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Healthcare · head to head

Nookal vs OpenClinica

Nookal logo

Nookal

Healthcare

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

From
49/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: 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.; 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: Nookal covers Per practitioner pricing, 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 Nookal and OpenClinica actually diverge.

Attributes where Nookal and OpenClinica differ
AttributeNookalOpenClinica
Starting price49/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer user per monthquote
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, Android

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 Nookal

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

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.

Nookal

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

OpenClinica

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

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

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

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 Nookal if

  • You need per practitioner pricing.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want clinical notes.
Nookal 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 Nookal or OpenClinica better?
Neither clearly leads. Nookal starts at 49/month and OpenClinica at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nookal or OpenClinica?
Nookal starts at 49/month and OpenClinica at On request.
Does Nookal or OpenClinica run on more platforms?
Nookal runs on Web, iOS, Android. OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
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 OpenClinica is typically brought in for.
What can Nookal do that OpenClinica cannot?
Nookal covers Per practitioner pricing, Clinical notes, Online booking, Automated recalls. OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nookal: Is there a contract?

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

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.

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.

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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