athenahealth vs AdvancedMD
A market-leading platform against a system built for small independent practices. The size of the vendor is not the question here. Fit is.
Which practice each is built for
These two do not divide by size of vendor. They divide by size of practice. athenahealth lists 2–5 as its smallest tier; AdvancedMD lists 1 (solo). athenahealth serves 2–5, 6–15, 16–50, 50+; AdvancedMD serves 1 (solo), 2–5, 6–15, 16–50.
The registry puts athenahealth at 24.4% and AdvancedMD at 0.4%. This measures the EMR identified by the Direct-messaging endpoint a practice registered with the federal NPPES registry. Vendors that sell mainly to small independent practices are systematically under-represented, because small practices are the least likely to have registered an endpoint at all. Read it as a floor, not as installed base. Both of these sell mainly to small independent practices, so those figures understate both of them — and there is no way to know by how much. They are not a ranking. Compare them on fit instead.
Where they meet, by specialty
Specialties in which at least one of the two is a registry top-three system. A dash means that vendor is not in the top three for that specialty — not that it is absent from the market.
Which one to shortlist
- You expect to grow past 16–50 providers, which is where AdvancedMD's tiers stop. athenahealth lists 50+.
- Your specialty is one of 3 that athenahealth serves and AdvancedMD does not, including Oncology, Rheumatology, Emergency Medicine.
- Your practice is smaller than athenahealth sells to. AdvancedMD lists 1 (solo) as its smallest tier, against 2–5.
- You want a number before you talk to sales. AdvancedMD publishes $429–$1,070 per provider / month; athenahealth quotes privately.
Get a real comparison for your practice
Everything above is what we can say about these two in general. What we cannot tell you from a page is what either costs at your provider count, in your specialty. Tell us and we will get you quotes from the vendors that actually fit — free, and we never charge practices.
Tell Us About Your Practice
Other comparisons
Share figures are EMR Match Research analysis of the CMS NPPES Direct-endpoint data, July 2026 dissemination (n=37,310 identified providers) — the same source as our open data page, so the two can never disagree. This measures the EMR identified by the Direct-messaging endpoint a practice registered with the federal NPPES registry. Vendors that sell mainly to small independent practices are systematically under-represented, because small practices are the least likely to have registered an endpoint at all. Read it as a floor, not as installed base. Ratings and prices are as published by the review source and the vendor; sourcing on our methodology page.