Eaglesoft vs Open Dental
Side by side on the same 15 dimensions, from the same sources. ★ marks the dimensions most comparison sites do not publish.
- On the published weighted score, Open Dental leads (8.7 vs 6.4 out of 10).
- On real 3-year cost for each product's stated assumption, Eaglesoft is $20,600 lower ($13,504 vs $34,104).
- If getting your own data out is the priority, Open Dental scores higher on export freedom (5/5 vs 2/5).
- If you may switch again soon, Open Dental carries less contract lock-in (1/5 vs 5/5).
Every line above is derived from the published data — the weights are features 40% / sentiment 30% / value 20% / transparency 10%, and anyone can recompute them.
| Dimension | Eaglesoft | Open Dental |
|---|---|---|
| Weighted score | 6.4/10 | 8.7/10 |
| Starting price | $200 per user / month | $199 per location / month |
| Billing unit | per user / month | per location / month |
| Real 3-year cost ★ | $34,104 Scenario: one location, 2 providers, 3 chairs, 3 named users, server-based deployment (perpetual license + annual support), including the software license, implementation, on-site training, data conversion, and server and workstation hardware (amortized over 3 years). Imaging hardware is excluded. **Methodology note**: the payment-processing markup is not counted in the total and is shown separately (see the breakdown below), because it is charged on transaction volume rather than software usage; including it would make this dimension incomparable with other products. This estimate is highly sensitive to the "user count" basis: if 5–10 users are actually needed, the software license line alone rises from about $17,600 to $30,000–54,000, and the total roughly doubles. The definition of "user" (named dentist / workstation login / concurrent / whether front desk counts) must be confirmed before signing. | $13,504 Scenario: one location, 3 providers, self-hosted (own server), with the paid eServices bundle, including server hardware and excluding cloud hosting. This scenario was chosen because most practices genuinely need online self-scheduling and texting. If the same 3 providers moved to the vendor's cloud hosting, the three-year total would be about $31,000 ((Medium hosting package $520, plus the support fee at $199 in year one and $149 thereafter) x 36 = $24,684, plus $5,940 for eServices and $400 for migration) — roughly 2.3x the self-hosted scenario, and that comparison is itself the story. Note that the cloud fee does not replace the support fee, it stacks on top of it. If online scheduling and texting are not needed, the eServices line drops to $0 (reminders, the portal and payment links are free anyway). |
| Data export freedom ★ | 2/5 — Limited — partial export, vendor-dependent (full record export: partial) | 5/5 — Full autonomy — open structure, self-serve export (full record export: yes) |
| Contract lock-in ★ | 5/5 — Very heavy — long term, high total exit cost Historical contracts commonly ran 36–60 months and were often bundled with Patterson equipment financing. Since 2024 new customers are offered subscriptions only, and perpetual licenses have been discontinued. · notice: Under a subscription, stopping payment may suspend access to the software; the specific notice period is not published · termination: Mid-term cancellation typically requires paying the balance for the remaining term (specific terms are not published) · auto-renew: yes | 1/5 — No lock-in — cancel anytime 12-month agreement for the first year, month-to-month thereafter · notice: Can be cancelled at any time after that, but the practice must call support to do so (the official documentation states "Users must call to Cancel") · termination: None · auto-renew: no |
| Reported claim approval rate ★ | insufficient sample (n=0) | insufficient sample (n=0) |
| Deployment | on-premise, hybrid | on-premise, cloud, hybrid |
| API | limited-api | public-api |
| Implementation / training fees | $6,500 | $0 |
| Founded | 1988 | 2001 |
| Headquarters | St. Paul, Minnesota, USA (Patterson headquarters) | Oregon, USA |
| Target practice size | single, multi | single, multi, dso |
| Scheduling | 4/5 — Complete and stable, but user feedback generally considers the interface and interactions behind cloud competitors | 4/5 — Full-featured and covers routine practice scheduling; online self-scheduling (Web Sched) costs extra and is not part of the base subscription covering 3 providers |
| Charting / EHR | 4/5 — Mature clinical records and charting | 4/5 — Thorough coverage of general dentistry clinical workflows; weaker for specialties (oral surgery, orthodontics) |
| Insurance eClaims | 4/5 — Electronic claims work, but ecosystem maturity is slightly below Dentrix; third-party integrations (such as NexHealth) fill some of the gap | 4/5 — Supports electronic claims with configurable ERA automation; runs through DentalXChange at about $0.25 per claim. Denial handling is less structured than Dentrix |
| Imaging integration | 5/5 — Seamless integration with Patterson Imaging, so X-rays and intraoral images are viewed directly in the patient record — a key selling point | 3/5 — Bridges to multiple imaging systems (Acteon, CEREC, Carestream, Dexis, Planmeca and others), but the vendor explicitly warns that some third-party integration methods can corrupt patient records, so each method must be confirmed individually |
| Patient portal | 3/5 — Built-in patient communication and recall reminders, but patient portal capability is weak and often needs a third party | 3/5 — The patient portal and Web Forms are included with the subscription at no extra cost; online self-scheduling, texting and eClipboard are paid add-ons |
| User rating | 4.1/5 (266 reviews, Capterra 4.0 (157) / G2 4.2 (109), cross-platform composite 4.1 (RevUp 2026-08 aggregate)) | 4.5/5 (156 reviews, G2 / Capterra third-party aggregate (92% satisfaction, 156 reviews); GetApp / SoftwareAdvice 4.6 (RevUp 2026-08)) |
★ = exclusive dimensions. 3-year cost uses each product's stated assumption (assumption text shown in the cell) — read both assumptions before quoting the numbers. "Not published" is itself a finding: it means the figure only appears after a sales conversation.
Frequently asked
Is Eaglesoft or Open Dental better?
On the published weighted score, <strong>Open Dental</strong> leads (8.7 vs 6.4 out of 10). On real 3-year cost for each product's stated assumption, <strong>Eaglesoft</strong> is $20,600 lower ($13,504 vs $34,104). If getting your own data out is the priority, <strong>Open Dental</strong> scores higher on export freedom (5/5 vs 2/5). If you may switch again soon, <strong>Open Dental</strong> carries less contract lock-in (1/5 vs 5/5). Neither verdict changes based on advertising — 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.
Which is cheaper, Eaglesoft or Open Dental?
Eaglesoft publishes $200 per user / month; Open Dental publishes $199 per location / month. These are not directly comparable unless the billing units match — see our billing-unit guide. On real 3-year cost for each product's stated assumption, Eaglesoft is lower ($34,104 vs $13,504).
Which makes it easier to leave, Eaglesoft or Open Dental?
Eaglesoft scores 2/5 on data export freedom (full record export: partial) and 5/5 on lock-in. Open Dental scores 5/5 on export freedom (full record export: yes) and 1/5 on lock-in. Details and sources are on each product page.
Full breakdowns with sources: Eaglesoft · Open Dental · pricing methodology on the pricing data page.