Summary
For most private clinics Wai is the better choice than Cliniko. Wai Admin answers WhatsApp, email and phone, books, reminds, checks eligibility and invoices around the clock at a published $3,500 a location a month, and Wai Clinicians drafts the notes, letters, codes and cited answers at $350 a clinician a month, all on one record. Cliniko is the lower priced licence for an allied health practice with full reception cover, at $295 a month for 13 to 25 practitioners.
Cliniko is one of the best value purchases in this category and the price is on the page. $45 a month for 1 practitioner, $95 for 2 to 5, $145 for 6 to 8, $195 for 9 to 12, $295 for 13 to 25 and $395 for 26 to 200, read on cliniko.com on 8 September 2026. SMS is 10 cents a message and prices are stated in United States dollars.
Note the shape of that ladder. A 5 practitioner clinic pays $95 in total rather than per person, which is a fundamentally different curve from per seat pricing and the cost per clinician falls as the clinic grows. For a physiotherapy, chiropractic or podiatry group this is very hard to beat on cost.
Wai is a different purchase and a more expensive one. Cliniko gives a growing allied health practice an excellent, low cost place to run its diary and its notes. Wai answers the enquiries, books the appointments and drafts the letters, and publishes its own price on one page.
Cliniko prices the diary. We price the work that fills it.
Book a demo| What you get | Cliniko | Wai |
|---|---|---|
| Published price | Six bands, from $45 | Yes, on one page |
| Priced by | Practitioner band, flat | Clinician and location |
| Cost per clinician as you grow | Falls sharply | Flat |
| Currency published | United States dollars | Pounds sterling |
| Allied health workflows | A core strength | Not the focus |
| Note composed from the encounter | Typed by the clinician | Composed, then approved |
| Phone, email and WhatsApp | Outside the record | One patient record |
What Cliniko is good at
Price per clinician at scale. A 25 practitioner clinic on the $295 band pays under $12 a practitioner a month. Nothing else in this comparison set comes close on that measure, and for a large allied health group it is the deciding number.
Simplicity that holds up. Cliniko does the diary, the notes, the online booking and the invoices without a tier maze, and it has been doing them for long enough that the software is quiet. A clinic that wants to stop thinking about its practice management system will get that here.
Honest publishing. Six bands and the SMS rate, on the page, in a stated currency. No quote required.
Where the two models part
Cliniko is a very well made container. The diary, the note and the invoice all have a good place to live, and a person puts them there. That is the whole design and it is why it can cost $95 for five practitioners.
Wai is priced on the work rather than the container. The enquiry is answered, the booking is taken, the note is composed from the encounter and the letter is drafted for approval. Those are hours rather than storage, which is why the price is higher and why the comparison is not really about software cost.
The test for a UK reader is currency and cover. Cliniko publishes in United States dollars, so a British clinic carries an exchange rate on its practice management line every month. Wai publishes in pounds. The larger point is still cover, because neither the phone nor the inbox is inside either price until you add the people who handle them.
Which one
Cliniko is the lower priced licence for an allied health practice with full reception cover, at $295 a month for 13 to 25 practitioners. Wai is the better choice when the hours are the problem, because Wai Admin answers WhatsApp, email and phone, books, reminds and invoices around the clock, and Wai Clinicians finishes the notes and letters.
Choose Wai if the constraint is hours rather than licence cost. See the same trade against a UK product with a published ladder in Jump EHR vs Wai.
What we are not claiming
We cost more than Cliniko and always will. A clinic whose binding constraint is the monthly software bill should buy Cliniko and stop reading here, because on licence price alone this is not a close comparison and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
We are also not claiming Cliniko's depth in allied health scheduling and multi practitioner rostering. It has been built into that shape for years.
Bring your own clinic to it. Thirty minutes, and you see it on your workflows.
Book a demoFrequently asked questions
How much does Cliniko cost?
Cliniko publishes six bands on cliniko.com, read on 8 September 2026. $45 a month for 1 practitioner, $95 for 2 to 5, $145 for 6 to 8, $195 for 9 to 12, $295 for 13 to 25 and $395 for 26 to 200. Prices are stated in United States dollars and SMS messaging is 10 cents a message on pre-paid credits. An annual option gives one month free.
Does Cliniko publish prices in pounds?
Cliniko does not publish prices in pounds. On cliniko.com on 8 September 2026 the pricing page stated that prices are in United States dollars, with no GBP figures shown. A UK clinic therefore carries an exchange rate on the practice management line, which is minor at these amounts but worth knowing before you budget.
Is Cliniko cheaper than Wai?
Cliniko is cheaper than Wai, substantially, and it is priced by practitioner band rather than per seat so it gets cheaper per clinician as the clinic grows. Wai is priced above it, published on our pricing page. The two are buying different things, a container for the work against the work itself, so the comparison is not licence against licence.
Is Cliniko good for allied health?
Cliniko is good for allied health, one of the strongest options for physiotherapy, chiropractic, podiatry and similar practices. Multi practitioner scheduling, online booking and note templates are built for that shape of clinic, and the flat band pricing suits a group rather than punishing it for hiring.
Cliniko or Wai for a UK private clinic?
If you have reception cover and want the lowest predictable software cost, Cliniko. If your enquiries go unanswered after hours, your letters wait a week and your notes get written at home, a lower priced diary does not reach any of that, and Wai covers the enquiry, the booking, the note and the letter on one record.
See it on your own clinic
Fifteen minutes on your workflows. If it is a fit we reply within 24 hours.