Head to head
OpenLoop vs Wheel vs SteadyMD: the network triangle
OpenLoop, Wheel, and SteadyMD form the enterprise clinician-network triangle, and buyers usually shortlist them as a set. All three supply licensed clinical capacity to telehealth programs on quoted, enterprise-shaped contracts, and none of the three is a storefront, growth engine, or pharmacy-economics answer. The 2026 shape: OpenLoop is the broadest services bundle (staffing plus admin and patient support), Wheel leans toward health systems and pharma programs with a configurable care platform, and SteadyMD is clinician workforce infrastructure behind an API, acquired by DocGo in October 2025. A consumer brand comparing the three is often about to discover it is really shopping for a different category.
What each one actually is.
White-label telehealth support: a staffed clinician network with admin and patient-support services attached, sold as line items and quoted per engagement.
You want staffing breadth with back-office services from one vendor, plugged into a stack and storefront you already run.
OpenLoop alternatives & pricingAn enterprise virtual-care platform plus clinician network, with public focus as of 2026 leaning toward health systems, payers, and pharma programs.
You are an enterprise-shaped program that needs a configurable care platform and network, and a long procurement cycle is acceptable.
Wheel alternatives & pricingClinician workforce infrastructure as an API for digital health companies, typically priced on visit volume or dedicated capacity, part of DocGo since October 2025.
You are an engineering-led company that wants licensed capacity behind an API and plans to own everything around the visit yourself.
SteadyMD alternatives & pricingOpenLoop vs Wheel vs SteadyMD, dimension by dimension.
| Dimension | OpenLoop | Wheel | SteadyMD | EmbedCare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinician workforce | Yes (staffed network) | Yes (platform network) | Yes (API-first network) | Credentialed 50-state network, routed on an SLA. One contract |
| Pharmacy supply | Partner pharmacies, not owned | Partner-based, not owned | Not their layer | Owned pharmacy supply network: integrated compounding pharmacies |
| Storefront & funnel | Limited: bring your own | Platform UI; brand storefront varies | Not their layer | Included: white-label storefront + intake on your domain |
| Conversion & retention engine | Not core | Not core | Not their layer | Shipped: funnels, SMS/email, refills, winback |
| Compliance operations | Shared responsibility | Shared responsibility | Clinical compliance; yours elsewhere | Operated: LegitScript, HIPAA, state prescribing |
| Contract shape | Multiple service line items | Platform + service pricing | Workforce pricing | Flat product rates; your margin flexes, ours doesn't |
| Brand & data ownership | Yours | Yours (verify data terms) | Yours | Yours: brand, patients, and data stay with you |
Comparison is model-level, based on each vendor's public positioning as of September 2026; capabilities, pricing, and terms change; verify independently before relying on any statement here. Pricing observations describe what vendors publish or publicly market, not private quotes. All trademarks belong to their owners; EmbedCare is not affiliated with or endorsed by any vendor named.
The pricing reality.
OpenLoop
OpenLoop does not publish pricing as of September 2026. Expect a sales conversation and a custom quote; ask for the all-in per-patient math (visit fees, platform fees, medication cost, and any revenue share) in writing before you commit.
Its public positioning is service-based: clinician staffing, admin, and support sold as line items, so total cost scales with the services you attach. When you model it, price the whole stack you will actually need (staffing plus storefront plus pharmacy plus compliance), not the entry line item.
Wheel
Wheel does not publish pricing as of September 2026. Expect a sales conversation and a custom quote; ask for the all-in per-patient math (visit fees, platform fees, medication cost, and any revenue share) in writing before you commit.
Wheel sells enterprise virtual-care infrastructure (platform plus clinician network), and its public focus as of 2026 leans toward health systems, payers, and pharma programs. For a consumer brand, expect enterprise-shaped contracts and confirm whether your use case is one it still prioritizes.
SteadyMD
SteadyMD does not publish pricing as of September 2026. Expect a sales conversation and a custom quote; ask for the all-in per-patient math (visit fees, platform fees, medication cost, and any revenue share) in writing before you commit.
Its model is clinician workforce infrastructure sold to digital health companies, so expect visit-volume or capacity-based pricing, with everything around the visit (storefront, pharmacy, growth, most compliance) remaining your cost to build and run. SteadyMD was acquired by DocGo in late 2025, so confirm current packaging directly.
EmbedCare prices the operated stack as flat product rates fixed in your partner agreement, with medication included on GLP-1 programs and a self-serve Launch tier starting at $495/mo.
What all three leave you assembling.
- None of the three publishes pricing as of September 2026: all quote enterprise-shaped contracts, so confirm minimums early if you are not enterprise-sized.
- The storefront, funnel, and retention machinery are outside all three offers: a consumer brand becomes its own systems integrator.
- Pharmacy economics are not their layer: fills route to partner pharmacies or your own arrangements, and the per-fill spread that decides a recurring-Rx business is negotiated elsewhere.
One operated stack instead of an assembly.
EmbedCare runs the layers this comparison keeps splitting apart: the white-label storefront and funnel, the 50-state clinician network, owned pharmacy supply with medication included on GLP-1 programs, retention, and compliance, behind your brand on flat product rates fixed in writing.
OpenLoop vs Wheel vs SteadyMD: what operators ask
OpenLoop vs Wheel vs SteadyMD: which is best?
Best for what they respectively are: OpenLoop for staffing plus admin services breadth, Wheel for enterprise and pharma-shaped programs on a configurable care platform, SteadyMD for licensed clinician capacity behind an API. All three are quoted, enterprise-shaped, and none covers the storefront, growth, or pharmacy economics, so consumer brands often end up in the turnkey category instead.
Which of OpenLoop, Wheel, and SteadyMD is right for a consumer brand?
Often none alone: all three supply clinical capacity into a stack you assemble and operate, which suits funded digital-health companies more than audience-led brands. A brand whose asset is its audience usually gets further on an operated platform (EmbedCare, or end-to-end networks like Beluga Health) where the storefront, supply, and retention come with the clinicians.
How much do OpenLoop, Wheel, and SteadyMD cost?
None of the three publishes pricing as of September 2026. OpenLoop quotes service line items, Wheel quotes enterprise platform-plus-network contracts, and SteadyMD quotes workforce infrastructure tied to visit volume or capacity. Model the all-in per-patient cost including everything they do not cover: storefront, growth, pharmacy, and most compliance operations.
Do OpenLoop, Wheel, or SteadyMD own pharmacies?
Per their public positioning as of September 2026, no: OpenLoop and Wheel work with partner pharmacies, and pharmacy is not SteadyMD's layer. If medication margin matters to your model, ask any network vendor who dispenses, what a fill costs you, and who keeps the spread, in writing.
What changed at these companies recently?
The diligence-relevant public events: SteadyMD was acquired by DocGo in October 2025, and OpenLoop disclosed a January 2026 cyberattack that led to data-breach litigation. Wheel's public positioning has shifted toward health systems and pharma. Verify all three directly; details and sources belong in your reference calls.
Weighing OpenLoop, Wheel, and SteadyMD? Get the partner overview and see what one operated contract replaces.
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Keep exploring
OpenLoop vs EmbedCare
Alternatives, pricing, and reviews for OpenLoop.
Wheel vs EmbedCare
Alternatives, pricing, and reviews for Wheel.
SteadyMD vs EmbedCare
Alternatives, pricing, and reviews for SteadyMD.
The 25-question checklist
The diligence list to run on every vendor, us included.
Best platforms 2026
The full vendor landscape, grouped by model.
All comparisons
Build, stitch, or run it: the honest trade-off.