Vet Management Software: How to Choose a PIMS (2026 Guide)

Mehroze Masood

October 26, 2026

6 min read

What vet management software is

Vet management software, usually called a practice information management system (PIMS), is the system your whole clinic runs on. Appointments, medical records, invoices, prescriptions, inventory, reminders and lab results all live in one place, and every role in the clinic works from it.

Free check · no sign-up

Can my pet fly?

The earliest date your pet can travel, and what to do when.

No sign-up, no email. Answers stay in your browser. Open the full tool

Because it touches everything, the choice of PIMS shapes how fast the front desk checks clients in, how long vets spend on notes, and how much revenue slips through missed charges. Switching is also slow and expensive, so it pays to choose carefully.

This guide covers the features that matter, cloud vs on-premise, how to choose and switch, and one gap almost every PIMS leaves open: pet travel.

Core features of vet practice management software

Feature	What to look for
Scheduling	Multi-doctor calendars, appointment types, online booking (built in or via integration)
Medical records (EMR)	Fast SOAP templates, attachments, and increasingly AI-assisted note-taking
Billing and payments	Estimates, invoices, card-present and online payments, wellness plans
Inventory and pharmacy	Stock levels, automatic reorders, controlled-drug logs, charge capture from the record
Lab integration	Orders and results flowing in from in-house analysers and reference labs
Client communication	Reminders, two-way SMS, client portal or app
Reporting	Revenue, production by vet, missed charges, client retention
Multi-location	Shared records and central reporting across sites
Integrations	Open APIs and a partner marketplace, so you aren't locked into one vendor's tools

AI documentation is now a headline feature: Shepherd, Provet Cloud, Covetrus Pulse and Digitail all compete on AI SOAP notes. Treat it as a bonus, not a deciding factor, unless note-taking is your clinic's biggest bottleneck.

Cloud vs on-premise, and the main platforms

The market has largely moved to the cloud. Cornerstone remains the main server-based incumbent, while nearly every platform in active development is cloud-only

	Cloud	On-premise (server)
How you pay	Monthly subscription	Licence plus hardware and IT support
Access	Browser or app, from any device or location	Clinic network, or remote access you set up
Updates and backups	Automatic, handled by the vendor	Your responsibility
Internet outage	Limited or no access	Keeps running locally
Best for	Most clinics, multi-site groups, mobile vets	Clinics with poor connectivity or heavy customisation

Platforms clinics commonly shortlist (Co.Vet comparison):

Platform	Deployment	Often chosen by
Cornerstone (IDEXX)	Server	Established multi-doctor hospitals with IDEXX diagnostics
ezyVet (IDEXX)	Cloud	Complex, multi-site and specialty hospitals
Provet Cloud	Cloud	Multi-site and specialty groups
Covetrus Pulse	Cloud	General practices wanting one ecosystem
Shepherd	Cloud	Small to mid-size general practices
Digitail	Cloud	Practices wanting a modern client app and AI tools

This isn't a ranking. Feature sets and pricing change often, so confirm details with each vendor.

How to choose and switch

Ask every vendor the same questions, and score answers side by side.

Does it fit our size and structure? A two-vet clinic and a 24-hour specialty hospital need different things.
Does it integrate with our labs, payment processor and booking tools? Ask for a live demo of each integration, not a slide.
What is the total cost? Include per-user fees, onboarding, data migration, payment processing and add-ons.
How is our data migrated, and what doesn't come across? Ask specifically about medical history, attachments, reminders and client balances.
Who owns the data, and can we export it if we leave?
What training and support do we get during the switch? Ask for reference clinics of your size that switched in the last year.

Plan the switch for your quietest season, run a parallel test with real appointments, and train the front desk first. They are the ones clients notice if anything goes wrong.

The gap most PIMS leave open: pet travel

Your PIMS knows when a dog had its rabies shot. It doesn't know whether that shot counts for a flight to Italy next month.

Travel cases are where that gap shows. A PIMS stores the vaccination date, but it doesn't check that date against the destination's rules. For example, Pet Holiday Club's rules base requires rabies vaccination at least 30 days before travel for dogs going from the US to Italy or Costa Rica, after an ISO microchip.

None of that comes out of a standard PIMS. So staff research the route by hand, and owners turn up with the wrong records.

Pet Holiday Club gives clinics the route-specific part:

A checklist for the exact trip, built from around 1,660 rules and matched to origin, destination, species, breed and airline.
Lead times against the travel date, so you know when each visit has to happen.
Owner records checked before the visit. The scanner flags gaps against the checklist.

See how Pet Holiday Club works →

FAQ

What is the difference between vet management software and a PIMS?

Nothing. They're two names for the same thing: the central system for records, scheduling, billing and inventory.

Is cloud vet software secure?

Reputable vendors encrypt data and handle backups. Ask each vendor about encryption, access controls, uptime guarantees and where data is stored.

How long does switching PIMS take?

It depends on clinic size and data volume. Ask vendors for a timeline from clinics like yours, and plan for training before go-live.

Does my PIMS handle travel health certificates?

Most record vaccines and can print documents, but they don't tell you a destination's requirements or timing windows.

Free calculator

When can the vet issue the health certificate?

Enter your arrival date, get the days to book the vet.