Using an AI scribe for your private practice reduces the time you spend each week on notes, and may even help you better track clients’ progress.

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But not all AI scribes are the same. Some are standalone tools that may or may not integrate with EHR platforms. Others come as part of a larger EHR suite.

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Here’s a breakdown of the five best AI scribes for private practice—both standalone and built-in—and a look at what each one has to offer.

Standalone AI scribes

1. Mentalyc

Mentalyc is specifically for therapists that features flexible input methods and a wide range of clinical note templates. As a standalone tool, it offers the most comprehensive feature set for therapists at a competitive price.

Price

Plans range from $14.99 – $99.99 per month billed annually, or $19.99 – $119.99 per month billed monthly. The more expensive plans offer more features and a higher volume of notes per month.

Features

• Across-the-board compliance. Mentalyc is compliant with HIPAA, PHIPA, and SOC2 requirements.
• Multiple inputs. Record sessions live in person or via telehealth, upload your own recordings, dictate with voice-to-text, or draft your own notes.
• Wide variety of templates. SOAP, DAP, and intake notes come standard. The Pro plan offers 100+ template formats.
• Analytics. Get AI-generated analyses, summaries, and treatment plans based on your notes.
• Therapeutic alliance management. Mentalyc’s Alliance Genie™ analyzes historical progress notes to track the development of the therapeutic alliance. 

Integrations

Mentalyc’s Chrome autofill plugin imports your notes into any EHR platform accessible via the browser.

Mentalyc is best for…

Therapy practices of any size looking for a full-featured standalone AI scribe that integrates easily with any EHR.

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2. Quill

Quill differs from other AI scribes in its focus on privacy. While any HIPAA-compliant AI scribe protects personal health information (PHI), Quill goes one step further: It doesn’t record therapy sessions, and it doesn’t store any data or use it to train LLMs. 

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If you’re on the fence about AI in general, or if you’re facing pushback from clients opposed to AI being used in their treatment, Quill may be an attractive option.

Price

Individual plans are $20 per month with unlimited notes. A plan for group practices runs $20 per month plus $16 per month per user.

Features

• Dictation-only. Quill transcribes your audio summary of a session and then generates notes based on it. Session recording is not an option.
• No data storage. The platform promises not to store any of your session data or use it for training LLMs.
• Treatment plans. Like other platforms, Quill generates treatment plans based on your notes.
• Full set of templates. Quill offers note templates for SOAP, DAP, and other standard formats, plus the option to create customized templates.
• No usage limit. You can generate an unlimited number of patient notes each month.

Integrations

While Quill does not integrate directly with any EHR platforms, it does make it easy to copy and paste your notes into any EHR of your choice.

Quill is best for…

Therapists who do not want to record and transcribe sessions, but still hope to cut down on documentation time with the help of AI.

EHR built-in AI scribes

3. SimplePractice

SimplePractice is one of the most widely-used therapist EHR platforms. If you’re only looking for AI note-taking, SimplePractice is not an economical choice: You’ll end up paying both for note-taking and a fully-fledged EHR. But if you’re in the market for an EHR with the option to add AI scribe features, then SimplePractice may be right for you.

Price

SimplePractice plans range from $49 – $99 per month. AI note-taking costs an additional $35 per month per clinician.

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Features

• Complete EHR suite. SimplePractice includes tools for scheduling, client management, documentation, billing and insurance, and credit card payments. 
• Session recording. The SimplePractice AI scribe records sessions to generate transcripts and notes.
• Note templates. The AI note-taking feature covers the basics with SOAP, DAP, and BIRP templates. 

Integrations

Since the SimplePractice’s AI scribe is a part of its EHR suite, integration is one of its major selling points. Add AI note-taking to telehealth sessions, add notes to client files, generate notes that comply with insurance requirements—all within one platform.

SimplePractice is best for…

Therapists already looking for an EHR who want to make an AI scribe part of the package.

4. Upheal

Upheal straddles the line between standalone AI scribe and EHR with AI scribe functionality. With a free plan, you get AI-generated transcripts and notes. It’s enough to serve as a standalone AI notes tool if you’re just getting started. You also get a few EHR features, but these fall well short of being comprehensive.

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Paid plans considerably expand EHR functionality while making AI tools (including the scribe feature) considerably more robust. 

Pricing

Upheal’s free plan lets you upload your own session recordings or recorded dictation and use the AI scribe feature to generate notes. Telehealth sessions via Upheal are included, but without recording capabilities.

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For $19 per month paid annually, you can use Upheal to record sessions in person or via telehealth. You also get more EHR features, moving the experience closer to a fully-fledged EHR platform.

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At $69 per month paid annually, you get a complete EHR suite with advanced AI features—analytics, treatment plans, and an AI assistant.

Features

• Plan flexibility. Experiment with basic AI scribe functionality with a free package, or get a full AI-augmented EHR suite with a paid package.
• Model training opt-out. With a paid plan, you can opt out of letting Upheal use your data to train LLMs.
• Large set of AI tools. A paid plan opens up AI functionality, giving you access to treatment plans, advanced analytics, treatment summaries, and multiple input options.

Upheal is best for…

Therapists looking to experiment with a standalone AI scribe (Upheal’s Free plan), or practices looking for an alternative to SimplePractice with advanced AI features. 

5. Blueprint

Blueprint offers all the features you would expect from a modern therapist EHR platform, but with a unique per-session pricing model for its AI Assistant. And the Assistant isn’t limited to note-taking: It can provide suggestions for interventions, activities, and worksheets to use in your sessions. That makes Blueprint both a handy EHR and an opportunity to experiment with integrating AI into your practice more widely.

Pricing

The Core Blueprint plan is free forever. (Payment processing and insurance claims may require an additional per-transaction fee.)

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The AI Assistant—which includes note-taking—starts at $0.99 per session for Plus services. Pro services run $1.49, and promise to include a growing list of AI functionality. 

Features

• Flexible pricing. With a free basic package, this is one of the least expensive EHR platforms out there. You only pay to use AI features or process payments or insurance claims.
• Standard EHR features. Scheduling, records management, telehealth sessions, payments, insurance—the basic Blueprint plan provides what you would expect from a full-featured EHR platform.
• Session recording. Blueprint’s AI scribe records and transcribes sessions to generate notes.
• Advanced AI features. Blueprint advertises its AI Assistant as a jack of all trades. If you’re curious about using AI in your practice, this could be your chance to test it out on a pay-per-session basis.

Integrations

As with other EHR platforms featuring AI scribes, Blueprint’s AI note-taking functionality connects seamlessly with telehealth sessions, client files, and other tools.

Blueprint is best for…

Practices already in the market for an EHR that want to get their feet wet with AI tools.

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Not sure if AI note-taking is right for you? Check out Should Therapists use an AI Scribe?

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