- Cherry is a third-party BNPL financing platform that pays veterinary practices upfront, absorbs all repayment risk, and approves up to 90% of pet parents instantly — making it the lowest-friction way to expand access to care without adding to your accounts receivable.
- VetBilling is an in-house payment plan management platform that gives veterinary practices complete control over who gets financed and on what terms — with no fees lost to a third party, and tools for prepayment plans, pet savings accounts, and wellness plan billing. The tradeoff: practices carry the full repayment risk if a client defaults, and managing exceptions can add administrative overhead.
When pet parents face unexpected vet bills — an emergency surgery, a cancer diagnosis, a complicated dental procedure — the veterinary costs can feel impossible to manage. For veterinary professionals, that moment is equally difficult: how do you deliver the best patient care when a client's financial limitations are standing in the way? And for pet parents who thought pet insurance would cover everything, the reality of deductibles, exclusions, and out-of-pocket expenses can make emergency care even more stressful.
Two of the most recognized solutions in the veterinary space are VetBilling and Cherry Payment Plans. Both are built around expanding access to care and reducing financial stress for pet parents, but they take very different approaches to how payment plans work, who carries the risk, and what the experience looks like for your team and your clients.
VetBilling: How It Works
VetBilling is a veterinary-specific platform that helps practices set up and manage in-house payment plans directly with their clients. Founded in 1986 and operating as a family-owned company, VetBilling describes itself as a "people company" — its mission is centered on eliminating economic euthanasia and owner surrenders by expanding access to veterinary care.
Rather than acting as a lender, VetBilling gives practices the infrastructure to extend credit on their own terms. The veterinary practice decides which clients to offer a plan to, for how much, and over what timeframe — VetBilling will process any plan a practice submits, regardless of the client's credit history. From there, VetBilling handles the administrative side: billing, collecting, and client-facing customer service.
Beyond standard payment plans, VetBilling offers a full suite of financial tools:
- Payment plans — customized installment agreements for clients who can't pay upfront
- Prepayment plans — clients pay in installments before a scheduled procedure
- Pet savings accounts — frequent clients set aside funds for future veterinary bills
- Wellness plan billing — VetBilling handles billing and collections for your in-house wellness plans
- Staff payment plans — custom plans for employees, with no payroll deductions
Cherry Payment Plans: How It Works
Cherry is a buy now, pay later (BNPL) financing platform built specifically for healthcare providers, including veterinary clinics. Over 60,000 providers across dentistry, medical aesthetics, plastic surgery, vision, hearing, and veterinary medicine partner with Cherry to offer financing to their clients.
Cherry's model is fundamentally different from VetBilling's at its core: Cherry acts as the lender, not the practice. When a client is approved and uses Cherry to pay for veterinary care, the practice receives the full payment upfront within 2-3 business days. Cherry then manages repayment directly with the client. The practice carries zero default risk.
Clients apply in 35 seconds using a soft credit check that doesn't affect their credit score. Cherry approves up to 90% of applicants across all credit profiles, with loan amounts up to $65,000 ($35,000 for veterinary) and repayment terms from 1 to 60 months — including always interest-free short-term plans and qualifying true 0% APR options with no deferred interest.
VetBilling vs. Cherry: Quick Comparison
Client Approval and Access to Care
For pet parents facing large veterinary expenses, the approval experience shapes how they feel about your practice — and whether they move forward with care at all.
VetBilling
VetBilling gives the practice complete control over who gets approved. The practice decides which clients to extend a plan to, what terms to offer, and what down payment to collect. VetBilling will process any plan the practice submits — there is no credit threshold or approval algorithm that can override the practice's decision. This is especially meaningful for longtime clients who may not qualify for third-party financing but whose payment history the practice trusts.
To help guide those decisions, VetBilling offers an optional Credit Score Recommendation (CSR) tool — a soft credit check that returns a letter grade from A to G — available on the Premium plan. The CSR is advisory only: the practice can override any recommendation and still move forward with a plan.
Cherry
Cherry's approval process is designed for speed and affordability. Pet parents apply in 35 seconds from their phone or at the front desk, receive an instant decision, and can use their approved funds immediately — all without a hard credit check. Cherry approves up to 90% of applicants across all credit profiles, including pet parents with limited or imperfect credit histories, by using a proprietary underwriting model that looks beyond traditional credit score benchmarks.
Approvals are exclusive to the practice where the client applies, so there's no risk of a client using their Cherry funds elsewhere. Practices can also send application links before the appointment, reducing wait times and making it easier for clients to come prepared.
Key differences:
- VetBilling gives practices unlimited control over who gets approved — no client is turned away by the platform
- Cherry approves up to 90% of pet parents through its own underwriting, with no practice involvement required
- VetBilling's CSR tool is optional and advisory; Cherry's soft credit check is automatic and instant
- Cherry's application takes 35 seconds and delivers an instant decision; VetBilling plans are set up by clinic staff
Payment Options and Financial Flexibility
The right payment structure can mean the difference between a pet parent saying yes to a treatment plan or walking out the door.
VetBilling
VetBilling's flexibility comes from the fact that the practice sets every term. There is no minimum or maximum plan amount, no cap on repayment length, and no restrictions on which clients can be offered a plan. A practice can offer a $150 post-operative payment plan over two months or a $10,000 emergency services plan over two years — entirely at their discretion.
Prepayment plans are uniquely useful for scheduled procedures like dental cleanings, spay/neuter surgeries, or benign mass removals — clients pay in installments before treatment is delivered, giving the practice partial or full payment in advance. Plans are interest-free from the client's perspective, though clients pay a one-time enrollment fee and a small per-payment fee.
Cherry
Cherry offers a range of flexible payment plans designed around affordability and transparency:
- Pay-in-4 — always interest-free, split over 6 weeks
- Monthly plans — terms from 1 to 60 months, with qualifying true 0% APR and no deferred interest
Loan amounts go up to $35,000 for vet expenses, covering everything from routine vaccinations and preventive care to emergency pet care and orthopedic surgery, including large animal procedures. Veterinary emergencies in particular — where decisions need to be made quickly — are where Cherry's 35-second application and instant approval make the biggest difference, allowing clients to convert a stressful moment into manageable monthly payments without delay.
Clients manage their repayment through an easy online dashboard and can pay via debit card, credit card, or ACH from their bank account. There are no prepayment penalties — clients can pay off their vet bills early at any time.
Key differences:
- VetBilling offers unlimited flexibility on plan amount and terms — the practice controls everything
- Cherry offers structured flexible payment plans up to $35,000 with terms from 1-60 months, including true 0% APR options
- VetBilling's prepayment plans and pet savings accounts are unique features
- Cherry's plans are available instantly at checkout; VetBilling plans require staff to build and submit the contract
Cash Flow, Repayment Risk, and Practice Operations
How a financing solution affects your practice's cash flow and administrative workload is often just as important as how it serves your clients.
VetBilling
Because VetBilling is an in-house solution, the practice receives funds as the client pays over time — not upfront. That means veterinary costs for the practice are incurred immediately (staff, medications, equipment), but revenue from that treatment arrives in installments over weeks or months. Practices should factor this into their cash flow planning, particularly for high-cost procedures or emergency veterinary care.
The practice also carries the default risk. If a client stops making payments, VetBilling pursues collections through multiple channels:
- Phone calls, emails, text messages, and paper notices
- Up to 20 contacts per month for 120 days or longer
- Optional credit bureau reporting as an additional incentive for clients to stay current
VetBilling reports high repayment rates for practices that follow its Best Practices guidelines. That said, any uncollected balance ultimately remains on the practice's accounts receivable as a loss.
What VetBilling saves practices is the merchant fee. Third-party financing companies typically take 5-15% of the treatment amount. VetBilling charges a flat monthly platform fee ($69/month for Standard, $89/month for Premium) and does not take a percentage of treatment fees, making it cost-effective for high-volume veterinary practices with clients who pay reliably.
Cherry
Cherry pays practices the full treatment amount — minus a merchant fee (the lowest in the industry) — within 2-3 business days. The accounts receivable never touches the practice's books, and once Cherry pays out, the practice's financial relationship with that transaction is complete. For practice operations, this means:
- No need to build payment plan contracts or track repayment schedules
- No collections follow-up — Cherry's US-based support team handles all client-facing communications
- No monthly platform fees — practices pay only a per-transaction merchant fee, the lowest in the industry
- Free marketing resources including social media content, email templates, and in-clinic materials
Key differences:
- Cherry pays practices upfront within 2-3 business days; VetBilling pays as the client pays over time
- Cherry absorbs all default risk; VetBilling default risk stays on the practice's accounts receivable
- VetBilling does not take a percentage of treatment fees; Cherry charges a per-transaction merchant fee
- Cherry eliminates collections workload for staff; VetBilling handles collections but keeps accounts receivable on the practice
Choosing Between VetBilling and Cherry
Both VetBilling and Cherry are mission-driven solutions to a real and growing problem: the financial limitations that prevent too many pet parents from saying yes to the care their animals need, and that force veterinary professionals into impossible conversations about economic euthanasia.
Cherry is a powerful primary financing solution for most veterinary clinics:
- 35-second application with instant approval
- ~90% approval rate across all credit profiles
- Full upfront payment to the practice within 2-3 business days
- Zero default risk — Cherry absorbs it all
- No monthly platform fees
- Offered first more than 80% of the time over its competitors
VetBilling is the right tool for practices that want in-house control:
- No restrictions on who you can approve — any client, any amount
- No percentage of treatment fees lost to a third party
- Prepayment plans, pet savings accounts, and wellness plan billing built in
- Ideal for longtime clients who may not qualify for third-party financing
Many veterinary clinics use both — Cherry as the primary option for most clients, and VetBilling as a complementary backstop for the rest.
Book a personalized demo to see how Cherry can help your practice increase treatment acceptance, protect cash flow, and give every pet the care they deserve.