Six systems compared on published UK pricing, Healthcode billing, exercise prescription links and clinic fit, with every figure checked in September 2026.
Physiotherapy is one of the largest regulated health professions in the UK, with 76,920 physiotherapists on the HCPC register as of April 2025, and a large share of them treat private patients. Every private clinic among them runs on the same admin core: a diary, treatment notes, invoicing and reminders, held together by practice management software.
Choosing that software is harder for physiotherapy than for most clinic types. A physio clinic bills private medical insurers more often than most, prescribes home exercise through dedicated apps, books treatment courses rather than one-off appointments, and often grows from a solo practitioner into a multi-site team.
This guide compares the six practice management systems UK physiotherapy clinics shortlist most often: Cliniko, Nookal, PPS, Zanda, Splose and WriteUpp. The CSP and Physio First member offers are included, along with how each system handles insurer billing and pairs with call handling.
What Physiotherapy Clinics Need From Practice Management Software
Eight requirements separate physiotherapy practice management software from a generic clinic system, and most of them never appear on a pricing page.
- Treatment notes built for musculoskeletal work. SOAP style templates, body charts and outcome measures, quick enough to complete between patients. Every system here handles clinical notes; the free trials are where a principal physio should test how quickly a follow-up note can be completed.
- Exercise prescription links. Most clinics prescribe home programmes through a dedicated platform. Physitrack, the most widely used, lists integrations with five of the six systems in this guide, so programmes and patient records stay connected.
- Private medical insurance billing. UK clinics treating insured patients claim through Healthcode, and the route differs sharply by system: native claiming in some, a third-party bridge or claim files in others.
- A diary that fits how physio runs. Treatment courses and recurring bookings, rehab classes, room management and multi-site views. A clinic that runs classes should test them specifically; systems differ widely here.
- SMS reminder costs. Reminder SMS is priced per message on most plans: 5p on Cliniko, from 6p on PPS, 9p on Zanda, 10p on Splose, with WriteUpp Solo including 100 credits a month. A clinic sending several hundred reminders a month should price that line before comparing headline rates.
- Online booking, included or added. Included on some plans and an add-on on others: £20 a month on PPS, £4.95 per clinic on WriteUpp Flex.
- Security certifications and data hosting. All six vendors state UK GDPR compliance; the formal assurance behind it varies. Zanda is ISO 27001 certified, WriteUpp is audited annually against the same standard, and Nookal is SOC 2 Type 2 verified. PPS hosts in ISO 27001 certified UK and French data centres, while Cliniko and Splose publish security practices without naming a company-level certification. Contracts with NHS trusts or larger insurers sometimes specify in-country hosting, so where data lives is worth checking before signing.
- Connections to the rest of the clinic's admin. Accounting, payments, exercise prescription and call handling all attach to the practice management system, usually through its API, and API access is not always on the cheapest tier: Nookal gates it to Professional at £39, and PPS prices it from £80 a month.
Practice Management Software, Physiotherapy Software and AI Scribes
"Physiotherapy software" is used loosely for three different tools, and a clinic comparing options meets all three mixed together in the same search results. They do different jobs.
- Practice management software (PMS) runs the clinic: diary, patient records, clinical notes, invoicing, reminders and reporting. That is the category this guide compares; the what is practice management software guide covers the general definition.
- Exercise prescription software builds and sends home exercise programmes, with video libraries and adherence tracking. Physitrack and Rehab My Patient are the familiar names. These sit alongside a practice management system rather than replacing it.
- AI scribes turn a spoken consultation into a drafted clinical note. Several systems in this guide now build one in: PPS Scribe is free for up to three consultations a week, WriteUpp prices its AI Medical Scribe at £23.95 a user, Zanda charges £1 per transcribed hour, and splose AI is £22.50 a user.
A physiotherapy clinic usually ends up with a practice management system at the centre, an exercise prescription app connected to it, and increasingly a scribe inside it.
The Best Physiotherapy Practice Management Software at a Glance
Most UK physiotherapy clinics working with BookedSolid use one of the following six systems. This table gives a quick comparison before the individual reviews.
| System | UK price | Pricing shape | Free trial | Standout for physiotherapy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliniko | £29 solo; £59 for 2 to 5 | Flat band, every feature included | 30 days (90 for CSP members) | The CSP's official partner |
| Nookal | £29 or £39 per practitioner | Two tiers; unlimited staff and locations | Free trial | Native Healthcode claiming; classes |
| PPS | Express £16.80 per user; PPS £50 + £25 per user | Three editions, per user | 30 days (60 for Physio First members) | UK physio heritage; Physio First partner |
| Zanda | £15 Starter; £25 + £15 per practitioner | Two plans, per practitioner | 14 days | Lowest entry price; money-back guarantee |
| Splose | £18 per practitioner | One plan; non-practitioner roles free | 14 days | Native Healthcode claiming; AI built in |
| WriteUpp | Flex £19.95; Solo £27.95; Group from £45.95 | Per user, modular add-ons | 30 days | UK built; simple by design; SMS bundled on Solo |
Cliniko: the CSP's Official Partner
Cliniko is the system UK allied health clinics name first, and its pricing model is the simplest here: one flat rate per team-size band, with every feature included at every tier and unlimited admin users, reception users, locations and storage. UK pricing runs £29 a month for a solo practitioner and £59 for two to five, in bands rising to £259 for 26 to 200 practitioners. SMS reminders are prepaid at 5p a message, and the standard free trial is 30 days with no card required.
For physiotherapists the standout is the professional partnership: Cliniko is the only practice management platform officially partnered with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, and CSP members get a 90 day free trial, three times the standard length. Exercise prescription connects through Physitrack, one of a large directory of connected apps.
The caveat is claiming. Healthcode integration is not native, so UK clinics billing private medical insurers route claims through Effra, a connected app that submits invoices and posts remittances back. It works in production, but it is one more vendor relationship, and clinics with heavy insurer volume should weigh it against Nookal's built-in route; the Nookal vs Cliniko comparison covers that trade in detail.
Best for: clinics of any size that want everything included at a flat published price, with the CSP trial making it the easiest first test for a member.
Nookal: the Insurer Billing Specialist
Nookal prices per practitioner on two tiers: Essentials at £29 and Professional at £39 a month, with unlimited admin staff, locations and support on both. Automated recalls, bulk messaging, invoice automation and API access sit on Professional, so most established clinics should compare the £39 tier, not the £29 one.
Two physiotherapy-specific strengths stand out. Healthcode claiming is native: claims to the major private medical insurers are submitted from inside the system, with treatment budgets tracked against authorisation limits and a fee from 0.3% charged only on successful claims. And rehab classes have their own booking type, with capacity limits and per-payer pricing, which suits clinics running group rehab and exercise sessions. Physitrack integration is listed for home programmes.
Best for: multi-practitioner physiotherapy clinics with regular private medical insurance work, and clinics where classes are part of the model.
PPS: the UK Physiotherapy Heritage Option
PPS, from long-standing UK developer Rushcliff, comes in three editions. PPS Express is £16.80 per user a month. The full PPS is £50 for the first user and £25 for each additional, adding room and location management, waiting lists and third-party billing; PPS Onsite, from £35, is the local-install option. Online booking is £20 a month, SMS starts at 6p, the API starts at £80 a month, and PPS Scribe is free for up to three consultations a week. The trial is 30 days on a rolling monthly contract.
PPS has deep roots in UK physiotherapy, and it is the system behind the other big member offer: Physio First members get an exclusive 60 day trial of PPS Express, one-to-one onboarding with team training, and online booking free for the first three months.
One gap to check: Physitrack does not list a PPS integration, so a clinic committed to Physitrack for exercise prescription should ask Rushcliff about the connection route before signing.
Best for: clinics that want UK-built software with UK support, established physio workflows, and the Physio First route in.
Zanda: the Lowest Entry Price
Zanda, formerly Power Diary, opens lower than anything else in this guide: the Starter plan is £15 a month for one practitioner, capped at 1,000 appointments in total with one admin user. Growth at £25, plus £15 per additional practitioner, removes the cap and adds unlimited admin users. SMS is 9p a message with free replies, Telehealth Pro is £7 per practitioner, and AI transcription is £1 per hour. The trial is 14 days, backed by a 12 month money-back guarantee and free data migration.
Zanda is an allied health generalist rather than a physio specialist, with a strong template library, ISO 27001 certification and Physitrack on its integrations list. The 1,000-appointment cap makes Starter a launch plan rather than a permanent home: a busy solo physio passes 1,000 appointments within the first year, at which point the plan converts to Growth.
Best for: a brand-new or part-time clinic keeping fixed costs low while it builds a caseload.
Splose: the AI-First Option
Splose runs one plan at £18 per practitioner a month, with every non-practitioner role free, no appointment caps, and a 14 day trial. splose AI, the built-in scribe and automation layer, is £22.50 per user; SMS is 10p outgoing, with a dedicated two-way number at £4 a month.
The physiotherapy case is strong for the price: Healthcode claiming is native, which puts Splose alongside Nookal as the lowest-admin route to private medical insurance billing, and free admin seats suit clinics with a central bookings team. Physitrack integration is listed. The Splose vs Cliniko comparison sets it against the category benchmark in depth.
Best for: clinics that want modern software with AI and insurer claiming built in, at the lowest full-stack price here.
WriteUpp: the Simple UK-Built System
WriteUpp prices per user on three plans. Flex, at £19.95, adds features individually, with online booking at £4.95 per clinic. Solo, at £27.95, covers one clinician and one non-clinical user with online booking and 100 SMS credits included; Group starts at £45.95 for two or more clinicians, with additional users at £15. The AI Medical Scribe is £23.95 per user, or bundled with Solo at £49.95, and every plan carries a 30 day trial.
WriteUpp is UK built, audited annually against ISO 27001, and popular with solo therapists and small clinics. The bundled SMS credits matter for reminder-heavy physiotherapy caseloads, and Physitrack sits on its integrations list. It is deliberately simpler than Nookal or PPS; a clinic that wants insurer claiming or deep reporting inside the system should compare those two first.
Best for: solo physios and small clinics that value simplicity, UK support and predictable small bills.
Other Physiotherapy Software Worth a Look
Five more physiotherapy clinic software options come up in UK shortlists, each with a narrower case than the six above.
- TM3 (Blue Zinc) is built for the musculoskeletal sector and used by larger UK physio groups; pricing is by demonstration rather than published. Physio First members get 10% off when switching, and Physitrack lists a TM3 integration.
- Jane prices its UK plans at £29 (Balance, capped at 20 appointments a month), £44 (Practice) and £55 (Thrive), with additional full-time practitioners from £19 and Healthcode claim files through a £10 a month add-on. The Cliniko vs Jane comparison covers it in depth.
- Semble is a UK electronic health record and practice management platform aimed at private GPs and specialist clinics, from around £119 per user a month; the fit is physiotherapy inside a wider medical practice rather than a standalone physio clinic.
- ClinicOffice (Pioneer Software) is a long-established British system offering cloud hosting or a local install, priced by configuration with additional users from £5 a month and a 30 day trial.
- PracticePal is a web-based UK system running since 2006, priced at £25 a month for the core with add-on modules at £3 each and extra user accounts from £1, on a month-long free trial.
How Physiotherapy Clinics Pair Their PMS With an AI Receptionist
None of the systems in this guide answers the clinic's phone. A physiotherapy clinic's busiest call windows fall exactly when practitioners are treating, and bookings are lost when calls reach voicemail outside staffed hours. Two physiotherapy groups' published numbers show what connecting call handling to the practice management system changes.
Physica Physiotherapy, a four-site group running on Nookal, handles more than 300 calls a day through an AI receptionist connected to its diary. The Physio Lounge, a seven-site group with a centralised admin team, restructured from five admin staff to just three after moving evening and weekend calls to software.
The pairing works the same way whichever practice management system the clinic chooses:
- Calls, texts and web chat enquiries reach the AI receptionist first, at any hour, including evenings and weekends.
- It reads the live diary in the practice management system, so the availability it offers is always current.
- It books, reschedules and cancels directly in the system, and answers routine questions such as prices, parking and what to bring.
- Anything clinical or urgent is escalated to the clinic's own team.
On Cliniko specifically, the Cliniko AI receptionist guide walks through the mechanics step by step.
How BookedSolid works with physiotherapy practice management software
BookedSolid is an AI receptionist built for healthcare clinics. It answers calls, SMS, WhatsApp, email and web chat around the clock and books directly into Cliniko, Nookal and Splose among the systems in this guide, with call handling rules pre-loaded for physiotherapy. Pricing starts at £49 a month for a solo practitioner and £99 for two to four practitioners, most clinics are live within 48 hours, and there is a 7 day free trial with no setup fees.
Best Physio Practice Management Software by Clinic Type
Most clinics can shortlist physio practice management software from the clinic's shape alone.
| Clinic type | Shortlist first |
|---|---|
| Brand-new or part-time solo clinic | Zanda Starter (£15) or Splose (£18) |
| Solo physio with a full diary | Cliniko (£29) or WriteUpp Solo (£27.95) |
| Multi-practitioner clinic with regular insurer work | Nookal Professional (£39) or Splose (£18 with native Healthcode) |
| Clinic running group rehab or exercise classes | Nookal (classes with per-payer pricing) |
| Clinic that wants UK-built software and UK support | PPS (from £16.80) or WriteUpp (from £19.95) |
| Multi-site group standardising admin | Cliniko (£59 covers two to five) or Nookal |
| Larger musculoskeletal group wanting a configured build | TM3 or ClinicOffice (both quote-based) |
The Bottom Line
No single system is the best practice management software for every physiotherapy clinic. Cliniko suits clinics that want everything included at a flat price, with the CSP trial as the easy way in. Nookal earns its £39 tier wherever insurer claims and classes are weekly work. PPS is the UK heritage route with the Physio First offer behind it. Zanda opens at £15 for a clinic still building a caseload, Splose bundles AI and Healthcode claiming at £18, and WriteUpp keeps a small clinic simple at £27.95 with SMS included.
The free trials are long enough to run two systems side by side with a real diary and a week of real notes: 30 days on Cliniko, PPS or WriteUpp, 90 for CSP members, 60 through Physio First. Whichever system wins, it should connect to the rest of the clinic's admin from day one: exercise prescription, accounting, claiming and call handling.
See how an AI receptionist works with a physiotherapy clinic's software
BookedSolid connects to Cliniko, Nookal, Splose and more, answers every channel around the clock, and books straight into the diary. Most clinics are live within 48 hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best practice management software for a physiotherapy clinic in the UK?
Cliniko, Nookal and PPS lead most UK physiotherapy shortlists, with Zanda, Splose and WriteUpp strong at lower price points. Cliniko is the CSP's official partner and includes every feature at a flat band price, Nookal claims to Healthcode natively, and PPS carries the longest UK physiotherapy heritage. The best choice depends on insurer volume, clinic size and which tools the clinic needs connected.
How much does physiotherapy practice management software cost in the UK?
Physiotherapy practice management software starts at £15 a month (Zanda Starter), with entry plans up to £29 (Cliniko solo, or Nookal Essentials per practitioner), PPS Express at £16.80 per user, Splose at £18 per practitioner and WriteUpp from £19.95. The real monthly cost also depends on SMS rates of 5p to 10p per message, add-ons such as online booking, and which tier carries features like API access. Prices were checked in September 2026, and the cheap practice management software guide compares the under £30 tiers in detail.
What is the difference between practice management software and physiotherapy software?
Practice management software runs the clinic's diary, patient records, notes, invoicing and reminders. Physiotherapy software is a looser term that also covers exercise prescription platforms such as Physitrack, which send home programmes, and AI scribes that draft clinical notes. Most clinics run a practice management system at the centre with an exercise prescription app connected to it.
Which physiotherapy practice management software handles Healthcode billing?
Nookal and Splose submit claims to Healthcode from inside the system. Cliniko clinics typically claim through Effra, a connected app, and Jane produces Healthcode claim files through a £10 a month add-on. A clinic with regular private medical insurance work should weigh the claiming route as heavily as the headline price.
Do CSP or Physio First members get discounts on practice management software?
CSP members get a 90 day free trial of Cliniko, the society's official practice management partner, against a standard 30 days. Physio First members get a 60 day trial of PPS Express with one-to-one onboarding and three months of free online booking, plus 10% off TM3 when switching from another system.
Does physiotherapy practice management software include exercise prescription?
Exercise prescription usually comes from a dedicated platform rather than the practice management system itself. Physitrack lists integrations with Cliniko, Nookal, Zanda, Splose, WriteUpp, TM3 and Jane, so programmes and patient records stay linked. PPS is not on Physitrack's published list, so PPS clinics should confirm the route with the vendor.
Which practice management software works with an AI receptionist?
BookedSolid, an AI receptionist built for healthcare clinics, integrates with Cliniko, Nookal and Splose among the systems in this guide, alongside PracticeHub, coreplus, PracSuite, Semble and ClinicOffice. It answers calls, SMS, WhatsApp, email and web chat and books directly into the diary. Integration lists grow over time, so a clinic should check the current list before choosing its system.
