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DenGro alternatives: lead and message tools for UK practices
DenGro is lead management software for dental practices: it gathers enquiries from your marketing into one list, gives the team a WhatsApp, email and SMS inbox to follow them up, and syncs with dental practice systems, so it suits dental practices that want to track leads through to treatment; a clinic outside dentistry, or a practice that mainly wants patient messages answered out of hours, is better served by a different kind of tool. This guide sets out what DenGro does and costs, where it is the better choice, and what the alternatives are.
Every product fact below comes from the vendor's own page, read by us on 10 October 2026, and each one links to the page it came from. Prices are shown in the currency the vendor's page displayed to us; we have not converted anything. Where a vendor does not publish a price or a trial, we say "not published". Prices and features change, so confirm them with the vendor before you sign.
What does DenGro do?
DenGro describes itself as a CRM "built for ambitious dental practices and brands" (DenGro). From its own pages:
- One list of leads. "All of your leads from all of your marketing sources will be pulled into one simple, easy to read Today page." The sources it names include Facebook, Instagram and Google Ads as well as the practice systems below (DenGro, features).
- A team inbox. The team can "engage with prospective patients on a 1-1 basis via WhatsApp, email and SMS" (DenGro).
- Automatic follow-up. "Practice branded and treatment specific auto-responses and nurture messages (email & SMS)" (DenGro, features).
- Dental system integrations. It names EXACT (one-way sync), Dentally, Aerona and SfD, and says the integrations "create, update and sync patient, appointment and financial information across the two systems" (DenGro).
- A website chatbot. "Available 24/7 and responds instantly", built by DenGro and added to your website with a plug in or a snippet of code. Enquiries it collects "will be automatically added to your Today page in DenGro". It is included in the Pro plan (DenGro, chatbot).
Two limits to note, both from what the pages do and do not say. The chatbot page describes a chatbot on your website; it does not say the chatbot answers on WhatsApp. And it describes capturing enquiries for your team; we found no statement that it books appointments by itself.
What does it cost?
- Gro: £199 "per practice per month, inc VAT".
- Pro: £249 "per practice per month, inc VAT". This is the plan that includes the chatbot.
- Enterprise (for groups): not published.
- Usage on top: WhatsApp and SMS are charged by usage. The credit prices are not on the page. Automated nurture SMS and emails are described as included in the monthly subscription.
- Trial: "Try it free for 14 days." The FAQ says you need banking details or a credit or debit card to set up the subscription, and that you are not billed for the first 14 days.
- Terms: "No contract, tie in or set up fee", on a rolling 30-day subscription you can cancel at any time.
All from DenGro's pricing page.
Who does DenGro suit?
DenGro is the stronger choice when:
- You are a dental practice on one of the systems it names. Lead, patient, appointment and financial information syncs with EXACT, Dentally, Aerona or SfD, so you can see which enquiries became treatment. A messaging tool that is not connected to your dental system cannot do that.
- Your problem is follow-up, not first reply. If enquiries from adverts and forms are being lost because nobody chases them, a lead list with automatic nurture messages addresses that directly.
- You want to measure marketing. DenGro says you can "understand team and marketing performance at the click of a button".
- You want clear UK pricing. Prices are published in pounds including VAT, with no contract.
When is it not the right fit?
- You are not a dental practice. The product, its integrations and its chatbot are described for dentistry. A physiotherapy, dermatology or mental health clinic should ask DenGro directly, and compare tools built around its own practice system.
- You mainly want WhatsApp answered at night. The inbox is for your team to reply from. The 24/7 chatbot described on DenGro's page sits on your website.
- You want patients to book for themselves. We found no online booking feature on the DenGro pages we read. That job usually belongs to the practice system (see Dentally below).
- You want to try it without payment details. The trial needs banking or card details to set up.
What are the alternatives?
Only facts stated on each vendor's own site, checked on 10 October 2026. "Not published" means we did not find it on the pages we read, not that it does not exist. Products are listed as examples, not recommendations, and they do different jobs: read the "what it is" column first.
| Product | What it is | Channels | Books on its own? | Price published | Trial | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DenGro | Lead management (CRM) for dental practices | WhatsApp, email and SMS inbox; website chatbot on the Pro plan | Not stated; the chatbot captures enquiries for the team | £199 or £249 per practice per month, including VAT; WhatsApp and SMS usage extra (source) | 14 days; payment details needed to set up | Dental practices that track leads |
| Dentally (Dentally Portal) | Dental practice system; the Portal adds digital forms and online appointment booking | Online booking page, not a message inbox | Patients book online themselves | Plans shown from £125 a month excluding VAT, rising with the number of surgeries; Portal is on Essentials and Pro, not Starter (source) | Not published; demo offered | Dental practices that want self-service booking in their practice system |
| VoiceStack | AI phone system for dental practices | Phone, two-way texting | Says its AI receptionist can book "using live PMS availability" | Not published (source) | Not published; demo offered | Dental practices that want phones answered |
| Pabau Engage Plus | Add-on to the Pabau practice system | WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, phone, plus email, text and web chat | Pabau says its AI agents book appointments | $159 a month per location, plus credits; Pabau plan not published (source) | Not published | Non-dental clinics already on Pabau |
| Vascue | "An AI front desk, built for Cliniko" | Says it "writes appointments directly into Cliniko" | Not published (source) | Not published | Clinics on Cliniko that want WhatsApp booking |
Dentally Portal: let patients book for themselves
Dentally is a cloud dental practice system, and one of the systems DenGro integrates with, so the two can be used together and are not direct substitutes. It belongs in this list because, for some practices, the out-of-hours problem is booking and not conversation. Dentally's pricing page lists "Dentally Portal (Digital Forms, Online Appointment Booking, Kiosk and Concierge)" as included on its Essentials and Pro plans and not on Starter. The plans were priced in pounds excluding VAT, on a slider by number of surgeries, with figures from £125 a month, so confirm the price for your number of surgeries with Dentally; the page offers a demo (Dentally, pricing). We found no WhatsApp inbox or message-answering AI on that page.
VoiceStack: if the missed enquiries are phone calls
VoiceStack describes itself as an "AI-powered phone system" and "Voice AI Platform for Dental Practices". It says its AI receptionist can "answer overflow and after-hours calls automatically" and "book appointments using live PMS availability", and that complex calls are escalated. It lists DenGro among its integrations, alongside dental systems such as Open Dental and Dentrix. No price is on the page; it offers a demo (VoiceStack). It is a phone and text product: we found no WhatsApp on the page. Ask whether it connects to the dental system your practice uses before you book the demo.
Pabau Engage Plus: for non-dental clinics on Pabau
Pabau describes itself as a practice management platform for "medical practices and medspas across the UK, US and globally". Engage Plus is its add-on for WhatsApp Business, Instagram and Facebook, a cloud phone system and "AI agents that triage, answer FAQs and book appointments", shown at "$159 a month, per location" with "No setup fee, no minimum term". Usage (calls, texts, WhatsApp and AI minutes) is charged in Pabau credits, and the price of the Pabau plan underneath is not published (Pabau, Engage page; pricing). The price was shown to us in US dollars; ask Pabau for the figure in pounds. It only makes sense if you run, or will move to, Pabau. More detail is in our guide to Pabau Engage and its alternatives.
Vascue: WhatsApp booking for clinics on Cliniko
Cliniko's directory of connected apps lists a number of AI receptionists and says "Most of these apps were developed by third parties", with a recommendation to do your own due diligence (Cliniko, connected apps). Vascue is the one whose listing is about WhatsApp. Its own page says it "writes appointments directly into Cliniko", keeps reschedules and cancellations in sync, and displays "ISO 27001 certified" (Vascue). It publishes no price and no trial, and the only deployment it names is a private hospital radiology department in Hong Kong. We found no UK customer named on that page, so ask about UK clinics, UK data storage and support hours.
Do you need a tool at all?
- Few enquiries out of hours. Count one month first. If only a handful arrive after closing, an automatic "we are closed, we will reply by 10 am" message and a prompt reply in the morning may be enough.
- Messages that are often clinical. Toothache, swelling after an extraction, a reaction after a procedure: no tool in this guide should decide whether that can wait. Those messages need a clinician, and your out-of-hours arrangements should say who that is.
- Enough reception cover already. If your team replies to every enquiry within the working day and patients are content, software will add cost without solving a problem.
Whatever you choose, every automatic reply should tell patients what to do if it is urgent: call 999 in an emergency, and use NHS 111 for urgent help that is not an emergency (NHS: when to use 111).
Questions to ask before you choose
- Is my problem lost leads, unanswered messages, missed calls or booking? Which of these does this product address?
- Does it connect to my practice system, and what exactly is synced?
- What is the full monthly cost at my volume, including WhatsApp and SMS usage and VAT?
- What happens to a message that arrives at 9 pm on a Saturday?
- What does any chatbot or AI do with a message about pain or symptoms?
- Where is patient data stored, and will you sign a data processing agreement?
- Do I need to give payment details to start the trial?
- Is there a minimum term, and can I export my data if I leave?
Common questions
How much does DenGro cost? £199 (Gro) or £249 (Pro) per practice per month including VAT on 10 October 2026, with WhatsApp and SMS usage on top. The price for groups is not published.
Does DenGro have a free trial? Yes, 14 days. You need banking or card details to set up the subscription and are not billed for the first 14 days.
Does the DenGro chatbot book appointments? Its page describes a website chatbot that captures enquiries and adds them to DenGro for your team. We found no statement that it books by itself.
Is DenGro suitable for clinics that are not dental? It describes itself as built for dental practices, and the systems it integrates with are dental systems. Ask DenGro directly if you are in another field.
Disclosure: we make ClinicConvo. It is one more alternative, and you should weigh it knowing we wrote this page. It is an AI assistant that answers a clinic's WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger messages at any hour. It is self-serve: a free trial with no card (up to 200 patient messages within 7 days), then US$99, US$199 or US$349 a month, priced in US dollars.
Where it is weaker than DenGro: it is not connected to any dental practice system, so it does not track a lead through to treatment or report on marketing; by default it does not book, it passes each request to your reception team to confirm; it has no phone product; its prices are in US dollars, not pounds; and we claim no compliance certifications. If you are a dental practice that wants lead tracking tied to your dental system, DenGro is the better fit.
Where it may fit: a clinic outside dentistry, or a practice whose main gap is WhatsApp enquiries that sit unanswered until morning. It never diagnoses, and clinical questions go to your team. Try it here.
Sources
- DenGro. Home, features and benefits, chatbot and pricing.
- Dentally. Pricing.
- VoiceStack. voicestack.com/en-GB.
- Pabau. Engage: omnichannel patient engagement software and pricing.
- Cliniko. Connected apps.
- Vascue. An AI front desk, built for Cliniko.
- NHS. When to use 111.
Keep reading
- AI Front Desk for Clinics: What It Handles, What Staff Do
- AI Receptionist for Medical Offices: 2026 Buyer's Guide
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