athenahealth vs eClinicalWorks
The two most common systems in independent primary care, and they lead different specialties.
Where they stand in independent practice
Across the 37,310 providers whose EMR is identifiable in the federal registry, athenahealth accounts for 24.4% and eClinicalWorks for 15.2%.
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
- Users rate it higher — 3.8/5 across 911 reviews, against 3.3/5.
- Your practice is smaller than athenahealth sells to. eClinicalWorks lists 1 (solo) as its smallest tier, against 2–5.
- You want a number before you talk to sales. eClinicalWorks publishes $449–$599 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.
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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.