Telehealth software is usually priced one of three ways: per clinician per month, per consult, or free (sometimes as a free tier under a paid product). What you’re paying for is rarely the video stream itself — that’s cheap to carry — but the features, support and infrastructure built around it.
Here’s how the models work, what drives the cost, and how to compare fairly.
The main pricing models
Per clinician, per month. The most common model for paid suites. You pay a subscription for each clinician who uses the platform, often across tiers that unlock more features. Predictable, but the cost scales with your team size, so it adds up for larger practices.
Per consult or usage-based. You pay for what you use — per video consult, or per minute or message. This can suit low-volume or occasional telehealth, but it makes budgeting harder if your volume varies.
Freemium (free tier plus paid plans). A free entry level with paid upgrades. Doxy.me is a well-known example of this shape. The free tier covers the basics; you pay when you need more.
Free. The whole core consult at no charge. Less common, and worth understanding why it’s free before you rely on it.
What the main platforms cost (October 2026)
These are the published prices on each provider’s website on 14 October 2026. Coviu lists prices excluding GST, so we’ve added GST in brackets to compare like with like.
| Platform | Per clinician per month | 5-doctor practice per month | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| MedCall | $15 inc. GST | $75 inc. GST (practice managers free) | 1-month free trial |
| Coviu Individual | $48 + GST monthly ($52.80), or $40 + GST billed annually ($44) | Single provider only | None advertised |
| Coviu Clinic | $64 + GST monthly ($70.40), or $54 + GST billed annually ($59.40) | $352 monthly, or $297 a month billed annually, inc. GST | None advertised |
| GP Consults | $20 Standard, $25 Premium | $75 Standard or $100 Premium ($15 or $20 each once you fund 5) | First month free |
| doxy.me Premium | US$29, billed annually | US$145, billed annually | Free plan |
GP Consults’ pricing page doesn’t say whether GST is included, and doxy.me bills in US dollars. Prices change, so confirm on each provider’s own site before you decide. Our side-by-sides go into features: MedCall vs Coviu, MedCall vs doxy.me and MedCall vs GP Consults.
What actually drives the cost
If the video itself is cheap, why do platforms cost what they do? Mostly it’s everything around the call:
- Features beyond the consult — scheduling, payments, group and multi-party rooms, clinical apps and assessments
- Recording and storage — capturing and retaining consults costs money and carries obligations
- Integrations — building and maintaining connections into practice management systems
- Support — local, in-hours help when something breaks
- Compliance and infrastructure — Australian hosting, security, and verification all have real costs
This is why an all-in-one suite like Coviu costs more than a focused tool: you’re paying for a much broader product. That can be excellent value if you use the breadth, and poor value if you don’t. Match the spend to what you’ll actually use.
The video call is the cheap part. When you pay for telehealth software, you’re mostly paying for what surrounds the call — scheduling, payments, recording, integrations and support. Only pay for the parts you’ll use.
Watch the add-ons
The headline price is rarely the whole story. Before you commit, ask what sits outside the base fee:
- SMS costs — sending patients a link by text sometimes carries a per-message charge
- Recording or storage — occasionally a paid extra
- Group sessions — often a higher tier
- Extra clinicians or locations — how does it scale?
- Setup or integration fees — one-off costs to get connected
Total cost for the way you consult is what matters — not the sticker price on the pricing page.
How to compare fairly
A quick method:
- Estimate your real usage — clinicians, consults per week, and whether you need group, scheduling or payments.
- Get current pricing from each provider’s own site, including the add-ons above.
- Work out total annual cost for your usage, not the entry price.
- Weigh it against value, not just dollars — and never trade privacy for a lower price. Whatever you pay, you’re handling health information, and the Australian Privacy Principles expect reasonable steps to protect it regardless of cost (OAIC).
Our checklist for choosing telehealth software walks through this trade-off in more detail.
The models at a glance
| Model | How you pay | Suits | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per clinician / month | Subscription per user | Practices using the full feature set | Cost scales with team size |
| Per consult / usage | Pay as you go | Low or variable volume | Harder to budget |
| Freemium | Free tier, paid upgrades | Starting out, then growing | What’s gated behind paid |
| Free | No charge for the core consult | Simple 1:1 on top of an existing PMS | Understand why it’s free |
For a feature-by-feature look at every option, see telehealth platforms in Australia compared.
What MedCall costs
MedCall is one plan: $15 per doctor per month including GST, with unlimited video consults (up to 4 people per call) and a 1-month free trial. Practices pay for all their doctors on one invoice, and practice managers who don’t see patients aren’t charged. It’s built and run by Telehealth Australia Group, whose own doctors use it every day.
The price stays simple because the core consult is the whole product: patients join by a texted link with no app or account, 1:1 calls are end-to-end encrypted and never recorded, and it’s Australian-hosted with Ahpra-registered accounts. The trade-off is scope — it’s 1:1 only, with no scheduling, payments or group calls. It pairs with the practice software you already use rather than bundling those in. You can read the full picture on the telehealth software page.
If you need the features a paid suite provides, paying for them is entirely reasonable. If you mostly do simple 1:1 consults, a focused tool at a flat price is hard to argue with — provided it’s private and reliable, which is the bar to hold any platform to.
The bottom line
Telehealth pricing is per-user, per-consult, freemium or free — but the model matters less than total cost for your actual usage and the value you get for it. Estimate your usage, check current prices directly, add up the extras, and weigh it against features and privacy rather than the headline number. And remember the video itself is cheap: you’re really deciding how much of the surrounding suite you need. For running quality video consults whatever you spend, the RACGP’s telehealth video consultations guide is a good reference, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing has the national picture.
Sources & further reading
This article is general information for Australian clinicians and patients and reflects the rules and sources current at the date of publication. It is not medical, legal or billing advice, and it is not a substitute for the official guidance of Services Australia, the Department of Health and Aged Care, AHPRA or your professional college. Always check the primary sources linked above for the current position.
The MedCall Team
MedCall is secure telehealth video software built and run by Telehealth Australia Group, a registered Australian telehealth practice. We write these guides for the clinicians who use MedCall every day.