ChartHound vs VetRec 2026: A Feature-by-Feature Comparison

ChartHound and VetRec are both AI-powered veterinary scribes that turn exam room recordings into structured SOAP notes. They share a core mission — reducing documentation burden — but they take meaningfully different approaches to clinical tooling, pricing, and platform availability. This comparison lays out the verified facts so you can decide which one fits your practice.

We built ChartHound, so we have skin in the game. We'll be transparent about that. Everything in this article is based on publicly available information as of March 2026. Where a claim couldn't be independently verified, we say so.

At a Glance: ChartHound vs VetRec

Pricing: What You'll Actually Pay

Pricing is often the first filter when a practice evaluates new software, so let's start here.

Core AI Scribe: Recording to SOAP Note

Both ChartHound and VetRec do the fundamental job well: you record an exam room visit and receive a structured SOAP note. This is table stakes for any veterinary AI scribe in 2026, and both products deliver it.

VetRec advertises 30+ specialty-specific templates out of the box, plus a custom template builder. That's a wide selection and particularly useful for specialty practices that need structured formats for ophthalmology, cardiology, or other disciplines. ChartHound also offers custom SOAP templates, letting you define your own structure, though it does not currently match VetRec's quantity of pre-built specialty options.

VetRec also offers a feature called Records Recap, which summarizes a patient's existing medical history before the appointment begins — reportedly in about 30 seconds. This is a genuinely useful pre-appointment prep tool that ChartHound does not currently offer. If your workflow involves reviewing lengthy patient histories before each visit, this is a VetRec differentiator worth considering.

Multi-Pet Visit Handling

Clinical Tools Beyond SOAP Notes

This is where the two products diverge most significantly. ChartHound was built with the belief that a veterinary documentation tool should go beyond transcription and into the clinical workflow itself.

Emergency and Multi-Patient Workflows

ChartHound includes a Kennel and Rounding mode designed specifically for emergency clinics and multi-patient environments. This mode lets you move between patients during rounds, pausing and resuming documentation as you go, without losing context or creating fragmented notes. It's built for the reality of ER shifts where you might be juggling six patients simultaneously.

VetRec does not publicly list an equivalent rounding or multi-patient session management feature.

Client Communication: Pet Parent Portal

ChartHound offers a Pet Parent Portal that generates AI-simplified versions of SOAP notes, written in plain language that pet owners can understand. You can share a link directly with the client, giving them a clear summary of findings, diagnoses, and treatment plans without the medical jargon.

This addresses one of the most common friction points in veterinary practice: clients who leave an appointment unsure of what was discussed, what medications were prescribed, or what follow-up is needed. VetRec does not publicly list a comparable client-facing portal or note-sharing feature.

Platform Availability and Mobile Apps

PiMS Integrations

VetRec advertises "one-click" PiMS integration, which would be a significant workflow advantage if it connects to the specific PiMS your practice uses. However, VetRec does not publicly disclose which PiMS platforms are supported. If PiMS integration is critical to your decision, we'd recommend asking VetRec directly whether your system is compatible before committing.

ChartHound does not currently offer direct PiMS integrations. Notes can be copied and pasted into your PiMS, and the pet parent portal provides a separate client-facing output, but there is no automated push to practice management systems at this time.

Security and Compliance

Veterinary practices increasingly care about data security, especially as AI tools process sensitive client and patient information. While veterinary data isn't subject to HIPAA in the same way human healthcare data is, responsible data handling matters.

Team Pricing and Staff Access

VetRec takes a strong position here: unlimited seats for technicians and front-desk staff at no additional cost. You only pay per veterinarian. For a practice with two vets and ten support staff, this is an appealing model that keeps costs predictable.

ChartHound's team access is structured by plan tier. Depending on your plan, you'll have included seats for team members with clinic management features for coordinating across staff. For smaller teams, ChartHound's lower starting price may offset any per-seat differences, but larger practices with many support staff should compare the total cost carefully.

Where Each Product Wins

The Bottom Line

ChartHound and VetRec are both legitimate tools that address the veterinary documentation crisis. They are not interchangeable, though, and the right choice depends on what your practice values most.

Choose ChartHound if you want clinical documentation tools that go beyond transcription — body maps, dental charting, lab parsing, and a pet parent portal — at a lower starting price, with verified native mobile apps and transparent security practices.

Choose VetRec if your top priorities are formal security compliance (SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR), pre-appointment patient history summarization (Records Recap), unlimited staff seats for a large support team, phone call documentation, or you need PiMS integration and can verify that yours is supported.

Both products offer free trials. The most reliable way to evaluate either one is to run it through your actual cases, with your actual patients, in your actual exam room. Features on a comparison table only tell part of the story — how a tool feels during a hectic Monday morning appointment block is what ultimately matters.