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Healthcare · head to head

Lyra Health vs OpenClinica

Lyra Health logo

Lyra Health

Healthcare

Employer purchased mental health benefit with a curated provider network and measurement based care

From
On request
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: Lyra Health covered sessions per member per year are set in the employer contract and vary widely between clients, so employees at two companies both using Lyra can receive very different benefits and the number is never published.; 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: Lyra Health covers Curated provider network, OpenClinica covers Open source community edition.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lyra Health and OpenClinica actually diverge.

Attributes where Lyra Health and OpenClinica differ
AttributeLyra HealthOpenClinica
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Lyra Health

  • Curated provider network
  • Measurement based care
  • Self guided digital programmes
  • Coaching tier
  • Dependant and household coverage
  • Higher acuity pathways
  • Employer reporting
  • Global delivery

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.

Lyra Health

  • An employer whose legacy employee assistance programme has utilisation in the low single digits and cannot demonstrate any clinical outcomenot OpenClinica
  • A company with a distributed workforce needing therapist availability outside major metropolitan areas where the health plan network is thinnot OpenClinica
  • An employer wanting behavioural health outcomes measured with validated instruments so the benefit can be evaluated rather than merely offerednot OpenClinica
  • A multinational standardising mental health support across several countries under one contract and one reporting viewnot OpenClinica

OpenClinica

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

Where each one falls short

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

Lyra Health

  • Covered sessions per member per year are set in the employer contract and vary widely between clients, so employees at two companies both using Lyra can receive very different benefits and the number is never published.
  • When a member exhausts the employer funded session allowance, care transitions to the health plan network with its deductibles and copayments, or ends, and this handover is the most common source of employee dissatisfaction with the benefit.
  • The per employee per month fee is charged across the whole eligible population regardless of use, so an employer with low utilisation pays for the entire workforce to serve a small fraction of it.
  • Lyra costs materially more than a traditional employee assistance programme, and the business case depends on utilisation rising enough to justify the difference, which is not guaranteed by the contract.
  • International coverage is real but uneven, and a multinational will find provider depth and language availability in secondary markets well below what is available in the United States, which undermines the single global standard the contract implies.

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

Lyra Health

On request
  • Lyra Health$undefined/year
    • Per employee per month fee across the eligible population, quoted not published
    • Covered sessions per member per year negotiated separately and varying widely by client
    • Dependant and household eligibility affects the rate

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 Lyra Health if

  • You need curated provider network.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want measurement based care.
Lyra Health 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 Lyra Health or OpenClinica better?
Neither clearly leads. Lyra Health starts at On request and OpenClinica at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lyra Health or OpenClinica?
Lyra Health starts at On request and OpenClinica at On request.
Does Lyra Health or OpenClinica run on more platforms?
Lyra Health runs on Web, iOS, Android. OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
What is Lyra Health best used for?
Lyra Health is most often used for an employer whose legacy employee assistance programme has utilisation in the low single digits and cannot demonstrate any clinical outcome, a company with a distributed workforce needing therapist availability outside major metropolitan areas where the health plan network is thin, an employer wanting behavioural health outcomes measured with validated instruments so the benefit can be evaluated rather than merely offered, a multinational standardising mental health support across several countries under one contract and one reporting view. Of those, an employer whose legacy employee assistance programme has utilisation in the low single digits and cannot demonstrate any clinical outcome and a company with a distributed workforce needing therapist availability outside major metropolitan areas where the health plan network is thin are not what OpenClinica is typically brought in for.
What can Lyra Health do that OpenClinica cannot?
Lyra Health covers Curated provider network, Measurement based care, Self guided digital programmes, Coaching tier. OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lyra Health: How is Lyra priced?

Per employee per month across the eligible population, billed to the employer. The rate is quoted, never published, and depends on headcount, dependant eligibility and the contracted session allowance.

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.

Lyra Health: How many therapy sessions do employees get?

It depends entirely on what the employer bought. Session allowances vary widely between clients, so ask your benefits team for the contracted number rather than assuming a standard.

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.

Lyra Health: Who pays, the employer or the health plan?

The employer pays the per employee per month fee and funds the covered sessions. After the allowance is exhausted, cost typically shifts to the health plan and the member.

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.

Lyra Health: Is there a minimum headcount?

Lyra does not publish one, but it sells primarily to mid sized and large employers and the commercial model does not suit small companies.

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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