LOOKING FOR A PRACTICEPAL ALTERNATIVE?
PracticePal vs. Zanda
Figuring out which would be the best practice management system for your practice is far from a simple task. PracticePal and Zanda both offer great features and functionalities, but there are some differences you should know about.
What’s the difference between
PracticePal and Zanda?
If two-way communication and advanced appointment reminders are vital to your practice, not to mention a waitlist to efficiently fill cancellations, then Zanda is the best choice for you. Particularly if a brandable client portal and ongoing support are important to you.
Below we’ve explored the main differences between the two systems, to help you to make an informed decision.
See Why Health Practices Love Zanda
1,000+ Reviews
Zanda is great for managing group sessions and the only software I found that allows this function. Excellent customer service also!
Therese Ryan,
Top Talking Speech Pathology
It’s been the best program to use. It makes life a whole lot easier. Especially when it comes to the messaging service.
Raymond Inkpen,
Principal Clinical Psychologist
Psi Balance Psychology
Best value for money and very convenient! We’ve used Zanda since 2015. It’s a lot better than other providers.
Prakash Rathnam,
Inspire Physio Care
Best decision! It’s been a godsend using such a fabulous electronic diary and management software. It’s so easy to use.
Judy Burzacott,
Remedial Massage Therapist
Connective Energetics
I’ve used a number of different practice management systems and there’s no doubt that Zanda is best in class.
Dr. Ryan Kaplan, Clinical Psychologist
Be Psychology and Mental Health
Excellent! Easy to use and train staff in its use. Far easier and nicer to use than software we’ve previously used.
David Walker,
David Walker Podiatry
Your service as always is amazing. Zanda is a pretty fantastic system – especially with the integration to Xero!
Carla Rogers,
Here and Now Health
Absolutely love Zanda! It’s simple to use and makes my life easy. Cannot recommend this enough to allied health professionals.
Alison Wheatley,
Byford Physiotherapy
It saves us lots of time in generating reminders and invoices for clients. It’s great for our business and reasonable in price.
Amy Clift,
Play on Words Speech Pathology
Zanda solves a lot of problems – we’re very happy. Very customisable. Great customer support from the onset.
Andy MacKellar,
Ships Physio
It saves us lots of time in generating reminders and invoices for clients. It’s great for our business and reasonable in price.
Amy Clift,
Play on Words Speech Pathology
Best decision! It’s been a godsend using such a fabulous electronic diary and management software. It’s so easy to use.
Judy Burzacott,
Remedial Massage Therapist
Connective Energetics
Why should you choose Zanda?
REASON #1
Simple Inclusive Subscription
We believe that transparent pricing is important, which is why we keep our subscription costs simple; a base fee including all of our features, plus variable charges based on the number of SMS messages sent.
PracticePal is structured differently, offering a base subscription with the option to add various paid features and functionalities, plus variable charges for SMS messages and any automated emails sent for appointment reminders. When opting to include all of PracticePal’s features, the subscription cost increases by over 70%.
Some of PracticePal’s paid add-on features include treatment/clinical notes, online bookings (also subject to an additional fee per booking), some finance related functions, and more. All of these are included within Zanda’s account, for no extra charge.
Also, with PracticePal, an additional cost will be incurred should you need a data import service. Zanda offers a free data import service, even for large files.
REASON #2
Impress Clients With a Brandable Client Portal
Both PracticePal and Zanda offer a client portal, allowing clients to book and manage their own appointments at their convenience. Being the first port of call for many practices, we believe that it is important for the portal to be recognisable with the clinic’s own branding.
Zanda provides an unparalleled client portal experience with various customisations to make you stand out from the crowd. These include adding a logo, a header image, brand colours, appointment instructions, booking rules, a cancellation policy, and much more. You can even set custom availability for online bookings!
PracticePal, however, has very limited customisations possible.
REASON #3
Two-Way SMS and Email Communication
Good communication can drastically improve the running of a practice, be it with clients, colleagues or other healthcare providers. Although both PracticePal and Zanda support email and SMS messaging, only with Zanda can you have seamless two-way conversations, all from within the app. Whilst PracticePal has an internal messaging platform, this only facilitates communication between colleagues.
Both systems also offer bulk SMS and emails, ideal for sending promotional marketing messages, or updating clients of a change of address or operating hours. Alternatively, Zanda users can utilise the Mailchimp integration to increase their marketing and improve client relationships.
REASON #4
Auto-Appointment Reminders
If you are looking to reduce the number of no-shows your practice experiences, then appointment reminders are the ideal solution. Whilst these are offered by both PracticePal and Zanda, there is one big difference between the two.
Only Zanda has advanced inbuilt logic which is able to recognise and process the responses received via SMS. This triggers an automatic update within the calendar, marking the appointment status as confirmed or cancelled. In addition, by using our appointment colour coding, you can easily see who has confirmed, and who may need another reminder.
Auto-processing reminder responses is not only convenient for the practitioner and the client, but also eliminates the risk of a response being missed.
REASON #5
Fill Cancellations Efficiently
Whilst appointment reminders reduce no-shows, they will also prompt some cancellations. Cancellations can occur for many reasons, and are usually followed by time-consuming manual outreach by you or your team. However, with Zanda you can fill these newly available slots effortlessly.
Our waitlist feature enables you to send a bulk SMS message to a select group of clients, all from within the app. Choose to filter by preferred clinician, current length of wait, or availability, and then Zanda does the rest. Any empty appointments will be filled in no time!
REASON #6
Training and Support Whenever You Need It
Switching to a new practice management system can be exciting; new features and functionalities that you cannot wait to get started with! This feeling can soon turn to frustration if things aren’t as straightforward to function as expected, and you don’t have the support you need.
At Zanda, we want you to have confidence in not only our software, but in the continuous support and guidance you will receive for the duration of your time with us. We have our expert support team on hand via email or live-chat to answer any questions you have, plus our Knowledge Base, filled with help articles to guide you through every feature and function we offer. These articles are continuously refreshed to ensure that you have the most up-to-date information possible.
PracticePal usually provides a 60 minute in depth demo when initially joining, followed by an additional demo at a later date, but it seems there is nothing in the way of help articles, step-by-step guides, or a live-chat service, which could be problematic in times where you need some quick guidance. Additional 30 minute demos can be booked but for a fee of £30, or bespoke training for £60.
REASON #7
In-Platform Practice Operations Manual
Policies and procedures are essential for any health practice but they can also be expensive to develop. Zanda is the only practice management system that includes a Practice Operations Manual, with over 100 policies and procedures ready-to-go and completely adaptable for your business. You can edit, delete and archive the existing policies and add your own.
When you start with Zanda, our Practice Operations Manual feature is ready for you to explore right away. PracticePal doesn’t offer this feature, you’ll only find the in-platform Practice Operations Manual at Zanda.
No risk with our Money-Back Guarantee
Yes, you read that right! Simply start your account now, and if at any point over the next 12 months you decide Zanda isn’t right for you, just let us know. We’ll refund 100% of any subscription fees you’ve paid.
Still not sure whether to choose
Zanda or PracticePal?
Here’s a chart where you can make a fair assessment…
| Zanda vs. PracticePal | Zanda | PracticePal |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | 14 day free trial with access to all features including SMS messaging. | No, the only option is to book a demo. |
| Price for 1 practitioner (per week) | £9.90 (£43/month) this price includes all of PracticePal’s features | |
| Price for 3 practitioners (per week) | £12.25 (£53/month) | |
| Price for 7 practitioners (per week) | £17 (£73/month) | |
| Price for 15 practitioners (per week) | £26 (£113/month) | |
| Price for 30 practitioners (per week) | £43.40 (£188/month) | |
| Calendar management | Choose from multiple appointment types with colour coding. Able to set appointment flags to show booking status. Can support multiple locations and flexible recurring availability patterns. | |
| SMS & email reminders | Send up to 3 SMS and email reminders per appointment, with flexible sending times. Responses auto-update appointment status within the diary. | Yes, able to send automated SMS and email reminders. Each automated email reminder incurs a 5p fee. |
| 2-Way SMS chat | Seamless two-way chat from within the app. Messages are grouped together into conversations for added convenience. | All communication with clients is one way. |
| Telehealth | Secure and compliant with all health standards. | |
| Online Forms | Choose from our fully customisable templates, or create your own from scratch to collect all the information you need before a session – including an electronic signature. Ideal for new client intake forms or telehealth consent forms. | There is no mention of online forms on the PracticePal website. |
| Client management system | Unable to record referrers. | |
| Treatment notes | Over 100 specialised templates. All are fully customisable; choose multiple choice and tick boxes, note sections, image and body charting with annotation and much more. Unlimited creation and storage of templates. Easily duplicate previous notes, and view full edit history of templates. | |
| Online bookings | Online bookings can be made via the portal for no added subscription fee or booking fees. Appointments automatically update the diary. Apply branding to the booking portal, including colours, a logo and a header image. A booking link can be added to a website or facebook. | Online bookings are possible for an additional fee. Bookings are made via the portal, with any successful bookings incurring an additional fee of 10p. A booking link can be added to a website, but not facebook. |
| Waitlist | ||
| Invoices & payments | Fully integrated invoicing. Able to set calendar alerts flagging new outstanding payments, and alert practitioners of new online booking with clients with outstanding invoices. Also able to block clients from booking until fully settled. Integrates with Xero for invoicing and accounting, and Stripe for online payment processing, and Tyro for EFTPOS. | Yes, but unable to set custom alerts for newly outstanding invoices, or to set custom pop-up alerts when a client with outstanding invoices schedules a new appointment. Also cannot block bookings until invoices are fully paid and settled. Integrates with Xero and Stripe, but no integration possible with Tyro. |
| Credit card processing | Integrates with Stripe. Request and process payments at the time of booking online, during home visits or Telehealth appointments. Clients are also able to pay directly through the client portal. | Able to accept prepayments with Stripe integration. |
| Reports & analytics | ||
| Money-back guarantee | ||
| Data import service | Comprehensive data import service free of charge. | Yes, but prices start at £150. |
| Practice Operations Manual | This industry-first feature provides a core set of policies and procedures that are ready to use and easily adapted to your practice. |
*This comparison article reflects information available as of April 2020.
*Pricing with current special offer available until the end of this month.
All prices are in GBP.
You can see why Zanda is trusted by thousands of practitioners.
Try Zanda for Yourself!
Here’s what Zanda Clients are Saying…
“Zanda is my virtual business partner! As a sole trader I need a CRM that I can trust, one that gives me the functionality necessary to manage my diary, client communications and financial reporting. My favourite features include; Automated client messages, Financial reporting, and Customer service excellence.”
Sally Chantler,
No Regrets Laser Tattoo Removal
“Very easy to use. Interfaces with Xero, and Medicare and MailChimp. So convenient to use from an iPhone or iPad too!”
Amanda Mannes,
Dietitian & Nutritionist,
Accept Health
“Love Zanda – easy to use /navigate for both myself & my clients. Clients love the reminder text messages. I don’t have a web page, but I was still able to set up the diary & my clients found it easy to access & the convenience of booking themselves in. Thank you for making it easy for me.”
Michelle Rademaker,
Remedial Massage,
Michelle Rademaker Therapies
“Quick and Easy! Makes payments and Medicare rebates so simple and fast you might rethink your need for an admin assistant. I did.”
Dr. Alanda Thompson,
Sunshine Psychology
“It’s been the best program to use. I have a colleague in another practice who wishes they were on it, as it makes life a whole lot easier. Especially when it comes to the messaging service.”
Raymond Inkpen,
Principal Clinical Psychologist
Psi Balance Psychology
“Great easy booking system – love that I can do reports, store patient notes, send emails, invoices and write letters. Has made my business seamless!”
Sarah Sealey,
Physiotherapist,
Amity Physio Pilates
Happy customers are our lifeblood. We’d love you to join us.
Still need a hand deciding?
The Zanda support team is ready to help!
You can contact us through email, online chat, or access our knowledge base.
Or check out more information here:
See customer reviews for Zanda
Learn about our practice management system
See how affordable Zanda really is
We’ll help you import your data for free
Start a free, 14 day trial (no credit card needed)