Cliniko pricing in 2026: what it really costs an Australian practice

On This Page

1. The price list
2. What gets added to the bill
3. Claiming: Medicare, DVA and health funds
4. Taking payments
5. Three practices, three bills
6. How it compares
7. What reviewers say
8. Before you sign up
9. Connecting it to your website
10. Who’s behind it
11. Who it suits
12. Questions we get asked

Cliniko's price list fits on one line: one practitioner is US$45 a month, and the price only changes when your headcount crosses a band. Every feature is in every plan. That simplicity is most of its appeal.

What the price list doesn't show is what an Australian practice actually pays each month. The bill is in US dollars, GST goes on top, SMS is extra, and Medicare and DVA claiming runs through a separate company with its own fees. This guide works through all of it, with three example practices, and compares the result with Halaxy, Nookal, Zanda, Splose and Coreplus.

The price list

These are Cliniko's prices as shown to Australian visitors in October 2026. Cliniko states them in US dollars. The Australian dollar figures use the Reserve Bank's rate on 6 October 2026, US$1 to A$1.43, and will move with the exchange rate.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Every plan includes every feature, unlimited reception and admin users, unlimited locations, patients and file storage, and support. Paying yearly gets you one month free. There's a 30-day trial with no card needed. Cliniko says its prices haven't changed since it launched in June 2011, without even an adjustment for inflation, which is unusual enough to be worth knowing when you're comparing with vendors who reprice every year.

The bands reward practices at the top of one. A clinic with five practitioners pays the same as a clinic with two. A clinic that hires its sixth jumps from US$95 to US$145.

What gets added to the bill

GST. Cliniko's terms say its fees exclude taxes, and a business liable for GST pays it on top. So an Australian practice pays the US dollar price plus 10 per cent, charged to a card in US dollars.

Your bank's fee. Because the charge is in US dollars, many Australian business cards add an international transaction fee. It varies by bank, so check yours. It's the cost people forget.

SMS. 10 US cents per message of up to 160 characters, with each further 160 characters another credit. Credits are prepaid in lots of 200 or more and aren't refunded if you leave. Email reminders are free.

Nothing else from Cliniko. Online booking, telehealth (video calls with up to four people) and every other feature are included. Apps you connect, like an AI scribe, Physitrack or Xero, charge their own fees.

Claiming: Medicare, DVA and health funds

Cliniko doesn't claim from Medicare or health funds itself. It does it through Tyro Health, formerly Medipass, which is a separate account with its own approval process (Cliniko says about five business days for Medicare) and its own fees.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Tyro Health's fees are in Australian dollars and include GST. The monthly cap was $39 until recently and is now $49. We found no HICAPS integration in Cliniko; on-the-spot health fund claiming goes through Tyro's HealthPoint instead.

Taking payments

Cliniko takes card payments through Stripe, and earns nothing from them. Stripe's standard Australian rate for domestic cards online is 1.65 per cent plus 30 cents. Tyro Health charges 1.3 per cent when a gap payment on a health fund claim is raised from Cliniko.

Since 1 October 2026, card networks have banned surcharges on eftpos, Visa and Mastercard payments, following the Reserve Bank's review, and Amex and PayPal have followed. Practices can no longer pass card fees on to patients as a surcharge. The cost either comes out of your margin or goes into your prices.

Three practices, three bills

Here's the monthly total for three practices, including GST on Cliniko's charges and Tyro Health's claim fees, at one location, with every SMS under 160 characters. Bank fees aren't included.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

If those claims were private health fund claims instead, the Tyro line would be zero.

How it compares

The same three practices on the other systems Australian allied health practices shortlist, using each vendor's published prices in October 2026, including GST, without promotions. Features and claiming costs differ, so treat this as a rough guide, not like for like.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

The pattern: Halaxy is cheapest at every size because its core is free and you pay per use. For a solo practitioner Cliniko is at the expensive end. As the team grows, Cliniko's flat bands bring its cost per practitioner down faster than anyone else's, and by twelve practitioners it's among the cheaper options. Splose's prices rise on 1 November 2026, which will move it up the table.

What reviewers say

Cliniko has fewer public reviews than its size suggests. In October 2026 it rated 4.7 out of 5 from 23 reviews on Capterra Australia (Software Advice shows the same pool) and 4.9 from 12 on G2. It isn't listed on ProductReview.com.au. Most reviewers are outside Australia.

The praise is consistent: easy to learn and to train reception staff on, online booking with SMS reminders, good value, responsive support. The complaints are consistent too: reporting is basic, the only native accounting link is Xero, there are no recurring invoices or memberships, and embedding the booking page on a website takes some fiddling.

Before you sign up

There's no app in the app stores. Cliniko runs in the browser and works on a phone, and you can add it to your home screen, but if you search for "Cliniko app" you won't find a native one.

There's no built-in AI scribe. Cliniko has been publicly cautious about AI. If you want one, it comes from a connected app such as Heidi, at that app's price.

Getting in is free, getting out is self-serve. Cliniko moves your data in from about 20 systems for free. To leave, an admin exports everything as CSV files from Settings, then Data exports, with patient attachments as ZIP files. The export files expire after two weeks.

Cancelling is immediate. There's no refund for part of a billing cycle and no pause option. Cliniko's own pages disagree on how long data is kept afterwards (one says at least a year, the terms say 90 days), so export before you cancel, not after.

It's on AWS. Australian accounts are stored in Australia. When AWS had its global outages, on 20 October 2025 and 16 July 2026, Cliniko went down with it, like most cloud software.

Connecting it to your website

This is the part we deal with every week. Cliniko gives each account a booking page and an embed code from Settings, then Online bookings. Its URL builder makes separate links for each practitioner, location or appointment type, so a "Book with Sam" button can take patients straight to Sam's diary. It supports Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics 4 and the Meta Pixel on the booking page.

Two things to know. Patients see the first free slot in each morning, afternoon and evening rather than the whole diary, which keeps it simple. And the embed is an iframe, which makes tracking bookings from your own site harder; our online bookings guide explains the workaround. We found no Reserve with Google integration, so on your Google profile you paste the booking link in yourself.

Who's behind it

Cliniko is made by Red Guava, founded in Melbourne by developer Joel Friedlaender and osteopath Liora Dafner-Beach. It launched in June 2011, is still owned by its founders with no outside investment, and says it's used by more than 65,000 health professionals. ISO 27001 certification on its security page belongs to AWS rather than Cliniko itself; Cliniko runs an annual third-party penetration test and a bug bounty.

Who it suits

Cliniko suits allied health practices of three or more practitioners who want one predictable price, every feature, a big library of connected apps, and an owner that hasn't changed hands or prices in fifteen years. It suits a solo practitioner less well on cost alone, where Halaxy's free core is hard to argue with. And if your practice claims heavily from Medicare, factor in Tyro Health: it's capped, but it's another account and another bill. Our six-way comparison covers claiming, telehealth and leaving for each system.

Questions we get asked

How much does Cliniko cost per month?

US$45 for one practitioner, US$95 for two to five, up to US$395 for 26 to 200, plus GST for Australian businesses. SMS is extra.

Is Cliniko priced in Australian dollars?

No. Cliniko's pricing page states prices in US dollars, and Australian practices are billed in US dollars.

Does Cliniko charge GST?

Its terms say prices exclude taxes and GST is payable on top if your business is liable for it.

How much are Cliniko SMS reminders?

10 US cents per message of up to 160 characters. Email reminders are free.

Does Cliniko do Medicare claiming?

Through Tyro Health, at 14 cents per approved Medicare or DVA claim, capped at $49 per location per month. Private health fund claims through Tyro are free.

Is there a free trial?

Yes, 30 days with no card needed.

Is there a Cliniko app?

Not a native one. It runs in a phone's browser and can be added to the home screen.

Can I get my data out if I leave?

Yes. Admins can export everything as CSV files themselves. Do it before cancelling.

Is Cliniko cheaper than Halaxy?

No. Halaxy is cheaper at every practice size we priced, because its core is free. The gap narrows as the practice grows.

Has Cliniko ever put its prices up?

Cliniko says its prices are the same as when it launched in June 2011.