Practo helps patients find doctors, book clinic appointments, receive online consultations, order medicines and arrange diagnostic tests through one digital platform. At the same time, it provides software and promotional tools to doctors, clinics and hospitals.
The company does not rely on one source of income. It earns from healthcare establishments that use its technology, patients who purchase consultations or health plans, hospitals that subscribe to management software, and partners that fulfil medicine and diagnostic orders.
Practo therefore follows a healthcare marketplace and software-as-a-service model. Its consumer platform generates healthcare transactions, while products such as Practo Prime, Ray, Insta and Reach help medical establishments manage their operations and connect with patients.
Practo Company Quick Overview
| Particular | Details |
| Brand | Practo |
| Legal company | Practo Technologies Private Limited |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Founders | Shashank ND, Abhinav Lal and Siddhartha Nihalani |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| Founder and CEO | Shashank ND |
| Business type | Digital healthcare marketplace and SaaS platform |
| Main consumer services | Doctor discovery, appointments, consultations, medicines and diagnostics |
| Main provider products | Practo Prime, Ray, Insta and Reach |
| Doctor partners | More than one lakh |
| Countries served | More than 20 |
| FY25 revenue | ₹234 crore |
| FY25 operating EBITDA | ₹15 crore |
Practo says its platform serves more than 30 crore patients annually and works with over one lakh doctor partners. Its appointment network includes more than 9,000 hospitals and clinics using Practo Prime.
The company reported more than ₹3,500 crore in gross merchandise value, ₹234 crore in revenue and ₹15 crore in operating EBITDA for FY25. It described FY25 as its first complete profitable financial year, following six consecutive profitable quarters.
What Is Practo’s Business Model?
Practo operates a two-sided healthcare platform. On one side are patients searching for doctors, consultations, medicines and diagnostic services. On the other side are doctors, clinics, hospitals, laboratories and pharmacies that want technology, patient access and digital operating tools.
Searching for doctors and viewing ordinary profiles is generally available to patients without a subscription. Practo earns when users purchase eligible healthcare services and when medical establishments subscribe to its technology or advertising products.
An important distinction is that Practo does not simply charge individual doctors to appear higher in normal search results. Its paid Reach advertising product is offered to clinics, hospitals and medical establishments, while Ray and Insta are management-software products.
How Does Practo Make Money?
1. Practo Prime Technology Fees
Practo Prime helps clinics and hospitals provide online appointment booking and a more organised patient-visit experience.
Participating establishments can receive features such as instant appointment booking, calling technology, appointment management and access to Practo’s clinic-management software.
Practo states that the clinic or hospital is charged a one-time technology fee when a patient first uses Practo’s technology to connect with that establishment. The service remains free for the patient booking the appointment.
Practo does not guarantee that a hospital or clinic will receive a fixed number of patients. It earns for providing the technology and connection rather than for guaranteeing treatment revenue.
2. Online Consultation Fees
Patients can consult doctors online through chat, voice calls or video calls. The patient pays the consultation charge through Practo, which collects the payment on behalf of the doctor.
Practo transfers the doctor’s share after deducting its standard platform-development fee. The exact consultation price may differ according to the doctor, speciality and type of service selected.
This model allows Practo to earn from each paid consultation without employing every doctor directly. However, the company must still operate the app, manage payments, protect patient information and provide customer support.
3. Practo Plus Subscriptions
Practo Plus is a paid healthcare membership for consumers. Subscribers receive access to online consultations across more than 20 medical specialities, subject to the plan’s fair-use conditions.
The company offers monthly, quarterly and annual membership options. Current plan benefits may include consultations through text, calls or video, faster doctor access and coverage for eligible family members.
Subscription income is valuable because Practo receives recurring payments rather than depending entirely on individual consultation purchases. Profitability depends on whether the membership fees collected are sufficient to cover doctor payments and platform expenses.
4. Practo Ray Subscriptions
Practo Ray is clinic-management software used for appointments, patient records, prescriptions, billing, reminders and business reports.
Clinics pay monthly or annual subscription fees according to the selected plan. Practo publicly lists paid Ray plans with different storage limits, reporting features, payment-processing rates and doctor-account limits.
Ray produces predictable software revenue because clinics may continue using it for several years after transferring their appointments and patient records to the system. Practo says the software is used by more than 10,000 clinics.
5. Insta Hospital-Management Software
Insta is Practo’s hospital information and management system. It helps hospitals manage outpatient and inpatient registrations, billing, insurance, laboratories, pharmacies, beds, surgery schedules and medical records.
Hospitals pay for access to the software, implementation and related services according to their requirements. Insta operates as a SaaS product rather than an advertising service designed to generate patients directly.
Practo reports that Insta is trusted by more than 500 clients across over 1,200 healthcare facilities. Its international use also gives Practo an income source outside India.
6. Practo Reach Advertising
Practo Reach allows clinics, hospitals and healthcare establishments to purchase sponsored advertising positions on Practo’s search pages.
Advertisements can be targeted according to locality and shown in prominent positions across desktop, mobile web and the Practo app. Customers may also receive call alerts and agreed advertising impressions.
Reach creates advertising revenue from Practo’s large patient audience. However, sponsored placements are displayed separately and do not directly alter the organic search ranking of individual doctors.
7. Diagnostic-Test Bookings
Patients can use Practo to arrange laboratory tests and home sample collection through authorised diagnostic partners.
Practo earns through a revenue-sharing arrangement with the laboratory or testing partner. Part of the customer’s payment goes to the laboratory conducting the test, while Practo retains its agreed service share.
Diagnostic bookings also allow Practo to serve patients beyond doctor consultations. A person who consults a doctor through Practo may later book the recommended blood test through the same platform.
8. Medicine-Delivery Partnerships
Practo facilitates medicine delivery through a network of verified pharmacy partners. The pharmacy supplies the medicine, while Practo supports product discovery, ordering and delivery coordination.
The company describes this business as following a standard revenue-sharing model with authorised medicine-delivery partners.
Medicine orders can create repeat transactions, especially for patients managing chronic illnesses. However, delivery, discounts, prescription verification and customer support can reduce the margin earned from each order.
Practo’s Major Operating Costs
Practo’s important expenses include:
- Payments and settlements made to doctors
- Technology infrastructure and servers
- Software development and maintenance
- Employee salaries
- Sales teams serving clinics and hospitals
- Customer and provider support
- Marketing and patient acquisition
- Data security and privacy compliance
- Payment-processing charges
- Medicine and diagnostic fulfilment support
Healthcare technology also requires strong privacy and security systems because Practo handles appointments, consultations and sensitive medical information.
Why Practo’s Model Can Be Profitable
Software products such as Ray and Insta generate recurring subscription revenue without requiring Practo to provide a separate physical product for every customer.
The consumer marketplace can also use the same patient base across several services. Someone who initially searches for a doctor may later purchase a consultation, Plus membership, medicine order or diagnostic test.
Practo’s FY25 contribution margin improved from 40% to 46%. The company attributed its profitability to growth in its core care-navigation business, stronger margins and improved operating discipline.
Main Challenges in Practo’s Business Model
Healthcare information must be accurate because patients may make important decisions using doctor profiles, reviews and appointment availability.
Practo also competes with hospital-owned apps, Apollo 24/7, Tata 1mg, PharmEasy, MediBuddy and other digital healthcare platforms.
The company must balance commercial income with medical ethics. Advertising should not mislead patients, and organic doctor discovery must remain separate from sponsored clinic promotions.
International expansion creates another challenge. Healthcare regulations, medical licensing, privacy laws and payment systems differ between countries. Practo currently earns about 20% of its income internationally and aims to expand further, particularly through healthcare software and consumer services.
Conclusion
Practo makes money through Prime technology fees, online consultation charges, Practo Plus memberships, clinic and hospital software subscriptions, Reach advertising and revenue sharing on medicines and diagnostic tests.
Its business combines a patient-facing healthcare marketplace with recurring software income from medical establishments. This gives the company several revenue sources without requiring it to own hospitals, pharmacies or laboratories.
Long-term success will depend on maintaining patient trust, protecting medical information and providing enough value to both patients and healthcare professionals. Practo must continue expanding profitable software and subscription services without allowing commercial promotions to weaken the reliability of its healthcare platform.
FAQs
Q. Do doctors have to pay to create a basic Practo profile?
No. Doctors can create a basic profile and provide professional information. Practo’s paid advertising product, Reach, is intended for clinics, hospitals and medical establishments rather than individual doctors buying a higher organic ranking.
Q. Does Practo employ every doctor available for online consultation?
No. Many doctors are independent healthcare professionals using Practo’s technology. Practo facilitates the consultation and payment but does not replace the doctor’s professional responsibility.
Q. Does Practo guarantee that a listed doctor will provide successful treatment?
No. Practo helps patients discover and connect with healthcare providers. Medical outcomes depend on the patient’s condition, the doctor’s diagnosis and the treatment provided.
Q. Is Practo Ray an advertising product?
No. Ray is practice-management software for clinics. It manages functions such as appointments, records, prescriptions and billing rather than guaranteeing new patients.
Q. Is the complete consultation payment Practo’s revenue?
No. A portion is paid to the consulting doctor. Practo retains only its applicable platform fee and must also pay technology, payment and support expenses.
