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Veterinary · head to head

Shepherd vs Zanda Health

Shepherd logo

Shepherd

Veterinary

Cloud veterinary practice management built by a practising vet

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: Shepherd quote-only pricing with no published rates; 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: Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, 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 Shepherd and Zanda Health actually diverge.

Attributes where Shepherd and Zanda Health differ
AttributeShepherdZanda Health
Starting priceOn request$19/month
Pricing modelquotePer user per month
PlatformsWeb, CloudWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryVeterinaryHealthcare

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 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.

Shepherd

  • Practices losing revenue to treatment delivered but never billednot Zanda Health
  • Clinics replacing on-premise legacy systemsnot Zanda Health
  • Independent practices wanting something designed around clinical work rather than administrationnot 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 Shepherd
  • A psychology group practice with more reception staff than clinicians, where per seat pricing elsewhere would double the billnot Shepherd
  • A UK osteopathy practice moving off paper diaries that needs online booking and card payment without an implementation projectnot Shepherd
  • A multi site podiatry business that needs room and equipment allocation alongside practitioner availabilitynot 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

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

Shepherd

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Shepherd review.

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 Shepherd if

  • You need consultation-first records.
  • You work on Web, Cloud.
  • You also want charges from treatment.
Shepherd 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 Shepherd or Zanda Health better?
Neither clearly leads. Shepherd 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, Shepherd or Zanda Health?
Shepherd starts at On request and Zanda Health at $19/month.
Does Shepherd or Zanda Health run on more platforms?
Shepherd runs on Web, Cloud. Zanda Health 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 Zanda Health is typically brought in for.
What can Shepherd do that Zanda Health cannot?
Shepherd covers Consultation-first records, Charges from treatment, Inventory, Cloud-based. Zanda Health covers Unlimited admin users, Australian funder billing, Clinical note templates, Two way SMS.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Shepherd: What does Shepherd cost?

Pricing is quoted per practice and not published.

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.

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.

Zanda Health: Do receptionists count as paid users?

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

Shepherd: Is it cloud-only?

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

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.

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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