Veterinary Software Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends and Forecast (2026 - 2031)

Global Veterinary Software Market Trends and Insights

Increasing Companion Animal Ownership and Healthcare Expenditure

Pet ownership climbed to record levels in 2024, with U.S. households spending USD 147 billion on pets, including USD 38.3 billion on veterinary care. Clinics that once relied on paper files now need longitudinal records, automated recalls, and mobile payment tools to keep pace with preventive and specialty care. Vendors have responded by embedding client-communication portals that trim no-show rates by up to 30%, directly lifting revenue per visit. Higher case complexity creates a virtuous cycle: sophisticated software enables data-driven treatment plans, and successful outcomes justify premium pricing. The United Kingdom offers a parallel example: CVS Group standardized 500-plus clinics on Provet Cloud in 2024 to unlock chain-wide benchmarking and compliance reporting, transforming software from a cost center into a profit lever.

Growing Adoption of Cloud-Based Practice-Management Systems

Cloud practice-management suites eliminate server purchases, shorten deployment windows, and provide instant access to patient files across sites. IDEXX launched the Vello platform in February 2024, allowing clinics to add new locations in days while pulling diagnostic data straight into the medical chart. Compliance is another catalyst: the European Union’s Regulation 2019/6 demands electronic antimicrobial reporting, a task cloud systems handle with automated uploads, whereas legacy platforms need manual exports^{[1]European Medicines Agency, “Veterinary Regulation 2019/6,” ema.europa.eu}. Subscription fees ranging from USD 200–800 per veterinarian per month convert large capital outlays into predictable operating expenses that align vendor incentives with clinic success. Rural practices still worry about bandwidth and sovereignty, but hybrid models—local data for daily workflow, cloud sync for analytics are easing that concern.

Integration of Diagnostic Imaging and Laboratory Workflows with PIMS

Diagnostic imaging and laboratory results now flow directly into patient records through DICOM and HL7-style interfaces. IDEXX’s Web PACS pipes radiographs into the Neo platform so specialists can review images remotely within hours rather than days. In emergency settings, that speed shortens triage, reducing morbidity and raising client satisfaction. Laboratory data follow an identical path: in-house analyzers from IDEXX, Zoetis, and Heska push values straight to the chart, eliminating transcription errors. The European Medicines Agency’s Big Data Strategy prioritizes open APIs to support pharmacovigilance, providing regulatory lift for vendors that invest in interoperability.

Expansion of Telehealth and Remote Consultation Services

Telehealth platforms matured quickly after regulators clarified prescribing rules in 2024. FirstVet raised EUR 20 million in June 2024 and now connects 400 veterinarians with 5 million insured pets across two continents^{[2]FirstVet, “Series C Funding Announcement,” firstvet.com}. TeleVet followed with USD 2 million in March 2025 to grow its asynchronous consultation tool that slashes unnecessary emergency visits by 25%. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration now allows controlled-substance prescriptions after telehealth visits under specific safeguards, removing a major adoption hurdle. Aggregated consultation data also feed public-health dashboards, aligning with the European Health Data Space regulation implemented in March 2025.

High Initial Acquisition and Implementation Costs

Complete migration can exceed USD 50,000 for a mid-sized clinic once hardware, data conversion, and staff training costs are factored in. A 2024 American Veterinary Medical Association survey found that 42% of respondents cited cost as the chief barrier[2]. Productivity often dips for three to six months after the go-live date as teams adjust to the new workflows. While cloud models lower capital outlay, annual subscription fees of USD 10,000 or more per veterinarian can strain practices that are already thinly capitalized. Tiered pricing helps but risks fragmenting feature sets, slowing the network effects that anchor platform value.

Data Security, Privacy, and Cyber-Threat Concerns

Ransomware attacks against veterinary clinics increased in 2024, leading to a steady rise in cyber-insurance premiums. Penalties under GDPR reach 4% of annual revenue, so smaller European practices hesitate to move sensitive data online without assurances such as ISO 27001 audits^{[3]European Commission, “General Data Protection Regulation,” europa.eu}. In the United States, the patchwork of state privacy laws forces vendors to juggle jurisdiction-specific settings, inflating development expense. The absence of a federal veterinary-privacy statute leaves clinics vulnerable to multi-state litigation when breaches occur, thereby intensifying the perceived risk.

Segment Analysis

By Product: Practice-Management Platforms Anchor Revenue, Telehealth Accelerates

Practice-management suites booked 52.45% of 2025 revenue, validating their role as the digital spine for scheduling, billing, medical records, and stock control. IDEXX Neo and Covetrus Ascend bundle integrated payments, diagnostics connectivity, and automated recalls, locking in users through workflow depth. Telehealth engines hold a smaller denominator but are scaling at an 8.54% CAGR to 2031. The investment signals are clear: FirstVet raised EUR 20 million in 2024, and TeleVet added USD 2 million in 2025 to extend asynchronous triage. Beyond pure remote care, imaging platforms such as Web PACS offer DICOM-compliant storage for referral traffic, while IDEXX inVue Dx marries on-site diagnostic hardware with cloud decision support.

Competition now pivots toward convergence. Vendors design single dashboards that surface lab flags, imaging thumbnails, and teleconsult transcripts inside the standard chart. The approach raises switching costs and underpins a durable subscription stream. Compliance modules have become mandatory; for instance, European clinics cannot submit antimicrobial data without in-app reporting. As a result, investors reward platforms that own end-to-end data pipelines rather than point solutions.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Delivery Model: On-Premise Still Dominant, Cloud Makes Rapid Inroads

On-premise setups accounted for 58.43% of 2025 installations, reflecting sunk server costs and long-standing fears over cloud latency in rural areas. Nevertheless, cloud deployments are growing at an 8.01% CAGR, propelled by subscription economics and automatic updates that slash IT overhead. IDEXX Vello targets greenfield clinics with multi-location reporting straight out of the box, whereas Provet Cloud’s 2025 U.S. pilot shows that European vendors can win deals by pairing data-privacy pedigree with modern UX.

Hybrid models balance both worlds: clinics keep a lightweight local server for uptime assurance, while daily backups and analytics flow to a cloud vault. This framework aligns nicely with Regulation 2019/6, which favors seamless antimicrobial uploads, and permits chain headquarters to run groupwide dashboards without burdening local bandwidth. Certification has moved from marketing line-item to procurement checkbox; SOC 2 Type II has become the baseline for North American corporate buyers, while ISO 27001 remains the gold standard in Europe.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Animal Type: Companion Leads, Equine Gains Traction

Companion-animal platforms delivered 55.67% of 2025 demand. Their feature set prioritizes two-way messaging, smartphone payments, and preventive-care reminders tailored to cats and dogs. North American and Western European clinics cite client communication as their biggest differentiator, reinforcing the segment’s software spend. Equine platforms, though niche, exhibit an 8.78% CAGR thanks to racing and breeding operators that need pedigree tracking, sensor integrations, and complex medication logs. Products such as ezyVet’s equine module and Shepherd’s dedicated workflow tools parse competition results and sync with national registries.

Livestock and mixed-practice solutions remain underdeveloped. Farm-management systems track herd nutrition, yet often sit outside clinical recordkeeping, hobbling disease traceability. As one-health frameworks expand, regulators may soon require integrated dashboards that connect prescription data with farm outcomes. Vendors capable of folding herd metrics into their core PIMS therefore stand to capture untapped white space.

Geography Analysis

North America maintained 45.32% of 2025 revenue, underpinned by high per-pet healthcare spend and aggressive clinic roll-up strategies. Mars Veterinary Health, National Veterinary Associates, and Thrive Pet Healthcare now manage thousands of outlets, each demanding unified platforms for billing, inventory, and teleconsults. The region’s maturity means nearly every clinic uses basic software, so growth comes from layering predictive analytics, AI diagnostics, and real-time supply chain dashboards on top of existing records. Canada mirrors U.S. adoption but adds provincial privacy nuances that oblige configurable user-consent workflows. Private-equity appetite confirms the thesis: Patient Square Capital’s USD 4.1 billion acquisition of Patterson Companies in December 2024 hinged partly on cross-selling software to the distributor’s installed base.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing arena, posting a 7.43% CAGR through 2031. China represents roughly 40% of regional spend, but software uptake is fragmented across local vendors that tailor interfaces to Mandarin and integrate with domestic payment rails. India’s public investment in digital livestock monitoring aims to lift productivity and disease surveillance, yet patchy rural connectivity still limits cloud migrations. In contrast, Japan and Australia approach North American penetration levels, favoring premium analytics and full diagnostics integration. Multilingual support, local cloud hosting, and currency-specific billing are non-negotiable, forcing Western incumbents to partner with regional integrators or risk losing to homegrown competitors.

Europe occupies the middle ground in share but leads in policy innovation. Regulation 2019/6 has already shifted antimicrobial tracking online, and the Big Data Strategy outlines a centralized EU Veterinary Data Hub. The European Health Data Space, effective March 2025, adds zoonotic-disease surveillance, pushing clinics toward cloud or hybrid deployments capable of secure data exchange. Nordhealth’s partnerships with CVS Group and Vets for Pets prove that platforms built around GDPR resilience can pull business from domestic rivals. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa trail in infrastructure. Urban pockets such as São Paulo, Mexico City, and Dubai are early adopters, using cloud suites to circumvent local IT shortages, but rural areas remain largely paper-based.