1 · The friction
Sound familiar?
These are the complaints that come up again and again in public reviews, and in our own client work.
“The reports don't tell me what I need”
Thin reporting is listed first among the top pricing complaints on CostBench.
Source: CostBench review summary, Oct 2026
“I can't see my colleague's draft notes”
One clinical supervisor says this makes editing and signing off notes harder.
Source: G2 user review, Dec 2024
“We feel locked in to Cliniko”
When the whole clinic runs on one system, switching feels riskier than living with it.
Source: Get Active Physiotherapy audit
2 · The numbers
Cliniko by the numbers
4.7/5
Overall rating from 24 verified reviews
Capterra, Nov 2026
4.9/5
Ease of use, its highest-scoring area
Capterra, Nov 2026
$45–395
Per month, across 6 plans by practitioner count (USD)
Toolradar, Oct 2026
10¢
Per SMS, billed on top of the plan as prepaid credits
Pabau review, Sep 2026
What this tells you: people like using Cliniko day to day. If your clinic is unhappy, the cause is more likely how it's configured, or a specific gap, than the software as a whole.
3 · What to do
5 fixes to try before you migrate
Write down the one number you can't get
Rebooking rate? Revenue per practitioner? Name it before blaming the reports. Cliniko has a documented API, so a custom report is often cheaper than a migration.
Fix rebooking at the front desk, not in the software
Patients who say “I'll think about it” rarely come back. Book the next session before they leave the room, with a simple script for the front desk.
Clean up appointment types and templates
Years of one-off types make every report messy. Merging them takes an afternoon.
Match your website to your booking page
Different service names and prices on each confuse patients, and AI tools too.
Agree on a note sign-off routine
If drafts can't be shared, a simple daily sign-off rule avoids the bottleneck.
4 · The decision
Stay and fix, or migrate?
Stay and fix if
Your team likes using it day to day.
Your complaints are about reports, rebooking or messy setup.
You run mostly one-on-one appointments.
Migrate if
Group classes are a big part of your income.
You need a feature it doesn't have, not just a better setup.
You've already tried the fixes above.
If you migrate, watch for
Anything entered after your export isn't moved across. It has to be typed in by hand. (Nookal guide)
Some files, letters or case notes may not transfer and need a manual export or a second import. (splose guide)
Plan a cut-over day and freeze bookings for it.
5 · From our work
How Get Active Physiotherapy is fixing the real problem
Challenge
Ads run by an outside agency weren't turning into retained patients, the clinic didn't hold its own Google Ads and Search Console logins, and booking on phones was clunky.
Action
A full audit of ads, website and the Cliniko booking flow, proper tracking, a website upgrade matched to the Google profile, and injury-specific pages, without changing software.
Result
3 months
Results are being tracked from November 2026 and will be added here.
6 · Quick answers
Questions clinics ask us
How much does Cliniko cost?
From US$45 a month for one practitioner, up to US$395 for large teams, plus SMS credits.
Can I move my data out of Cliniko?
Yes. Other systems import from Cliniko exports or its API. Check files and letters separately.
How long does a migration take?
Usually about a week: a day to audit and check the setup, a day to migrate, then a few days of monitoring.