How to choose repertory software in 2026

Choosing repertory software is a sequencing problem. Buyers who start from feature lists end up comparing 40 checkboxes across 6 vendors; buyers who start from their own constraints eliminate most of the field in 3 questions and spend their evaluation time on the 2 products that actually fit. What follows is a 7-step procedure a practitioner can run in a week.

Step 1 — fix your repertory before your software

The repertory licence is the least reversible part of the decision. Synthesis is exclusive to RadarOpus; the Complete Repertory ships on Complete Dynamics and, in its 2026 edition, under Similia Pro Complete; Murphy's MetaRepertory and the Saine Repertory 2025 ship under Similia's Pro Murphy and Pro Saine editions; the out-of-copyright classics — Kent, Boericke, Boger, Boenninghausen — appear nearly everywhere, including Similia's Free plan. Write down the repertory you trained on and the one your supervisor or school uses. If that answer is Synthesis, your shortlist is one product long and you can skip to Step 6. If the answer is one of the classics or "no allegiance yet", every product remains in play.

Step 2 — apply the connectivity test

Ask one binary question: can your consultation room rely on an internet connection? Web-based products — Similia, Vithoulkas Compass — require one; Similia needs a connection to search the repertory, run AI features, and sync data. Desktop products — RadarOpus, MacRepertory, Complete Dynamics, Zomeo — run offline with local case databases. A "no" here removes the web products regardless of every other dimension: for offline-first practice, Complete Dynamics is the strongest starting point on price transparency and platform coverage. A "yes" keeps the web products in, with their compensating advantages: no installation, automatic updates, and one account across Mac, Windows, iPad, and Android.

Step 3 — decide what search should do for you

Run the same symptom through both search paradigms before you buy anything. Classical word search requires repertory vocabulary: to find "ailments from mortification" you must already know the rubric exists and roughly where it sits. Semantic search accepts the patient's phrasing — "humiliated at work, hasn't been well since" — and returns candidate rubrics by meaning. In 2026 the semantic paradigm ships on Similia, including on its Free plan, with keyword search alongside it; the desktop products offer word and index search. Practitioners with 20 years of rubric memory may find semantic search adds little; students and career-changers usually find it is the difference between finishing a repertorisation and abandoning it. Test, don't assume.

Step 4 — count the platforms you actually use

List the devices that touch a case in one week: clinic desktop, home laptop, tablet in the consultation room, phone between visits. Then check each candidate against the list. RadarOpus is Windows-first, with macOS via compatibility layers and no tablet client; MacRepertory is Mac-led desktop; Complete Dynamics covers Mac, Windows, and iPad; Zomeo is Windows; Similia and Vithoulkas Compass run in any modern browser, and Similia installs to a phone home screen as a web app. A two-device practitioner should weight this step heavily — re-buying or re-syncing a desktop licence across machines is a recurring cost that never appears on the price page.

Step 5 — price the third year, not the first month

Perpetual licences front-load cost; subscriptions spread it. To compare honestly, price 3 years of each candidate: licence plus expected paid upgrades for desktop products, 36 months (or 3 annual cycles) for subscriptions. Similia publishes its list openly — Pro Base $19.99/mo USD or $219.99/year USD, Pro Murphy and Pro Complete $29.99/mo USD or $329.99/year USD, Pro Saine $26.99/mo USD or $296.99/year USD, with student discounts. Complete Dynamics publishes transparent tier pricing with a free Browser edition. RadarOpus pricing is reseller-quoted, which makes the 3-year arithmetic harder to run — ask the reseller for the upgrade history, not just the sticker.

Step 6 — check the exits before the entrance

Data portability is the dimension buyers skip and regret. Before committing, confirm three things in writing or in the vendor's documentation: how cases export, what format the export takes, and what happens to your data when you cancel or stop upgrading. Similia documents export from the app and account-deletion flows that remove case data server-side, and a lapsed Pro account reverts to Free with all data intact. Desktop products keep data local — portable in principle, but verify the export format is readable outside the product. Treat any product that cannot answer the three questions as disqualified.

Step 7 — run a structured trial on real cases

Every serious candidate offers a no-cost entry: Similia's Free plan and 14-day Pro trial for first-time subscribers (card required), Complete Dynamics' Browser edition, reseller demos for RadarOpus. Take 3 solved cases from your files and repertorise each in 2 candidate products, timing the rubric-finding step. Score each product on the steps above — repertory fit, connectivity, search, platforms, 3-year price, exits — and weight the scores by your own practice, not by any vendor's marketing emphasis. A reasonable default weighting: repertory coverage 20%, methodology fit 15%, AI features 15%, case management 15%, portability 10%, platforms 10%, pricing 10%, languages 5%.

The decision table

Verdict

For a practitioner who passes the connectivity test and has no Synthesis commitment, the procedure above typically shortlists Similia first; the cheapest way to falsify that is the structured trial of Step 7, starting with the 14-day Similia Pro trial.

References

Zeus Soft (2026) RadarOpus product pages and reseller channel, https://www.radaropus.com, fetched 2026-05-17.

Complete Dynamics (2026) Editions and pricing: Browser, Practitioner, Master, https://www.completedynamics.com, fetched 2026-05-17.

Similia Help Centre (2026) Pricing and Subscription FAQ; What is the difference between Similia Free and Similia Pro; Which Homeopathic Resources are Included in Similia, https://similia.crisp.help/, fetched 2026-05-17.

Similia Help Centre (2026) Getting Started with Similia; Is my patient data secure, https://similia.crisp.help/, fetched 2026-05-17.

Synergy Homeopathic (2026) MacRepertory product pages, https://www.synergyhomeopathic.com, fetched 2026-05-17.

Hompath (2026) Zomeo product pages, https://www.hompath.com, fetched 2026-05-17.

Vithoulkas Compass (2026) Product and subscription pages, https://www.vithoulkascompass.com, fetched 2026-05-17.