Disclosure: S10.AI makes CRUSH, one of the tools ranked below. We say where it fits and where it does not. Prices and policies come from public vendor pages and published reviews checked in October 2026. Plans change often, so verify before you buy.
Quick answer
"Therapy notes software" is really two products under one name: a practice-management system (EHR) that stores notes, schedules and bills, and an AI note-taking layer that drafts the note from your session. Most therapists need the second one to get their evenings back, and many already own the first. Here is how the field breaks down in 2026:
- Best for notes that follow you across any EHR, any template and many languages: S10.AI CRUSH
- Best therapy-only specialist (notes, treatment plans, progress tracking): Mentalyc
- Best flat price for unlimited notes: Upheal AI Notes and Twofold
- Best for outcome measures and measurement-based care: Blueprint
- Best if you already live inside one EHR: SimplePractice Note Taker or TherapyNotes TherapyFuel
- Not safe for client notes: general note apps, and any chatbot plan without a signed BAA
If you take one thing from this guide: whichever tool you pick, confirm the BAA, find out what happens to your audio and transcripts, get written client consent, and read every AI draft before you sign it.
Why documentation software matters more every year
In the American Psychological Association's 2021 survey of health service psychologists, respondents reported a median of about 20 hours of direct patient care a week and a mean of roughly 7.5 hours a week on administrative work. Progress notes, treatment plans and insurance paperwork make up much of that second number, and it is mostly unpaid. A tool that cuts even a few minutes per note pays for itself quickly, which is why this category has become crowded.
How we evaluated these tools
We weighed six things, in this order:
- Privacy and data handling: signed BAA, SOC 2 Type II or equivalent, whether audio is stored, whether data trains AI models.
- Clinical fit: note formats (SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, intake), modalities, client types such as couples, families and groups.
- EHR fit: does it work with the system you already use, and what happens if you switch?
- True cost: the price at your real note volume, including required EHR plans, caps and add-ons.
- Consent and legal readiness: can you use it in line with HIPAA and emerging state AI laws?
- Review burden: how much editing a draft needs. We did not run clinical accuracy trials, so test any shortlist with the same fictional session before you commit.
Best therapy notes software and AI note-taking apps compared (2026)
Tool
Best for
Published price*
EHR fit
S10.AI CRUSH
Any-EHR notes layer, multilingual, coding
See s10.ai for current plans
Works with any EHR
Mentalyc
Therapy-only specialist
$14.99-$99.99/mo billed yearly ($19.99-$119.99 monthly), tiered by notes
Chrome extension into any EHR
Upheal
Flat price or notes + EHR in one
AI Notes $39/mo flat; EHR plans from $1/session
Standalone or its own EHR
Twofold
Flat unlimited notes with coding
$49/mo billed annually, $69 monthly
Any EHR
Blueprint
Measurement-based care
$0.99/session or $69/seat/mo
Alongside your EHR, or its own
Freed
General ambient scribe
$39-$79/mo; coding on Premier ($104-$119)
Alongside your EHR
SimplePractice Note Taker
Existing SimplePractice users
$35/mo per clinician add-on, plus plan from $49
SimplePractice only
TherapyNotes TherapyFuel
Existing TherapyNotes users
About $40/clinician/mo add-on, plus plan from $69
TherapyNotes only
Eleos
Agencies and multi-site teams
Custom quote
Enterprise integrations
Published vendor pricing as reported by vendor pages and third-party reviews in October 2026. Intro promotions and annual discounts vary. Always confirm on the vendor's own pricing page.
The best tools, reviewed
1. S10.AI CRUSH: best for notes that work with any EHR, template and language
CRUSH is an ambient AI scribe that listens to the session and drafts the note for you to review. Its strengths for therapists are about portability and breadth:
- Works with any EHR, not a fixed integration list, so a practice that changes systems does not have to change its notes tool.
- Fits your templates: it is customizable and works with any template or dot phrase, so SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, intake notes or your own format.
- 90+ languages, useful for bilingual and multilingual practices.
- Longitudinal notes: it pulls in previous visit notes and writes continuity into the new encounter.
- Coding support and after-visit automation are included, and for prescribers it can automate referrals, lab orders and prescriptions.
- Fast rollout: implementation takes about 3-4 days.
S10.AI states that it signs a BAA and holds SOC 2 Type II; ask for the current documents during your trial. Every draft is a draft: you review and sign.
Pros: EHR-agnostic, template-flexible, multilingual, coding included, suits psychiatry and mixed medical-behavioral practices. Cons: it sits on top of your EHR rather than replacing it, and if you want therapy-only extras such as alliance scoring or client worksheet matching, a specialist like Mentalyc is built around those. Best for: solo and group practices, psychiatric prescribers, and bilingual clinicians who want one notes layer that survives an EHR change. Pricing: see current plans on s10.ai.
Book a CRUSH demo · See also: AI scribe for psychotherapists and therapy session notes template.
2. Mentalyc: best therapy-only specialist
Mentalyc is built only for mental health documentation. It drafts progress notes in common formats, drafts treatment plans, tracks progress across sessions, and supports couples, family, child and group notes on higher tiers. It states that it signs a BAA with every account, holds SOC 2 Type II, deletes session audio once the note is ready, and keeps an anonymized transcript until you delete it. A 14-day trial includes 15 notes.
Pros: therapy-specific features across the whole treatment arc, a published client consent template, strong privacy posture. Cons: pricing is tiered by monthly note count (40 to 330), couples and family notes require the Pro tier or above, and it has no built-in EHR or telehealth. Best for: therapists who want notes, plans and progress connected and do not need an EHR bundled in.
3. Upheal: best for a flat price or notes plus an EHR
Upheal sells a notes-only AI Notes plan at about $39 a month with unlimited sessions, and separate EHR plans that add scheduling, telehealth and billing. It changed its pricing in 2026 and older plans are listed as legacy, so older review sites may quote outdated numbers. Features such as unlimited AI-assistant use and some advanced tools sit on higher tiers.
Pros: low flat entry price, option to consolidate into one platform. Cons: feature gaps by tier, and couples or group work may need more manual editing than on specialist tools. Best for: solo therapists who want predictable cost, or those ready to move EHRs.
4. Twofold: best flat unlimited plan with coding
Twofold charges one price for unlimited notes ($49 a month billed annually, $69 monthly) and includes CPT and ICD-10 coding and a signed BAA, and it works with any EHR. A 7-day free trial needs no credit card. Note that most of Twofold's published pricing analysis comes from its own blog, so compare against the vendor pages of the others.
Pros: simple pricing, no note caps, coding included. Cons: therapy-specific extras such as alliance analysis and worksheet matching are not its focus. Best for: full caseloads that want a flat bill.
5. Blueprint: best for measurement-based care
Blueprint layers AI note drafting on standardized measures such as the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Pricing is $0.99 per session alongside your EHR or about $69 a month per seat for unlimited sessions, and it also offers its own EHR. The per-session model is cheapest at low volume and the seat price overtakes it at about 70 sessions a month.
Pros: outcome tracking tied to your notes, flexible pricing. Cons: its center of gravity is measurement rather than modality-specific note depth. Best for: clinics and insurance-heavy practices that value outcomes data.
6. SimplePractice Note Taker: best for existing SimplePractice users
Note Taker drafts SOAP, DAP or BIRP notes inside SimplePractice for about $35 a month per clinician, often with a promotional first few months. It requires an active SimplePractice plan (from $49 a month). Reporting indicates SimplePractice changed Note Taker's transcript-retention policy on June 16, 2026, so read the current terms before enabling it.
Pros: zero new workflow if you are already there. Cons: locked to one EHR, and add-ons stack per clinician. Best for:practices that are staying on SimplePractice long term.
7. TherapyNotes TherapyFuel: best for existing TherapyNotes users
TherapyFuel is TherapyNotes' AI documentation suite at about $40 per clinician per month on top of a plan that starts around $69 for a solo practitioner. It keeps drafting inside a trusted behavioral-health EHR.
Pros: no new vendor, fits an established workflow. Cons: requires the EHR, fewer customization options than standalone scribes. Best for: current TherapyNotes practices wanting light AI drafting.
8. Freed: best general-purpose ambient scribe
Freed is an ambient scribe used across specialties. Its $39 Starter plan stops at 40 notes, unlimited notes need the Core plan around $79, and ICD-10/CPT coding sits on the Premier tier at roughly $104-$119.
Pros: broad specialty coverage, customizable templates. Cons: not therapy-specific, and coding costs more. Best for:mixed practices that want one scribe across clinicians.
9. Eleos: best for agencies and multi-site behavioral health
Eleos sells to community behavioral-health organizations with supervision dashboards and organization-level analytics. It has no public self-serve pricing.
Pros: team analytics and consistency across staff. Cons: enterprise contracts, not built for solo practitioners. Best for:agencies and large clinics.
Also worth a look: Berries (mental-health-focused scribe), Quill and Supanote (lean note drafting), and AutoNotes (prompt-based drafts).
Tools that are not built for client notes
General note apps such as Apple Notes, Google Keep, Evernote or a plain Word file are fine for non-client planning. They do not draft progress notes, do not support audit-ready structure, and should not hold identifiable client information unless you have a BAA and proper safeguards.
General-purpose chatbots on consumer plans usually do not come with a BAA. Do not paste identifiable session content into any AI tool until you have confirmed, in writing, that your plan includes a BAA and how data is retained. De-identification is harder than it looks, because names are only one of the identifiers.
HIPAA, consent and state AI laws: what to check
This is general information, not legal advice. Check your state board and a healthcare attorney for your situation.
1. BAA and data handling. A signed BAA is the minimum. Then ask four questions: Is session audio stored or deleted? How long are transcripts kept? Is any data used to train AI models? Can you delete data on request?
2. Psychotherapy notes versus progress notes. HIPAA gives "psychotherapy notes" extra protection, but the definition is narrow: notes kept separate from the rest of the record that document or analyze the contents of a counseling session. The definition excludes medication monitoring, session start and stop times, modalities and frequencies of treatment, clinical test results, and summaries of diagnosis, functional status, treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis and progress. Most AI-drafted notes are ordinary progress notes that live in the chart. Be deliberate about where verbatim transcripts and your private process notes are stored.
3. Written client consent. Illinois' Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act (HB 1806, signed August 2025) lets licensed professionals use AI for administrative and supplementary support, but requires written, revocable consent before AI records or transcribes a session. Other states are moving in a similar direction. Even where no law requires it, tell clients that an AI tool helps write notes, what is kept, and that they can decline. If a client declines recording, dictate a short recap instead.
4. Substance use disorder records. If you treat SUD, 42 CFR Part 2 adds a further layer on top of HIPAA.
What therapy AI notes really cost
At 20 sessions a week (about 87 notes a month), published prices work out roughly as follows:
Tool
Approx. monthly cost at 20 sessions/week
Mentalyc Basic (100 notes)
$29.99 billed yearly, $39.99 monthly
Upheal AI Notes
$39
Twofold
$49 billed annually, $69 monthly
Blueprint seat
$69
Freed Core
$79
SimplePractice Note Taker
$35 plus a plan from $49
TherapyNotes TherapyFuel
$40 plus a plan from $69
S10.AI CRUSH
See s10.ai for current plans
The sticker price matters less than three things: whether the plan caps notes, whether coding or treatment plans sit on a higher tier, and whether the tool forces a specific EHR. If a scribe saves you even 25 minutes a month at a $120 session fee, it covers a $49 plan.
How to choose
- You use several EHRs, may switch, or work in multiple languages: choose an EHR-agnostic layer such as S10.AI CRUSH.
- You want therapy-only features across notes, plans and progress: Mentalyc.
- You want a flat bill and a full caseload: Upheal AI Notes or Twofold.
- Outcomes data matters to your payers: Blueprint.
- You are settled in SimplePractice or TherapyNotes: start with the add-on, then compare.
- You run an agency: Eleos or a group plan from a scribe vendor.
- You prescribe: prioritize coding, order and prescription workflows.
A 10-point checklist before you sign
- Signed BAA included on your plan
- Audio stored or deleted, and when
- Transcript retention and deletion on request
- No training on your clinical data, or a clear opt-out
- Works with your EHR today and after a switch
- Your note formats: SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, intake
- Client types: couples, families, groups, minors
- Caps, tiers and add-ons at your real note volume
- Consent template and process for your state
- A trial where you run the same fictional session through each shortlisted tool
Related reading: types of progress notes, DAP notes, AI therapy notes by modality, treatment plan template.
The bottom line
There is no single best tool for every therapist. If documentation is eating your evenings, start a trial with two or three tools from the list above, run the same fictional session through each, and pick the one whose drafts need the least rewriting and whose privacy terms you can explain to a client. If you want notes that work with any EHR, any template and 90+ languages, with coding included and a 3-4 day setup, book a CRUSH demo.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best therapy notes software? It depends on whether you need an EHR, an AI note-taking layer, or both. Specialist therapy tools such as Mentalyc are strong for plans and progress, flat-price tools such as Upheal AI Notes and Twofold suit full caseloads, and S10.AI CRUSH suits clinicians who want notes that work with any EHR, any template and many languages.
What is the best AI note-taking app for therapists? The best fit is the one that signs a BAA, handles your note format and client types, works with your EHR, and produces drafts you can review quickly. Run the same fictional session through two or three tools before choosing.
Do I need client consent for an AI note taker? You should always tell clients and obtain consent. Some states require it in writing: Illinois requires written, revocable consent before AI records or transcribes a therapy session. Check your state rules.
Are AI therapy notes HIPAA compliant? The software must meet HIPAA requirements and you need a signed BAA, but compliance also depends on how you use it, including consent, retention settings and where notes are stored. Most AI-drafted notes are progress notes, which are different from HIPAA psychotherapy notes.
How much does therapy AI note software cost? Most standalone tools cost roughly $30 to $110 a month in 2026, and EHR add-ons run about $35 to $40 a month per clinician on top of the EHR. Check caps, tiers and coding fees at your real note volume.
Can I use ChatGPT or Apple Notes for therapy notes? Not for identifiable client information unless your plan includes a signed BAA and appropriate safeguards. General note apps also do not produce audit-ready progress notes.