SmartFlow vs Shepherd Veterinary: Complete Comparison 2026

An in-depth comparison of features, pricing, and user experience to help you make the right choice.

SmartFlow

8.3(420 reviews)

Digital patient flowsheets for veterinary hospitals that replace paper ICU charts with real-time electronic monitoring.

8.2(380 reviews)

Modern cloud veterinary platform with AI-powered workflows, smart charting, and integrated client communication from $300/month.

Aspect	SmartFlow	Shepherd Veterinary
Best For	Emergency and specialty veterinary hospitals where paper flowsheets are a daily workflow bottleneck	Tech-forward veterinary practices wanting AI-assisted charting to reduce documentation burden
Pricing Model	Subscription	Subscription
Starting Price	$150/mo	$300/mo
Deployment	cloud	cloud
Platforms	WEB, IOS, ANDROID	WEB, IOS, ANDROID
Rating	8.3/10	8.2/10

Eliminates paper flowsheet errors — digital tracking prevents missed treatments, illegible handwriting, and lost charts
Real-time treatment status visible to the entire care team from any device in the hospital
Integrates with existing PIMS (Cornerstone, eVetPractice, etc.) rather than requiring a platform switch
Medication scheduling with automated alerts prevents missed doses and dosing errors in critical patients
Treatment charges sync to PIMS billing automatically, capturing revenue that paper charts often miss

Not a standalone PIMS — requires a separate system for scheduling, billing, medical records, and other core functions
Only valuable for practices with hospitalized patients — general practices without ICU/hospital have no use for it
Adds another monthly cost ($150/month) on top of existing PIMS subscription
Staff adoption requires changing deeply ingrained paper-based habits which can be initially resistant
Integration quality varies by PIMS — some connections are tighter than others

AI-assisted charting saves 15-30 minutes daily on medical record documentation per veterinarian
Modern interface designed in the 2020s — genuinely enjoyable to use compared to legacy systems
Smart procedure workflows reduce clicks and pre-load expected diagnostics based on visit type and patient history
Built by veterinarians who understand the daily frustrations of existing veterinary software
Integrated client communication (text, email) keeps pet owner interactions within the medical record

Premium pricing at $300-500/month is higher than budget alternatives like NaVetor or eVetPractice
Newer platform with a smaller user community and evolving integration ecosystem
Some specialty workflows may not be fully developed yet as the platform matures
AI charting accuracy requires review — don't blindly accept AI-generated medical notes without verification
Less proven at scale compared to Cornerstone with its 30+ years of production reliability

Product	Pricing Model	Starting Price
SmartFlow	subscription	$150/mo
Shepherd Veterinary	subscription	$300/mo

Choose SmartFlow if...

Emergency and specialty veterinary hospitals where paper flowsheets are a daily workflow bottleneck

Choose Shepherd Veterinary if...

Tech-forward veterinary practices wanting AI-assisted charting to reduce documentation burden

Explore more alternatives or read in-depth reviews to make your decision.