Portrait vs Aesthetic Record: Which Is the Best for Med Spas?

Picking between Portrait and Aesthetic Record for your med spa? Start with your main goal: Do you want your software to just handle patient records and clinical documentation, or do you want the whole business side streamlined too?

If you're looking for an all-in-one solution that combines scheduling, compliance, marketing, inventory management, and actual savings on supplies, Portrait will cover more of your needs. Let’s break down what each platform offers, how they work day-to-day, and which one fits your clinic best.

Understanding the Needs of Modern Aesthetic Practices

Running a med spa isn’t just about delivering great outcomes for patients. You have to juggle patient care, keep injectables organized, manage memberships, and stay compliant with every policy and regulation. If you’re still using spreadsheets and patching emails together, you already know how much time gets lost each week.

The right software should save you hours, not pile on more busywork. Look for things like before-and-after photo management, injectable templates, a sleek patient portal, and easy ways to track your Botox and fillers. If your software is clunky or missing tools, you’ll just create more chaos.

Most aesthetic clinics need built-in marketing too. Your calendar won’t fill itself, and paperwork shouldn’t be getting in the way of smooth patient experiences. The better the software fits with your business, the more time you can spend on actual clinical work.

Portrait vs Aesthetic Record: Key Feature Overview

• Portrait: EHR, scheduling, payments, inventory, compliance, built-in marketing, supply savings
• Aesthetic Record: Cloud-based EMR, scheduling, inventory, patient communication, strong photo charting

Portrait is an all-in-one operating system. You get EHR, scheduling, payments, inventory, compliance, built-in marketing, and access to bulk supply discounts all with one login.

Aesthetic Record is made for aesthetic clinics wanting charting and photo documentation. You get EMR, scheduling, CRM, inventory, and integrated payments.

The main split is that Portrait wraps its software with operational support and purchasing power, while Aesthetic Record delivers an EMR focused on photos and documentation.

Software Usability and Design

Portrait offers a free EHR tier if you have less than 50 patients. Once you pass that, it’s a flat $99 per month per location. That covers records, smart scheduling, reporting, compliance, unlimited patient management, and more. No hidden fees or revenue sharing. No long-term contracts.

The dashboard is designed to be fast. You can go from booking to charting to payment without jumping between tabs. Portrait ships new features every two weeks, so you get upgrades without extra charges or headaches.

Aesthetic Record prices by user. You’ll pay $15 or $19 per month per user, depending on the plan, with a $399 setup fee. There’s also a custom plan for bigger groups. The platform covers a lot, but some users mention it takes time to learn. When support gets busy, you might wait a little longer for answers.

Compliance and Security

You can’t skip compliance in medical aesthetics. Both Portrait and Aesthetic Record are HIPAA-compliant, but they take care of oversight in different ways.

• Portrait: Built-in compliance and medical oversight. You get a network of licensed Medical Directors all over the country. The system automates Good Faith Exams, documentation, and oversight. You also get up-to-date SOPs and policy templates.
• Aesthetic Record: HIPAA-secure storage, customizable templates, encryption. You set up your own compliance network and handle relationships with medical directors outside the software.

If you want the platform to handle compliance for you, Portrait makes it a lot simpler. You won’t need to manage compliance as its own project.

Streamlined Marketing and Growth Tools

It’s tough to keep your calendar full and grow your med spa unless you’re running regular marketing campaigns. But most owners don’t want to build websites or fiddle with ad accounts on their own.

• Portrait: Includes full marketing services. You get a branded website, managed Google and Meta ads, ready-to-go social media content, and automated booking reminders sent by email or text. All of this plugs right into scheduling and patient data.
• Aesthetic Record: Focuses on patient management and communication. For marketing, the system connects to other third-party tools like ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, and HubSpot, but you’ll run and manage those campaigns yourself.

If you want hands-off marketing that just works out of the box, Portrait does more for you. You won’t need to act as your own campaign manager on top of everything else.

Free Launch Packages and Ongoing Support

Launching a med spa comes with a lot of moving parts. You need compliance lined up, a website and branding, patient outreach, and supplier accounts all set just to open your doors.

• Portrait: Helps with every step. That means regulatory help, connecting to medical directors, getting your website finished, and launching marketing campaigns. You get access to supplier deals right away and can grow from one provider to several locations without changing systems.
• Aesthetic Record: Gives you software and training. For everything else like compliance, marketing, and supplier deals you’ll need to manage or hire separately.

If you’re new to med spa operations or want a smooth start, Portrait offers more support out of the gate.

Supply Chain and Partner Discounts

Your operating margins can shrink fast if you’re paying full price for injectables and supplies. Even a 10% supply discount helps your bottom line.

• Portrait: Has direct partnerships with top pharma brands. Through their marketplace, you get access to up to 60% discounts on neurotoxins, fillers, peptides, IV/IM meds, and more. You order inside the platform. Half your savings are instant; half turn into rebate points you use later. The more you order, the more you save.
• Aesthetic Record: Does not offer supplier discounts. You’ll use your current vendors and pay their listed prices.

If you want supply savings you can reinvest in growth, Portrait gives you a real edge.

Comprehensive Product Access

Portrait’s built-in supply marketplace goes big on choice. Over 2,000 SKUs are available: injectables, weight loss meds, HRT products, peptides, IV/IM treatments, and skincare. You won’t have to go searching for new vendors each time you add a service.

Inventory connects directly to your EHR. You can track product use, match it to billing, and reorder fast—all from one place. This isn’t just nice to have; it’s how you keep your practice smooth and compliant.

Choosing the Right Solution for Your Practice

The right choice comes down to your size, goals, and how much you want your EHR to manage.

• Aesthetic Record: Great for practices that are already set up, just want a strong EMR with photos, and can take care of marketing and compliance with their own tools or partners. If you just want clinical documentation, this does the job.
• Portrait: Fits clinics launching now, planning to grow, or looking to cut costs. You get the full business package, including software, marketing, compliance help, supply deals, so you spend less time managing software and more time with patients. The free tier makes it budget-friendly for smaller practices, and you’ll only pay when you need to support more patients or locations.

If you’d rather focus on clinical care and skip hunting for extra vendors, Portrait helps you do exactly that.

Why an All-In-One Platform Matters

Most med spas end up stitching together five or more software tools just to run. You might have separate ones for scheduling, charting, payments, marketing, and inventory all with their own logins and learning curves. That means data never lines up and you’re stuck retyping details over and over.

Switching to an all-in-one platform can boost staff efficiency by 25% to 35%. Patient satisfaction often jumps by 20%. You’ll even recover up to 3% more profit per transaction by fixing front desk workflows and automating reminders.

With Portrait, everything’s in one place: EHR, scheduling, payments, inventory, compliance, and marketing. You’ve got one workflow and a single source of truth for your data. The support team also knows medical aesthetics inside out, not just generic software.

Portrait vs Aesthetic Record: The Bottom Line

Here’s what it all means: If you want a photo-heavy EMR and you’re happy running compliance, marketing, and supply deals yourself, Aesthetic Record will take care of your clinical documentation needs.

If you’re looking for a platform that does more, including software, business services, and actual cost savings, Portrait puts everything under one roof. The free tier, hands-off marketing, built-in medical oversight, and real supply savings make it easy to launch and scale.

If you want to grow faster and avoid all the extra admin, Portrait’s full-stack platform is set up to help you thrive. You’ll spend less time on busywork and more on what matters: patient care and clinic growth.