Jane App vs Cliniko (2026): which fits your clinic?
On this page
Jane App and Cliniko do the same core job: schedule patients, keep a clinical record, take payments, and stop your front desk from drowning. Both are built for allied health rather than mental health or dental, both are strong on online booking, and neither is designed to submit US insurance claims. If you have narrowed your shortlist to these two, you have already made the easy decisions.
The harder question is which one fits the clinic you actually run. That comes down to three things: how many practitioners you have (and how many are part-time), whether you want deep configurability or a clean, simple tool, and where you are — because pricing currency, support and regional fit differ.
The short answer
Choose Jane App if
You run a mixed-modality clinic
Two or more practitioners, more than one discipline, and you want the most polished booking and patient-portal experience in the category. Jane treats rooms and equipment as real objects, lets you build your own clinical templates, and gives you one calendar for everyone.
Choose Cliniko if
You want simple and predictable
One or two disciplines, a lean front desk, and a per-practitioner price with unlimited appointments and SMS reminders included. Cliniko is faster to set up and easier to train, and it is especially strong in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
The two products, briefly
Jane App was built by someone who ran a clinic, and it shows in the small places. Booking is embedded in the patient portal and genuinely pleasant on a phone. Charting is template-driven, so you shape it into a chiropractic, physio or TCM workflow. On the higher tier it treats rooms and equipment as first-class calendar objects, which matters the moment you share a treatment room between two practitioners. Its weak spot is US insurance billing, which is an add-on rather than a native claims engine.
Cliniko is deliberately plainer. It is quick, clean and uncluttered, with a scheduling and invoicing core that allied-health clinics run on without much configuration. Its selling points are price predictability (per practitioner, unlimited appointments), unlimited SMS reminders included in the subscription, and a short learning curve. It handles invoices and payments well; it is not a US claim-submission system, so insurance-heavy American clinics still need a claims-first tool.
Pricing: the model matters more than the number
The two products price differently, and that difference is the whole decision for a lot of clinics. Jane sells flat monthly tiers with an allowance for practitioners; Cliniko sells strictly per practitioner. At one practitioner they are close. As you add people — especially part-timers — the lines cross or diverge depending on your mix.
| Platform | How it prices | Entry point | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jane App | Monthly tiers (Balance / Practice / Thrive) | ~$59–$99/mo | Practice is the tier most clinics land on; Thrive adds rooms & equipment. Insurance billing and SMS may be metered or add-on. |
| Cliniko | Per practitioner, per month | ~$45/practitioner/mo | Unlimited appointments and unlimited SMS reminders included; no setup fee; free trial. |
Indicative annual cost on published list prices (checked November 2026), excluding insurance add-ons, payment processing and any SMS overage:
| Platform | 1 practitioner | 3 practitioners | 6 practitioners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jane App | ~$950/yr | ~$2,700/yr | ~$5,000/yr |
| Cliniko | ~$540/yr | ~$1,600/yr | ~$3,200/yr |
Read that table as a shape, not a verdict. Cliniko looks cheaper at every headcount on list price, and often is. But the gap narrows the moment your Jane clinic is mostly full-time practitioners on a flat tier, or the moment Cliniko’s per-head price is quoted in a stronger local currency. The honest answer is to price your actual team — including part-timers — on both vendors’ current pages before you decide.
Where Jane wins
Booking and the patient portal
This is the least arguable advantage. Jane’s online booking is the most configurable in the category: intake forms, per-service rules, deposits, and a patient portal that people actually use on a phone. Every booking that completes online is a phone call your desk does not take, and for a clinic with a thin front desk that is the whole ballgame.
One calendar for a mixed-modality team
If your clinic runs chiropractic plus massage plus acupuncture under one roof, Jane is built for that. Rooms and equipment are first-class calendar objects on the Thrive tier, so a shared table with a modality attached does not create double-booking confusion. Cliniko handles multiple practitioners and locations, but Jane is the more natural fit when the disciplines genuinely differ.
Template flexibility
Jane’s charting is template-driven rather than discipline-native, which cuts both ways: you will build your own orthopedic or TCM template, but you are not stuck inside someone else’s idea of a note. Clinics that need a specific record structure usually find Jane’s editor flexible enough.
Growth features
Packages, memberships, reporting and integrations are deeper on Jane. If you sell treatment courses or memberships and expect to grow past three or four practitioners, the extra configuration pays for itself.
Where Cliniko wins
Predictable, per-practitioner pricing
Cliniko’s model is easy to forecast: one price per practitioner, unlimited appointments, no tier gate that suddenly removes a feature you need. For a clinic that hates surprise line items, that predictability is worth real money.
Unlimited SMS reminders included
This is Cliniko’s quiet superpower. Reminders are included rather than metered, and no-shows are the single most expensive leak in a small clinic. A practice sending a few thousand texts a month can save more here than it saves on the subscription itself.
Simplicity and speed
Cliniko is faster to set up and easier to train. A new receptionist can be productive on day one, and there is less to configure and therefore less to get wrong. If your team turns over and you do not want a two-week onboarding each time, this matters.
Allied-health fit outside the US
Cliniko is especially strong in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, with a support reputation built on those markets. If you are outside North America, its regional fit and currency handling are a genuine advantage.
Feature by feature
| Jane App | Cliniko | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat tiers + practitioner allowance | Per practitioner, unlimited appointments |
| Online booking | Most configurable; strong patient portal | Clean and solid; less configuration |
| Charting | Template-driven, flexible | Template-based, simpler |
| Rooms & equipment | Yes, as calendar objects (Thrive tier) | Practitioners and locations; less granular |
| SMS reminders | Included; volume may be metered | Unlimited, included |
| US insurance claims | Add-on; not a native claims engine | Invoicing and payments; not claim-submission |
| Best regional fit | Canada, US, Australia | Australia, NZ, UK, Canada |
Cells marked with a caveat are the ones you should confirm on the vendor’s current page or in a trial, because feature gating changes between plans and regions more often than the marketing pages admit.
Which one should you pick
You are solo and cash-pay, and price is the whole decision. Cliniko. Lower list price at one practitioner, unlimited SMS included, and less to configure than you need at this size.
You are solo but expect to hire within a year, and booking quality matters. Jane on the Practice tier. You are paying a little more for the booking and portal experience you will want the moment the second practitioner arrives.
You are two to five practitioners across more than one discipline. Jane. One calendar, rooms and equipment as real objects, and templates you can shape per discipline. This is the case it was built for.
You are two to five practitioners in one discipline, outside the US. Cliniko. Predictable per-head pricing, unlimited reminders, and a support footprint in your market.
More than half your revenue is US insurance. Neither. Buy a claims-first system and accept weaker booking; running a scheduling tool next to a clearinghouse is the expensive mistake we see most often.
The honest summary
Jane is the better product for a mixed, growing clinic that values booking and configurability. Cliniko is the better value for a lean, single-discipline clinic that values simplicity and predictable cost. Neither is a US insurance engine, and neither will fix a front-desk process that is already broken — software amplifies whatever you bring to it.
If you want one line: Jane for mixed-modality and growth; Cliniko for simplicity and price. Then run the eight tasks from our chiropractic guide or the acupuncture guide on your finalist before you pay.
Questions we get asked
Is Jane App or Cliniko cheaper?
At one practitioner, Cliniko is usually cheaper on list price. As you add practitioners the answer depends on your full-time/part-time mix and how many SMS reminders you send: Cliniko charges per head but includes unlimited SMS, while Jane’s flat tier can win when most of your team is full-time. Price your actual team on both current pricing pages.
Can Cliniko handle insurance billing?
Cliniko handles invoices, payments and receipts well, and it is fine for cash-pay and self-claiming patients who need a superbill. It is not a US insurance claim-submission system. If more than half your revenue is claims, pair a claims-first tool with your scheduler rather than expecting Cliniko to submit claims.
Which is better for a solo practitioner?
Cliniko if you want the lowest price and the least setup. Jane if booking quality and the patient portal matter more than the monthly difference, or if you expect to hire soon and want to grow into the same system.
Does Jane include SMS reminders?
Jane includes reminders, but SMS volume can be metered rather than unlimited, so a high-volume clinic should confirm the current terms on Jane’s pricing page. Cliniko’s unlimited SMS is one of its clearest advantages.
Can I migrate from one to the other?
Yes. Both import patient records, and both will export your data. What rarely migrates cleanly is prepaid packages and treatment-plan balances — expect to re-enter those by hand. Do the switch in a slow month, never in January.
Which is better outside the US?
Both are strong in Canada and Australia. Cliniko has a particularly deep footprint in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, with support and currency handling built around those markets. If you are in that part of the world, weight Cliniko’s regional fit accordingly.
Related: SimplePractice vs Jane App and Cliniko vs SimplePractice — the other two head-to-heads in this set; best software for acupuncture clinics; and best software for chiropractors.
Next: what clinic software actually costs in 2026, including the four line items that double a small clinic’s bill.