Softwr

Veterinary · head to head

Shepherd vs VetBadger

Shepherd logo

Shepherd

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management built by a practising vet

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
VetBadger logo

VetBadger

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management sold in user bands rather than per seat

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Shepherd quote-only pricing with no published rates; VetBadger pricing is banded rather than per seat, so a three-user clinic pays USD 249, the same as a ten-user one, which is roughly USD 83 per user against USD 25 for a practice that fills the band.
  • They diverge on capability: Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, VetBadger covers Chart-centric workflow.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Shepherd and VetBadger actually diverge.

Attributes where Shepherd and VetBadger differ
AttributeShepherdVetBadger
Starting priceOn request$99/month
Pricing modelquotePer month by user band
PlatformsWeb, CloudWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Shepherd

  • Consultation-first records
  • Charges from treatment
  • Inventory
  • Cloud-based

Only in VetBadger

  • Chart-centric workflow
  • Banded pricing
  • Chart SMS and email
  • Integrated telehealth
  • Exam reporting
  • QuickBooks sync
  • Cloud hosting
  • Reminders

What people use each for

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

Shepherd

  • Practices losing revenue to treatment delivered but never billednot VetBadger
  • Clinics replacing on-premise legacy systemsnot VetBadger
  • Independent practices wanting something designed around clinical work rather than administrationnot VetBadger

VetBadger

  • A two-vet small animal clinic moving off an ageing on-premises server that nobody wants to maintainnot Shepherd
  • A practice that wants client texting logged against the medical record rather than sitting in a separate messaging toolnot Shepherd
  • A clinic adding telehealth consultations without buying a separate video and payment stacknot Shepherd
  • An owner who wants exam and revenue reporting without exporting to a spreadsheet every monthnot Shepherd

Where each one falls short

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

Shepherd

  • Quote-only pricing with no published rates
  • A smaller vendor than the established systems, with a correspondingly shorter track record
  • Cloud-only, so consultations depend on clinic connectivity

VetBadger

  • Pricing is banded rather than per seat, so a three-user clinic pays USD 249, the same as a ten-user one, which is roughly USD 83 per user against USD 25 for a practice that fills the band.
  • Crossing a band boundary is a step change, so hiring one extra person can raise the software bill by USD 150 or USD 250 overnight with no extra capability in return.
  • The integration list is short compared with the market leaders, and in-house laboratory and imaging equipment support is the usual gap, which can mean manual result entry.
  • It is aimed at general small animal practice, with none of the specialty, referral, equine or ambulatory workflow depth that larger platforms carry.
  • As a smaller vendor it has less migration tooling and fewer conversion specialists than the large incumbents, so moving years of legacy records in is more of a project than a service.

Pricing, plan by plan

Shepherd

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Shepherd review.

VetBadger

$99/month
  • 1 to 2 users$99/month
    • Cloud hosting and backup included
    • Full medical records and scheduling
    • Chart-centric SMS and email
  • 3 to 10 users$249/month
    • Same feature set across the band
    • Flat price whether you have three users or ten
    • Exam detail reporting
  • 11 to 20 users$499/month
    • Multi-user scheduling
    • Full reporting
    • Priority support
  • 21 to 40 users$599/month
    • Largest published band
    • All features included
    • Support for larger single-site practices

Which should you pick?

Choose Shepherd if

  • You need consultation-first records.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want charges from treatment.
Shepherd review

Choose VetBadger if

  • You need chart-centric workflow.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want banded pricing.
VetBadger review

Questions people ask

Is Shepherd or VetBadger better?
Neither clearly leads. Shepherd starts at On request and VetBadger at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Shepherd or VetBadger?
Shepherd starts at On request and VetBadger at $99/month.
Does Shepherd or VetBadger run on more platforms?
Shepherd runs on Web, Cloud. VetBadger runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Shepherd best used for?
Shepherd is most often used for practices losing revenue to treatment delivered but never billed, clinics replacing on-premise legacy systems, independent practices wanting something designed around clinical work rather than administration. Of those, practices losing revenue to treatment delivered but never billed and clinics replacing on-premise legacy systems are not what VetBadger is typically brought in for.
What can Shepherd do that VetBadger cannot?
Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, Charges from treatment, Inventory, Cloud-based. VetBadger covers Chart-centric workflow, Banded pricing, Chart SMS and email, Integrated telehealth.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Shepherd: What does Shepherd cost?

Pricing is quoted per practice and not published.

VetBadger: How is VetBadger priced?

By user band: roughly USD 99 a month for one to two users, USD 249 for three to ten, USD 499 for eleven to twenty and USD 599 for twenty-one to forty.

Shepherd: What makes it different from other veterinary systems?

It was designed by a practising vet around the consultation workflow, so charges accrue from recorded treatment rather than being entered as a separate billing step.

VetBadger: Is hosting extra?

No. Cloud hosting and backup are included in the subscription, with no server to buy or maintain.

Shepherd: Is it cloud-only?

Yes, which removes server maintenance and makes connectivity a dependency.

VetBadger: Does it do telehealth?

Yes, integrated telehealth is included rather than sold as an add-on.

VetBadger: Is it suitable for a specialty or referral hospital?

Not really. It is built for general small animal practice and lacks specialty, referral and equine workflow depth.

Share

Related pages

More on Shepherd

More on VetBadger

Keep looking

Other head to heads