Best AI Therapy Note-Writing Software in 2026

What AI note-writing software actually does

AI therapy note-writing software, also called an AI scribe or AI therapy notes software, captures what happened in a session and turns it into a draft clinical note. Depending on the tool, it can listen to an in-person session through your device microphone, capture a telehealth call, or take a dictated summary after the session, then structure the output as a SOAP, DAP, BIRP, or intake note for you to review.

Be clear-eyed about what these tools are. They draft documentation from what was said. They do not assess clients, diagnose, choose interventions, or make any clinical judgment; that remains your work and your license, and every draft needs your review and signature before it becomes part of the record. Used that way, the payoff is real: therapists routinely describe reclaiming their evenings from documentation backlog, and the note is written while the session is still fresh.

A quick disambiguation, because search terms blur here: people searching for AI therapy software sometimes mean consumer chatbots that talk to clients. This guide is not that. Every tool below is practitioner software that helps licensed clinicians write their own notes. For where this category fits in your full stack, start with our overview of the best therapy software.

Note-writing software vs therapy notes software

These names are nearly identical and the products are not, so here is the split.

Therapy notes software is the documentation platform, usually a full EHR: TherapyNotes, SimplePractice, Sessions Health, and the other systems we rank in our therapy notes software guide. It is the legal system of record: templates, signatures, note locking, encrypted storage, and the link between notes, appointments, and insurance claims.

AI note-writing software (this guide) is the drafting layer. It produces the first draft of the note, which you then finalize inside your system of record. Some tools blur the line: Upheal includes telehealth and scheduling, and Blueprint now bundles a free core EHR. But most therapists run an AI scribe alongside an established EHR, and every major EHR now sells its own built-in AI drafting add-on (SimplePractice's Note Taker at $35 per month, TherapyNotes' TherapyFuel at $40, Jane's AI Scribe at $15, Sessions Health's AI Assist at $35, all verified July 10, 2026).

The dedicated tools below generally out-draft the EHR add-ons on note quality and format options, which is their reason to exist. If your EHR add-on is good enough for your documentation style, the simplest stack wins.

The best AI note-writing software for therapists

1. Upheal

Upheal is the best AI therapy note-writing software for most clinicians because it was built for mental health from the start and its pricing removes the usual anxiety about caps. The free plan includes unlimited basic notes and HIPAA-compliant telehealth, which no competitor matches. Paid usage is $1 per session capped at $69 per month, billed only for sessions you actually run, with a 30-day full-feature trial and no card required (verified July 10, 2026). It captures in-person audio, telehealth calls, or post-session dictation, produces therapy-native note types plus treatment plans, and its session insights (talk ratios, themes) are drawn from the transcript for you to interpret, not conclusions issued by the software.

Limitations: it is not an EHR, so billing and claims still live elsewhere, and group practice pricing is custom quote only. At a full caseload you will simply hit the $69 cap most months, so compare that number against flat-rate rivals.

2. Mentalyc

Mentalyc goes deepest on mental health documentation formats: SOAP, DAP, BIRP and more, intake notes, EMDR and play therapy support, couples and group session notes (individualized per member on the Super tier), plus an AI treatment planner and a progress tracker that summarizes documented change over time. Pricing verified July 10, 2026: Mini at $19.99 per month for 40 notes, Basic at $39.99 for 100, Pro at $69.99 for 160, and Super at $119.99 for 330, with lower annual rates and a 14-day trial that includes 15 notes, no card required.

The limitation is the metering: every tier has a note cap, and clinicians who dislike counting notes will prefer Upheal's cap-then-stop model or AutoNotes' flat rate. Group therapy notes also require the top tier.

3. Blueprint

Blueprint prices like a utility instead of a subscription: Plus at $0.99 per session and Pro at $1.49 per session, credits that never expire, no monthly minimums, a free trial, and a 60-day money-back guarantee (verified July 10, 2026, with a 50 percent first-purchase promotion running). It drafts notes, preps you before sessions with a recap of the prior one, and suggests evidence-based resources you can accept or ignore; the clinical decisions stay with you. It works alongside any EHR, and Blueprint also now offers its own free core EHR if you want scheduling and documentation in one place.

Limitations: the Pro tier requires using Blueprint's EHR, and per-session pricing that looks cheap at a light caseload crosses the flat-rate tools around 25 to 30 sessions per month, so do the arithmetic for your volume.

Strong alternatives worth trialing

4. AutoNotes

AutoNotes is the flat-rate pick: unlimited AI-generated progress notes, dictation, and treatment plans on the Economy plan at $29 per month ($24 on annual billing), with live session recording and custom templates on First Class at $69 ($58 annual), and a 7-day no-card trial (verified July 10, 2026). For high-volume clinicians who want a predictable bill, unlimited notes at $29 is the best raw price in this comparison.

The trade-off sits in the tiers: on Economy you work from dictation and session summaries rather than live recording, which some clinicians actually prefer for consent simplicity, but if you want the scribe listening in session you need the $69 tier, which erases the price advantage.

5. Supanote

Supanote starts at $19.99 per month for 40 notes, with unlimited notes on Pro from $39.99 and an XL tier from $69.99 that adds group session support (verified July 10, 2026, listed as starting prices, with a 14-day free trial). It handles couples sessions on every paid tier, offers custom templates and consent form templates, and adds EHR integration and AI personalization on Pro.

Limitations: it is a smaller, younger company than Upheal or Mentalyc, pricing is listed as starting at rather than fixed, and the polish gap shows in places. The couples support at the entry price is its clearest edge.

General medical AI scribes therapists also use

6. Heidi Health

Heidi is a general medical AI scribe with heavy adoption across healthcare, and its free plan is remarkable: unlimited transcription with standard templates, no note cap (verified July 10, 2026). Paid Clinician and Practice tiers add advanced templates, personalization, and EHR integration options with a 14-day trial, but Heidi does not publish US dollar prices on its pricing page; you get numbers at signup or from sales. For a therapist who wants a capable scribe at zero cost and can live with generic SOAP-style output, the free plan is worth a look.

Limitations: it is not built for mental health, so therapy-specific formats, treatment plans, and psychotherapy nuance trail the specialist tools, and the opaque paid pricing makes budgeting a conversation instead of a checkbox.

7. Freed

Freed is one of the most popular AI scribes in general medicine: fast, accurate on medical vocabulary, with specialty templates and, on the Premier tier, EHR push integration and ICD-10 and CPT coding support. Pricing verified July 10, 2026: Starter at $39 per month for 40 notes, Core at $79 unlimited, Premier at $119 ($104 on annual billing), 7-day trial with no card.

For a pure psychotherapy practice it is hard to justify over Upheal or Mentalyc at the same or lower price, but for prescribers, integrated behavioral health clinicians, or anyone documenting across medical and therapy contexts, it earns its place.

The engagement layer none of these tools covers

Every tool above manages the practice. None of them changes what happens between sessions, which is where therapy outcomes are actually made. Quenza pairs with any of them: build homework, assessments, and psychoeducation in its Activity Builder, chain them into automated Pathways, and clients complete everything in a polished mobile app. From $25 per month with a 30-day free trial, HIPAA compliant.

Consent: what you need in place before you record a session

Do not let the software's ease make consent an afterthought. Before any session audio reaches an AI tool, four things should be true.

• Written, informed consent. Clients should know a recording or transcription tool is used, what it captures, which company processes it, and how long audio and transcripts are retained. A signature in your intake paperwork, refreshed when you change tools, is the standard several of these vendors now template for you.
• A genuine opt-out. Clients must be able to decline without it affecting their care. Practically, that means keeping a dictation or manual workflow ready; AutoNotes-style summary dictation is a common fallback because nothing in-session is recorded.
• State recording law. Several US states require all-party consent to record conversations, so verbal agreement noted in the chart is not enough; get it documented. Telehealth across state lines means the stricter state's rule is your safe harbor.
• Consent documented in the record. Note the consent conversation itself, including the client's questions and your answers.

Minors, couples, and group sessions raise the bar: every recorded voice in the room needs consent, which for groups means every member. If that logistics burden is too high, use post-session dictation for those sessions.

Accuracy: the AI drafts, you review and sign

These tools produce good first drafts and imperfect final ones. Language models can misattribute a statement to the wrong speaker, compress two topics into one, drop a clinically significant detail, or state something plausible that was never said. Vendors have reduced these failure modes, not eliminated them, and no vendor claims otherwise.

That has three practical consequences. First, read every draft against your memory of the session before signing; the note becomes your legal record the moment you sign it, and an unread AI draft is still your responsibility. Second, be deliberate about clinical content: the software transcribes and summarizes, but the mental status observations, risk assessments, and treatment decisions in the note must come from you. A tool that appears to have inferred a risk statement you did not make is a tool whose draft you edit, every time. Third, expect an editing rhythm rather than zero work: most clinicians settle into light edits per note, which is still a large net time saving over writing from blank.

During your trial, run the same three sessions through two tools and compare drafts line by line against what actually happened. Draft accuracy, not feature lists, is what you are buying.

HIPAA, BAAs, and where your session audio goes

Session audio is among the most sensitive protected health information that exists, so hold secure AI therapy notes software to a higher bar than a scheduling tool.

• A signed BAA, first. Under HIPAA, a vendor processing PHI on your behalf is a business associate and must sign a business associate agreement before any client data flows. All seven ranked tools state they sign BAAs; confirm yours is actually executed for your account and plan, since free tiers occasionally differ.
• Audio retention. Ask how long raw audio is kept. Several tools delete audio after the transcript is generated or let you set deletion policies; shorter is better.
• Model training. Ask, in writing, whether your clients' data is used to train models and whether you can opt out. Reputable vendors in this list document their answer.
• Security posture. Encryption in transit and at rest is table stakes; SOC 2 reports and two-factor authentication are reasonable asks.
• Psychotherapy notes. Keep private process notes out of the AI pipeline entirely; they carry extra protection under HIPAA and do not belong in a vendor's transcript store.

For the fuller picture of what compliance requires across your whole stack, see our guide to HIPAA compliant therapy software.

How to choose an AI note-writing tool

Six decisions, in order.

• Capture style. Live recording (Upheal, Mentalyc, Blueprint), dictation-first (AutoNotes Economy), or both? Match this to your consent comfort and session types.
• Note formats. If you need EMDR, play therapy, couples, or group formats, the specialist tools (Mentalyc, Upheal, Supanote) beat general scribes flatly.
• Pricing shape at your volume. At 20 sessions per month, Blueprint costs about $20 and looks brilliant; at 100 sessions, AutoNotes' $29 unlimited or Upheal's $69 cap wins. Model your real caseload.
• EHR fit. Check for a direct integration with your system of record, or at least clean copy-out. Your notes still have to live in your therapy notes software.
• Compliance answers in writing. BAA, audio retention, training opt-out.
• Trial with real work. Every tool here offers 7 to 30 free days. Run identical sessions through your top two and compare drafts, not demos.

All pricing in this guide was verified on the vendors' pricing pages on July 10, 2026; these tools reprice often, so check before you subscribe.