenClinica actually diverge.

Attributes where Kareo and OpenClinica differ
AttributeKareoOpenClinica
Starting price$99/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, MobileWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, Android
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

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

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Scheduling
  • Patient Portal
  • Medical Billing
  • Payment Processing
  • Labs
  • Pharmacies
  • Clearinghouses

Only in OpenClinica

  • Open source community edition
  • Electronic data capture
  • eConsent
  • eCOA and ePRO
  • Randomisation
  • EHR-to-EDC
  • Audit trail
  • Reporting and analytics

What people use each for

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

Kareo

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

OpenClinica

  • An academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs Part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eClinical budgetnot Kareo
  • A registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over yearsnot Kareo
  • A small device sponsor that needs eConsent and ePRO in the same system as its case report formsnot Kareo
  • An informatics group that wants to self-host the open source edition for a non-regulated internal studynot Kareo

Where each one falls short

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

Kareo

  • 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

OpenClinica

  • The free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.
  • The vendor provides no support or services at all for the community edition, which means outages, patching, database upgrades and validation documentation are entirely your problem.
  • Commercial pricing is not published, so you cannot benchmark it against alternatives without entering a sales process, and third-party figures around USD 1,000 a month are indicative rather than contractual.
  • Study build is skilled work: complex edit checks, randomisation schemes and integrations usually mean paying for vendor or consultant configuration services on top of the licence, which is a frequently underestimated line in the budget.
  • As a smaller vendor than the large eClinical suites it has a thinner partner and consultant ecosystem, so finding experienced build staff or a CRO already fluent in the platform is harder than with the market incumbents.

Pricing, plan by plan

Kareo

$99/month
  • Starter$99/month
    • EHR
    • Scheduling
    • Patient Portal
  • Professional$199/month
    • Everything in Starter
    • Billing
    • Reporting

OpenClinica

On request
  • Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Free and open source under the LGPL
    • Self-hosted, on the older 3.x line
    • No vendor support or services of any kind
  • OpenClinica Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Pricing only through a sales process
    • Hosted and validated instance
    • EDC, eConsent, eCOA, randomisation and analytics modules

Which should you pick?

Choose Kareo if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want scheduling.
Kareo review

Choose OpenClinica if

  • You need open source community edition.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
  • You also want electronic data capture.
OpenClinica review

Questions people ask

Is Kareo or OpenClinica better?
Neither clearly leads. Kareo starts at $99/month and OpenClinica at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kareo or OpenClinica?
Kareo starts at $99/month and OpenClinica at On request.
Does Kareo or OpenClinica run on more platforms?
Kareo runs on Web, Mobile. OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
What is Kareo best used for?
Kareo 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 OpenClinica is typically brought in for.
What can Kareo do that OpenClinica cannot?
Kareo covers Electronic Health Records, Scheduling, Patient Portal, Medical Billing. OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kareo: Does Kareo publish its pricing?

No. Kareo (now rebranded as Tebra) uses custom per-practice pricing that varies based on the number of providers, features needed, and implementation requirements. Pricing is determined during a demo with the sales team.

Source
OpenClinica: Is OpenClinica free?

There is a genuinely free, LGPL licensed community edition you host yourself with no vendor support. The commercial platform with eConsent, eCOA and a validated hosted instance is quoted and paid.

Kareo: Are there discounts for adding multiple modules?

Yes. Tebra states that many practices qualify for bundled pricing or volume incentives when adopting multiple modules like EHR, billing, and patient experience tools together.

Source
OpenClinica: Is the open source version still maintained?

Yes, releases on the 3.x line continued through 2025, but it is a separate and older architecture from the commercial product.

Kareo: What are the additional costs for controlled substance prescribing?

For providers who prescribe controlled substances, EPCS setup costs approximately $75 per provider as a one-time fee, and PDMP integration costs $500 one-time per facility plus around $50 per user per year.

Source
OpenClinica: Does it meet 21 CFR Part 11?

The commercial hosted platform is built for Part 11 and GCP compliance. If you self-host the community edition, compliance and validation are entirely your responsibility.

Kareo: Does Kareo offer a free trial?

Kareo's website does not mention a free trial option. Access to pricing and trial arrangements requires contacting the sales team to request a demo.

Source
OpenClinica: What does the commercial version cost?

Not published. Third-party listings suggest enterprise arrangements from around USD 1,000 per month, but real cost depends on study count, subjects, modules and build services.

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