Cliniko was one of the first platforms I evaluated seriously when I was looking for clinic management software. It has a clean, modern interface, reasonable pricing, and a good reputation in the allied health community in Australia and New Zealand — the market it was originally built for.
My evaluation ended with a list of things Cliniko did well and a shorter but more critical list of things it did not. The “did not” list was specific enough that I could not work around it — and specific enough that I knew building my own was going to produce something more suitable for the clinics I was targeting.
I built ClinicPlusPlus. Here is the honest comparison between the two platforms, including the areas where Cliniko is genuinely stronger.
Cliniko: What It Gets Right
Cliniko has been in the market for over ten years. It has a large user base concentrated in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, and the product reflects that — the compliance features, the terminology, and the default configurations are well-matched to the allied health sector in those markets.
The appointment booking interface is well-designed. The practitioner column view for multi-practitioner clinics is clean and usable. Patient intake forms and treatment note templates are a genuine strength — Cliniko has built out a library of clinical note formats that physiotherapists, chiropractors, and similar practitioners use directly. The patient communication features — automated appointment reminders via SMS and email — are reliable and configurable.
Cliniko strengths:
- Mature product with 10+ years of development
- Extensive clinical note template library
- Reliable automated appointment reminders
- Strong reputation in allied health (physiotherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy)
- Good Australian/NZ/UK compliance features (tax, invoicing formats)
- Online booking portal included
- API for integration with other systems
Where Cliniko Has Limitations
Pricing at multi-practitioner scale
Cliniko’s pricing is per-practitioner per-month. The base tier starts at a low price for a single practitioner and increases linearly with the number of practitioners. For a clinic with five or more active practitioners, the monthly cost accumulates to a number that many independent clinics find difficult to justify — particularly when they are comparing against software that charges a flat fee regardless of practitioner count.
Customisation constraints
Cliniko is a SaaS product. The workflows are Cliniko’s workflows. If your clinic’s scheduling logic, intake process, or billing workflow differs from Cliniko’s model, you adapt your process to fit the software — not the other way around. For many clinics, the fit is close enough. For clinics with specific requirements, the mismatch creates workarounds.
Cloud-only, data not on your server
Cliniko is cloud-hosted. Patient records, appointment history, billing data, and clinical notes are on Cliniko’s servers. For clinics operating in markets with strict data residency requirements — where patient health data must remain in a specific jurisdiction — Cliniko’s hosting infrastructure may not satisfy those requirements without verification of their data centre locations.
GST and South Asian billing formats
Cliniko’s invoicing and billing is optimised for Australian, NZ, and UK formats. For clinics operating in South Asian markets — where GST compliance, specific invoice formats, and local tax codes apply — Cliniko requires workarounds or does not meet compliance requirements at all.
ClinicPlusPlus: Built Around Different Priorities
ClinicPlusPlus was built with a different set of priorities than Cliniko. Where Cliniko optimises for the allied health market in English-speaking Western markets, ClinicPlusPlus is built for the clinical workflow that most small-to-mid-size multi-practitioner clinics share globally — with specific attention to GST billing compliance and the operational needs of clinics in South and Southeast Asian markets.
Flat practitioner pricing
ClinicPlusPlus does not charge per practitioner. The licence covers the clinic, not each individual practitioner account. For a clinic with five practitioners, the cost comparison with per-practitioner platforms is significant.
Offline capability
ClinicPlusPlus runs locally on the clinic’s server — it does not require an internet connection to function. For clinics in locations with unreliable internet connectivity, this is not a convenience feature; it is a requirement. A cloud-dependent system that goes offline when the internet goes down is not viable in these environments.
Integrated prescription module
ClinicPlusPlus includes a prescription module integrated with the patient record and appointment workflow. Clinicians can issue prescriptions from within the same system that handles their scheduling and billing — no separate module or external system. Cliniko does not include prescription management.
GST-compliant billing for South Asian markets
The billing module in ClinicPlusPlus is built around GST compliance — generating invoices in the correct format with the correct tax codes for South Asian markets. This is a first-class feature, not a workaround.
ClinicPlusPlus vs Cliniko: Full Feature Comparison
| Feature | ClinicPlusPlus | Cliniko |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment scheduling (multi-practitioner) | Yes | Yes |
| Patient records (electronic) | Yes | Yes |
| Clinical note templates | Yes | Yes (extensive library) |
| Automated appointment reminders | Yes | Yes (SMS + email) |
| Online patient booking portal | Yes | Yes |
| Prescription module | Yes (integrated) | No |
| Inventory/pharmacy management | Yes | No |
| GST-compliant invoicing (South Asia) | Yes | Limited |
| Offline capability | Yes (local server) | No (cloud only) |
| Data on your own server | Yes | No |
| Practitioner-based pricing | No (flat licence) | Yes (per practitioner/month) |
| Allied health note templates | Basic | Extensive |
| Australian/NZ/UK compliance | Partial | Full |
| API for external integration | Yes | Yes |
| Market focus | South/Southeast Asia | Australia, NZ, UK |
Who Should Use Which
Choose Cliniko if:
- You operate in Australia, New Zealand, or the UK
- You are an allied health practitioner (physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage) who needs the clinical note template library
- You need a mature, fully managed cloud solution with strong support
- You do not need prescription management or pharmacy inventory
Choose ClinicPlusPlus if:
- You operate in South or Southeast Asia with GST billing requirements
- You need prescription management integrated with patient records
- You need offline capability for unreliable connectivity environments
- You have multiple practitioners and want flat pricing rather than per-practitioner fees
- You require patient data to stay on your own infrastructure
Quick Summary
- Cliniko is the mature, well-regarded platform for allied health in Australia/NZ/UK — strong on clinical templates, automated reminders, and a polished cloud experience. Limitation: per-practitioner pricing and cloud-only architecture.
- ClinicPlusPlus is built for South/Southeast Asian clinic operations — strong on GST compliance, prescription integration, offline capability, and flat per-clinic pricing. Less mature in Western allied health template libraries.
- Neither is universally better — the right choice depends on your market, your regulatory requirements, and whether offline capability matters.
If Cliniko fits your market and workflow, it is a well-built product. If the GST compliance, prescription module, offline capability, or flat pricing of ClinicPlusPlus matches your clinic’s requirements better, ClinicPlusPlus is the alternative to evaluate.