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Healthcare · head to head

Nookal vs Onward Vet

Nookal logo

Nookal

Healthcare

Australian allied health practice management priced per practitioner with usage charges on top

From
49/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Onward Vet logo

Onward Vet

Veterinary

Small-vendor cloud practice management sold on flat subscription with unlimited users

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Nookal the features most multi-practitioner clinics need, including advanced reporting, custom forms and automated recalls, are held back to the Professional tier, so the AUD 49 entry price is not a realistic budget for anything beyond a solo practice.; Onward Vet the vendor is small, so support depth, release pace and the ability to absorb a serious outage are all limited compared with IDEXX, Covetrus or the larger cloud vendors.
  • They diverge on capability: Nookal covers Per practitioner pricing, Onward Vet covers Flat practice subscription.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nookal and Onward Vet actually diverge.

Attributes where Nookal and Onward Vet differ
AttributeNookalOnward Vet
Starting price49/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer user per monthquote
CategoryHealthcareVeterinary

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Nookal

  • Per practitioner pricing
  • Clinical notes
  • Online booking
  • Automated recalls
  • KPI dashboards
  • Claiming
  • Patient portal
  • AI and voice

Only in Onward Vet

  • Flat practice subscription
  • Cloud hosted
  • Medical records and SOAP
  • Estimates and treatment plans
  • Client communication
  • Laboratory integration

What people use each for

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

Nookal

  • A three to ten practitioner physiotherapy clinic in Australia that wants Medicare claiming and published pricing rather than a quote processnot Onward Vet
  • A New Zealand practice that needs ACC claim submission integrated with its clinical notes and billingnot Onward Vet
  • A chiropractic group opening a second location that wants shared patient records and one reporting view across sitesnot Onward Vet
  • A UK or Irish allied health clinic that wants an Australian-style clinical workflow with GBP or EUR billingnot Onward Vet

Onward Vet

  • A clinic with a large rota of part-time technicians and receptionists where per-seat pricing is disproportionatenot Nookal
  • A single-site practice leaving an ageing on-premise system that no longer wants to maintain a servernot Nookal
  • A new practice that needs a working record system quickly without a long configuration projectnot Nookal
  • A cost-sensitive clinic that wants cloud practice management without paying for integration breadth it will not usenot Nookal

Where each one falls short

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

Nookal

  • The features most multi-practitioner clinics need, including advanced reporting, custom forms and automated recalls, are held back to the Professional tier, so the AUD 49 entry price is not a realistic budget for anything beyond a solo practice.
  • Add-ons stack quickly: AI and voice at about USD 25 per active licence, the patient portal from USD 10 per location and secure messaging from USD 1.50 per user can push a seat close to double its list price.
  • Pricing is not a simple currency conversion, with the USD Essentials tier at 65 and Professional at 89 against AUD 49 and 59, so overseas clinics pay a meaningful premium for the same software.
  • Messaging and claiming are metered per SMS and per claim, so a clinic that leans on reminders to control no-shows finds a variable line item that grows with appointment volume and is easy to underestimate at purchase.
  • Single sign-on is quoted rather than listed and sits with the Enterprise tier, which puts basic identity governance out of reach for mid-sized groups that would otherwise stay on Professional.

Onward Vet

  • The vendor is small, so support depth, release pace and the ability to absorb a serious outage are all limited compared with IDEXX, Covetrus or the larger cloud vendors.
  • The integration catalogue is short, so specialist imaging, communication or wellness plan tools that connect to ezyVet or Provet Cloud may need manual handling here.
  • Reporting is basic, so a practice that wants production analysis by veterinary surgeon, detailed inventory valuation or multi-site consolidation will be exporting data to a spreadsheet.
  • There is no on-premise option, so a clinic with an unreliable internet connection has no fallback when the link goes down and the appointment book becomes unreachable.
  • Concentration risk is real with a supplier of this size: acquisition, a change of direction or a funding problem would put your record system into other hands, so test the data export before committing.

Pricing, plan by plan

Nookal

49/month
  • Essentials$49/month
    • Per practitioner per month
    • Appointments, patient records and invoicing
    • Online booking
  • Professional$59/month
    • Per practitioner per month
    • Advanced reporting and KPI dashboards
    • Custom forms
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Quoted pricing
    • Multi-account management
    • Dedicated support

Onward Vet

On request
  • Onward Vet$undefined/year
    • Quoted as a flat monthly practice subscription
    • Unlimited user accounts
    • Cloud hosting, backup and updates included

Which should you pick?

Choose Nookal if

  • You need per practitioner pricing.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want clinical notes.
Nookal review

Choose Onward Vet if

  • You need flat practice subscription.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want cloud hosted.
Onward Vet review

Questions people ask

Is Nookal or Onward Vet better?
Neither clearly leads. Nookal starts at 49/month and Onward Vet at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nookal or Onward Vet?
Nookal starts at 49/month and Onward Vet at On request.
Does Nookal or Onward Vet run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Nookal best used for?
Nookal is most often used for a three to ten practitioner physiotherapy clinic in australia that wants medicare claiming and published pricing rather than a quote process, a new zealand practice that needs acc claim submission integrated with its clinical notes and billing, a chiropractic group opening a second location that wants shared patient records and one reporting view across sites, a uk or irish allied health clinic that wants an australian-style clinical workflow with gbp or eur billing. Of those, a three to ten practitioner physiotherapy clinic in australia that wants medicare claiming and published pricing rather than a quote process and a new zealand practice that needs acc claim submission integrated with its clinical notes and billing are not what Onward Vet is typically brought in for.
What can Nookal do that Onward Vet cannot?
Nookal covers Per practitioner pricing, Clinical notes, Online booking, Automated recalls. Onward Vet covers Flat practice subscription, Cloud hosted, Medical records and SOAP, Estimates and treatment plans.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Nookal: How much does Nookal cost per practitioner?

Essentials is AUD 49 per practitioner per month and Professional is AUD 59, with published equivalents of GBP 29 and 39, EUR 65 and 89, and USD 65 and 89. Enterprise is quoted.

Onward Vet: How is it priced?

As a flat practice subscription with unlimited users, quoted rather than published, which is why it suits clinics with many part-time staff.

Nookal: What is not included in the subscription?

SMS from about 7 cents per message, Medicare claims from about 10 cents, ACC claims at about 12 cents, the patient portal, secure messaging, AI and voice, and single sign-on are all charged separately.

Onward Vet: Is it suitable for a multi-site group?

Not really. It is built for single-site independent clinics; consolidated reporting and cross-site inventory are not its strength.

Nookal: Is there a contract?

No lock-in contract, and the free trial does not require a credit card.

Onward Vet: What happens if the internet goes down?

You lose access to the appointment book and records. There is no on-premise fallback, so a secondary connection is a sensible precaution.

Nookal: Which countries does the claiming work in?

Medicare claiming is Australian and ACC claiming is New Zealand. Elsewhere the software works but you invoice and reconcile manually.

Onward Vet: Can I get my data out?

Ask for a full export during evaluation and check what format it comes in. With a small vendor this is a question to answer before you sign, not afterwards.

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