Head to head · updated 2026-08-01

Open Dental vs Eaglesoft

Open pricing against Patterson’s ecosystem. Both are on-premise, so the hosting decision is not what separates them.

Open Dental

Open Dental Software, Inc.

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

Deployment
On-premise
Entry price
$199/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

Eaglesoft

Patterson Dental

Patterson’s long-established on-premise practice management system.

Deployment
On-premise
Entry price
Not published
Built for
Solo, 2–4 locations, Group
Visit Eaglesoft(opens in a new tab)

Read the full Eaglesoft review

The short answer

Open Dental publishes a price ($199/month); Eaglesoft 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 teledentistry, open api, multi-location, orthodontics .

Choose Eaglesoft if…

Practices already committed to Patterson hardware and support.

It is ahead on payments, eprescribing .

Where they actually differ

Of 19 modules we track, these 6 differ. The rest match, so they are not what should decide it.

ModuleOpen DentalEaglesoft
Payments Via integration Paid add-on
ePrescribing Via integration Paid add-on
Teledentistry Via integration Not stated
Open API Built in Via integration
Multi-location Built in Paid add-on
Orthodontics Built in Not stated
Show all 19 modules, including where they match
ModuleOpen DentalEaglesoft
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 Paid add-on
Payments Via integration Paid add-on
Patient messaging Paid add-on Paid add-on
Online booking Paid add-on Paid add-on
Digital forms Paid add-on Paid add-on
Recall / reactivation Built in Built in
Analytics & KPIs Built in Built in
ePrescribing Via integration Paid add-on
Teledentistry Via integration Not stated
AI features Via integration Via integration
Open API Built in Via integration
Multi-location Built in Paid add-on
Orthodontics Built in Not stated

Pricing, side by side

Open Dental

Publishes pricingchecked 2026-08-01
PlanPriceBasis
Support — first 12 months
12-month contract		$199/monthper location, up to 3 providers
Support — after 12 months$149/monthper location, up to 3 providers
Additional providers$20/monthper provider beyond 3
Volume — 4 to 9 offices
$149/office after 12 months		$169/monthper office

Add-ons you will probably also buy

The base price above is not the bill. These are priced separately.

Add-onPriceBasis
eClipboard$45/monthper location
eConfirmations
$40 with landline texting		$25/monthper location
Integrated texting$5/month + $0.04/messageper location
ODMobile$35/monthper location
Web Sched (new/existing patient)$75/monthper location

Priced per location rather than per provider, so adding associates barely moves the bill. You supply and maintain the server.

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

Eaglesoft

No published pricingchecked 2026-08-01

Eaglesoft does not publish a price. You have to request a quote, which means you cannot budget or compare before speaking to a salesperson. Quote-only, generally sold alongside Patterson hardware and imaging.

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.

Eaglesoft

Strengths

  • Tight integration with Patterson imaging hardware, which many practices already own.
  • Large installed base and a well-understood, stable product.
  • Native imaging rather than a separately licensed module.

Trade-offs

  • No published pricing.
  • On-premise only, with the usual server and backup obligations.
  • Closely tied to the Patterson ecosystem, which narrows hardware choice.
  • Slower feature cadence than the cloud-native competition.

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