How practice management software is priced, and what to ask

It is Thursday evening, and the owner of a small dental practice has three quotes open on the desk. One is a price per user. One is a price per dentist and hygienist. One is a single price for the practice, with a line underneath about extra locations. Each looks reasonable on its own. Laid side by side, they cannot be compared at all, because each one is counting something different.

That is the usual first problem with practice software pricing. The numbers are on the page. What they multiply is not always obvious, and that is the part that decides what you pay next year.

What a quote is counting

Most practice software is priced on one of a few things.

Per user, or per seat. Every person who logs in usually costs the same, whether they see patients or answer the phone. Simple to read, but the receptionist, the practice manager and the part-time bookkeeper all count.

Per practitioner. You pay for the people who see patients. The front desk may be free or charged separately, so ask. Worth asking exactly who counts: a hygienist with her own diary, a locum covering one day a week, an owner who no longer treats anyone.

Per practice or per location. One price for the building, sometimes with a ceiling on users or practitioners inside it. Clear for a single site. Read the line about a second one.

Banded by headcount. The price is set by the range your headcount falls in. Within a band, hiring changes nothing. Crossing into the next one changes the price in a single step.

None of these is a trick. They suit different practices. What matters is knowing which one you are being offered, and asking what it does when the practice grows.

The second hygienist

A practice that has run with one hygienist for years takes on a second one. She starts on a Monday, gets her own login and her own column in the diary, and the month goes well.

Then the next invoice arrives, and it depends entirely on the model. Per seat, it rises by one seat. Per practitioner, it rises by one practitioner, which may cost more than a seat. Per location, it may not move at all. Banded, it either stays exactly the same or jumps to the next band, depending on where the practice sat.

So ask the question before you need the answer. What does adding one person do to the bill? When does the change take effect, straight away or at the next billing period? And will you be told before it is charged, or will you find out from the invoice?

The add-on that was cheap

Text message reminders are the classic add-on. When the practice sent about two hundred a month, the charge was small enough that nobody looked at it. Then it started sending a second reminder the day before, and recall messages to patients due a check-up, and the add-on quietly became one of the larger lines on the bill.

Anything charged by use behaves this way: text messages, file storage, and sometimes AI features. That is not a reason to avoid it. It is a reason to ask what each unit costs, what is included before you pay extra, whether unused allowance carries over, and whether there is a cheaper channel, such as email reminders, for the patients who are happy with one.

The one-off costs

Some of what a move costs is paid once, at the start. Setup or onboarding fees, training, and the cost of bringing your patients, diary and notes across from the old system. These rarely appear on the monthly figure, and they can be the largest single amount you pay. Ask for them in writing, and ask what is included. Our post on switching practice software covers the move itself.

Monthly, annual, and the trial

Annual billing is usually cheaper per month, and it is a commitment. Before you take it, ask what happens if you leave partway through the year, and whether the renewal comes with a reminder or simply appears on the card.

A trial is worth reading closely too. Which plan does it run on, the full product or a reduced one? Does it need a card? And what happens on the last day: are you charged automatically, or does the account wait for you to decide?

Making three quotes comparable

Back at the desk on Thursday evening, the fix is to stop comparing quotes and start pricing your own practice in each one. Write down, once:

• how many people see patients, and how many others log in;
• how many locations you run, now and in two years;
• roughly how many text reminders you send in a month;
• every one-off fee, and whether each price includes VAT.

Then work out what each supplier would charge for that practice, this year and after one more hire. The cheapest headline is often not the cheapest answer.

If you are weighing a particular supplier, our comparison pages set prices side by side for Dentally, Cliniko and SimplePractice, with the date each figure was checked.

Where HyperCRM fits

HyperCRM charges for practitioners, meaning members with their own login and calendar. Reception, admin and owner-only accounts are free and unlimited. Your practitioner count falls into one of 5 bands, which you do not choose. Within a band, hiring does not change the price. If a hire moves you into the next band, you are told before anything is charged, and the new price starts at your next billing period.

Prices start at €19 a month, VAT included, with nothing added at checkout. Email reminders are free on both plans, with no monthly allowance to count and a daily safety limit of 1,000. Text messages, AI assistant messages and other usage are paid from one credit balance. Each plan includes some every month, and extra credit packs never expire. There is no setup fee, and migration, onboarding and export are free. Online booking and a practice website are free on both plans. Your own domain and a blog are on Complete. Annual billing charges 10 months for 12, and we email before an annual renewal is charged. The 30-day trial runs on the Complete plan with no card, and nothing is charged when it ends: the account goes read-only until you choose a plan. Every price for every band is on the pricing page.

More on the blog.