License & Deployment Mix: 15 tools – 2 OSS, 11 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)
What Is Veterinary Practice Management Software?
Veterinary practice management software (veterinary PIMS – Practice Information Management System) is the operational backbone of an animal clinic or hospital. It handles patient records, scheduling, billing, inventory, lab integration, and client communication – replacing paper charts and manual workflows with a unified digital system.
Unlike a generic EMR or EHR, veterinary PIMS includes domain-specific features that human medical software cannot provide:
- Veterinary EMR – electronic medical records for animals tracking species, breed, weight, vaccination history, and species-specific treatment protocols
- SOAP notes – Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan clinical notes adapted for veterinary medicine with species-aware templates
- Treatment plans and estimates – pre-visit cost estimates for clients, with itemized procedures, medications, and expected outcomes
- Inventory management – drugs, vaccines, and supplies with expiration date tracking, automatic reorder points, and controlled substance logging
- Lab integration – IDEXX, Antech/Mars, Zoetis, and Heska reference lab connectivity for ordering tests and receiving results electronically
- Imaging integration – DICOM/PACS for veterinary radiology including digital X-ray, ultrasound, and dental imaging
- Client communication – appointment reminders, vaccination recalls, pet portals, two-way texting, and post-visit follow-ups
- Boarding and grooming – scheduling and management for non-medical services including kennel assignments, feeding schedules, and grooming appointments
- Controlled substance logging – DEA compliance for ketamine, diazepam, and other scheduled drugs with usage tracking and reporting
- Species support – companion animals (dogs and cats), equine, exotic, large animal (bovine, ovine, porcine), and mixed practice workflows
- Whiteboard – visual hospital workflow board showing patients currently in the clinic with status, location, assigned staff, and pending treatments
- PIMS – Practice Information Management System, the industry term for veterinary practice management software
The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.
Comparison
Feature Matrix
| Feature | OpenVPMS | GNU Health | eVetPractice | Cornerstone | Neo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMR / SOAP | Yes | Basic | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling | Yes | Basic | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Yes | Basic | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory | Yes | Basic | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lab integration | Limited | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Imaging (DICOM) | No | No | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Boarding | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Client portal | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | AVImark | Pulse | Shepherd | Digitail | Rhapsody |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMR / SOAP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lab integration | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Imaging (DICOM) | Yes | Limited | Limited | Limited | Limited |
| Boarding | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Client portal | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Provet Cloud | Vet Radar | Hippo Manager | NaVetor | DaySmart Vet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMR / SOAP | Yes | Sheets* | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling | Yes | No* | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Yes | No* | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory | Yes | No* | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lab integration | Yes | No* | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Imaging (DICOM) | Limited | No | No | No | No |
| Boarding | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Client portal | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
* = Vet Radar is a treatment sheet / whiteboard add-on for ezyVet, not a standalone PIMS
Deployment Comparison
| Tool | Type | Platform | Cloud | On-Prem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVPMS | Server | Java/MySQL | No | Yes |
| GNU Health | Server | Python/PostgreSQL | No | Yes |
| eVetPractice | SaaS* | Browser | Yes | No |
| Cornerstone | Desktop | Windows | No | Yes |
| Neo | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| AVImark | Desktop | Windows | No | Yes |
| Pulse | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| Shepherd | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| Digitail | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| Rhapsody | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| Provet Cloud | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| Vet Radar | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| Hippo Manager | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| NaVetor | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
| DaySmart Vet | SaaS | Browser | Yes | No |
* = eVetPractice has been rebranded as Covetrus Pulse; listed separately for historical reference
Licensing Comparison
| Tool | License | Type | Cost Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVPMS | MPL-2.0 | Open source | Subscription ~AUD |
| GNU Health | GPL-3.0 | Open source | Free |
| eVetPractice | Proprietary | SaaS | Rebranded to Pulse |
| Cornerstone | Proprietary | Desktop | ~$420/mo |
| Neo | Proprietary | SaaS | ~$199/mo/user |
| AVImark | Proprietary | Desktop | Contact vendor |
| Pulse | Proprietary | SaaS | Contact vendor |
| Shepherd | Proprietary | SaaS | ~$299/mo (1 DVM) |
| Digitail | Proprietary | SaaS | Contact vendor |
| Rhapsody | Proprietary | SaaS | Contact vendor |
| Provet Cloud | Proprietary | SaaS | From 25 EUR/user/mo |
| Vet Radar | Proprietary | SaaS | Contact vendor |
| Hippo Manager | Proprietary | SaaS | ~$119/mo/vet |
| NaVetor | Proprietary | SaaS | Contact vendor |
| DaySmart Vet | Proprietary | SaaS | From ~$123/mo |
SSO / OIDC Comparison
OIDC is the preferred SSO protocol; the notes below flag which tools integrate with Authentik.
| Tool | OIDC | SAML | AD | Authentik Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVPMS | No | No | No | No SSO support |
| GNU Health | No | No | No | No SSO support |
| eVetPractice | No | No | No | See Pulse |
| Cornerstone | No | No | Win | Windows auth only |
| Neo | No | No | No | Vendor-managed |
| AVImark | No | No | Win | Windows auth only |
| Pulse | No | ? | ? | Contact vendor |
| Shepherd | No | No | No | Vendor-managed |
| Digitail | No | ? | ? | Contact vendor |
| Rhapsody | No | ? | ? | Contact vendor |
| Provet Cloud | No | ? | ? | Contact vendor |
| Vet Radar | No | No | No | ezyVet auth |
| Hippo Manager | No | No | No | Vendor-managed |
| NaVetor | No | No | No | Vendor-managed |
| DaySmart Vet | No | No | No | Vendor-managed |
? = not publicly documented; contact vendor
SSO summary: The veterinary PIMS market lags behind other software categories in SSO adoption. No tool in this evaluation supports OIDC natively. Some enterprise-tier cloud platforms may offer SAML on request, but this is not publicly documented.
Desktop tools: Cornerstone and AVImark rely on Windows authentication with no modern SSO protocol support.
Multi-Location / Corporate Group Support
| Tool | Multi-Location | Corporate Focus | Centralized Mgmt |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVPMS | Limited | No | No |
| GNU Health | Yes | No | Basic |
| eVetPractice | Yes | Moderate | Yes |
| Cornerstone | Yes | Strong | Yes |
| Neo | Yes | Moderate | Yes |
| AVImark | Limited | No | No |
| Pulse | Yes | Moderate | Yes |
| Shepherd | Yes | Moderate | Yes |
| Digitail | Yes | Strong | Yes |
| Rhapsody | Yes | Strong | Yes |
| Provet Cloud | Yes | Strong | Yes |
| Vet Radar | Yes | Moderate | Via ezyVet |
| Hippo Manager | Yes | Moderate | Yes |
| NaVetor | Yes | Moderate | Yes |
| DaySmart Vet | Yes | Moderate | Yes |
Best for corporate groups: Cornerstone, Digitail, Rhapsody, and Provet Cloud offer the strongest multi-location centralized management features.
API Comparison
| Tool | REST API | Access | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVPMS | Limited | HL7 interface | Limited |
| GNU Health | Yes | Tryton RPC | Moderate |
| eVetPractice | ? | See Pulse | See Pulse |
| Cornerstone | Yes | IDEXX partner program | Limited |
| Neo | Limited | IDEXX ecosystem | Limited |
| AVImark | Limited | Partner program | Limited |
| Pulse | Yes | Covetrus ecosystem | Limited |
| Shepherd | Limited | Contact vendor | Limited |
| Digitail | Yes | Open API | Moderate |
| Rhapsody | Yes | Marketplace API | Moderate |
| Provet Cloud | Yes | Open REST API | Good |
| Vet Radar | No* | Via ezyVet | Via ezyVet |
| Hippo Manager | Limited | Contact vendor | Limited |
| NaVetor | Limited | Patterson ecosystem | Limited |
| DaySmart Vet | Limited | Contact vendor | Limited |
? = not publicly documented * = Vet Radar integrates via ezyVet API
Best API: Provet Cloud has the most open and well-documented REST API with full data ownership. Digitail and Rhapsody also offer modern APIs.
AI Features
| Tool | AI SOAP | AI Diagnostics | AI Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shepherd | TranscribeAI | DiagnoseAI | Yes |
| Digitail | AI Dictation | Yes | 15+ AI agents |
| Provet Cloud | AI SOAP | No | AI assistant |
| Others | No | No | No |
AI features are an emerging differentiator in veterinary PIMS. Digitail leads with 15+ AI agents, Shepherd offers TranscribeAI and DiagnoseAI, and Provet Cloud includes an AI assistant for SOAP notes and discharge instructions.
Monitoring Integration
| Tool | Telegraf | Fluent Bit | Grafana |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenVPMS | MySQL plugin | App logs | Custom |
| GNU Health | PostgreSQL plugin | App logs | Custom |
| Cornerstone | Windows + SQL | Event logs | Custom |
| AVImark | Windows services | Event logs | Custom |
| Cloud SaaS tools | Endpoint only | Endpoint only | N/A |
Note: Cloud SaaS tools (Neo, Pulse, Shepherd, Digitail, Rhapsody, Provet Cloud, Vet Radar, Hippo Manager, NaVetor, DaySmart Vet) do not expose server-side metrics. Monitoring is limited to endpoint and network infrastructure via monitoring.
Tools
15 tools.
AVImark (Covetrus)
AVImark is a widely deployed on-premise veterinary practice management system from Covetrus (part of Patterson Companies).
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: none
Cornerstone (IDEXX)
Cornerstone is IDEXX’s flagship on-premise veterinary practice management system and one of the most widely deployed veterinary PIMS in North America.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: none
DaySmart Vet
DaySmart Vet (formerly Vetter Software) is a cloud-based veterinary practice management system established in 2011, tailored for veterinary clinics of all sizes and specialties.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Digitail
Digitail is an all-in-one, cloud-based, AI-native veterinary practice management system founded in 2018 by Sebastian Gabor and Ruxandra Pui.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
eVetPractice
eVetPractice was a cloud-based veterinary practice management system serving over 23,000 practices worldwide. Originally an independent product, it was acquired by Henry Schein and subsequently rebranded as Covetrus Pulse.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
GNU Health
GNU Health is a free/libre hospital information system focused on public health and social medicine.
License: GPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, package · SSO: none
Hippo Manager
Hippo Manager is a cloud-based veterinary practice management solution designed for small and midsize clinics, hospitals, specialists, and independent contractors.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
NaVetor
NaVetor is a cloud-based veterinary practice management system distributed by Patterson Veterinary. It provides electronic medical records, a quick-view dashboard, and a customisable appointment calendar with SOAP-based clinical notes.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Neo (IDEXX)
Neo is IDEXX’s cloud-native veterinary practice management system, designed as a modern alternative to the on-premise Cornerstone platform. It is 100% cloud-based, giving practices the freedom to access it anywhere, anytime, on any device.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
OpenVPMS
OpenVPMS is the first open-source veterinary practice management system built by and for the veterinary industry.
License: MPL-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none
Provet Cloud
Provet Cloud is a cloud-based veterinary practice management system developed in Finland with a growing international presence across Europe and the United States.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Pulse (Covetrus)
Covetrus Pulse (formerly eVetPractice) is described as the industry’s first all-in-one Veterinary Operating System (VOS).
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Rhapsody
Rhapsody is a cloud-based veterinary Practice Information Management System (PIMS) created by Petabyte Technology, now part of the Chewy ecosystem.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Shepherd Veterinary Software
Shepherd is a cloud-based veterinary practice management system designed by veterinarians for veterinarians. It focuses on reducing administrative burden and enhancing clinical efficiency with a modern, intuitive interface.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Vet Radar
Vet Radar is a cloud-based clinical workflow and treatment sheet system designed as a companion to ezyVet, one of the world’s leading cloud-based veterinary practice management systems (acquired by IDEXX).
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
