Vagaro vs. PatientNow

Choosing between business management platforms like Vagaro and PatientNow requires careful consideration of your specific industry needs, as one caters to beauty, wellness, and fitness, while the other focuses on the elective medical sector. This article will provide an overview of both Vagaro and PatientNow, examining their respective features and pricing structures. The goal is to offer a clear comparison to help you determine which solution is the most suitable choice for your business operations.

A quick overview on Vagaro and PatientNow

What is Vagaro?

Vagaro provides business management software for the beauty, wellness, and fitness sectors, offering solutions for scheduling, payment processing, and customer tracking. The platform is designed for a range of business sizes, from solo entrepreneurs to multi-location enterprises.

Its features include a marketplace for businesses to connect with customers, live streaming capabilities for classes, and options for a custom-branded mobile app. Vagaro also offers hardware for point-of-sale operations and integrations with tools like QuickBooks and Xero.

What is PatientNow?

PatientNow offers software and consulting services for the elective medical industry, with a focus on aesthetics and wellness. The company provides solutions for practice management, electronic medical records (EMR), and patient engagement to sectors including med spas, plastic surgery, and dermatology.

Its platform is an all-in-one system that combines software with consulting, tailored specifically for medical aesthetics and wellness providers. A key feature is its integrated photography tool for capturing and managing before-and-after patient images.

Features of Vagaro and PatientNow

Vagaro features

Vagaro provides several features designed to streamline operations for businesses and improve the booking experience for clients. Some of its notable capabilities include:

• Flexible booking options: Customers can book services to take place at a business, request mobile services where the provider travels to them, or attend virtual sessions via live stream.
• A consumer marketplace: The platform includes a marketplace where users can discover businesses, browse services, and find daily deals.
• Automated notifications: The system sends automatic appointment reminders and confirmations to clients, helping to reduce no-shows.

PatientNow features

PatientNow’s platform is designed specifically for the elective medical industry and comes with several features to manage practice operations:

• All-in-one system: The software integrates electronic medical records (EMR), practice management, patient engagement, payments, and digital marketing into a single platform.
• Photography management: It includes the RxPhoto tool, which automates the uploading and labeling of patient photos and provides features for creating before-and-after comparisons.
• AI-powered marketing: The platform has built-in AI tools to help create and automate SMS and email marketing campaigns to engage patients.
• Digital skin analysis: A unique feature is the inclusion of digital skin analysis technology, which is used to help improve lead conversion and patient acceptance of treatment plans.

Comparing Vagaro, PatientNow and Portrait Care's features

Why choose one over the other?

• From a consumer's perspective, Vagaro is the superior choice for booking general beauty, wellness, and fitness appointments due to its public-facing marketplace, which allows users to discover new businesses and find daily deals. In contrast, PatientNow is a backend management tool for medical practices and does not offer a consumer booking portal. Vagaro also provides more flexible service options, including mobile services and live-streamed classes, catering to a wider range of personal needs.

• An elective medical practice would choose PatientNow over Vagaro for its specialized, industry-specific features. PatientNow is an all-in-one system designed for medical aesthetics, offering essential tools like integrated Electronic Medical Records (EMR), HIPAA compliance, and the RxPhoto app for managing before-and-after images. Vagaro, being a general-purpose platform, lacks these critical clinical functionalities required for medical practice management.

Considering Portrait Care vs Vagaro and PatientNow

• While Vagaro serves a general market and PatientNow requires a significant financial commitment with unclear pricing, Portrait Care offers a uniquely powerful and accessible solution for medical aesthetic clinics. Our platform is free to get started and includes a robust core EHR at no cost, immediately lowering your operational overhead. Beyond the software, we provide essential services like medical oversight and give you access to our national purchasing power, saving you up to 60%+ on supplies—a comprehensive growth partnership that other platforms don't offer.

What are the customers saying?

Vagaro reviews

User feedback for Vagaro often addresses its business management and scheduling capabilities, while also noting issues with third-party booking requirements and software performance. Check out more Vagaro reviews here.

PatientNow reviews

User feedback for PatientNow is often polarized, with some reviews citing business disruptions and a lack of critical features for managing urgent patient issues. Other common complaints involve the onboarding process and missing workflow capabilities. Check out more PatientNow reviews here.

Portrait Care reviews

Our clients often tell us how our all-in-one platform has helped them achieve financial freedom and a better work-life balance. As a big benefit, Portrait Care provides a robust electronic health record (EHR) platform as a freemium service; the core EHR functionality is free, with optional premium add-ons for enhanced features and integrations.

Some advanced add-ons are included at no extra cost for users in higher membership tiers, and it is also free to get started, unlike other software in the space. Want to learn more? Check us out here.

Vagaro, PatientNow, or Portrait Care: Which is the best platform for you?

Ultimately, choosing the right management software is a pivotal decision for your business. While Vagaro is a strong contender for the general beauty and wellness market and PatientNow offers a dedicated system for elective medical practices, both are viable choices depending on your specific focus. However, for providers in the modern medical wellness space seeking a comprehensive platform that integrates software, essential services, and significant supply savings, we recommend Portrait Care as the ideal partner for scaling your business independently and profitably.