Vendor evaluation · support desk · Jul 2026

Recommendation: Quillbase, at $890 per month.

Quillbase is the only one of the three that clears our bar on every criterion rather than winning one and failing another. Relayforge has the better API and we will miss it, but it costs 39% more, charges $2,400 to implement, and left two trial questions unanswered — which is the thing we are actually buying.

Owner: Devon OkaforReviewed: Mara ChenDecision due Aug 5 2026

Criteria matrix

Criterion Quillbase$890 / monthRecommended Relayforge$1,240 / month Stackmere$610 / month
PricingTotal annual cost at 12 seats, including onboarding $890/mo. Mid-market. No onboarding fee, annual prepay saves 8%. $1,240/mo. Most expensive, and charges $2,400 for implementation. $610/mo. Cheapest by a wide margin; per-seat above 15 seats gets steep.
CapabilitiesShared inbox, macros, SLA rules, CSAT, knowledge base Everything we asked for, plus SLA rules per clinic group. Deepest feature set; much of it aimed at teams four times our size. Solid inbox, no SLA rules, CSAT is a paid add-on.
IntegrationsOur PMS webhooks, Slack, and the Brightloom admin API Native Slack, clean webhook signing, two-day sandbox approval. Strongest API in the category and the best-documented webhooks. Slack only. No inbound webhooks; polling is the workaround.
SupportTheir responsiveness to us during the trial Median 40 minutes in trial, named CSM offered at our tier. Fast first reply, then long gaps. Two questions went unanswered. Community-first. Email replies inside a day, no phone path.
SecuritySOC 2, SSO, audit logs, data residency SOC 2 Type II, SAML SSO included, exportable audit log. SOC 2 Type II, SSO included, residency options in three regions. SOC 2 Type I only, SSO on the enterprise tier at 3× the price.

Verdict per vendor

Quillbase

$890 / month · 19 of 25 points

Strengths

  • Clears every criterion; no single low score to mitigate
  • SLA rules per clinic group, which matches how we support customers
  • Named CSM at our tier, and they behaved like it during the trial

Watch-outs

  • Reporting is adequate, not good; we will export to look at trends
  • Per-seat price steps up at 25 seats — renegotiate before then

Relayforge

$1,240 / month · 17 of 25 points

Strengths

  • Strongest API and webhook documentation in the category
  • Data residency options we may need for two enterprise prospects

Watch-outs

  • Weakest reporting of the three despite the highest price
  • $2,400 implementation fee and a four-week onboarding queue
  • Trial support went quiet twice; two questions never answered

Stackmere

$610 / month · 12 of 25 points

Strengths

  • Cheapest by $280 a month and pleasant to use
  • Fastest setup — we had a working inbox in an afternoon

Watch-outs

  • SOC 2 Type I only; SSO sits behind a 3× enterprise tier
  • No inbound webhooks, so PMS events would need polling
  • No SLA rules, which is how we measure ourselves

Method: five criteria weighted equally, scored 1–5 by Devon Okafor and Ines Okonkwo independently during a 14-day trial on each product with the same eight real support threads replayed. Scores were reconciled where they differed by more than one point; the notes record the reconciled view. Pricing is list price at 12 seats, annual prepay, quoted Jul 2026.