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Healthcare · head to head

OpenClinica vs Rad AI

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
Rad AI logo

Rad AI

Healthcare

Generative reporting and follow-up tracking for radiology, positioned outside the diagnostic device boundary

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Rad AI the products are not FDA cleared devices and are not intended to be, so any claim that Rad AI improves diagnostic accuracy is unsupported; what has been measured is reporting speed and follow-up completion, not detection.
  • They diverge on capability: OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Rad AI covers Impressions.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpenClinica and Rad AI actually diverge.

Attributes where OpenClinica and Rad AI differ
AttributeOpenClinicaRad AI
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, AndroidWindows, Web, Cloud

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 OpenClinica

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

Only in Rad AI

  • Impressions
  • Reporting
  • Continuity
  • Style learning
  • Omni Reconcile
  • PACS and dictation embedding
  • Patient outreach workflows
  • Audit reporting

What people use each for

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

OpenClinica

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

Rad AI

  • A private radiology practice whose read volume has grown faster than it can recruit and that wants dictation time per study reduced without changing PACSnot OpenClinica
  • A health system losing revenue and exposing itself to liability because recommended follow-up imaging on incidental findings is never bookednot OpenClinica
  • A radiology department standardising impression quality across a mixed group of employed and locum radiologistsnot OpenClinica
  • A group deploying an AI tool that must not trigger a device validation programme, because governance capacity is already consumed by a triage algorithm rolloutnot OpenClinica

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Rad AI

  • The products are not FDA cleared devices and are not intended to be, so any claim that Rad AI improves diagnostic accuracy is unsupported; what has been measured is reporting speed and follow-up completion, not detection.
  • Generated impressions require radiologist review and signature, so the time saving evaporates in any group whose radiologists rewrite the draft rather than edit it, and adoption varies sharply by individual.
  • It is bound to your dictation platform, so a group planning to move off PowerScribe should sequence that decision first or expect to redo the Rad AI integration.
  • Continuity depends on the quality of recommendation language in historical reports, and departments with inconsistent phrasing get poor recall until reporting practice is standardised.
  • Pricing is not published and is structured per radiologist or per study depending on the product mix, which makes it hard to compare against image-analysis AI vendors that price per scan.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Rad AI

On request
  • Rad AI platform$undefined/year
    • Priced per radiologist or per study volume depending on product and contract
    • Impressions, Reporting and Continuity licensed separately
    • Annual subscription with implementation and integration scoped per site

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Rad AI if

  • You need impressions.
  • You work on Windows, Web, Cloud.
  • You also want reporting.
Rad AI review

Questions people ask

Is OpenClinica or Rad AI better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenClinica starts at On request and Rad AI at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OpenClinica or Rad AI?
OpenClinica starts at On request and Rad AI at On request.
Does OpenClinica or Rad AI run on more platforms?
OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android. Rad AI runs on Windows, Web, Cloud.
What is OpenClinica best used for?
OpenClinica is most often used for an academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eclinical budget, a registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over years, a small device sponsor that needs econsent and epro in the same system as its case report forms, an informatics group that wants to self-host the open source edition for a non-regulated internal study. Of those, an academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eclinical budget and a registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over years are not what Rad AI is typically brought in for.
What can OpenClinica do that Rad AI cannot?
OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO. Rad AI covers Impressions, Reporting, Continuity, Style learning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Rad AI: Is Rad AI FDA cleared?

No, and by design. The products draft text and manage follow-up workflow rather than interpreting images, so they fall outside the device pathway. Treat any diagnostic accuracy claim with scepticism.

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.

Rad AI: Does the radiologist still sign the report?

Yes. Output is a draft that the radiologist reviews and signs; nothing is released autonomously.

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.

Rad AI: Which product actually pays for itself?

Continuity has the clearest financial case, because recommended follow-up imaging that gets completed is billable work that currently does not happen.

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.

Rad AI: Will it work with our dictation system?

It is deepest with Nuance PowerScribe. Confirm your specific dictation and PACS combination before contracting, because integration depth is the main deployment variable.

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