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

Open Dental vs Tracker

Published pricing against a Canadian all-in-one. Open Dental is on-premise and Tracker is not stated — 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

Tracker

The Bridge Network Inc. (Ontario)

Long-running Canadian all-in-one system with deep claims support — CDAnet v4, ITRANS 2.0 and EDI attachments.

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

Read the full Tracker review

The short answer

Open Dental publishes a price ($164/month); Tracker 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 perio charting, native imaging, eprescribing, teledentistry, open api and 2 more.

Choose Tracker if…

Practices that want a Canadian vendor with claims handling as the priority.

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

Where they actually differ

Of 19 modules we track, these 12 differ. The rest match, so they are not what should decide it.

ModuleOpen DentalTracker
Perio charting Built in Not stated
Native imaging Built in Via integration
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
Open API Built in Not stated
Multi-location Built in Not stated
Orthodontics Built in Not stated
Show all 19 modules, including where they match
ModuleOpen DentalTracker
Scheduling Built in Built in
Clinical charting Built in Built in
Perio charting Built in Not stated
Native imaging Built in Via integration
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 Via integration
Open API Built in Not stated
Multi-location Built in Not stated
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.

Tracker

No published pricingchecked2026-08-01

Tracker does not publish a price. You have to request a quote, which means you cannot budget or compare before speaking to a salesperson. No figure published. The site has no pricing page at all — /pricing/ returns 404.

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.

Tracker

Strengths

  • Claims support is the most explicitly documented of any Canadian system here: CDAnet version 4, ITRANS 2.0 and EDI attachments are all named.
  • Canadian company with a long track record — in the market since 1993.
  • Contactless payments and eServices patient communication are part of the product rather than a third-party bolt-on.

Trade-offs

  • No published pricing, and no pricing page to request one from.
  • The site does not state whether the product is cloud or on-premise, which is the first question a buyer should be able to answer.
  • Imaging appears to rely on integration rather than a native module.

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