OBJECTIVES: To compare - in terms of effectiveness and costs - outpatient management of infantile bronchiolitis by homeopathic GPs vs allopathic GPs vs paediatricians. METHODS: A 6-month prospective, 'real-world' study was carried out by setting up 3 observatories with: homeopathic GPs, allopathic GPs and paediatricians recruited by sample-drawing. Patients aged between 3 and 24 months, consulting for first bout of acute bronchiolitis since birth, who had not yet received treatment and who did not require immediate hospitalisation were included. Effectiveness (number and duration of bouts, number of complications, persistence of bronchial obstruction), direct medical costs (from the French Health Insurance and societal perspectives) and indirect costs (sick leaves) were assessed. The statistical analysis was performed after matching patients to have comparable patients. RESULTS: One hundred seventeen, 150 and 253 patients were respectively included by 38 homeopathic GPs, 59 allopathic GPs and 95 paediatricians. At the end of the study, there were: no significant differences between the management by homeopathic GPs vs allopathic GPs on effectiveness criteria; no significant differences between the management by homeopathic GPs vs paediatricians in terms of number of bouts, persistence of bronchial obstruction but significant shorter duration of bouts (4.4 vs 6.6 days) and less complications (0.20 vs 0.40 complication/patient) in the homeopathic group. In Health Insurance perspective, the management by homeopathic GPs was significantly less expensive than the management by allopathic GPs and paediatricians (116, 146, 217 €/patient respectively). In the societal perspective, the management by homeopathic GPs was significantly less expensive than the management by paediatricians (215 vs 361 €/patient) but equivalent to the management by allopathic GPs. Homeopathic GPs prescribed equivalent number of sick leaves to paediatricians but significantly less than allopathic GPs. CONCLUSION: These results could help public policy makers and practitioners in providing new available data concerning the outpatient management and cost of infantile bronchiolitis, that is a public health concern in France.