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Healthcare · head to head

OpenClinica vs Zanda Health

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
Zanda Health logo

Zanda Health

Healthcare

Practice management and clinical notes for allied health clinics, formerly Power Diary

From
$19/month
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.; Zanda Health the 2024 rename from Power Diary means most third party reviews, integration guides and community answers still sit under the old name, so buyers researching Zanda Health find a thin trail and may wrongly conclude it is a new and unproven product.
  • They diverge on capability: OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Zanda Health covers Unlimited admin users.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where OpenClinica and Zanda Health differ
AttributeOpenClinicaZanda Health
Starting priceOn request$19/month
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, AndroidWeb, 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 OpenClinica

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

Only in Zanda Health

  • Unlimited admin users
  • Australian funder billing
  • Clinical note templates
  • Two way SMS
  • Telehealth Pro
  • Practitioner rostering
  • Client portal
  • BizzyAI Scribe

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 Zanda Health
  • A registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over yearsnot Zanda Health
  • A small device sponsor that needs eConsent and ePRO in the same system as its case report formsnot Zanda Health
  • An informatics group that wants to self-host the open source edition for a non-regulated internal studynot Zanda Health

Zanda Health

  • A five physiotherapist clinic in Melbourne that bulk bills Medicare and wants claiming inside the diary rather than a separate portalnot OpenClinica
  • A psychology group practice with more reception staff than clinicians, where per seat pricing elsewhere would double the billnot OpenClinica
  • A UK osteopathy practice moving off paper diaries that needs online booking and card payment without an implementation projectnot OpenClinica
  • A multi site podiatry business that needs room and equipment allocation alongside practitioner availabilitynot 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.

Zanda Health

  • The 2024 rename from Power Diary means most third party reviews, integration guides and community answers still sit under the old name, so buyers researching Zanda Health find a thin trail and may wrongly conclude it is a new and unproven product.
  • North American billing is not properly served: there is no claims clearinghouse and superbill handling is basic, so a United States practice will need a separate revenue cycle tool and will pay for two systems.
  • Pricing is quoted in United States dollars while the company, support hours and product depth are Australian, so buyers outside those two time zones get support with an overnight lag on urgent clinical scheduling problems.
  • SMS is billed per message beyond the plan allowance and a dedicated number is required in the United States and Canada, so a busy clinic sending reminders and follow ups accumulates a variable monthly cost that is not visible in the headline plan price.
  • Reporting is adequate for a single clinic but weak for a group: cross site financial consolidation and practitioner productivity comparison generally end up exported to a spreadsheet, which becomes a monthly manual job as soon as you pass a handful of locations.

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

Zanda Health

$19/month
  • Starter$19/month
    • One practitioner
    • One administrative user
    • 1,000 appointments per year
  • Growth$49/month
    • Base fee plus 19 USD per additional practitioner per month
    • Unlimited free administrative users
    • Unlimited appointments
  • Telehealth Pro add-on$9/month
    • Per practitioner
    • Unlimited video consultations
    • Recording and waiting room

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 Zanda Health if

  • You need unlimited admin users.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want australian funder billing.
Zanda Health review

Questions people ask

Is OpenClinica or Zanda Health better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenClinica starts at On request and Zanda Health at $19/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OpenClinica or Zanda Health?
OpenClinica starts at On request and Zanda Health at $19/month.
Does OpenClinica or Zanda Health run on more platforms?
OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android. Zanda Health runs on Web, iOS, Android.
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 Zanda Health is typically brought in for.
What can OpenClinica do that Zanda Health cannot?
OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO. Zanda Health covers Unlimited admin users, Australian funder billing, Clinical note templates, Two way SMS.

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.

Zanda Health: Is Zanda Health the same as Power Diary?

Yes. Power Diary rebranded to Zanda Health in 2024. Same company, same product line, same data.

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.

Zanda Health: Do receptionists count as paid users?

No. On the Growth plan administrative users are unlimited and free. Only practitioners are charged.

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.

Zanda Health: Does it handle Medicare bulk billing?

Yes, Medicare Online, DVA and bulk billing claims are submitted from within the platform for Australian practices.

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.

Zanda Health: Is it suitable for a United States practice?

Only partly. Charting, scheduling and telehealth work, but there is no claims clearinghouse, so US insurance billing needs a separate system.

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