Comparisons
ClientWell vs Cliniko & Timely
A practical side-by-side for allied health professionals, natural health practitioners and coaches caring for clients and patients. We have kept it honest: all three are solid tools, but they are built for slightly different practices.
| Feature | ClientWell | Cliniko | Timely |
|---|---|---|---|
Public booking page | |||
Calendar sync (Google/Outlook) | |||
AI receptionist on the booking page Sage answers questions, checks availability and books in - 24/7. | |||
Website builder included Professional and Team plans. Or export your site and host it anywhere. | |||
Lead capture forms & leads inbox | |||
Waitlist & one-tap cancelled-slot fill | |||
Classes & group bookings | |||
Invoices & account balance | |||
One-tap invoice from appointment | |||
Stripe payments with tax calculation | |||
Platform fee on appointment payments You pay Stripe's card fee; we don't clip the ticket on top. | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Packages & pre-paid sessions | |||
Late cancel & no-show fees | |||
Email & SMS reminders | |||
Reactivation texts (win-back) 4, 8 and 12-month check-ins on Professional and Team; 4-month on Startup. | |||
Review requests & feedback texts | |||
Campaigns & contact groups | |||
Team chat & cross-clinic messaging | |||
ACC claim tracking & billing dashboard NZ-specific. Direct invoice lodging to ACC built in. | |||
Export your full website & data ClientWell exports real HTML/CSS for your site; data export is available on all plans. | Partial | Partial | |
Free forever plan Up to 5 active clients or patients, booking page and email reminders. |
Pricing snapshot
Entry-level pricing for a solo practitioner, checked September 2026. Competitor pricing moves often, so verify on their sites.
Most popular solo plan. Team NZ$149/mo for 3-5 practitioners.
Pricing checked Sep 2026; verify on cliniko.com.
Pricing checked Sep 2026; verify on gettimely.com.
Cliniko's own users say time is the problem
In Cliniko's 2021 user survey, 23.3% of the top challenges practitioners reported were directly about running out of time. The three tasks Cliniko names as the "trio of top hassles" are all follow-up work - the kind that happens after your last appointment.
Source: Cliniko's own FAQ article, "What is practice management software?", quoting their 2021 survey. Checked October 2026.
Sage drafts the message or letter from the person's own record. You read it, change what you like, then send.
Reminders, reactivation texts and email campaigns go out on their own, with the right booking link attached.
Your booking page and lead capture forms take the details while you are in an appointment, and every enquiry lands in one inbox.
To be fair, Cliniko's answer is letter templates, automated reminders and intake forms, and those help. But the follow-up work that actually fills your diary - email campaigns to your contact list, win-back texts, review requests and lead follow-up - isn't part of Cliniko. In ClientWell, it is.
When ClientWell usually wins
- You want bookings, a website, lead capture and follow-up in one place rather than paying for three or four tools.
- You work in New Zealand and need ACC claim tracking and invoicing support.
- You want an AI receptionist handling the same five questions while you are in an appointment.
- You hate the idea of a platform taking a percentage of every appointment payment on top of the subscription.
- You run a small team or two linked clinics and need simple internal chat and shared calendars.
When Cliniko or Timely might still be the right call
- You need a specific integration we don't offer yet.
- Your practice is already deeply set up in one of them and the switching cost outweighs the savings.
- You need a feature we haven't built yet - for example, complex multi-location reporting or certain third-party health fund integrations.
The honest caveat
We built this comparison from public pricing and feature pages in September 2026, and the Cliniko survey figures above come from Cliniko's own FAQ page. Competitors update their plans constantly, and a feature listed as "no" may be available through an integration or a higher tier. If something here looks off, tell us and we'll fix it. We would rather be accurate than clever.
Not sure which fits your practice?
Tell us what you are using now and what is annoying you. We'll be straight about whether ClientWell is a good swap.