Sessionly vs Cliniko
Cliniko is an Australian practice management platform used widely by allied-health practitioners around the world. Sessionly is UK practice management software for therapists, counsellors and counselling agencies / CICs, focused on the therapy end of the profession rather than allied health. Both are good software; they are built for different practices.
Facts about Cliniko are drawn from our 2026 roundup of UK therapy practice management software. For current pricing, check Cliniko's own site — plans change.
No credit card required. From £10.99/month.
Who each platform is for
Cliniko
Australian-built practice management software serving 50,000+ health practitioners globally. Integrated telehealth, integrations with Xero, Stripe, Tyro, Healthcode and Mailchimp, and multi-currency / multi-region support. Well-suited to allied-health practitioners — physiotherapists, chiropractors, podiatrists, dentists — and counsellors who want its international reach and integration ecosystem.
Sessionly
UK practice management software for therapists, counsellors and counselling agencies. UK-hosted, UK terminology, UK outcome measures scored automatically, BACP-aligned retention defaults, HMRC-categorised finance tracking, supervision and CPD tracking, and agency features for UK counselling agencies and CICs. Deliberately UK-only and focused on therapy rather than allied health.
At a glance
Pricing figures are approximate ranges published in our roundup post; check both providers' own pages for current numbers.
Solo pricing
Agency pricing model
Built for
Terminology
UK outcome measures
UK data hosting
BACP-aligned retention defaults
HMRC self-assessment categories
Funding pot / CIC features
Native mobile app
Free trial
| Dimension | Cliniko | Sessionly |
|---|---|---|
| Solo pricing | ~£39–£45/month for a single practitioner | £10.99/month or £109/year |
| Agency pricing model | Per-user (£20–£30+ per additional practitioner) | Flat £49.99/month for up to 25 therapists |
| Built for | Allied-health globally (physiotherapy, chiropractic, podiatry, dentistry, counselling); Australian-built | UK therapists, counsellors and counselling agencies / CICs — focused on the therapy end of the profession, not allied health |
| Terminology | "Patient" (US/AU healthcare convention) | "Client" throughout (UK counselling standard) |
| UK outcome measures | Configurable — can be built as forms, not named | Named: PHQ-9, GAD-7, CORE-10, CORE-OM, YP-CORE, DES-II, WSAS, Goal-Based Outcomes — scored automatically |
| UK data hosting | No — primary hosting outside the UK | Yes (UK/EU-hosted) |
| BACP-aligned retention defaults | Configurable | Default |
| HMRC self-assessment categories | Not built in | Built in |
| Funding pot / CIC features | No | Yes |
| Native mobile app | Yes — native mobile app | Yes — native iPhone app included |
| Free trial | 30 days | 14 days (no card required) |
Australian-built vs UK-native
Cliniko was built in Australia and grew into a global player. The product shape reflects that heritage: US and Australian healthcare terminology (“patient” rather than “client”), note templates modelled on general clinical work, and outcome-measure tooling that expects you to build your own forms rather than shipping the UK-canon measures as first-class features. UK therapists can configure around this, but it is configuration, not native fit.
Sessionly starts UK-first and stays there. Every screen uses “client” not “patient”. PHQ-9, GAD-7, CORE-10, CORE-OM, YP-CORE, DES-II, WSAS and Goal-Based Outcomes are named features with automatic scoring and risk flags. Retention defaults follow BACP guidance. Finance tracking follows HMRC self-assessment categories. Supervision sessions and CPD sit alongside client work in the same platform — the supervisor side of a UK therapy practice, not just the practitioner side.
Data hosting and jurisdiction
Cliniko is GDPR-compliant via standard contractual clauses, but its primary data hosting is outside the UK. For many UK solo therapists that is not a concern in day-to-day work. For UK agencies handling grant-funded work — and for therapists whose supervisors or professional bodies raise questions about international data transfers — it can be.
Sessionly is hosted in the UK and EU. Data stays under UK jurisdiction without adequacy-decision dependencies. That is one less thing to explain to a funder, a supervisor, or an ethics-conscious client.
Practice-management depth and agency mode
Cliniko's multi-user support handles any allied-health team, but it does not model UK counselling agency structures specifically. Sessionly's practice-management depth is available across solo and agency use: two-code clinical governance (clinical record code for admin, anonymous code for clinical work), waiting-list workflows, note governance with version history and delete-approvals, supervision session tracking, CPD logging, and funding-and-demographic reporting for grant-funded services.
On top of that, agency mode adds features specifically for teams: therapist-to-client assignment and management, shared calendars with room booking, agency funding tracking (including external funding sources), therapist billing management for internal costs, and secure communications. These are not in Cliniko because they are not the problem Cliniko sets out to solve. If your team needs them, the gap is a real one.
Which should you choose?
Choose Cliniko if…
- • Your practice is multi-discipline (counselling alongside physiotherapy, chiropractic, podiatry or dentistry).
- • Cliniko's decade-plus of product maturity and integration ecosystem matter to you.
- • Integrated telehealth for online sessions is important to you.
- • You serve international clients or need multi-currency invoicing.
- • Cliniko's Xero, Stripe, Tyro or Healthcode integrations are load-bearing in your workflow.
Choose Sessionly if…
- • You're a UK therapist, counsellor or counselling agency / CIC — solo or agency — and UK-first defaults matter.
- • You want PHQ-9 / GAD-7 / CORE-10 (and CORE-OM, YP-CORE, DES-II, WSAS, Goal-Based Outcomes) as first-class scored features, not forms to configure.
- • UK data hosting and BACP-aligned retention defaults are on your list.
- • Supervision session tracking, CPD logging and supervision-to-expense auto-flow matter for your practice.
- • You run an agency or CIC and want flat pricing that does not scale up with headcount.
- • Funding-and-demographic reporting for grant-funded services, dual-code governance, waiting-list workflows, therapist-to-client assignment, shared calendars or room booking are relevant.
Sessionly vs Cliniko: which is right for UK therapists?
Cliniko and Sessionly both serve therapy practices, but from different starting points. Cliniko is a mature Australian-built platform used by allied-health practitioners globally — best where breadth, multi-currency reach and integrated telehealth matter. Sessionly is UK practice management software for therapists, counsellors and counselling agencies / CICs, focused on the therapy end of the profession rather than allied health, with named UK outcome measures, UK data hosting, BACP-aligned retention defaults, HMRC-categorised finance tracking, supervision and CPD tracking, and flat agency pricing (£10.99/mo solo, £49.99/mo for up to 25 therapists) — best for UK counsellors, psychotherapists, and UK counselling agencies and CICs.
Frequently asked questions
What is the biggest difference between Sessionly and Cliniko?
National fit and where each is focused. Cliniko is an Australian-built practice management platform used widely by allied-health practitioners internationally — physiotherapists, chiropractors, dentists and counsellors — and handles a global audience. Sessionly is UK practice management software for therapists, counsellors and counselling agencies / CICs, focused on the therapy end of the profession: UK terminology ("client", not "patient"), UK outcome measures named as first-class features, BACP-aligned retention defaults, HMRC-categorised finance tracking, supervision and CPD tracking, and agency features for UK counselling agencies and CICs.
Where is Cliniko's data hosted, and does that matter?
Cliniko's primary data hosting is outside the UK — Australia and the US. Cliniko is GDPR-compliant via standard contractual clauses, but some UK therapists — and particularly UK agencies and CICs handling grant-funded work — prefer UK or EU jurisdiction without adequacy-decision dependencies. Sessionly is UK/EU-hosted, so client records stay under UK jurisdiction by default.
Does Cliniko support UK outcome measures?
Not natively. Cliniko lets you build forms, so a determined administrator can construct CORE-10, PHQ-9 or GAD-7 as configurable forms — but they are not first-class features with automatic scoring, severity bands or clinical risk flags. Sessionly ships PHQ-9, GAD-7, CORE-10, CORE-OM, YP-CORE, DES-II, WSAS and Goal-Based Outcomes as named, automatically scored measures with risk flags surfaced across notes, dashboards and client records.
Which is cheaper at agency scale?
Sessionly, and the gap grows with headcount. Cliniko's per-user model typically lands a 10-therapist agency at £200–£350/month and a 25-therapist agency at £450–£600+/month. Sessionly's Agency plan is £49.99/month flat for up to 25 therapists. Cliniko's pricing reflects a broader, more mature product; Sessionly's pricing reflects a UK-market-focused, narrower one.
When would you still recommend Cliniko over Sessionly?
If your practice is multi-discipline — counselling alongside physiotherapy, chiropractic or dentistry — Cliniko's allied-health depth is a real advantage per our roundup. If you serve international clients, need multi-currency invoicing, or rely on Cliniko's integrated telehealth, those are strengths Sessionly does not attempt to match. Sessionly is deliberately UK-only and focused on therapy rather than allied health.
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From £10.99/month for solo practitioners. £49.99/month for agencies with up to 25 therapists. No credit card required.
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