Live price data · updated 6 August 2026
UK Vet Pricing League Table 2026
Every major UK veterinary group ranked on the same routine services, using median published prices from our live index of UK practices. Same basket, same method, no estimates — the table updates as we re-scrape published price lists.
£556.20
Independent practices
£759.50
IVC Evidensia
£203.30
for identical routine care
The league table
Ranked cheapest to dearest on the combined basket of 5 services. All figures are median published prices in pounds, with the number of practices publishing each price shown beneath.
| # | Group | Consult | Dog booster | Cat booster | Microchip * | Dog castration | Cat spay | Basket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Independent practices2,854 practices | £55from 869 prices | £61from 726 prices | £63from 692 prices | £25from 676 prices | £242.20from 636 prices | £135from 770 prices | £556.20 |
| 2 | Medivet354 practices | £59from 327 prices | £69from 325 prices | £71from 327 prices | —too few prices published | £233from 324 prices | £133from 326 prices | £565 |
| 3 | Pets at Home Vet Group453 practices | £55from 318 prices | £66.25from 372 prices | £69from 365 prices | £30from 330 prices | £250from 364 prices | £140.50from 365 prices | £580.75 |
| 4 | Linnaeus213 practices | £58from 145 prices | £72.50from 69 prices | £72.50from 64 prices | £25from 137 prices | £239from 57 prices | £145from 104 prices | £587 |
| 5 | VetPartners433 practices | £58.50from 262 prices | £66from 256 prices | £70from 251 prices | £30from 229 prices | £270.96from 216 prices | £150from 254 prices | £615.46 |
| 6 | CVS Group491 practices | £65from 347 prices | £84from 337 prices | £84from 339 prices | £22from 349 prices | £243from 347 prices | £158from 345 prices | £634 |
| 7 | IVC Evidensia982 practices | £66from 428 prices | £81.50from 389 prices | £83from 377 prices | £40from 354 prices | £352from 340 prices | £177from 368 prices | £759.50 |
* Shown for interest only, and left out of the basket total. At least one group in the table publishes too few prices for this service for the comparison to be fair.
What the table shows
The headline is the size of the gap. £203.30 separates the cheapest group from the dearest for services that are clinically identical wherever you buy them — a microchip is a microchip. For a household with one dog and one cat, that gap is real money in the first year of ownership alone.
The second point is that no group wins everywhere. Independent practices has the cheapest consultation at £55 while IVC Evidensia charges £66; Medivet has the cheapest median dog castration at £233. Averaging a group into "cheap" or "expensive" hides more than it reveals; what matters is the price of the specific thing you need.
The third point is transparency. The sample column matters as much as the price: groups that publish widely are easier to hold to account, and groups with thin published samples may not be representative of every branch. We would expect published prices to converge on the cheaper end of the market over time as more owners compare before booking.
Group by group
1. Independent practices
£556.20Cheapest in the table for consult, dog booster, cat booster.
Full price guide3. Pets at Home Vet Group
£580.75Mid-table across the basket — no service where it leads or trails the market.
Full price guide4. Linnaeus
£587Mid-table across the basket — no service where it leads or trails the market.
Independent vs corporate5. VetPartners
£615.46Mid-table across the basket — no service where it leads or trails the market.
Full price guideWhere the money actually goes
Consultations vary least: £55 to £66 across every group, a spread of about 20%. That is the price most owners notice, and it is the price groups compete hardest on because it is the one people compare.
Surgery varies most. A dog castration ranges from a £233 median at Medivet to £352 at IVC Evidensia — a 51% difference on a planned operation you can shop around for months in advance. Microchipping is the most extreme in percentage terms: £15.50 at Medivet against £40 at IVC Evidensia, a 158% premium on a service that takes under a minute.
This is why the basket matters more than any single headline. A practice can advertise a competitive consultation fee and recover the difference on everything that follows. Our dog neutering cost guide, cat neutering cost guide and cat vaccination cost guide break each of those services down further, including by county.
Find out who owns your vet
Most corporate branches still trade under their original local name, so the sign above the door rarely tells you who sets the prices. Search your practice to see its ownership and published prices.
Frequently asked questions
Which UK vet group is cheapest?
On a 5-item basket of published prices, Independent practices is cheapest at £556.20. IVC Evidensia is the most expensive at £759.50 — £203.30 more for the same services.
Are independent vets cheaper than corporate chains?
For everyday care, largely yes. Independents sit at £55 for a consultation against £55 for the cheapest group overall, and their basket total is £556.20. For planned surgery the picture is mixed: the cheapest median dog castration in the table is £233 at Medivet, against £242.20 at independents.
Why is IVC Evidensia the most expensive?
IVC Evidensia's premium is concentrated in surgery and microchipping: a median dog castration of £352 against £233 at the cheapest group, and £40 for a microchip against £15.50.
How is the basket calculated?
We add the median published price for 5 routine services at each group: consult, dog booster, cat booster, dog castration, cat spay. Medians are calculated per service across every practice in that group that publishes a price, with the highest and lowest value trimmed. A service only enters the basket when every group in the table publishes at least 10 prices for it.
Which group has the biggest price gap for a single service?
Dog castration and microchipping. Castration runs from £233 at Medivet to £352 at IVC Evidensia. Microchipping runs from £15.50 at Medivet to £40 at IVC Evidensia.
Does a cheaper vet mean worse care?
There is no evidence that price predicts clinical quality in UK first-opinion practice. RCVS Practice Standards accreditation is a better quality signal than price, and it is held by both independent and corporate practices.
Methodology
Prices are medians of published prices held in our index of UK veterinary practices, calculated per service and per ownership group, with the single highest and lowest value trimmed before the median is taken. Only practices that publish a price for a given service contribute to that service's median, so sample sizes differ by column and are shown in the table. A service only counts towards the basket when every group publishes at least 10 prices for it. Ownership is assigned from group branch listings, company filings and practice website footers. Figures refresh automatically from our live index; latest price capture 6 August 2026. Prices change and individual branches within every group set their own fees, so always confirm with the practice before booking.