Head to head · updated 2026-08-01

DentiMax vs Open Dental

Imaging-led vs integration-led. DentiMax is cloud or on-premise and Open Dental is on-premise — usually the single biggest difference between them.

DentiMax

DentiMax

Practice management with unusually strong, hardware-agnostic imaging.

Deployment
Cloud or on-premise
Entry price
Not published
Built for
Solo, 2–4 locations
Visit DentiMax(opens in a new tab)

Read the full DentiMax review

Open Dental

Open Dental Software, Inc.

Source-available practice management with the most transparent pricing in the category.

Deployment
On-premise
Entry price
$199/month per location, up to 3 providers
Built for
Solo, 2–4 locations, Group, DSO / enterprise
Visit Open Dental(opens in a new tab)

Read the full Open Dental review

The short answer

Open Dental publishes a price ($199/month); DentiMax does not, so a like-for-like cost comparison is not possible without a quote.

Choose DentiMax if…

Imaging-led practices, especially those running mixed or non-standard sensor hardware.

Choose Open Dental if…

Practices that want maximum control and the lowest predictable running cost, and either have IT support or are willing to buy it.

It is ahead on insurance eligibility, teledentistry, ai features, open api, multi-location and 1 more.

Where they actually differ

Of 19 modules we track, these 6 differ. The rest match, so they are not what should decide it.

ModuleDentiMaxOpen Dental
Insurance eligibility Not stated Paid add-on
Teledentistry Not stated Via integration
AI features Not stated Via integration
Open API Not stated Built in
Multi-location Not stated Built in
Orthodontics Not stated Built in
Show all 19 modules, including where they match
ModuleDentiMaxOpen Dental
Scheduling Built in Built in
Clinical charting Built in Built in
Perio charting Built in Built in
Native imaging Built in Built in
Billing Built in Built in
Claims Built in Built in
Insurance eligibility Not stated Paid add-on
Payments Via integration Via integration
Patient messaging Paid add-on Paid add-on
Online booking Paid add-on Paid add-on
Digital forms Paid add-on Paid add-on
Recall / reactivation Built in Built in
Analytics & KPIs Built in Built in
ePrescribing Via integration Via integration
Teledentistry Not stated Via integration
AI features Not stated Via integration
Open API Not stated Built in
Multi-location Not stated Built in
Orthodontics Not stated Built in

Pricing, side by side

DentiMax

No published pricingchecked 2026-08-01

DentiMax does not publish a price. You have to request a quote, which means you cannot budget or compare before speaking to a salesperson. No figure published on the pricing page at the time of checking.

We do not repeat third-party price estimates for quote-only vendors. Several widely republished figures in this category turned out to belong to a different product — see how we compare.

Open Dental

Publishes pricingchecked 2026-08-01
PlanPriceBasis
Support — first 12 months
12-month contract		$199/monthper location, up to 3 providers
Support — after 12 months$149/monthper location, up to 3 providers
Additional providers$20/monthper provider beyond 3
Volume — 4 to 9 offices
$149/office after 12 months		$169/monthper office

Add-ons you will probably also buy

The base price above is not the bill. These are priced separately.

Add-onPriceBasis
eClipboard$45/monthper location
eConfirmations
$40 with landline texting		$25/monthper location
Integrated texting$5/month + $0.04/messageper location
ODMobile$35/monthper location
Web Sched (new/existing patient)$75/monthper location

Priced per location rather than per provider, so adding associates barely moves the bill. You supply and maintain the server.

Source: opendental.com, read 2026-08-01.

Strengths and trade-offs

DentiMax

Strengths

  • Imaging software drives sensors from many different manufacturers, which is rare.
  • Sells its own sensors, so imaging and practice management come from one supplier.
  • Available both cloud and on-premise.

Trade-offs

  • No published pricing.
  • Smaller ecosystem and fewer integrations than the incumbents.
  • Practice management side is less deep than the imaging side.

Open Dental

Strengths

  • Publishes a complete fee schedule, including every add-on — almost unique in this category.
  • Per-location pricing means a three-dentist practice pays the same base rate as a solo one.
  • A genuinely open API and direct database access, so third-party tools integrate without vendor permission.
  • Source-available code and an unusually large independent developer ecosystem.

Trade-offs

  • Not natively cloud. Remote access means self-hosting, a third-party host, or a remote-desktop setup — an extra cost and an extra thing to secure.
  • You own the server, the backups and the HIPAA exposure that comes with them.
  • The interface is dense and dated; onboarding a new front-desk hire takes longer than on a modern cloud product.

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