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Veterinary · head to head

Instinct Science vs Onward Vet

Instinct Science logo

Instinct Science

Veterinary

Veterinary EMR built for emergency and specialty hospitals, plus Plumbs drug reference

From
On request
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: Instinct Science no pricing is published at all, so a practice cannot compare it against published competitors without a demo and a sales conversation.; 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: Instinct Science covers Instinct Treatment Plan, 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 Instinct Science and Onward Vet actually diverge.

Attributes where Instinct Science and Onward Vet differ
AttributeInstinct ScienceOnward Vet

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Veterinary).

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 Instinct Science

  • Instinct Treatment Plan
  • Charge capture from treatments
  • Instinct EMR
  • Primary care edition
  • Plumbs drug reference
  • ScribbleVet
  • Standards

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.

Instinct Science

  • A twenty four hour emergency hospital where treatments are ordered on a sheet and currently reconciled to invoices by hand at dischargenot Onward Vet
  • A specialty referral centre running multiple services on one hospitalised patient that needs a shared, current treatment plan across shiftsnot Onward Vet
  • A hospital losing measurable revenue to missed charge capture on inpatient treatments and fluidsnot Onward Vet
  • A practice that already relies on Plumbs for dosing and wants drug reference and interaction checking inside the record rather than in a separate tabnot Onward Vet

Onward Vet

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

Where each one falls short

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

Instinct Science

  • No pricing is published at all, so a practice cannot compare it against published competitors without a demo and a sales conversation.
  • The design centres on inpatient treatment sheets, so an appointment driven general practice pays for strength in a workflow it barely uses and should evaluate the primary care edition on its own merits rather than the hospital reputation.
  • Retail, inventory and reminder marketing workflows are thinner than in long established general practice systems, so a practice with a significant shop or food business may need workarounds.
  • Plumbs and ScribbleVet are separately licensed even though the same company owns them, so the tidy single vendor story still arrives as more than one line on the invoice.
  • It is a smaller vendor than the corporate owned incumbents, which is an advantage on responsiveness and a risk on acquisition, and veterinary software has consolidated heavily in recent years.

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

Instinct Science

On request
  • Instinct EMR$undefined/year
    • Quoted through a demo and sales process, nothing published
    • Priced by practice size and modules taken
    • Plumbs and ScribbleVet are separately licensed products from the same company

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 Instinct Science if

  • You need instinct treatment plan.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want charge capture from treatments.
Instinct Science 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 Instinct Science or Onward Vet better?
Neither clearly leads. Instinct Science starts at On request and Onward Vet at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Instinct Science or Onward Vet?
Instinct Science starts at On request and Onward Vet at On request.
Does Instinct Science 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 Instinct Science best used for?
Instinct Science is most often used for a twenty four hour emergency hospital where treatments are ordered on a sheet and currently reconciled to invoices by hand at discharge, a specialty referral centre running multiple services on one hospitalised patient that needs a shared, current treatment plan across shifts, a hospital losing measurable revenue to missed charge capture on inpatient treatments and fluids, a practice that already relies on plumbs for dosing and wants drug reference and interaction checking inside the record rather than in a separate tab. Of those, a twenty four hour emergency hospital where treatments are ordered on a sheet and currently reconciled to invoices by hand at discharge and a specialty referral centre running multiple services on one hospitalised patient that needs a shared, current treatment plan across shifts are not what Onward Vet is typically brought in for.
What can Instinct Science do that Onward Vet cannot?
Instinct Science covers Instinct Treatment Plan, Charge capture from treatments, Instinct EMR, Primary care edition. Onward Vet covers Flat practice subscription, Cloud hosted, Medical records and SOAP, Estimates and treatment plans.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Instinct Science: Is Instinct only for emergency hospitals?

No, there is a primary care edition, but the product design and its main advantage come from inpatient treatment sheets and hospital workflows.

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.

Instinct Science: Is pricing published?

No. Everything runs through a demo and a quote.

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.

Instinct Science: Does it include Plumbs?

Instinct Science owns Plumbs, but it is licensed separately rather than bundled into the EMR by default.

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.

Instinct Science: What is the main reason practices switch to it?

Charge capture. Treatments recorded on the digital treatment sheet become charges automatically, which recovers revenue that paper sheets lose.

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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