Switching from Open Dental to Archy

PickMyPMS Editorial · Last reviewed Oct 20, 2026

Quick answer

Open Dental and Archy differ in where the software runs and in how the bill is built. Open Dental is Windows software that most offices run on their own server, and its published fee is a support subscription: $199 a month per location for the first 12 months, then $149, covering up to 3 dentists. Archy is a cloud system at $899 a month per location, with unlimited users, providers, claims, eligibility checks and texting.

The monthly figure is higher at Archy. The cost of your server, IT help and the extras you buy separately at Open Dental is on neither price list. If you want to remove the server and stop paying per dentist past the third, Archy is the simpler bill. If your office is content with Open Dental, the published fee is far lower.

Plan around the move itself. We found no Archy conversion terms, and Archy’s Capterra reviewers report trouble moving X-rays.

What you pay at Open Dental today

Open Dental’s fee page lists support at $199 a month per location for the first 12 months, then $149 a month. Each dentist beyond the first 3 is $20 a month. Open Dental carries a 90-day money-back guarantee on support fees, and the initial term is 12 months, then month to month. All of this is from opendental.com/site/fees.html, checked 2026-09-26.

Several things you may use today are priced separately. The eServices bundle is $165 a month per location, and texting access is $5 a month for an assigned number or $20 a month for a landline, plus $0.04 per message in the US. Online scheduling and e-prescribing are both recorded as add-ons, per Open Dental’s fee page.

If you are on Open Dental Cloud, the hosted option in limited release, the base is $430 a month per location for one provider, plus $150 a month for each additional provider. That page also lists a one-time $400 migration fee.

What you pay at Archy

Archy’s pricing page lists one platform price of $899 a month per location. It states that users, providers, claim submissions, eligibility checks and texting are unlimited, and the same page lists integrated imaging, online forms and online scheduling as part of it.

Archy also sells Clinical, Front Office and Marketing suites as add-ons. Their prices are quote-only, and e-prescribing is an add-on with no published price. Before you compare $899 with what you pay now, ask which of those suites your workflow needs.

New practices pay $400 a month per location until 400 patients or 1 year. Archy does not say whether an existing practice that changes systems qualifies, so do not build a budget on it.

Open Dental fees against Archy’s flat price

The table uses only published monthly figures. Setup, conversion and the cost of your server are left out because neither vendor publishes a comparable number.

The Open Dental column is the support fee and says nothing about hardware. If a server, backups and the person who maintains them cost you real money, add that to the left column before judging the gap. We have no figure for it and will not guess one.

What happens to your data

Open Dental states that its data sits in an open MySQL database the practice controls. That is the strongest data-access statement in this pair, and it means you hold the data before you start the move.

What Archy accepts on the way in is less clear. Its profile records no conversion process or price. Archy’s reviewers on Capterra report trouble moving X-rays during conversion, a ledger that works differently from other systems and charting display issues. Capterra shows only 6 reviews for Archy, which is too few to estimate how often conversions go wrong. Test your own X-rays.

Ask Archy, in writing, which Open Dental record types come across. Patient demographics, the ledger, treatment plans, insurance setup, clinical notes, perio charts, X-rays and documents each deserve their own line in the answer. If Archy cannot say yes to one, plan to verify it by hand after the conversion runs.

Contract timing and exit terms

Leaving Open Dental has no recorded exit fee. Its initial term is 12 months, then month to month, so the cleanest time to leave is after year one. Inside the first 12 months, check what you signed.

Archy sets the term on the Order Form and the practice agrees to pay fees for the entire term. You can end early only for cause, per Archy’s Master Service Agreement, last updated March 18, 2025. Read the term on your own Order Form before you sign it, because that is the number you cannot walk away from.

After the initial term, Archy renews in one-month periods and needs 30 days’ written notice of non-renewal. Archy can change fees at the end of the initial term or any renewal term.

Archy gives one free export of customer data in a structured, common format if you ask in writing on or before the termination date. Continued access to the service afterward costs $200 a month, and otherwise Archy deletes the data. Put your export request date on the calendar when you sign.

Integrations to check

Open Dental does not publish a partner directory, so the integrations below are what each side states. Flex states it is built for Open Dental and writes eligibility results back in real time. Open Dental names DentalXChange among its recommended clearinghouses. NexHealth lists Open Dental and Open Dental Cloud among the systems it supports.

None of those three appears on Archy’s side of our records. Archy’s one recorded integration is Pearl, which it describes as reading X-rays live as they are captured. If your office relies on DentalXChange for claims, or on Flex or NexHealth for eligibility and booking, ask Archy whether each works with its system. We have no record either way.

Who should switch

Move to Archy if you want one cloud system with no server, you have more than 3 dentists, or texting, online scheduling and eligibility are things you already pay extra for at Open Dental. The flat price makes the monthly bill easy to predict.

Stay on Open Dental if cost is the main concern. Its published fee is lower, and Capterra gives it 4.6 from 89 reviews against Archy’s 4.7 from 6. Those are third-party figures, and the small count on the Archy side means they do not settle much. Open Dental reviewers cite a learning curve, a dated interface and paying for live support.

A checklist before you sign

• Get Archy’s conversion scope and price in writing, with a line for each Open Dental record type.
• Ask for a test conversion of your X-rays before you commit, given the reviewer reports.
• Read the term on your Archy Order Form. You pay for the entire term, and you can end early only for cause.
• Ask Archy whether the $400 new-practice price applies to your move.
• Ask for the price of any Clinical, Front Office or Marketing suite your office needs.
• Confirm DentalXChange, Flex and NexHealth work with Archy if you use them.
• Export your own Open Dental data before cancelling anything, since you control the MySQL database.
• Keep Open Dental running for a short verification period, and give notice only once the new system’s numbers match.

To see how the numbers change with your provider and location count, use the cost calculator. The side-by-side profile is at Archy vs Open Dental.