Cliniko vs TM3 (2026): Which Suits a UK Physio Clinic?

For a UK physiotherapy or MSK clinic: TM3 is priced per user in pounds (£39, £55 or £70 a month excluding VAT) and is built around UK private medical insurers, with Healthcode integration on every plan and insurer billing as a £10-per-licence add-on. Cliniko charges a flat fee in US dollars by number of practitioners (US$45 for one, US$95 for two to five) with unlimited reception users, and stores UK accounts in the UK. Choose TM3 if insurers pay a large share of your income; choose Cliniko if most patients self-pay and you want a simple, predictable bill. Facts from both vendors' pages, checked on 27 October 2026.

Cliniko vs TM3 at a glance

Sources: tm3app.com/pricing, cliniko.com/pricing, cliniko.com/security and Cliniko's feature pages. TM3 has moved to tm3app.com; the old tm3.co.uk address no longer belongs to it.

What it costs a three-practitioner clinic

Three physiotherapists and one receptionist. On Cliniko the bill is US$95 a month whatever the size of the reception team, plus SMS at 10 cents each. On TM3 Good it is £39 per user; if the receptionist counts as a user, four users cost £156 a month before VAT, plus SMS and £10 per licence for Connect for Insurance if you bill insurers through it. Ask TM3 how it counts users before comparing; its pricing page does not say.

Insurers: the deciding question

UK private physiotherapy runs on insurers such as Bupa and AXA, and TM3 is built around that: Healthcode, the UK's electronic billing route to private medical insurers, is integrated on every plan, and Connect for Insurance adds insurer billing for £10 per licence. Cliniko does the general version: invoices to third parties, custom payment types, item codes and statements, with the claim itself submitted outside Cliniko. If more than a third of your income comes from insurers, that difference alone usually decides it.

Where Cliniko is stronger

• Simple price. One fee for up to five practitioners and unlimited reception staff, unchanged since 2011.
• Try before talking to sales. A 30-day trial with no card; TM3's pricing page mentions no trial.
• API on every plan. TM3 puts API access in the Best tier as an add-on.
• Retail. Product sales and stock levels for clinics that sell supports or supplements.

Where TM3 is stronger

• Insurer billing and Healthcode. Built for the UK private insurance market.
• Card machines and TM3pay. Integrated card terminals at the desk as well as online payments.
• Packages, subscriptions and automations on the Better plan, plus SSO, role manager and audit on Best for larger groups.
• Pounds on the invoice. No exchange-rate wobble each month.

Which to choose

• Choose TM3 if you are a UK physio, sports or MSK clinic and insurers pay a large share of your income, or you want card machines integrated at reception.
• Choose Cliniko if most of your patients self-pay, you have a few practitioners and a busy front desk, and you want to try the product yourself before a sales call.
• Also look at WriteUpp if you want a UK vendor with a 30-day trial and prices from £27.95 a month: it is in our list of Cliniko alternatives, with Nookal, Pabau and nine others.