ProviderQMS

Care operations

Astalty vs Echidna Online

Compare the published scope, cost evidence and buying questions before you commit.

Sources checked 2026-09-24 · Source-based comparison

Vendor-source research, not hands-on tests or a ranked endorsement. ProviderQMS sells document kits and a separate QMS product. No vendor enquiry collection or affiliate source links. How we compare.

The decision to make

Astalty and Echidna Online both appear in our care operations research. Connect the participant record, support delivery, worker activity and financial evidence. Start with the differences below, then test the same essential workflow. We have not used these products hands-on or established an overall winner.

Astalty vs Echidna Online: the published starting point
Buying questionAstaltyEchidna Online
What does it do?Astalty grew from support coordination into broader NDIS operations. It now markets scheduling, invoicing, participant records and compliance registers.Echidna Online centres NDIS plans, appointments and service notes for provider teams. Its current offer also includes goals, forms and claiming oversight.
Why consider it here?Astalty explicitly markets itself for NDIS businesses.The vendor explicitly markets Echidna as NDIS practice software.
What is the cost basis?Enterprise pricing is by quote; current standard plan price not verified.Published Starter A$247.50/month including GST for up to 10 FTE; Business uses per-FTE pricing and Enterprise is quoted. Confirm setup and export terms.
What should the demo show?Log a billable coordinator email, assign a worker and compare the participant budget with the invoice batch.Add a fictional PACE plan, book an appointment, sign a form, record a billable note and show a rejected claim on the dashboard.

Compare the evidence, product by product

Astalty — published capabilities

  • Support coordination tasks and time
  • Participant funding and service agreements
  • Rostering with SCHADS alerts
  • Bulk invoices and Xero sync

Source check: 2026-09-24. Published vendor statements, not independent feature testing.

Questions for Astalty

  • How are SCHADS warnings resolved and documented?
  • Which role permissions cover financial and incident records?
  • Does the quoted tier include the API and Xero sync?
Read the full Astalty profile ↗

Echidna Online — published capabilities

  • Plan budgets and funding periods
  • Appointments, billable notes and claim items
  • Client goals and progress reporting
  • Forms with electronic client sign-off

Source check: 2026-09-24. Published vendor statements, not independent feature testing.

Questions for Echidna Online

  • How does the FTE calculation handle casual and variable-hour staff?
  • What happens to records after cancellation or read-only access ends?
  • Can claim and note histories be exported with attachments?
Read the full Echidna Online profile ↗

Run the same scenario in both

Use a fictional recurring community-access service. Change the worker, record the delivered support, correct a note and reconcile the invoice.

  • Trace service agreement and budget to the roster and delivered record.
  • Check what the worker can see, what they must record and how corrections are retained.
  • Change or cancel a service and inspect the effect on timesheets, billing and reporting.
  • Export the participant history with attachments and demonstrate the exit process.

Put the quotes on the same basis

Model active clients, staff logins, sites, service lines, setup and required accounting/payroll connections.

Use the same volumes, currency, GST basis and billing period for both quotes. Include migration, staff training time, required companion subscriptions and the cost of retrieving records at exit. If a charge is unverified, keep it as an open question rather than treating it as free.

How to reach a decision

  1. Choose the tasks your service cannot operate without before either demonstration.
  2. Record demonstrated, partial, not demonstrated or not applicable for each task. Keep the evidence and edition name.
  3. Ask the vendor to resolve every failed essential task in writing; a high average score cannot erase it.
  4. Test a correction, permission change and export. These are part of everyday operations, not just implementation.
  5. Decide using workflow fit, full cost and your team’s capacity to change systems. Retain the written assumptions for review.

What this comparison does not establish

Service-delivery software varies by provider size, module and funding workflow. Scheduling alone does not establish complete NDIS claiming or clinical-record coverage. A capability not mentioned in the reviewed source remains unverified, not absent. This comparison does not certify compliance, integrations, accessibility, security or migration outcomes.