Canada · head to head · updated 2026-08-01

Open Dental vs Dentally

Own the server, or let Henry Schein One run it. Open Dental is on-premise and Dentally is cloud — usually the single biggest difference between them.

Open Dental

Open Dental Software, Inc.

Source-available practice management with the most transparent pricing in the category.

Deployment
On-premise
Entry price
$164/month per location, up to 3 providers
Built for
Solo, 2–4 locations, Group, DSO / enterprise
Visit Open Dental(opens in a new tab)

Read the full Open Dental review

Dentally

Henry Schein One

Henry Schein One’s cloud practice management system — and the only vendor here that publishes a price in the UK.

Deployment
Cloud
Entry price
Not published
Built for
Solo, 2–4 locations, Group
Visit Dentally(opens in a new tab)

Read the full Dentally review

The short answer

Open Dental publishes a price ($164/month); Dentally does not, so a like-for-like cost comparison is not possible without a quote.

Choose Open Dental if…

Practices that want maximum control and the lowest predictable running cost, and either have IT support or are willing to buy it.

It is ahead on eprescribing, teledentistry, ai features, open api, orthodontics .

Choose Dentally if…

Canadian practices that want cloud from a large vendor and will negotiate a quote.

It is ahead on insurance eligibility, payments, patient messaging, online booking, digital forms .

Where they actually differ

Of 19 modules we track, these 10 differ. The rest match, so they are not what should decide it.

ModuleOpen DentalDentally
Insurance eligibility Paid add-on Built in
Payments Via integration Built in
Patient messaging Paid add-on Built in
Online booking Paid add-on Built in
Digital forms Paid add-on Built in
ePrescribing Via integration Not stated
Teledentistry Via integration Not stated
AI features Via integration Not stated
Open API Built in Via integration
Orthodontics Built in Not stated
Show all 19 modules, including where they match
ModuleOpen DentalDentally
Scheduling Built in Built in
Clinical charting Built in Built in
Perio charting Built in Built in
Native imaging Built in Built in
Billing Built in Built in
Claims Built in Built in
Insurance eligibility Paid add-on Built in
Payments Via integration Built in
Patient messaging Paid add-on Built in
Online booking Paid add-on Built in
Digital forms Paid add-on Built in
Recall / reactivation Built in Built in
Analytics & KPIs Built in Built in
ePrescribing Via integration Not stated
Teledentistry Via integration Not stated
AI features Via integration Not stated
Open API Built in Via integration
Multi-location Built in Built in
Orthodontics Built in Not stated

Pricing, side by side

Open Dental

Publishes pricingchecked2026-08-01
PlanPriceBasis
Support — first 12 months
12-month contract		$164/monthper location, up to 3 providers
Support — after 12 months$137/monthper location, up to 3 providers
Additional providers$20/monthper provider beyond 3

Canadian rate is published on the same fee schedule as the US one. CDAnet certified.

Source: opendental.com, read 2026-08-01.

Dentally

No published pricingchecked2026-08-01

Dentally does not publish a price. You have to request a quote, which means you cannot budget or compare before speaking to a salesperson. Dentally has a dedicated Canadian pricing page headed “Affordable pricing for every dental practice”, listing Standard, Advanced and Advanced+ tiers in a feature table — and no figure anywhere on it. Both buttons go to Contact sales. The same vendor publishes full prices on its UK page.

We do not repeat third-party price estimates for quote-only vendors. Several widely republished figures in this category turned out to belong to a different product — see how we compare.

Strengths and trade-offs

Open Dental

Strengths

  • Publishes a complete fee schedule, including every add-on — almost unique in this category.
  • Per-location pricing means a three-dentist practice pays the same base rate as a solo one.
  • A genuinely open API and direct database access, so third-party tools integrate without vendor permission.
  • Source-available code and an unusually large independent developer ecosystem.

Trade-offs

  • Not natively cloud. Remote access means self-hosting, a third-party host, or a remote-desktop setup — an extra cost and an extra thing to secure.
  • You own the server, the backups and the HIPAA exposure that comes with them.
  • The interface is dense and dated; onboarding a new front-desk hire takes longer than on a modern cloud product.

Dentally

Strengths

  • True cloud with CDAnet claims and predeterminations handled natively.
  • Backed by Henry Schein One, so it is not going away and the integration marketplace is large.
  • Sold across several countries, which usually means the platform gets sustained investment.

Trade-offs

  • Publishes a pricing page with three named tiers and no prices on it — you cannot compare it on cost without a sales call.
  • Tier boundaries are described by feature list, so which tier you actually need is decided in the sales conversation.
  • Newer in Canada than the entrenched local systems, so fewer peers to ask.

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