Comparison
OpenCryo vs. CryoFuture One
A side-by-side for clinics weighing a storage provider that runs on OpenCryo against CryoFuture's bundled platform.
Two different models
CryoFuture One is a capable platform built for fertility clinics, and it is sold as part of a bundle with CryoFuture's own off-site storage, courier, and inventory audit services, with your specimen records living inside their platform.
OpenCryo is software that any storage provider, clinic, collection service, or courier can run. The specimens sit wherever you choose and several organizations can work the same order without seeing each other's data. The custody record travels with the specimen, not an organization. A clinic using a storage provider on OpenCryo gets its own view of its patients' specimens and a patient portal under the provider's brand.
Capability by capability
Scroll sideways to compare.
| Capability | OpenCryo | CryoFuture One |
|---|---|---|
| Openness and data ownership | ||
| Data ownership and exit | The audit log exports to CSV, receipts and signed agreements are PDFs you keep, and the data model is published. The Business Source License permits free self-hosting, and you can change storage providers without losing custody history. A full one-click account export is on the roadmap. Roadmap: Q4 2026 | Not described on their product page. |
| Changing storage providers | A transfer between two organizations on OpenCryo carries the specimen, its labels, its agreements, and its complete custody history to the receiving organization. Independent OpenCryo instances are designed to exchange specimens the same way. Roadmap: Inter-instance federation: Q4 2027 | Not described on their product page. |
| Multi-provider patient journeys | A patient can collect at a clinic, ship with a courier, store at a facility, and later move to another clinic, with one continuous record shared across every organization involved, each seeing only its part. | Not described on their product page, which describes CryoFuture's own storage and transport services. |
| Multiple organizations | Built for many organizations on one instance: storage providers, clinics, couriers, and collection services each with isolated data, sharing only through orders. A clinic sees its own patients at the provider; the provider never exposes one clinic's patients to another. OpenCryo supports any number of locations from small single-site clinics to very large multi-site operations. | "Scalable for single or multi-site clinics." Described as a single-provider platform. |
| Open data model and protocol | Globally unique prefixed identifiers, a published data model, and a protocol specification under Apache 2.0, so a record created in one place is meaningful everywhere. | Not described on their product page. |
| Hosting and source code | OpenCryo Cloud (hosted) or self-hosted on your own infrastructure. The platform is licensed under the Business Source License, which permits free self-hosting and converts each version to a fully open license after four years; the protocol specification is Apache 2.0. Roadmap: Public source repository: Q4 2026 | Described as a hosted platform operated by CryoFuture. |
| Integrations | A full REST API (the same one the apps use), payment webhooks, and a complex agreement and proposal form builder. EMR connectors forthcoming. Roadmap: Q2 2027 | "Add patients manually, in bulk, or through your clinic's EMR with API support." |
| Day-to-day operations | ||
| Specimen identification | Every straw, vial, cane, canister, and tank is a container in one hierarchy with its own label. DataMatrix labels by default; QR, barcode, and RFID label types are supported. Hardware is yours to choose: OpenCryo does not bundle readers or tags. Staff are able to scan with the phones they have, with tight biometric security, or devices provided by the clinic. | "Track every cane, vial, and straw using RFID from intake to final location." RFID hardware is part of their offer. |
| Storage hierarchy | Configurable container types and nesting rules that match your actual equipment, from building and room down to tank, canister, cane, and position, plus shippers. Capacity and inventory rollups at every level. | Described as tank, canister, and slot assignment with searchable filters, for onsite and offsite inventory. |
| Chain of custody and audit trail | An append-only audit log protected at the database level (updates and deletes are revoked), every event timestamped and attributed to a person, filterable and exportable to CSV. Every specimen shows its full custody timeline. | "Full audit trails and patient linkage" on shipments, and "Full Communication History". |
| Intake, release, dispatch, and destruction | Configurable step-by-step protocols run on the mobile app with a qualified performer and a separate qualified reviewer, dual signatures, and review queues. Destruction requires the client's signed authorization plus dual staff signatures. Roadmap: Q1 2027 | "Built-In Compliance Workflows", including "abandonment protocol, skip tracing, and billing security alerts". |
| Consent and documents | Agreement templates signed electronically during intake, with pre-signing directive questionnaires, two-signer agreements for partners, signed PDFs in the patient portal, and online authorization for transfers and destruction. Contracts for organizations go through OpenCryo's Proposals functionality. | "Upload, assign, and monitor consent forms with live status updates and exports." |
| Patient portal | A white-label portal on your provider's domain: overview, stored vials, orders and receipts, billing and subscriptions, agreements, authorizations, test results, updates, and documents. Passkey or emailed magic-link sign-in. | "Patients and partners can sign consents, manage payments, and view specimens online." |
| Billing | Configured per organization, not per platform. Checkout through Stripe, Authorize.net, Square, or Revolut; recurring storage subscriptions with renewal, failed-payment, and lapse handling (Stripe today); promotion codes; ACH; receipts. One-off charges recorded against the patient, and recurring billing through providers other than Stripe, are on the roadmap. Roadmap: Q3 2026 (one-off charges), Q4 2027 (non-Stripe recurring billing) | "Bill by specimen type, cane, patient, or cycle with support for multiple term lengths." "Stripe-enabled platform offers 'Pay Now' or 'Schedule Payment' with auto-renewal." "Discounts, Refunds, and Off-App Payments". |
| Transport | Dispatch protocols for shippers (preflight checklist, seals, temperature logs), inter-organization transfers with custody preserved across the boundary, and live shipping quotes. A storage provider on OpenCryo can run its own pickup and delivery, and specialized cryogenic couriers run on OpenCryo as their own organizations, so either way the transport leg stays inside the same custody record. | "Medical couriers, GPS tracking and validated tanks deliver safe local & long distance transports." |
| Equipment maintenance and validation | LN2 fill logs with consumption intelligence and anomaly detection, scheduled maintenance rounds, and IQ/OQ/PQ validation protocols with dual-signature review. | Not described on their product page. |
| Services and assurance | ||
| Certifications | No third-party certifications yet. HIPAA-aligned controls are built in: protected health information is a separate permission from operational access, the audit log is append-only, backups are encrypted, and sign-in is passkey-based. Roadmap: SOC 2 Type 1 audit: Q3 2027 | "ISO 21973-2020, HIPAA Compliant, SOC 2". |
| Storage, courier, and audit services | OpenCryo is the software layer. Storage, transport, and inventory audits are performed by the organizations running it: a storage provider can offer pickup, transport, storage, and audits itself, or hand any leg to a cryogenic courier that is also on OpenCryo, and you choose which ones you work with. | "More Than Software": "Off-site Cryostorage", "Specimen Transport", and "Inventory Audits" as services. |
CryoFuture One statements in quotation marks are taken from cryofuture.com/cryofuture-one as published on September 3, 2026. "Described as" summarizes their page without quoting it. "Not described" means their product page does not address it; it may still exist.
Roadmap quarters are targets we are working toward, not commitments. We update this page as items ship.
What this means for a clinic choosing a storage provider
If you want a single vendor to own storage, courier, and software, and you are comfortable with your records living in that vendor's platform, CryoFuture One is a coherent bundle.
If you want to choose your storage provider, keep the option to change it, and give your patients a portal under that provider's brand while your clinic keeps its own view of every specimen, a provider running OpenCryo gives you that. Your data stays exportable, and the custody record is the same record whether the specimen is in your lab, in transit, or in the provider's tank.
Ask either vendor the same three questions: a) who can export the full specimen record? b) what happens to that record if we leave? c) who else can see our patients' data?
CryoFuture and CryoFuture One are trademarks of their respective owner, used here for identification only. This page reflects their public product page as of September 3, 2026. If something here is out of date or wrong, email hello@opencryo.io and we will correct it.