Lumary Alternatives for Small NDIS Providers: What to Use Instead
Lumary is enterprise-grade NDIS software built on Salesforce. If the pricing or complexity does not fit your organisation, here is a clear-headed look at what the alternatives offer -- including a free option for teams of 5 or fewer.
What Lumary Is
Lumary is an NDIS and aged care software platform built on Salesforce. It is a comprehensive, highly configurable system designed for mid-to-large providers who need deep billing capability, complex care planning, multi-branch management, and robust reporting.
The Salesforce foundation means Lumary inherits both the strengths and the overhead of an enterprise CRM platform: powerful customisation, deep integration capability, and a pricing and implementation model that reflects the enterprise market it was built for.
For a provider managing 50 or more participants, running multiple service types across several locations, with a finance team that needs granular billing control and reporting -- Lumary is a serious option.
For a provider with 10 participants, a coordinator, and three or four support workers, it is a very large hammer for a small nail.
Why Small Providers Are Often Quoted Lumary
A few factors push small providers toward enterprise platforms:
Consultant recommendations. NDIS business setup consultants sometimes recommend Lumary because it is comprehensive and they are familiar with it. A system that handles every possible compliance scenario is appealing in the abstract. In practice, the complexity of implementation and the ongoing subscription cost can overwhelm a small operation.
Fear of outgrowing a simpler tool. Providers who plan to grow quickly sometimes reason that they should start on the platform they'll eventually need. This logic is understandable but usually flawed: the right platform for your organisation today is the one that lets you operate effectively now. Paying for scale you do not have yet while struggling with implementation overhead is not a good trade.
No awareness that a free option exists. Many small providers simply do not know that a free, NDIS-specific platform exists.
What Lumary Costs
Lumary does not publish pricing publicly. Quotes for small providers are typically structured as a setup or implementation fee plus an ongoing subscription. Based on market information, implementation engagements often start at several thousand dollars for small providers, with ongoing monthly costs that reflect the Salesforce licensing model underlying the product.
For a provider with 5 workers and 10 participants, this cost structure is very difficult to justify. The implementation time alone -- configuration, data migration, training -- can represent weeks of a coordinator's time before a single shift is rostered.
What to Use Instead
Teiro (Free for Up to 5 Users)
Teiro is built for small Australian NDIS and aged care providers. It is free for organisations with 5 or fewer active users -- no credit card, no trial period, no feature restrictions.
The platform covers rostering and shift management, support worker qualification tracking, client records, a carer mobile app with GPS check-in, incident reporting, communications, and NDIS billing including service agreements and SCHADS Award rate support. It is self-service: you can set up your organisation, configure your workers and clients, and roster your first shift without a consultant or an implementation project.
Right for: Providers with 5 or fewer active users who need the core NDIS compliance and workforce management features without the enterprise price tag.
Not right for: Providers at 50 or more participants who need Lumary's depth of billing configuration, case management integration, and Salesforce ecosystem connectivity.
ShiftCare
ShiftCare is a well-established Australian NDIS and aged care software platform with a per-user subscription model. Entry pricing is approximately $9 per user per month, making it accessible for growing providers who have moved beyond the free tier.
ShiftCare covers rostering, participant management, compliance tracking, carer mobile app, and NDIS billing on mid-tier plans. It is considerably less complex to implement than Lumary and is designed for self-service onboarding.
Right for: Providers with 6 to 30 users who need a proven NDIS platform with accessible per-user pricing.
Brevity
Brevity is an established NDIS software platform with a strong billing and compliance focus. It has been in the Australian disability sector for over a decade and has good depth in NDIS claiming and plan management. Pricing is not publicly listed and is quoted on request.
Right for: Mid-sized providers who prioritise NDIS billing depth and have an existing relationship with the Brevity team.
A Side-by-Side View
| Consideration | Lumary | ShiftCare | Teiro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | No | No | Yes (5 or fewer users) |
| Setup complexity | High (implementation project) | Low (self-service) | Low (self-service) |
| NDIS billing | Comprehensive | Mid-tier plans | Included in free tier |
| Carer mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Qualification tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Target provider size | 50+ users | 6 to 50 users | 1 to 5 users (free) |
| Pricing transparency | Quote only | Partially published | Free tier; paid on website |
Questions to Ask When Evaluating Alternatives
What does implementation actually cost, including your team's time? A platform with a $5,000 setup fee plus months of subscription before you are operational is not cheap, even if the ongoing subscription looks reasonable.
Can you try it before you commit? Teiro offers a free plan with no credit card required. ShiftCare has a free trial. Lumary requires a formal sales process before you see the product. The ease of trial is a signal about how the vendor thinks about customer fit.
Does it handle the NDIS compliance requirements you are actually audited on? Worker Screening clearance tracking, incident reporting, shift note records, and service agreement management are the practical compliance requirements. Does the platform handle these, or does it handle them on a higher tier only?
What is the migration path if you outgrow it? If you start on Teiro and grow to 10 workers, moving to ShiftCare is a manageable transition. Starting on a platform that locks your data in a proprietary format makes future migration painful.
The Bottom Line
Lumary is a serious platform for serious-scale providers. If your organisation has 5 workers and is trying to replace a scheduling spreadsheet, it is not the right fit.
For small NDIS providers, the realistic options are a free tier on a care-specific platform (Teiro) for teams of 5 or fewer, or ShiftCare at per-user pricing for teams that have grown past that threshold.
Book a demo at teiro.com.au/demo to see the full platform in practice. Or sign up free at teiro.com.au/signup -- no sales call, no credit card, no implementation project.
Related reading: affordable NDIS software for small providers and free NDIS software for small providers.