Open Dental alternatives
4 products worth comparing against Open Dental, ranked by our published weighted score — not by who pays us.
Why practices look for a Open Dental alternative
These points come straight from the data on our Open Dental page:
- Effective pricing is not published, so the real three-year cost only appears after a sales conversation.
None of this is a claim that Open Dental is a bad product — it scores 8.7/10 overall. It is a statement of what the numbers show, so you can weigh it against your own priorities.
Side by side
| Software | Score | Starting price | Real 3-yr cost ★ | Data export freedom ★ | Contract lock-in ★ | Claim approval ★ | Deployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Dental | 8.7/10 | $199 per location / month | $13,504 | 5/5
Full autonomy — open structure, self-serve export | 1/5
No lock-in — cancel anytime | insufficient sample (n=0) | on-premise, cloud, hybrid |
| Curve Dental | 7.4/10 | $299 per location / month | $13,064 | 3/5
Moderate — operational data out, full record needs help | 4/5
Heavy — multi-year, termination fees | insufficient sample (n=0) | cloud |
| Dentrix | 7.1/10 | $500 per location / month | $36,514 | 2/5
Limited — partial export, vendor-dependent | 5/5
Very heavy — long term, high total exit cost | insufficient sample (n=0) | on-premise, cloud |
| Denticon | 6.8/10 | $280 per location / month | $33,540 | 3/5
Moderate — operational data out, full record needs help | 4/5
Heavy — multi-year, termination fees | insufficient sample (n=0) | cloud |
| Eaglesoft | 6.4/10 | $200 per user / month | $34,104 | 2/5
Limited — partial export, vendor-dependent | 5/5
Very heavy — long term, high total exit cost | insufficient sample (n=0) | on-premise, hybrid |
★ = dimensions other comparison sites don't publish. Cost figures are 3-year totals for the assumption stated on each product page, not the sticker price. Export freedom and lock-in are scored 1–5 against published criteria. Claim approval rates are withheld entirely rather than estimated when the sample is too small to be honest about.
The alternatives in detail
Curve Dental Curve Dental Inc. · weighted score 7.4/10
Fully cloud-native with a well-reviewed interface, but pricing is entirely unpublished, the billing basis is disputed, and the contract auto-renews
| Real 3-year cost | $13,064 (lower than Open Dental) |
| Data export freedom | 3/5 |
| Contract lock-in | 4/5 |
| Deployment | cloud |
| Best fit | single, multi |
Dentrix Henry Schein One · weighted score 7.1/10
The most feature-complete industry default — and the least transparent on pricing, with the highest real cost
| Real 3-year cost | $36,514 (higher than Open Dental) |
| Data export freedom | 2/5 |
| Contract lock-in | 5/5 |
| Deployment | on-premise, cloud |
| Best fit | single, multi, dso |
Denticon Planet DDS · weighted score 6.8/10
An enterprise cloud PMS built for DSOs and multi-location groups — single-location practices will find it heavy
| Real 3-year cost | $33,540 (higher than Open Dental) |
| Data export freedom | 3/5 |
| Contract lock-in | 4/5 |
| Deployment | cloud |
| Best fit | multi, dso, enterprise |
Eaglesoft Patterson Companies · weighted score 6.4/10
Deeply tied to the Patterson ecosystem — the price is an unclear definition of "user," payment-processing markups, and ownership shifting from purchase to rental
| Real 3-year cost | $34,104 (higher than Open Dental) |
| Data export freedom | 2/5 |
| Contract lock-in | 5/5 |
| Deployment | on-premise, hybrid |
| Best fit | single, multi |
Switching checklist
- Confirm export terms in writing before cancelling — ask exactly which record types, in what format, at what cost, and how long after the subscription ends you keep access.
- Get the real 3-year number, not the monthly price. Implementation, training, and add-on modules are where quotes diverge.
- Ask about auto-renewal notice windows. Missing one can lock in another full term.
- Run the new system in parallel for at least one billing cycle before you cut over.
- Budget staff time, not just software cost — retraining is the most predictable and most underestimated part of switching.
Frequently asked
What is the best Open Dental alternative?
On our weighted score the strongest alternative is Curve Dental (7.4/10). If cost is the deciding factor, Curve Dental comes in lowest on real 3-year cost at $13,064. If keeping your data portable matters most, Curve Dental scores highest on export freedom (3/5).
How much does it cost to switch from Open Dental?
Switching cost has three parts: the new system's implementation fee, data migration from Open Dental, and staff retraining. Open Dental scores 1/5 on lock-in, and its exit cost notes are documented on its product page — read that before you get a quote, because the migration terms matter more than the licence price.
Can I export my data out of Open Dental?
Patient records live in a standard MySQL database that the practice or any third-party IT provider can query and export in full — no vendor approval, no extraction fee, and no need for the vendor's cooperation to leave. This is the only product in our database where the vendor is not the gatekeeper of your data. Note: this rating rests on database accessibility, not on license type — the product moved to a proprietary license in version 24.4, but the vendor states database access and export capability are unaffected, and we will keep re-checking that. Overall export freedom is scored 5/5 (full record export: yes).
How do you choose which alternatives to list?
Every product in our database is listed — we do not include only the ones that pay us. The order comes from the published weighted score, and paid placements are labeled Sponsor and shown separately. Our rankings are determined entirely by data: feature fit 40% + user sentiment 30% + value for money 20% + transparency 10%. Paid listings and sponsor placements are excluded from every calculation and will never change the order.