Cliniko alternatives for scheduling-focused practices
Cliniko is clinical practice management - per-discipline clinical documentation, clinical letters, telehealth, and health-fund claiming. If you claim Medicare, DVA or health funds through your software, stay with Cliniko (or another clinical PMS). If clients pay you directly and you need online booking, scheduling, payments, packages, forms, and SOAP notes your team fills in, a booking platform such as Bella Booking is the clearer fit - not a like-for-like Cliniko clone.
Cliniko is clinical practice management - not “just booking”
Cliniko is a strong product in its category. The honest question is whether you need that category.
- SOAP notes and structured clinical documentation
- Treatment records built for clinical workflows
- Medicare / DVA-style claiming and related clinical billing (where available in your country)
- Telehealth and clinical practice features aimed at allied health
If your day revolves around insurance claims and per-discipline clinical tools, Cliniko (or Nookal / Jane App in the same category) is purpose-built for that. Looking for a “cheaper Cliniko” that drops clinical features usually means you wanted booking software all along - not a weaker clinical PMS.
When a booking platform is the better alternative
Choose booking / scheduling software when clients pay you directly and your primary workflow is book → attend → pay - not chart → claim.
| You need… | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Insurance / Medicare claiming, per-discipline clinical templates, clinical letters, telehealth | Clinical PMS (Cliniko, Nookal, Jane App) |
| Online booking, calendar, deposits, packages, memberships, digital forms, SOAP notes your team fills in | Booking software (e.g. Bella Booking) |
| Both clinical claims and a polished consumer booking page | Clinical PMS first - booking polish is secondary |
| Spa, aesthetics, wellness without clinical billing | Booking software |
The deciding factor is usually insurance billing. If you submit health-fund or Medicare claims, stay in practice management. If clients pay card/cash/package, booking software is simpler, and Bella Booking keeps SOAP notes and treatment records your team fills in.
What Bella Booking offers (and what it does not)
What Bella does
Branded online booking, team and room scheduling, deposits and cancellation policies, prepaid packages, memberships, gift cards, client credit, digital intake and consent forms with e-signatures and file upload, SOAP notes and treatment records your team fills in (never shown to the client), client-facing (non-clinical) treatment plans on the client record and booking portal, automated SMS/email reminders, two-way messaging (Messages Plus), and an AI assistant with a weekly business digest. Packages, forms, treatment plans, client credit, and referrals are on Professional; AI assistant and digest are on all plans. Flat monthly plans with zero commission on bookings.
What Bella does not do
Bella does not include Medicare, DVA, HICAPS, or other health-fund claiming, telehealth, or HIPAA certification. Clinical notes in Bella are team member forms: a ready-made SOAP note template or a form you build yourself, filled in by your team and never shown to the client. Bella’s treatment plans are personalised service programmes for the client portal - not clinical care plans with clinical goals. Those practice-management capabilities belong in Cliniko, Nookal, or Jane App - claiming otherwise would be dishonest.
Do not switch from Cliniko to Bella expecting claiming to transfer: claiming history stays with Medicare and your health funds. Treatment notes you export from Cliniko come across as dated timeline notes on the right client, credited to the practitioner who wrote them, rather than as structured clinical records. Keep an archive of anything you need in its original clinical format.
Other options in the same conversation
- Stay on Cliniko - right choice if claiming or its per-discipline clinical tools are non-negotiable
- Nookal - allied health practice management with strong AU/APAC clinical billing
- Jane App - clinical charting and insurance-oriented practice management (strong in CA/US markets)
- Booking platforms (Bella, and salon/spa tools) - when you do not need clinical PMS
See also our longer explainer on booking software vs practice management if you are still deciding which category you are shopping in.
Questions to ask before switching
- Do I submit Medicare, DVA, WorkCover, private health, or other insurance claims today?
- Does my registration body, insurer or employer require a specific clinical records system, or would SOAP notes and treatment records my team fills in cover it?
- Will clients pay me directly (card, package, membership) without claiming through the software?
- Can I export client contacts and appointment history in a usable format?
- What happens to historical clinical notes if I leave a clinical PMS?
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