specification: FinOps Framework
specificationVersion: '1.0'
schema: https://www.finops.org/framework/
provider: Cliniko
providerId: cliniko
created: '2026-07-12'
modified: '2026-07-12'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Practice Management
- Healthcare
- Allied Health
- SaaS
- FinOps
- Cost Management
- FOCUS
description: >-
  FinOps view of Cliniko spend. Cliniko is a per-practitioner SaaS subscription
  billed monthly in USD; cost scales with the number of practitioners in banded
  tiers rather than with API usage. The public REST API is included in the
  subscription at no additional charge, so API adoption does not directly add
  line-item cost - the meaningful variable cost is the practitioner headcount
  band and optional pre-paid SMS credits (used for reminders/confirmations, which
  the API can trigger). Because API calls do not carry per-request fees, FinOps
  attention is on right-sizing the practitioner band, monitoring SMS consumption,
  and staying within the 200-requests-per-minute limit to avoid throttling rather
  than on metered API charges.
notes: >-
  Per-unit SMS rates and tier prices are not reconciled here; verify on
  https://www.cliniko.com/pricing/. API usage is not separately metered or
  billed, so there is no per-call FOCUS charge to allocate - allocation is by
  subscription band and SMS credits.
sources:
- https://www.cliniko.com/pricing/
- https://docs.api.cliniko.com/
- https://github.com/redguava/cliniko-api
- https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
alignedWith:
  framework: FinOps Foundation Framework
  frameworkUrl: https://www.finops.org/framework/
  dataSpec: FOCUS
  dataSpecVersion: '1.3'
  dataSpecUrl: https://focus.finops.org/focus-specification/v1-3/
publisherName: Cliniko
serviceCategory: Practice Management Software (SaaS)
billingModel:
  pricingCategory: Subscription
  billingFrequency: Monthly
  billingCurrency: USD
  chargeCategories:
  - Usage
  - Purchase
focusColumns:
  ServiceName: Cliniko
  ServiceCategory: Practice Management Software
  ProviderName: Cliniko
  PublisherName: Cliniko
  InvoiceIssuerName: Cliniko
  BillingCurrency: USD
  ChargeCategory: Purchase
  PricingCategory: Subscription
meters:
- name: practitioner_subscription
  description: Monthly subscription priced by the practitioner-count band; the dominant cost line.
  unit: practitioners
  aggregation: max
  dimensions:
  - account
  - band
- name: sms_credits
  description: Pre-paid SMS messages consumed for reminders/confirmations, billed per message.
  unit: messages
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - business
- name: api_requests
  description: API requests made against the account. Not billed - tracked only against the 200/minute rate limit.
  unit: requests
  aggregation: sum
  dimensions:
  - account
  - user
principles:
- name: Visibility
  description: Track the active practitioner count against the current pricing band, and monitor monthly SMS credit burn.
- name: Allocation
  description: Attribute subscription cost by practitioner and SMS usage by business/location; API calls carry no direct charge to allocate.
- name: Optimization
  description: Right-size the practitioner band, avoid over-provisioning SMS credits, and batch/paginate API calls (larger per_page, q[] filters) to stay under the rate limit without adding cost.
- name: Accountability
  description: Assign an owner for the Cliniko subscription and SMS budget; review the practitioner band and SMS spend monthly.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com