Best veterinary client communication software in 2026
Veterinary client communication software handles the calls, texts, emails and reminders between a clinic and its clients. This page compares the main options on the same list of features, with each vendor's own page as the source.
The Short Answer
PupPilot suits a clinic that wants its calls, texts, email, fax and reminders on one system, with PupPilot as the phone system and PupPilot AI answering on every line, first or on overflow. PetDesk, which includes Vetstoria, and Weave suit a clinic that wants reminders, two-way texting, forms, deposits and online booking from one vendor, connected to its PIMS, with the phone system from the same vendor. Otto suits a clinic that wants two-way texting, automations, forms and direct booking in Otto Flow, with phones through its partner Axion. Covetrus Comms suits a clinic on Covetrus Pulse, Avimark or ImproMed, and Digitail suits a clinic ready to make Digitail its practice-management system, with scheduling, forms, client communication and a pet parent app in the same system.
Vetstoria has been part of PetDesk since 2022 (Vetstoria), so it sits inside PetDesk's column, not in one of its own. Covetrus's client communication product is Covetrus Comms, formerly called Rapport (Covetrus Comms).
| Feature | PupPilot | PetDesk (with Vetstoria) | Weave | Otto | Covetrus Comms (formerly Rapport) | Digitail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone system included | Yes. PupPilot is the phone system. | Yes: PetDesk Phones, a VoIP phone system PetDesk supplies itself (PetDesk Phones). | Yes: Weave Phones, an integrated VoIP phone system; the clinic's number ports to Weave (VoIP terms). | Phone service through its partner Axion, available with Otto Flow at no extra charge from Otto (Otto plans). | Not documented. Its Comms agreement has the clinic provide the connection, equipment and services the service needs. | An add-on on every listed plan: Digitail's own VoIP, inside its PIMS (plans, VoIP). |
| AI answering | Yes, on every line: first, or on overflow. | Not documented. Its AI writes a summary of each call, which writes back to the PIMS (PetDesk Phones). | Call Intelligence analyzes and summarizes calls. The AI Receptionist is "coming soon to veterinary offices", with a waitlist (Weave AI). | Not documented. AI Memo records, transcribes and summarizes outbound calls (Otto AI). | Not documented | Not documented for its own VoIP; its AI summarizes calls after they happen (VoIP). Its help center documents third-party AI answering, such as Dodo, logged in Digitail (Dodo integration). |
| Two-way texting | Yes, on the number PupPilot runs for the clinic: its own number once moved, or a new one (veterinary text messaging). | Yes: two-way texting from the number the clinic already calls from (PetDesk texting). | Yes: clients text the office number through Text Connect, and staff text from it (Weave texting). | Yes: unlimited two-way texting from the clinic's number (Otto Flow). | Yes: staff send and receive texts, including images, from inside Pulse, Avimark or Impromed (Covetrus Comms). | Yes, as an add-on on every listed plan (plans); clients reply to the number shown on the message (help center). |
| Yes. | Yes: reminders, forms and payment requests by email (PetDesk Communications). | Yes: appointment reminders by email, and Email Marketing for bulk emails and campaigns (reminders, Email Marketing). | Yes: unlimited email campaigns, email templates and mass emails (Otto plans, Otto Flow). | Yes: its Comms agreement covers email, voice and text messages to clients. | Yes: staff send emails from Client Communications, and replies come back into the thread (help center). | |
| Fax | Yes. Fax numbers move too. | Not documented | Yes: upload, preview and send faxes (Weave pricing). | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Website chat | Yes, on the website PupPilot builds, answered by the same AI as the phones. | Not documented. PetDesk's agency builds a Facebook Messenger chatbot that answers common questions (PetDesk, August 3, 2024). | Text Connect, a widget on the clinic website that invites visitors to text staff (Text Connect). The AI Receptionist, which answers website chats, is "coming soon to veterinary offices" (Weave AI). | Yes: a website widget takes questions and appointment bookings (Otto phones), and each request becomes a chat-based conversation (ezyVet integration). | Not documented. Clients can start an SMS chat with the clinic through the GreatPetCare portal (pet portal). | Not documented. Chat is in the Digitail Pet Parent App, for clients who have the app (help center). |
| Appointment reminders | Yes, by text and email. | Yes, by email, push notification and SMS (PetDesk Communications). | Yes, by text, phone call or email (Weave reminders), and clients confirm by text (Weave for veterinary practices). | Yes, by text and email, customized by appointment type (Otto phones). | Yes, by text, email, postcard or voice message (Covetrus Comms). | Yes, by email, text and app push notification (Digitail features). |
| Care reminders | Yes: vaccines and heartworm tests. | Yes: reminders for vaccines, annual check-ups and dental cleanings (PetDesk reminders), by email, push notification, SMS and postcard (PetDesk Communications). | Yes: vaccine reminders, listed as "vet only" on its pricing page. | Yes: service reminders when a pet is due for a service such as a dental cleaning (Otto phones). | Yes: exam-due reminders by text, email and postcard (Covetrus Comms), and vaccine reminders in its 2024 user guide. A Covetrus case study describes heartworm testing reminders. | Yes: reminder protocols by SMS, email and app push, with follow-up after a missed vaccine or heartworm test (help center). |
| Reviews | Yes: a review request after the visit. | Through PetDesk Marketing, its agency service: the team monitors Google and Facebook reviews and writes responses (PetDesk Marketing), and helps the clinic gather more reviews (reputation management). | Yes: review requests sent automatically after appointments, and an AI Response Assistant that drafts replies to reviews (Weave for veterinary practices). | Yes: surveys and review requests sent automatically after appointments (Otto phones). | Satisfaction surveys sent automatically after visits, with client testimonials posted (Covetrus Comms). Its 2021 user guide adds a Google review invitation for clients who give five stars. | Through third-party integrations, ReviewTree and ReviewTrackers; Digitail triggers the review campaign when the visit record is closed (help center). |
| Forms | Yes, on the website PupPilot builds. | Yes: digital intake forms clients complete by email, text or the PetDesk app (PetDesk Communications). | Yes: digital forms sent by text, from the patient profile, in a reminder or in kiosk mode, written back to the record (Weave digital forms). | Yes: custom digital forms with automatic writebacks (Otto Flow). | Not documented | Yes: consent forms with e-signature on every listed plan, and Tails AI Intake on Growth AI (plans). |
| Deposits | Yes. | Yes: deposits or full payment collected at booking (PetDesk Communications). | Yes: scheduling deposits (Weave payments). | Yes: pre-appointment deposits and text-to-pay (Otto Pay). | Yes, through online scheduling, for clinics with an online-scheduling package and Covetrus Payments (2024 user guide). | Yes: a card stored at booking and charged a deposit to hold the slot (Secure Payments). |
| Online booking | Yes, through the clinic's booking link. PupPilot's own booking page Beta | Yes: PetDesk Direct Booking, 24/7 online booking from the clinic's website or the PetDesk app, connected to the PIMS (Direct Booking). | Yes: clients book from the clinic website, with automatic appointment writebacks to the PIMS (Weave for veterinary practices). | Yes: direct booking on the clinic's website and client app, depending on the PIMS (Otto plans, Otto phones). | Yes: clients see open time slots and book online (Covetrus Comms) when Comms is fully integrated with Covetrus Pulse, Avimark or Impromed (Covetrus). | Yes: clients request appointments that land in the clinic's calendar for staff to accept (Pet Parent App), and the booking page or widget embeds on the clinic website (help center). |
| Websites and SEO | Yes: websites built and kept current, with SEO, SEO audits and GEO audits (veterinary website design). | Yes, through PetDesk Marketing, which builds and manages clinic websites and SEO (PetDesk Marketing). | Not documented | Not documented. Otto Care plans come with a microsite Otto builds and maintains (Otto plans). | Not documented on the product page. The Rapport Web terms in its Comms agreement cover website templates, a website content manager and web hosting; SEO is not documented. | Not documented as a website service. Its Growth plans list an "SEO Optimized Landing Page" (plans). |
| Practice-system integrations | 130+ practice-management systems. | 25+ on its Phones page; its compatible-PIMS page lists 31 systems, two of them marked "Coming Soon". | 14 veterinary PIMS on its integrations page, including AVImark, Cornerstone, ezyVet and Pulse. | 9 PIMS on its integrations page: AVImark, Cornerstone, ezyVet, Impromed, Shepherd, IDEXX Neo, Instinct, Pulse and Vetspire. | Covetrus Pulse, Avimark and ImproMed, named on its product page. | Digitail is itself the PIMS. It lists 40+ integrations with labs and vendors (plans). |
| Contract term | No long-term contract required. | Its FAQ: no long-term contracts, month-to-month. Its provider terms, effective August 3, 2026: the term is set on each Order Form, and if an Order Form ends for any reason other than PetDesk's material breach, the fees for the whole term remain due. Vetstoria's pricing page: no contracts. | Its plans page FAQ: no long-term contracts required, with discounts on year-long contracts. Its Terms of Service, updated October 2, 2026: subscriptions renew automatically, and an order of a year or longer renews unless the clinic gives notice at least 30 days before its term ends; with a stated term, the fees for the full term are owed, and no cancellation takes effect until every phone number has been ported out of Weave. | Its plans page: the Flow monthly price is locked in for a year. Its clinic terms: the term is set in each clinic's Order. | Its Comms agreement sets no fixed term: the service runs while the clinic keeps a paid subscription, either side can end it with written notice, and a clinic that ends it gets no refund of prepaid fees. | Not documented on its plans page. Its Terms of Use, last updated February 12, 2025: cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid term. |
Read on each vendor's own pages on October 8, 2026. "Not documented" means the vendor's pages we read don't describe it, not that the vendor lacks it. Vendors change their products; tell us if something is out of date.
How to Choose
General practice. Start with the appointment reminder, care reminder, texting and online booking rows, then check your PIMS against each vendor's integrations. If the phones are part of what you're replacing, read the first two rows next. See PupPilot's AI front office for general veterinary practices.
Emergency. Start with the phone rows. PupPilot is the phone system, and PupPilot AI answers on every line, first or on overflow. Weave's own page says its AI Receptionist is "coming soon to veterinary offices", and PetDesk, Otto and Digitail document AI that summarizes calls (vendor pages read October 8, 2026). See AI call answering for emergency vet hospitals.
Specialty. Specialty and referral hospitals exchange records with referring clinics, so read the email and fax rows alongside texting; PupPilot and Weave list fax. See the AI front office for every veterinary specialty.
Group. Check the integrations row against every PIMS the group runs, and the contract row before signing for every location. PupPilot runs each location's lines, texts and inbox under one login, and each location keeps its numbers, its hours and the way it handles calls: see the phone system for multi-location veterinary groups. Covetrus's 2024 Rapport user guide describes multi-site accounts with location filters.
For one product at a time: PupPilot vs PetDesk, PupPilot vs Weave, PupPilot vs Otto and PupPilot vs Digitail.
Method
PupPilot publishes this page and is one of the products on it. Every statement about another product comes from that vendor's own pages, read on October 8, 2026, and each statement in the table links to the page it comes from. "Not documented" means the pages read on that date don't describe the feature; it doesn't mean the vendor lacks it. Where two of a vendor's own documents differ, as PetDesk's FAQ and provider terms do on the contract, the cell gives both. PupPilot's cells describe PupPilot as it is today. The products appear in the same order throughout the page, and the order is not a ranking.
The pages read on October 8, 2026:
- PetDesk, with Vetstoria: Communications, Phones, texting, reminders, Direct Booking, Marketing, reputation management, compatible PIMS, FAQ, provider terms (effective August 3, 2026), the chatbot post (August 3, 2024), and Vetstoria's name-change page and pricing page.
- Weave: veterinary page, AI, texting, Text Connect, reminders, Email Marketing, digital forms, payments, pricing, plans, integrations, VoIP terms and Terms of Service (updated October 2, 2026).
- Otto: plans, Flow, phones, AI, automations, Otto Pay, Agentic Confirmations, integrations, ezyVet integration and clinic terms.
- Covetrus Comms: product page, Comms agreement (EULA V7.2019, the agreement Covetrus lists for Comms), 2024 user guide, 2021 user guide, pet portal, reminders case study and client communications article.
- Digitail: plans, features, VoIP, Pet Parent App, Secure Payments, Terms of Use, and help-center articles on two-way SMS, direct messages, chat, reminders, online booking, ReviewTrackers and Dodo.
Questions clinics ask
What is veterinary client communication software?
It's the software a veterinary practice uses for the calls, texts, emails and faxes that come in and the reminders, follow-ups and review requests that go out, and PupPilot's page on veterinary client communication software covers it in full.
Does client communication software include a phone system?
Some products include one, and some run alongside the phones a clinic already has. On this page, PupPilot, PetDesk and Weave supply the phone system; Otto's phones come through its partner Axion with Otto Flow; Digitail's VoIP is an add-on inside its own PIMS; and the Covetrus Comms agreement has the clinic provide the connection and equipment the service needs (vendor pages read October 8, 2026). PupPilot is the phone system, so calls and texts run on the numbers PupPilot runs for the clinic, in the same place as email and fax.
Which products write back to the practice-management system?
PetDesk says its conversations sync back to the PIMS and its AI call summaries write back to all major PIMS, and Weave lists automatic appointment writebacks from online booking and writebacks from its digital forms. Otto documents every message in the PIMS and confirms appointments there from clients' text replies. Covetrus Comms is integrated with Covetrus Pulse, Avimark and ImproMed, and Digitail is itself the PIMS, saving texts and calls to the patient's record (vendor pages read October 8, 2026). PupPilot AI reads the patient's chart and the schedule during a call and writes the booking back where the practice-management system supports it.