Head to head · updated 2026-08-01
Open Dental vs Dentrix
The cost-control choice against the incumbent. 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
Dentrix
Henry Schein One
The on-premise incumbent — the software most US practices already run.
- Deployment
- On-premise
- Entry price
- Not published
- Built for
- Solo, 2–4 locations, Group
The short answer
Open Dental publishes a price ($199/month); Dentrix 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 native imaging, analytics & kpis, open api, multi-location, orthodontics .
Choose Dentrix if…
Established practices that value ecosystem breadth and staff familiarity over price transparency.
It is ahead on payments, eprescribing, teledentistry, ai features .
Where they actually differ
Of 19 modules we track, these 9 differ. The rest match, so they are not what should decide it.
| Module | Open Dental | Dentrix |
|---|---|---|
| Native imaging | Built in | Paid add-on |
| Payments | Via integration | Paid add-on |
| Analytics & KPIs | Built in | Paid add-on |
| ePrescribing | Via integration | Paid add-on |
| Teledentistry | Via integration | Paid add-on |
| AI features | Via integration | Paid add-on |
| Open API | Built in | Via integration |
| Multi-location | Built in | Paid add-on |
| Orthodontics | Built in | Paid add-on |
Show all 19 modules, including where they match
| Module | Open Dental | Dentrix |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduling | Built in | Built in |
| Clinical charting | Built in | Built in |
| Perio charting | Built in | Built in |
| Native imaging | Built in | Paid add-on |
| 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 | Paid add-on |
| ePrescribing | Via integration | Paid add-on |
| Teledentistry | Via integration | Paid add-on |
| AI features | Via integration | Paid add-on |
| Open API | Built in | Via integration |
| Multi-location | Built in | Paid add-on |
| Orthodontics | Built in | Paid add-on |
Pricing, side by side
Open Dental
| Plan | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Support — first 12 months 12-month contract | $199/month | per location, up to 3 providers |
| Support — after 12 months | $149/month | per location, up to 3 providers |
| Additional providers | $20/month | per provider beyond 3 |
| Volume — 4 to 9 offices $149/office after 12 months | $169/month | per office |
Add-ons you will probably also buy
The base price above is not the bill. These are priced separately.
| Add-on | Price | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| eClipboard | $45/month | per location |
| eConfirmations $40 with landline texting | $25/month | per location |
| Integrated texting | $5/month + $0.04/message | per location |
| ODMobile | $35/month | per location |
| Web Sched (new/existing patient) | $75/month | per 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.
Dentrix
Dentrix 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 is published anywhere on the product site. Pricing is quoted per practice and typically bundled with a Henry Schein One support plan.
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.
Dentrix
Strengths
- The largest installed base in US dentistry, so hiring staff who already know it is easy.
- Almost every third-party dental product integrates with it.
- Deep, mature clinical and financial reporting refined over decades.
Trade-offs
- No published pricing at all — you cannot budget without going through sales.
- On-premise, with the server, backup and security burden that implies.
- Heavily modular: the base product is a starting point and the useful extras are priced separately.
- Long-standing user complaints about support cost and quality relative to price.
Other comparisons
- Dentrix vs Eaglesoft — The two on-premise giants, head to head
- Dentrix vs Dentrix Ascend — Same brand, different product — and a real migration
- Open Dental vs Eaglesoft — Open pricing against Patterson’s ecosystem
- Open Dental vs Practice-Web — Shared lineage, near-identical pricing — what differs
- Open Dental vs Curve Dental — Own the server, or let someone else run it