CareStack vs Oryx

PickMyPMS Editorial · Last reviewed Oct 22, 2026

Quick verdict

Pick Oryx if you want the lower published entry price, a month-to-month contract after the first 12 months, a data export that covers images and DICOM files in their original formats, or a startup offer. It is recorded for general, pediatric, orthodontics, oral surgery and periodontics.

Pick CareStack if you need endodontics or a multi-specialty group on one system, want a large review history, or want 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 run in a browser, both sell to practices from startups to DSOs, and both include native imaging, texting, eligibility checks and claims.

Price

CareStack publishes two starting prices. Essentials starts at $829 a month and includes 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.

Oryx publishes three plans, each with up to 2 providers:

• Pro is $650 a month. It includes native imaging, online scheduling, eligibility and claims, a patient portal and two-way texting.
• Automate is $899 a month. It adds automated workflows, collection sequences, reputation management and marketing campaigns.
• AI is $1,399 a month. It adds AI voice perio charting, transcription, exam charting and imaging integration.

Extra providers on Pro or Automate cost $100 a month each. On the AI plan they cost $200 a month each.

The two lists are built differently. Oryx’s figures are plan prices with a stated provider allowance. CareStack’s figures are where a quote begins. Oryx Pro at $650 is below CareStack Essentials at $829, and Oryx AI at $1,399 is above CareStack Intelligence at $1,299. The AI tiers are not the same product, so compare the feature lists before you compare those two numbers. Use the cost calculator once you have a CareStack quote.

New-practice rates

Oryx charges $0 a month on Pro or Automate for new practices with up to 2 providers, plus a $1 setup fee. The regular price starts at 200 patients or 12 months after signup, whichever comes first. A separate AI startup offer is $400 a month, also with a $1 setup fee, and it includes AI annotations and eScript under the same limit. Oryx also says payments on Pro start 3 months after signup for new customers.

CareStack publishes no new-practice rate. These Oryx figures are introductory prices, and the regular price applies once they end.

Setup and conversion fees

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

Oryx says a setup fee, a data-conversion fee and an image-conversion fee all apply to offices switching from other software. It publishes no amounts, and sales quotes them. Either way, a practice moving from another system should ask for the conversion cost in writing.

Contracts and cancelling

Oryx publishes a 12-month initial contract, then month-to-month. Its pricing page states no notice period and no early-termination terms, so read the agreement before you sign.

CareStack’s initial term is 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.

Oryx is the simpler of the two once the first year passes, since it moves to month-to-month without a renewal window to track. CareStack’s standard terms let you leave sooner, but a missed non-renewal window costs a full year. The Order Form 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

Oryx says an export can be requested at any time or at termination. Structured data comes as CSV. Documents, images, radiographs and DICOM files come in their original formats. Oryx says it does not delete data at termination until the practice has had time to export, and it states no export fee. The source is Oryx’s FAQ page, checked 2026-09-26.

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.

Oryx is clearer on what an export contains and on what it costs. For CareStack, ask what the file includes and get a rate quoted before you sign.

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.

Oryx says data and image conversion are available, and that sales quotes the amounts. We have no count of systems converted for Oryx. Ask both for a named list of the system you are leaving and a reference from a practice that moved from it.

Features

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

Where they differ:

• Online forms: included at Oryx. Unclear at CareStack on the page we checked. Unclear is not the same as absent, so ask.
• E-prescribing: included at Oryx, an add-on at CareStack.
• Perio charting: included at CareStack per its charting page. Unclear at Oryx on the features page we checked, although Oryx lists AI voice perio charting under its AI plan.
• Reporting: included at Oryx per its features overview. We have no separate reporting record for CareStack, although reviewers praise its reporting and KPI tracking.
• API access and multi-location reporting: both are recorded at Oryx as available on a higher tier. CareStack’s phone-integration page names no open API for third parties, so we hold no api_access record for it.
• Imaging bridge: included at CareStack per its digital imaging page. We have no record for Oryx.
• Mobile app: unclear for CareStack. We have no record for Oryx.
• Specialties: CareStack is recorded for general, pediatric, orthodontics, oral surgery, periodontics, endodontics and multi-specialty groups. Oryx is recorded for the same list except endodontics and multi-specialty.

Integrations

For each integration we say which side published it, because the two sides disagree often enough to matter.

Oryx states that diagnostic AI from Pearl and from Overjet is built directly into its imaging. That is the vendor’s own statement, checked 2026-10-02. Oryx’s pricing page puts AI imaging integration in the $1,399 AI plan, so ask which plan carries those readings.

CareStack names RingCentral among its phone integrations, giving call pop and outbound calling. That is CareStack’s own statement, checked 2026-10-02. NexHealth lists CareStack among the systems it supports, and NexHealth does not publish the connection method. CareStack’s side of the NexHealth link is not recorded. CareStack also says it does not charge for using integrated third-party apps.

We hold no Pearl or Overjet record for CareStack, and no RingCentral or NexHealth record for Oryx. Those links are unrecorded, so they are unclear.

Reviews and track record

CareStack has 219 Capterra reviews and a 4.8 score. These are third-party figures, so treat them as estimates. We have no rating record for Oryx.

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.

Because the Oryx column is empty, the table cannot rank the two. Ask Oryx for customer references from a practice of your size and specialty.

On company size, both vendors publish their own claims. CareStack says more than 3,000 practices. Oryx says 15,000+ clinicians and more than 2,500 practices across five continents, and says it is self-funded. CareStack was founded in 2015 and Oryx in 2016. Neither claim is audited.

Both vendors run referral programs. Oryx pays current users credit for referrals and reference calls, and CareStack pays commission on purchased subscriptions through its Partner Program, at rates it does not publish. A referral from a user of either may come with a payment.

Who should pick which

Pick Oryx if you:

• want the lowest published entry price, at $650 a month for up to 2 providers
• are opening a practice and can use the $0 startup offer
• want images and DICOM files to leave in their original formats, with no export fee stated
• want e-prescribing and online forms in the base price
• want month-to-month terms after the first 12 months

Pick CareStack if you:

• run endodontics or a multi-specialty group
• want to terminate on 30 days’ notice under the standard terms
• want a larger review base, with Capterra subscores you can read
• are converting from an older system and want a vendor that says it has done so from more than 60
• use RingCentral for phones and want the integration named by the PMS vendor

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 Oryx and CareStack vs Open Dental.