The best Swell alternatives for dental practices (2026)
Full disclosure: we make Patientell, so yes, we're biased. Swell is our closest competitor, and honestly a good product. If it's working for you, keep it. Here's when something else might fit better.
TL;DR
People leave Swell for three reasons: they want their review tool inside their phone and texting system, they need broader reputation management, or their reviews are coming in but they're short and generic. Each one points to a different alternative.
- Best if reviews are short and generic: Patientell (ours)
- Best if you want one vendor for phones and texting: Weave
- Best for listings and many review sites: Birdeye
- Best for a shared inbox and payments: Podium
The picks at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Price | Review sites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patientell (ours) | Longer, more detailed Google reviews | Quote, no contract | |
| Weave | Reviews inside a full phone and texting platform | ~$250–$450/mo + setup | Google, Facebook |
| Birdeye | Reputation and listings across many sites | ~$299–$449/mo per location | Google, Facebook, Healthgrades, Yelp and many more |
| Podium | Texting inbox, webchat and payments | $399–$599/mo | Google, Facebook, others |
Why practices look for a Swell alternative
Swell is good at timing: the review text goes out right after the visit, and the reply is drafted for you. Where practices sometimes hit a wall is what the reviews actually say. A fast ask still gets you a lot of "Great experience, 5 stars." Other times it's simply vendor consolidation: the office manager wants fewer logins.
1. PatientellOurs
- Best for
- practices getting plenty of reviews that say very little
- Price
- Quote. No contracts, no setup fees.
- Connects to
- Dentrix, Dentrix Ascend, Dentrix Enterprise, Open Dental, Oryx, Eaglesoft, Denticon, Curve Hero, eClinicalWorks and many more.
This is ours. Patientell is built for what happens after the patient taps the link. Our patent-pending flow is designed to get a detailed review that names your providers and services, with custom questions per location.
What you give up compared to Swell: surveys, employee feedback and non-Google review sites. We connect to the same major dental systems, and there's no contract, so it's easy to test at one office.
2. Weave
- Best for
- offices that want reviews inside the same system as their phones
- Price
- Quote. Third-party reports put most dental offices around $250–$450/mo per location, plus a setup fee.
- Connects to
- Dentrix (including Ascend and Enterprise), Eaglesoft, Open Dental, Denticon, Curve, SoftDent and more.
Weave includes review requests alongside phones, texting, reminders, scheduling, forms and payments, and it connects to most dental PMSs. One vendor, one login. Its review features are narrower than Swell's.
3. Birdeye
- Best for
- groups that need listings and dozens of review sites
- Price
- Quote. Third-party reports put it around $299–$449/mo per location on annual contracts, with onboarding fees.
- Connects to
- Dentrix, Eaglesoft, Open Dental and thousands of other apps.
If your marketing team wants listings management, competitor benchmarking and monitoring across every site, Birdeye goes broader than Swell. It's typically pricier and on an annual contract.
4. Podium
- Best for
- practices that live in a shared texting inbox
- Price
- $399/mo (Core) or $599/mo (Pro), on a 12-month contract. Phones and some AI features cost extra.
- Connects to
- Integrates with the big dental PMSs, but it's built for all local businesses. Ask to see it on your system.
Podium's strength is the inbox: texts, webchat and payments in one place. Published at $399/month and up on a 12-month term. Not dental-specific.
When to stay with Swell
If you're a multi-location group that uses Swell's surveys and employee feedback, and it's getting you steady, detailed reviews, stay. It's one of the best fits for that situation, and we'd say so even if you asked us for a demo.
Our pick
Reviews are coming in but they're thin: try Patientell at one office and compare. Want fewer vendors: Weave. Need everything a marketing team wants: Birdeye.
What we'd do today
- Pick your busiest office and read its last 30 Google reviews. Count how many mention a provider by name.
- If that number is low, the problem is review depth, not volume. Look for a tool built for that.
- If it's high and you're happy, keep Swell and stop shopping.
Questions
Is Patientell cheaper than Swell?
We quote per practice, so it depends. Swell's dental offers are among the lowest prices in this category. We don't charge setup fees or require a contract.
Can I test an alternative at one location first?
Yes, and you should. Run it at one office for 60 days, keep Swell everywhere else, and compare review count and length.
Does Patientell work with my practice management system?
Very likely. Patientell connects to Dentrix through a direct on-prem agent, Open Dental through its API, and Oryx through a cloud report sync. We also support Eaglesoft, Dentrix Ascend, Dentrix Enterprise, Denticon, Curve Hero, eClinicalWorks and many more. If your system isn't listed, ask us. Where there's no integration, the QR flow at checkout works on any system.
Where do Patientell's numbers come from?
One real dental practice that switched to Patientell from a large review vendor: 2.1× more reviews per month, reviews 2–10× longer, 12× more staff mentions, and 82% fewer one-star reviews year over year. It's one practice, not a controlled study, and we don't name the previous vendor. See the full data.
Try Patientell
Patent-pending review system for dental practices. Works with Dentrix, Open Dental, Oryx, Eaglesoft and many more. No contracts, no setup fees, live in under 24 hours.
We checked prices and features for every product here in October 2026. Most of these vendors don't publish prices, so ranges come from third-party reports. This stuff changes constantly, so confirm with each vendor before you sign anything. And we're not your lawyer or compliance officer.