Doc Finder

What Doc Finder does

DocFinder GmbH is a Vienna-based, founder-owned digital health company operating docfinder.at, Austria's largest doctor search and health platform. Founded in 2009, the company serves two sides of a healthcare marketplace: patients searching for outpatient physicians and the physicians themselves. The patient-facing product is a free web directory covering 35 medical and dental specialties across all 9 Austrian federal provinces, sourced from official medical chamber registries (Ärzteliste, Zahnärzteliste) and enriched with 500,000+ verified patient reviews, a proprietary search and ranking algorithm, and the Online Termin-Manager (OTM) launched in 2016 for direct online appointment booking. The platform records 6M+ patient queries and 1.5M patient visits per month, with 96% of traffic domestic to Austria. A health content layer (Wissensmagazin, relaunched 2022 from the earlier Ratgeber) supports top-of-funnel SEO and patient education.

The platform is built on PHP/Laravel and Python, hosted on AWS with Docker containerization and CI/CD, and integrates Google Analytics 4, Cookiebot (GDPR consent), Brevo (email/SMS), and Plausible Analytics. The business model combines three revenue streams: (1) a freemium physician listing model in which basic entries are free and doctors pay recurring subscription fees for premium Praxisprofil enhancements (extended profiles, portrait photos, improved search positioning, OTM activation); (2) display advertising through Google AdSense, YOC, YieldLove, and austria.com/plus; and (3) the annual Patients' Choice Award, launched in 2011, which functions as both a community engagement program and an earned-media engine through co-marketing partnerships with Kronen Zeitung, oe24, Kleine Zeitung, NÖN, and other major Austrian publishers. The company has 11-50 employees of 10+ nationalities, is privately held by Managing Director Gerald Timmel (57.04%) and Mag. Claudio Winkler (42.96%), and has raised no external funding.

Name

Doc Finder

Legal name

DocFinder GmbH

Website

https://docfinder.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

DocFinder is Austria's largest doctor search and health platform, serving patients with a free directory of physicians across 35 specialties, verified reviews, online appointment booking, and health content, while monetizing via premium physician profiles and advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Marketplace

NAICS

Offices of Physicians (6211)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Specialist Referral & Appointment Booking Platforms (HLALALAB)

Keywords

• Doctor search platform
• Online appointment booking
• Physician directory Austria
• Healthcare provider reviews
• Medical practice marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Freemium Doctor Listings: Standard doctor entries are free and include basic data (title, name, specialty, address, phone, office hours, insurance contracts, Austrian medical chamber diplomas). Premium paid services for doctors include enhanced internet presence, extended information display, portrait photos, and marketing/promotional features on the platform.
2. Praxis Marketing Premium Services: Doctors can purchase premium practice marketing services including optimized internet profiles, extended display of information in word and image, and optimal positioning of content to attract patients. These are priced per a published price list (Preisblatt).
3. Advertising (Google AdSense, YOC, YieldLove, austria.com/plus): DocFinder monetizes its high-traffic platform (6M+ monthly patient queries) by selling advertising inventory to third-party advertisers including Google AdSense, YOC, YieldLove, and austria.com/plus. Non-technical advertising cookies require user consent.
4. Online Appointment Booking Button Activation: Doctors can activate an online appointment booking button on their profiles. This is listed as a premium service subject to separate pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DocFinder operates Austria's largest doctor search and healthcare platform (docfinder.at), enabling patients to find physicians by specialty and location, read patient reviews, and book appointments online via its Online Termin-Manager (OTM). The platform combines a free physician directory, premium enhanced profile services for doctors (Praxisprofil), an online health knowledge magazine (Wissensmagazin), and the annual Patients' Choice Award program.

Product overview

DocFinder operates a unified platform centered on DocFinder.at — Austria's largest doctor search portal with over 6 million monthly patient queries — which combines a free physician directory and search tool with the Online Termin-Manager (OTM) for direct appointment booking. The platform's content layer, the Wissensmagazin (2022 relaunch), provides expert-reviewed health articles and Q&A content that supports patients from health awareness through aftercare. The annual Patients' Choice Award program extends brand visibility by crowning top-rated physicians in 35 specialties across Austria based on hundreds of thousands of patient reviews. Physicians can purchase premium enhanced profiles (Praxisprofil) for expanded online presence, creating a two-tier offering: free standard entries and paid premium listings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DocFinder.at Doctor Search Platform Austria's largest doctor search and healthcare provider platform with over 6 million patient queries per month, enabling patients to find and compare physicians by specialty and location, read patient reviews, and book appointments online. Built on PHP (Laravel) and Python, hosted on AWS, and integrating Google Analytics 4 and Cookiebot consent management.
• Online Termin-Manager (OTM) Online appointment booking tool integrated into the DocFinder platform that allows patients to book available appointment slots directly with physicians listed on DocFinder. SMS reminders are sent via LINK Mobility Austria.
• Premium Entry (Praxisprofil) Paid premium listing service for physicians, offering enhanced profile presentation with portrait photos, extended information display, optimized positioning in search results, and online appointment booking activation — positioned as an alternative to the standard free physician entry.
• Wissensmagazin (Health Knowledge Magazine) Health knowledge magazine published by DocFinder, offering expert Q&A articles, health news, and information on diseases and treatments to support patients across their healthcare journey from awareness to aftercare. Includes expert interview series (Experten-Sprechstunden).

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 6 million patient queries per month
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Kronen Zeitung (Krone)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Official media partner for the DocFinder Patients' Choice Award 2025. The Krone newspaper publishes the award results and winners, providing significant reach and credibility. This is a co-marketing relationship where DocFinder provides the platform data and award rankings while Krone provides editorial coverage and audience reach.
• oe24coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Official media partner for the DocFinder Patients' Choice Award 2025. Oe24 publishes the award results, extending DocFinder's reach into its online news audience.
• Kleine ZeitungmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Official media partner for the DocFinder Patients' Choice Award 2025, covering the Styria region.
• NÖN (Niederösterreichische Nachrichten)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Official media partner for the DocFinder Patients' Choice Award 2025, covering the Lower Austria region.
• Wiener BezirksblattminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Official media partner for the DocFinder Patients' Choice Award 2025, covering Vienna districts.
• news.atminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Official media partner for the DocFinder Patients' Choice Award 2025, covering online news.
• weekend.atminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Official media partner for the DocFinder Patients' Choice Award 2025.
• Google Ireland Limited (Google Analytics, Google AdSense, YouTube, Google Tag Manager)coreTechnology or IntegrationDocFinder uses Google Analytics 4 for web analytics, Google AdSense for advertising revenue, YouTube for video content embedding, and Google Tag Manager for tag management. All Google services are configured with IP anonymization, consent mode v2, and EU-US Data Privacy Framework compliance.
• Amazon Web Services EMEA SARL (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationDocFinder's website is hosted on Amazon Web Services servers. A data processing agreement (Auftragsverarbeitung) per Art. 28 GDPR is in place.
• Usercentrics A/S (Cookiebot)coreTechnology or IntegrationDocFinder uses Cookiebot as its consent management platform to obtain, manage, and document user consent for cookies per GDPR requirements.
• Brevo SAS / Sendinblue GmbHcoreTechnology or IntegrationDocFinder uses Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) for email marketing, marketing automation, and SMS communication. A data processing agreement per Art. 28 GDPR is in place.
• LINK Mobility Austria GmbH (websms)majorTechnology or IntegrationSMS service provider for appointment reminders and booking confirmations sent to patients and doctors. A data processing agreement per Art. 28 GDPR is in place.
• Yieldlove GmbHminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAutomated online advertising optimization platform for delivering targeted ads on DocFinder's advertising inventory.
• YOC Mobile Advertising GmbHminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDigital advertising format provider and ad monetization partner for delivering relevant ads to DocFinder users.
• Russmedia Digital GmbH (austria.com/plus)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerAustrian digital advertiser for delivering and analyzing online advertising on the DocFinder platform.
• LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited CompanyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSocial media sharing integration on DocFinder's website via two-click solution. LinkedIn's share button enables content sharing and professional network visibility.
• X Corp. (formerly Twitter)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSocial media sharing integration via two-click solution. X share button enables sharing of doctor profiles and articles.
• Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (Facebook)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSocial media sharing integration via two-click solution. Facebook's like/share buttons enable social distribution of content.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Doctoralia (Docplanner Group): Global doctor directory and appointment booking platform operating in 20+ countries, part of Docplanner Group alongside Jameda. Comparable to DocFinder on core marketplace functionality but with broader geographic and product scope (telehealth, practice software).
• Google Maps / Google Business Profile: Google's free doctor and business listings include reviews, hours, and contact info that compete with DocFinder's core directory offering. Google also functions simultaneously as DocFinder's biggest traffic source (organic SEO) and ad partner (AdSense).

Direct peers

• Doctolib: France-based, pan-European leader in online doctor appointment booking with ~600k+ healthcare professionals across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. Operates the same combined directory+booking+review model as DocFinder, but at vastly larger scale and with venture capital funding; the canonical comparable for DocFinder's model.
• Jameda: Germany's leading doctor search and appointment booking portal, owned by Docplanner Group and operating in the DACH market. Combines physician directory, reviews, and online booking — the same functional mix as DocFinder — but in Germany's much larger market.
• Zocdoc: US-based doctor search and appointment booking marketplace serving patients and providers with reviews and online scheduling. Directly analogous business model to DocFinder and the prototypical Western example of this category.
• Doctena: Luxembourg-headquartered online doctor appointment booking platform operating across Benelux, DACH, the UK, and parts of the Middle East. Closely comparable to DocFinder in offering patient-facing search/review/booking and B2B SaaS for practice scheduling.
• Termed.it / miodottore.it: Italy-based doctor search and appointment booking platform (formerly miodottore, part of Docplanner Group). Same marketplace model targeting Italian-speaking consumers — useful for understanding comparable unit economics and competitive dynamics in a similar European market.

Emerging players

• Arztsuche24 / arzttermine.de: Smaller DACH-focused doctor search and appointment booking portals that compete for the same B2B doctor marketing budgets and patient traffic as DocFinder. Provide a useful proxy for pricing pressure and competitive intensity in the German-speaking market.

Regional players

• ÖGK (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse) public doctor search: Official public health insurer's physician directory in Austria covering contracted providers; a regulatory-affiliated competitor that captures large patient-intent queries and could limit DocFinder's monetizable search market.
• Docfinder.de (Germany): German-language doctor search portal operating in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria region. Operates a similar directory/review/booking model in the DACH region and overlaps with DocFinder.at specifically in the Austrian market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/docfinder-gmbh
• Xx.com/docfinder_at
• Facebookfacebook.com/docfinder.at

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Doc Finder