Health Gorilla vs Kno2
Updated October 16, 2026
EHR vendors and digital health teams that need records from other providers often compare Health Gorilla and Kno2, two designated QHINs under TEFCA. Health Gorilla returns national network records as FHIR data for engineering teams, while Kno2 bundles fax, Direct messaging, and network queries for post-acute and behavioral health software. An open lawsuit involving Health Gorilla is also part of this year's buying picture.
Our analysts compared Health Gorilla and Kno2 on fax and Direct support, FHIR delivery, post-acute fit, network reach, legal exposure, and onboarding, using the HIR review of each company and both vendors' own news pages. In the following sections, we compare the networks, describe the buyer each fits, and summarize their recent announcements.
Health Gorilla vs Kno2 at a glance, October 2026
| What buyers weigh | Health Gorilla | Kno2 |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Large contracts for network access and APIs, usually priced by the number of record requests and the networks used. | A subscription plus per-transaction fees for technology vendors and providers, quoted by Kno2. |
| What drives cost | How many records you request, which networks and data types are included, and whether you connect as a TEFCA participant. | How many messages and record requests you send, which channels you use (fax, Direct, Carequality, TEFCA), and the number of connected facilities. |
| Fax and Direct messaging | Health Gorilla is built for national record queries, and small practices that only need fax and Direct are a poor fit. | Cloud fax and Direct secure messaging come through the same connection as network queries. Clear edge |
| Records as FHIR data | Outside records arrive as FHIR data through its APIs, and its network and API product scores 7.4. | FHIR and HL7 sit alongside Carequality, TEFCA, fax, and Direct, and its product scores 7.3. |
| Post-acute and behavioral health | Customers center on EHR vendors, value-based care groups, and digital health companies. | Kno2 says about 80 percent of the technology vendors that serve post-acute care connect to its network. Clear edge |
| Network reach | Health Gorilla said in April 2025 that it connected more than 220 million patients and 147,000 care sites, and it connects to California's Data Exchange Framework. | Kno2 connects to Carequality, health information exchanges, and referral networks, and it formed an alliance with Redox in October 2025. |
| Legal exposure | Epic and several health systems sued Health Gorilla in January 2026, alleging some record requests were labeled as treatment while the records went to law firms, and nine patient class actions were combined in August 2026. | Kno2 is not among the defendants in the Epic suit. Clear edge |
| Getting connected | Teams need engineers for the API and must document an allowed reason, such as treatment, for every request, which scores 6.8. | Teams need an integration owner, and the Kno2fy portal gives providers a way in alongside the API, which scores 7.3. Higher score |
| Time to full value | About 3 to 6 months | About 2 to 6 months |
| What you need first | A written, allowed reason for every request. | A list of the channels you use. |
| Deal-breaker | You cannot document an allowed reason for requests. | You need an analytics platform. |
| Pricing clarity score | 6.5 | 7.0 Clearer pricing |
| HIR overall score | 6.9, Conditional. | 7.3, Recommend. Higher score |
| Best for | EHR vendors that need TEFCA access through a designated QHIN. | Post-acute, behavioral health, and therapy software vendors that need one connection to national record networks. |
| Not a fit for | Buyers that cannot take on vendor risk while lawsuits over patient-record requests are open. | Teams that want one combined patient record with analytics on top. |
Which fits which buyer
Start with the kinds of messages your users send today.
Choose Health Gorilla if
- Your engineers want outside records as FHIR data through an API.
- You serve value-based care groups or digital health companies.
- Your legal team is comfortable with the open Epic litigation.
Choose Kno2 if
- Your software serves post-acute, behavioral health, or therapy providers.
- You need fax and Direct alongside national queries in one connection.
- You want a portal option for providers as well as an API.
Verdict
Kno2 scores higher and suits post-acute and behavioral health vendors that need every channel in one connection. Health Gorilla fits engineering teams that want FHIR records and accept the legal risk.
Teams wanting a combined patient record with analytics should look at other vendors.
Where the two tools are headed in 2027 and beyond
Health Gorilla: Health Gorilla filed a motion to dismiss the Epic lawsuit on February 26, 2026, and appointed a new chief legal officer and chief technology officer on August 17, 2026.
Kno2: Kno2 began rolling out CLEAR's identity verification for organizations joining its network on January 28, 2026.
Have counsel review each vendor's permitted-purpose rules before you go live.
Methodology
Each row comes from the HIR reviews of Health Gorilla and Kno2, scored under the HIR method, and from each vendor's public pricing where it exists. Any published price for Health Gorilla or Kno2 was checked on that vendor's own site on October 16, 2026.
A green check marks a clear edge for Health Gorilla or Kno2 only where their review scores differ by at least 0.3 points or the two reviews show a plain difference. Rows with nothing published for either Health Gorilla or Kno2 are left out, and time to full value for each adds up the rollout stages in its review.
Sources
- HIR review of Health Gorilla and HIR review of Kno2
- Health Gorilla website
- Kno2 website
- Health Gorilla news, February 26 and August 17, 2026
- Kno2 rolls out CLEAR1, January 28, 2026