Archy vs CareStack

PickMyPMS Editorial · Last reviewed Oct 9, 2026

Quick verdict

Pick Archy if you want one published price per location, with unlimited users, providers, claims, eligibility checks and texting, and you are comfortable with a company founded in 2021 and a short review history. A new general practice also gets a published $400 a month rate for up to a year.

Pick CareStack if you want a larger installed base and review history, a specialty list that goes beyond general dentistry, or a contract you can end on 30 days’ notice under its standard terms. Its price is a starting figure, so you need a quote before the numbers compare.

Both are browser-based, both sell to practices from startups to DSOs, and neither charges separately for staff users.

Price

Archy publishes one price. It is $899 a month per location, and it covers unlimited users, providers, claim submissions, eligibility checks and texting. Integrated imaging, online forms and online scheduling are part of it. Clinical, Front Office and Marketing suites are add-ons with no published price, and so is e-prescribing.

CareStack publishes two starting prices. Essentials starts at $829 a month and includes native imaging, eligibility verification, claims, texting and email, online appointments and a patient portal. Intelligence starts at $1,299 a month and adds four AI features: clinical notes, voice perio charting, X-ray analysis and clinical diagnosis. CareStack says the final price depends on locations, chairs and providers. Licenses are set by locations and providers, so adding staff users does not need a new license.

Archy’s figure is the full monthly price at one location. CareStack’s is where a quote begins. CareStack’s starting figure is the lower of the two, but we cannot say where your practice lands without a written quote. Use the cost calculator once you have one.

CareStack also says an implementation fee applies “in certain cases”, depending on data migration and extra training, and it publishes no amount.

New-practice rate

Archy charges $400 a month per location until a practice reaches 400 patients or one year, whichever comes first. CareStack publishes no new-practice rate. The $400 figure is an introductory price, and the regular price is what a practice pays after it ends.

Contracts and cancelling

Archy’s initial term is whatever your signed Order Form says, and you agree to pay fees for the entire term. You can end it early only for cause. Each term then renews automatically for successive one-month periods. Archy can change its fees at the end of the initial term or any renewal term, and you give 30 days’ written notice of non-renewal.

CareStack’s initial term is also set on each Order Form. Its standard terms add that either party can terminate at any time, with or without cause, on 30 days’ notice. Renewal is automatic for successive one-year periods, and non-renewal needs 30 days’ notice.

Archy holds you for the term you sign and then renews monthly. CareStack’s standard terms let you leave sooner, but a missed non-renewal window costs a full year. The Order Form is the document that decides which applies to you, so ask for it before you sign. Our contracts and exit fees guide compares notice periods across the whole market.

Getting your data out

Archy gives you one export of your data in a structured, common format at no cost, if you request it in writing on or before the termination date. If you need continued access after that, it costs $200 a month. If you neither request the export nor pay for access, Archy deletes the data. That $200 is an exit fee, and it is not part of what you pay while using the system.

CareStack will help you export a file of your data during the term and for up to 90 days after expiration. The file comes in a format CareStack chooses. You request it 10 days ahead, you pay CareStack’s then-current hourly rates, and the delivery target is 15 days. No hourly rate is published.

Neither record says whether images and documents come out in their original formats. Ask both what an export contains before you rely on it.

Moving your records in

CareStack says it has converted data from more than 60 practice management systems, using a sandbox test before the final migration. It publishes no conversion price, and an implementation fee may apply.

We have no conversion record for Archy. Capterra reviewers of Archy report trouble moving X-rays during conversion. That comes from a small review pool, so it is a prompt for a question, not a finding. Ask Archy how image history moves and get the answer in writing.

Features

Both list these as included, according to their own pricing pages: texting, eligibility checks, claims, online scheduling and perio charting. Both have native imaging.

Where they differ:

• Online forms: included for Archy, unclear for CareStack on the page we checked. Unclear is not the same as absent, so ask.
• E-prescribing: an add-on at both Archy and CareStack, with no published price at Archy.
• Specialties: Archy is recorded for general practice. CareStack is recorded for general, pediatric, orthodontics, oral surgery, periodontics, endodontics and multi-specialty groups.
• Mobile app: unclear for CareStack on the page we checked. We have no record for Archy.

Integrations

Archy states that x-rays are captured with Pearl AI reading them live. That is Archy’s own statement of the integration.

For CareStack, we record two. CareStack names RingCentral among its phone integrations, giving call pop and outbound calling. NexHealth lists CareStack among the systems it supports, though CareStack’s side of that is not recorded and NexHealth does not publish the connection method. CareStack says it does not charge for using integrated third-party apps.

We hold no integration record for Archy with RingCentral or NexHealth, and no record for CareStack with Pearl. Those links are unrecorded, which is a gap in our data.

Reviews and track record

These figures come from Capterra, so they are third-party estimates.

Archy’s six reviews are too few to rank it against 219. Reviewers say staff without dental backgrounds learn Archy easily and that auto-verification, forms and reminders save front-desk time. Complaints are X-ray conversion trouble, a ledger that works differently from other systems, charting display issues and limited report customization.

CareStack reviewers cite detailed reporting and KPI tracking, one system for scheduling, billing, charting and patient messages, and responsive chat support. Complaints are too many steps to post insurance payments, a learning curve for navigation and report setup, limited dashboard customization, and slow replies on non-urgent tickets.

On company size, both vendors publish their own claims. Archy says about 1,000 practices in 45 states, and CareStack says more than 3,000 practices. Archy was founded in 2021 and CareStack in 2015. Neither claim is audited.

Who should pick which

Pick Archy if you:

• want a published flat price at each location and no per-user or per-provider math
• are opening a new general practice and can use the $400 a month rate
• can accept a younger vendor and a short review history

Pick CareStack if you:

• run a specialty practice or a multi-specialty group
• want the ability to terminate on 30 days’ notice under the standard terms
• want a larger review base, with higher Capterra subscores on customer service, features and value
• are converting from an older system and want a vendor that says it has done so from more than 60

If you are comparing more than two, the Find my PMS quiz scores both against your specialty, size and budget. For other pairings, see Archy vs Curve Dental and CareStack vs Open Dental.