Best two-way texting software for veterinary clinics in 2026
Two-way texting software lets clients text a veterinary clinic and get an answer, from a person or from an assistant. 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 veterinary text messaging on the number PupPilot runs for it, with calls, texts, emails and faxes in one shared inbox and PupPilot AI answering texts after hours. PetDesk and Weave suit a clinic that wants texting, reminders, payments and a phone system from one vendor. Otto and Oliver suit a clinic that wants two-way texting from its existing number with messages saved to the practice-management system, and Emitrr suits one that wants an AI agent answering inbound texts on its current number. Covetrus Comms, formerly Rapport, suits a clinic on Covetrus Pulse, Avimark or Impromed that wants to text clients from inside its practice-management software.
| Feature | PupPilot | PetDesk | Weave | Otto | Oliver | Emitrr | Covetrus Comms (formerly Rapport) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texts on the main number | Yes, once the number is with PupPilot. PupPilot handles the move, or provides a new number. | Yes: texting on the number the clinic already makes calls from (source) | Yes: Text Connect lets clients text the office phone number (source) | Yes: texting from the clinic’s own number (source) | Yes: texting from the clinic’s existing number, the one clients already have saved (source) | Yes: texting on the clinic’s current landline, VoIP or toll-free number (source) | Not documented |
| Shared inbox | Yes: one inbox for calls, texts, emails and faxes. | Yes: all conversations in one dashboard (product page). Calls and texts share one workspace for clinics that buy both PetDesk Phones and Communications (blog, February 9, 2026, source). | A Messages Inbox that keeps all message history (source). Use by the whole team: not documented. | Yes: texts the whole team can see (Otto Flow), with conversations routed and assigned to team members and given statuses (ezyVet integration page) | Yes: one inbox where the whole team sees and replies to conversations, with threads assigned to staff (source) | Yes: one inbox for texts, calls and voicemails, with assignment and internal notes (source) | A Messages Center with every text conversation, newest first, filterable by location in multi-site accounts (2024 user guide, source) |
| AI replies | Yes: PupPilot AI answers texts after hours and reschedules by text. | Automatic replies during the closed hours a clinic sets (blog, February 14, 2024, source). AI-written replies: not documented. | AI-suggested replies for staff, called Smart Drafts (Weave AI), and an automatic reply when the office is busy (Weave texting). Weave lists its AI Receptionist, which answers texts, as coming soon for veterinary offices, with a waitlist (Weave AI). | AI-suggested replies and thread summaries in Otto Flow (source). Agentic Confirmations replies to clients’ answers to confirmation texts (announced January 14, 2026, source). | AI translation of messages for Spanish-speaking clients (source). Oliver’s terms list “response automation” without describing it (terms). | Yes: an AI SMS Agent answers inbound texts, trained on the practice’s documents, website pages and past conversations (source) | Not documented. Staff choose from 26 message templates or write their own (2024 user guide, source). |
| Photos and attachments | Yes, both ways. | Send and receive pictures (blog, February 14, 2024, source). The subscriber terms cover pictures, files and MMS (terms). | Yes: staff can add photos to texts (source) | Yes: photos and video in chat (source) | Yes: send and receive images by text, along with forms and deposit requests (source) | Yes: MMS with images, PDFs and secure file links (source) | Yes: staff send and receive texts with images from inside Pulse, Avimark or Impromed (source) |
| Reminders and confirmations | Yes. | Yes: appointment reminders by email, push notification and SMS (product page), sent two days ahead with a link to confirm or cancel (reminders page) | Yes: reminders by text, phone call or email (reminders page). A yes by text confirms the appointment in the clinic’s system (confirmations page). | Yes: reminders by text and email (Otto Phones). Clients reply in their own words, and Otto confirms the appointment in the PIMS and flags reschedules (article, source). | Yes: appointment reminders by text and email (pricing page), and a confirmation for every online booking (scheduling page) | Yes: reminders by text, automated voice call or both, and clients reply to confirm, reschedule or cancel (source) | Yes: reminders by text, email, postcard and voice messaging (product page). With Covetrus practice-management software, clients confirm yes or no (Covetrus article, source). |
| Missed-call text back | Yes. | Yes, with PetDesk Phones: an automatic text to callers who reach voicemail, with replies in the PetDesk Comms Inbox (source) | Yes: an automatic, customized text in reply to missed calls (source) | Yes: a pre-populated text when a call isn’t answered (source) | Yes, with the Oliver and Mango integration: a text when the lines are busy or a client calls after hours, which opens a two-way thread (source) | Yes: a text the moment a call is missed, after hours too, with replies in the shared inbox (source) | Not documented |
| Logging to the practice system | Yes. | Yes: conversations sync back to the PIMS (source) | Vet Text Writebacks let staff transfer a text to the PMS, announced for the Neo integration (press release, July 21, 2025, source) | Yes: every message documented in the PIMS, timestamped and batched (source) | Yes: client texts saved to the medical record in the PIMS (source) | Not documented | A customer quoted on the product page says a text “gets recorded in the medical record” (source). Covetrus’s own copy: not documented. |
| Opt-out handling | Automatic. | For PetDesk’s reminder texts, clients text STOP to 47356 (pet-owner terms), and they can opt out of each reminder channel separately (reminders page) | Not documented. Weave’s terms require the clinic to follow the CTIA opt-in requirements (terms). | A STOP reply unsubscribes the client, with one confirmation message (consumer terms). Otto’s clinic terms make the clinic responsible for honoring opt-outs (clinic terms). | Opted-out clients are caught before a reminder goes out (reminders page). Oliver’s terms make the clinic the sender of every message (terms). | A STOP reply removes the client from outbound messaging and logs the withdrawal of consent (source) | Clients text STOP to opt out, effective once a confirmation is sent (text-message terms), and each client has preferences by message category (2021 user guide, source) |
| Carrier registration | Filed with the carriers for the clinic. | Required: a PetDesk post says outbound texts are blocked until A2P 10DLC registration is approved (August 25, 2023, source). Who files it: not documented. | The clinic registers: Weave’s terms say the customer must register through the 10DLC process and that Weave doesn’t control that process (terms) | Not documented | Not documented | Emitrr’s page lists “Simplify 10DLC registration & setup” (source). Who files it: not documented. | Not documented |
Each vendor’s cells come from that vendor’s own pages, linked in the cell and read October 8, 2026. “Not documented” means the pages we read don’t describe it. Verified October 2026. Vendors change features; tell us if something is out of date.
Method
PupPilot publishes this page, and PupPilot is one of the seven products on it. PupPilot’s cells describe its own product in the words of its veterinary text messaging and shared inbox pages.
Every other cell comes from that vendor’s own website, read on October 8, 2026, and links to the page it comes from. Where a fact comes from a blog post, a press release, an article or a user guide rather than a product page, the cell says so and gives the date the page shows where it shows one, since an older post may describe an earlier version of the product. Review sites and user forums weren’t used.
“Not documented” means the vendor’s pages we read don’t describe the feature. It doesn’t mean the vendor lacks it, so ask the vendor.
What we read, vendor by vendor:
PetDesk: its Communications, Phones, texting and reminder pages, its subscriber terms (effective August 3, 2026) and pet-owner terms (effective August 21, 2026), and blog posts dated August 25, 2023, February 14, 2024 and February 9, 2026.
Weave: its veterinary, texting, Text Connect, AI, reminder and appointment-confirmation pages, its Terms of Service (updated October 2, 2026), and its July 21, 2025 press release on the Neo integration.
Otto: its Flow, Phones, AI, automation and plans pages, its ezyVet integration page, its clinic terms and consumer messaging terms, and two pages on Agentic Confirmations, one of them its January 14, 2026 announcement.
Oliver: its text messaging, phone system, reminder, scheduling and pricing pages, and its Terms of Service (updated September 24, 2026).
Emitrr: its feature pages for two-way texting, the shared inbox, the AI SMS agent, missed-call text back, appointment reminders and texting opt-outs, and its 10DLC texting page.
Covetrus Comms: its product page, its text-message terms, its 2021 and 2024 user guides, and a Covetrus article on client communication. Covetrus Comms was formerly called Rapport, and the user guides still use that name.
If a vendor has changed something since October 8, 2026, tell us and we’ll correct the page.
Questions clinics ask
Can clients text a clinic’s main phone number?
Six of the seven products here say so on their own pages. PupPilot texts from the number it runs for the clinic: the clinic’s own number once it has moved to PupPilot, which PupPilot handles, or a new number PupPilot provides. PetDesk, Otto and Oliver text from the clinic’s existing number, Weave’s Text Connect lets clients text the office number, and Emitrr texts on a clinic’s current landline, VoIP or toll-free number. Covetrus’s pages don’t say which number Covetrus Comms texts from.
Which texting tools log conversations to the practice-management system?
PupPilot logs texts to the practice-management system. Otto says it documents every message in the PIMS, Oliver saves client texts to the medical record, and PetDesk says its conversations sync back to the PIMS. Weave announced text writebacks for its Neo integration in July 2025, and a customer quoted on Covetrus’s product page says a text gets recorded in the medical record. Emitrr’s pages don’t describe logging texts to a veterinary practice-management system.
Who answers texts after hours?
On PupPilot, PupPilot AI answers texts after hours and reschedules appointments by text. Emitrr’s AI SMS Agent answers inbound texts, and Otto’s Agentic Confirmations replies to clients’ answers to confirmation texts. PetDesk sends automatic replies during the closed hours a clinic sets, Weave sends one when the office is busy, and Weave lists its AI Receptionist, which answers texts, as coming soon for veterinary offices. Oliver’s texting page describes the team seeing and replying to conversations, and its terms list response automation without describing it, while Covetrus’s user guide describes staff choosing from message templates or writing their own.