8 Best AI Note Takers for Therapists in 2026, Ranked on Client Privacy

Halfway through a session, Molly Quinn realized her therapist wasn't taking notes. An iPad was standing up, listening. "It felt like a violation," she told NPR in May 2026.

NYU bioethicist Kellie Owens named the gap in the same story: "a consent form on its own does not mean that a person is making an informed choice."

Your consent form now has four lines to fill

Illinois, Colorado and Maine now require written notice and consent before AI records or transcribes a therapy session. Maine goes furthest.

You have to tell the client "how session data collected by artificial intelligence will be stored, retained, used for training and deleted". For each tool, that means four answers:

• Where do the audio, transcript and note live?
• How long are they kept?
• Does any of it train the vendor's AI?
• When are they deleted, and can you make that happen?

My ranking

I ranked eight tools by the answers you'd write on that form, and by the BAA behind them (how I ranked them).

1. Mentalyc drafts the progress note for the EHR you already use.
2. Voibe Work, which we build, keeps the record on your own computer, but doesn't write the note.
3. Upheal has a real free plan, then flat-price unlimited notes.
4. Blueprint has the plainest privacy wording, priced per session.
5. Twofold works on any video platform and says it never trains.
6. SimplePractice Note Taker fits if you already run SimplePractice.
7. TherapyFuel fits one-to-one work on TherapyNotes.
8. Supanote is cheap to try, with the vaguest training terms.

Voibe Work isn't the cheapest way in

• Upheal, Jane AI Scribe and Berries all have free plans.
• On a light caseload, Blueprint's per-session price can come in cheaper.
• Mentalyc Mini costs $30.88 a year more than Voibe Work, but it writes the progress note. With Voibe Work, you write or dictate the note yourself.

Get written consent first. Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts; following recording-consent rules is up to you.

Key takeaways

AI notes moved into therapy rooms fast, and the worries came with them.

More therapists use AI than a year ago

The APA 2025 Practitioner Pulse Survey asked 1,742 psychologists about AI. Nearly 3 in 10 (29%) now use it at least monthly, up from 11% in 2024.

Two-thirds (67%) remain concerned about potential data breaches. Their clients have the same worry.

Clients are pushing back

On r/therapists, an LCSW described a new therapist's intake paperwork. It included "two releases to allow AI software to listen and provide note taking functions" (quoted by ClearHealthCosts).

• One reply feared a breach: "If the AI transcription company gets hacked would you want all the stuff say in therapy possibly leaked online".
• Another was "really bothered by the fact that she didn't accept your decision to opt out."
• Therapist Marisa Cohen told NPR that "clients know something is still listening to them. And that can subtly alter their disclosure."

AI notes can invent things

In 2025, therapists using Alma's Note Assist reported invented details (ClearHealthCosts, March 13, 2025). Upheal is Alma's AI vendor for it. One therapist wrote:

"its adding that my clients has substance abuse and suicidal issues when they do not"

Alma and Upheal said the problem was small and limited in scope, and that they had fixed it. Read every AI note before you sign it; in Nevada, AB 406 makes that a legal duty.

Three states spell out what you must tell a client before AI records or transcribes a session. Two more set narrower rules.

State laws on AI in therapy sessions

Illinois also bars AI from making therapeutic decisions or detecting "emotions or mental states".

Maine's four lines, filled in for three tools

This is what you'd write for three of the tools on this list, using each vendor's own words.

What the ethics codes add

Even if your state hasn't passed anything, your profession's code already asks for permission before you record.

• Psychologists (APA 4.03): "Before recording the voices or images of individuals to whom they provide services, psychologists obtain permission from all such persons".
• Counselors (ACA B.6.c): "Counselors obtain permission from clients prior to recording sessions through electronic or other means."
• Social workers (NASW 1.03(h)): get clients' informed consent before audio or video recording.
• Marriage and family therapists (AAMFT 1.12): "written informed consent from clients before recording any images or audio".

HIPAA gives psychotherapy notes extra protection. An AI transcript doesn't automatically qualify.

What counts as a psychotherapy note

45 CFR 164.501 covers notes "documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session" that "are separated from the rest of the individual's medical record."

• Medication monitoring, session times, modalities and frequencies, and test results are excluded.
• So is "any summary of" diagnosis, functional status, treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis and progress to date.
• Most uses or disclosures need the client's authorization (45 CFR 164.508(a)(2)).
• The client's right of access excludes them (164.524).

A transcript or summary stored with a vendor is PHI. Whether something counts as a psychotherapy note depends on how you keep it.

Substance use records under 42 CFR Part 2

A federally assisted substance use disorder program falls under the stricter 42 CFR Part 2. Its vendors, as qualified service organizations, agree in writing to be "fully bound" by it.

Voibe hasn't published a Part 2 position. Treat Voibe Work as not cleared for Part 2 records.

I tested every app on this list hands-on, on real calls. Then I checked each claim against the vendor's own pricing, privacy, security and help pages on October 28, 2026.

What I looked for

Every therapy-specific tool here signs a BAA, and all eight delete audio by default. That's the floor, so it didn't separate anyone. These did:

1. Maine's four answers, and how short and plain they are.
2. Whether it writes the progress note you need, in the format you need.
3. Where capture works: any video app and in person, or one EHR's telehealth only.
4. Whether it gives you a client consent template.
5. Price per clinician per year, then a third-party rating.

Why Mentalyc beat Voibe Work for first place

Voibe Work gives the shortest answers to Maine's four lines. But it doesn't write a SOAP, DAP or BIRP note, and its BAA comes on request.

Mentalyc writes the note, which is the job most therapists are buying for, so it goes first.

Why the EHR add-ons and Supanote sit lower

• SimplePractice Note Taker and TherapyFuel only work in person or inside their own telehealth.
• Supanote allows research use of de-identified data, and I found no third-party ratings.

This is Maine's form, filled in for all eight tools, in the vendors' own words where quoted.

Where each tool keeps the session

Each tool's rating, with its source, is in its own section below.

This isn't like-for-like. Most of these tools write the progress note. Voibe Work gives you a transcript and summary, and you write the note.

Annual cost, cheapest plan

Over three years

Voibe Work's lifetime plan is $399 once. Against three years of the add-ons, per clinician:

• SimplePractice Note Taker costs $1,260, so lifetime is $861 (68.3%) less.
• Upheal costs $1,404, so lifetime is $1,005 (71.6%) less.
• TherapyFuel costs $1,440, so lifetime is $1,041 (72.3%) less.

When you'll pay less than Voibe Work

• Upheal Free costs $0 for text-to-note, dictation and uploads, with no live capture.
• Jane AI Scribe Free gives you 5 notes a month. Berries gives you 20 sessions, then 10 a month.
• Blueprint lists $0.99 per session, so 150 sessions cost $148.50.

Prices come from each vendor's pricing page and help center, checked October 28, 2026.

Mentalyc is the tool I'd hand most private-practice therapists first. It writes the note you'd otherwise be writing at 9 p.m.

It drafts the progress note in the format you use and sends it to the EHR you already use. That's the job most of you are paying for.

What it does well

• It works alongside "SimplePractice, TherapyNotes, Jane App, TheraNest". Mini sends 20 notes a month in one click; Pro and up are unlimited.
• It captures browser telehealth from any EHR or online call, in-person sessions, uploads and dictated summaries.
• Mini covers SOAP, DAP and intake. Pro adds BIRP, PIRP, GIRP, PIE, SIRP, EMDR, play therapy and supervision notes; Super adds group notes.
• "Every account is covered by our BAA, created at signup and in your profile." You also get a client AI consent template.

The transcript sticks around

"Audio is deleted once the note is ready," Mentalyc says. The anonymized transcript is another story. It stays "until you delete it", unless you're on Super or Team with auto-delete.

• The security page says "Your sessions never train AI". Yet opting out of data use for "product enhancements" is Super and Team only, so put both on your form.
• A 2-star Trustpilot reviewer (March 12, 2025) said the notes included things that weren't said in the session. Review every draft.

Plans and price

Mini is $19.99 a month, or $14.99 billed annually ($179.88 a year), for 40 notes a month. Basic is $39.99, or $29.99 annually, for 100 notes.

Pro ($69.99 or $59.99) gives 160 notes, and Super ($119.99 or $99.99) gives 330. It's rated 4.6/5 from 83 Trustpilot reviews.

Voibe Work is the meeting-notes plan of Voibe, the app we build. It gives the shortest answers to Maine's four lines, because nothing stays at the vendor.

It also does less than Mentalyc. It won't write your progress note, and that's the honest reason it's second.

How it answers the four lines

• Open-source models on zero-retention cloud providers process the audio, which is deleted as soon as processing completes.
• The transcript and summary are saved on your computer, not on Voibe's servers.
• Your sessions are never used to train AI. No OpenAI, Google, Anthropic or Microsoft model is in the audio path.
• Because processing happens in the cloud, meeting notes need an internet connection.

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts; following recording-consent rules is up to you.

Where it fits in a practice

No bot joins the call. It captures Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Webex, Slack huddles or any other meeting app on your Mac or Windows PC, and in-person sessions through your computer's mic.

• It covers the calls around therapy too: supervision, consultation groups, intake calls and practice meetings.
• Summaries use templates for each type of meeting, including a client intake call.
• Speakers are labeled line by line. Rename one and the summary updates.
• You can chat with a meeting to ask what was agreed. Nothing you ask is stored.
• One-click copy and PDF export cover supervision logs, and a meeting can run up to 4 hours.

Where it falls short

• It doesn't write SOAP, DAP or BIRP notes, treatment plans or billing codes. It doesn't push to an EHR either.
• The BAA is available on request (email hi@getvoibe.com). Most therapy tools on this list include one at signup.
• It reminds you about consent, but doesn't track it or ship a consent template.
• Your computer becomes the vault. Turn on FileVault or BitLocker, use a unique login and auto-lock, and set a retention rule.
• It runs on Mac and Windows desktops only, with no phone app.

To fill the note gap, dictate the progress note into your EHR with the dictation that comes with it. The Voibe Work launch post shows a meeting from capture to saved notes.

What Voibe Work costs

It's $19 a month, $149 a year, or $399 once, with dictation included. That's $30.88 (17.2%) less than Mentalyc Mini annual and $319 (68.2%) less than Upheal.

• You get a 7-day trial with no credit card, and paid plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• Voibe is rated 4.8/5 on Product Hunt from 6 reviews of the Voibe app.

Upheal is the easiest tool here to try. The free plan is real, and the paid plan is one flat price with no note cap.

It suits therapists with a full telehealth caseload, especially on a Mac.

Why I'd consider it

• AI notes cost $39 a month ($468 a year) for "unlimited sessions". Free has no live capture.
• Its in-app tool, Chrome extension or Mac app capture sessions "held on any online calling platform". In person works in the browser or mobile app.
• Every plan includes the BAA, even Free.
• Audio is deleted by default once you get your notes, though you can choose to save it.
• Paid plans add BIRP, EMDR and other formats, and handle couples and family.

Two pages, two training answers

The pricing page says "While de-identified data helps us improve Upheal, you can opt out any time."

The privacy page says Upheal "never uses your sessions to train our platform without explicit permission from you and your clients." Ask which applies before you write your form.

Before you sign up

• It names iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac apps, but no Windows app.
• Prices are monthly only. Students and associates get 50% off the first 12 months.

It's rated 4.6/5 on Trustpilot from 105 reviews.

Blueprint writes its privacy page the way Maine wants your consent form written. The sentences are short enough to copy straight onto a form:

• Audio is "deleted immediately after processing".
• "No recordings, copies, or backups are retained".
• "Client data is never used to train AI models."
• The BAA is "automatically included as part of our Terms of Service".

It also drafts treatment plans, discharge summaries and letters, with custom note templates.

The pricing page is less clear

Blueprint charges $0.99 per session alongside your EHR, or $1.49 per session with its all-in-one EHR. You get 5 free sessions and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

The same page also shows a flat $69 per seat per month for use alongside your EHR, so ask which applies to you.

• Capture runs through its mobile app, dictation, or a typed summary. I couldn't confirm desktop capture from Zoom or Meet.
• It has only 13 App Store ratings so far, averaging 4.92/5.

Twofold is a multi-specialty scribe that runs almost anywhere. That makes it a good fit on Windows or Linux, or on telehealth other than Zoom.

• It can "capture audio from Zoom, Doxy, Google Meet, or any video platform", or record in the room on a phone, tablet or laptop.
• The browser app runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, and it has iOS and Android apps.
• Asked whether it trains on your data, it answers "Never." Every account gets a signed BAA.

Check the audio setting

Its FAQ says it doesn't store raw audio "at any time". The same page says audio is auto-deleted "unless you opt in to retention", so look at the setting.

Personal is $69 a month, or $49 a month billed annually ($588 a year). It's rated 4.84/5 on the App Store from 61 ratings.

If every session already happens in SimplePractice Telehealth or its mobile app, Note Taker is the easy path. Read its June 2026 retention change first.

What you get

• It drafts "progress notes" styled after your last progress note for that client.
• It "doesn't create or store a recording for your session". It transcribes in real time instead.
• Telehealth sessions can run up to 4 hours, and couples and groups are supported.
• SimplePractice's BAA covers it, and you get a client consent form for AI tools.

The retention default

"If you enable Note Taker on or after June 17, 2026, you'll be opted in to transcript retention by default and can opt out at any time."

• Once kept, those copies can't be deleted: "we can't fulfill deletion requests for transcripts that have been de-identified and de-coupled."
• It names Amazon Web Services and Anthropic as vendors. SimplePractice says it "is not training an AI model" with them; it uses them to refine prompts.
• It's "designed to work only with SimplePractice Telehealth", so your Zoom sessions are out.

Note Taker costs $35 a month per clinician ($420 a year) after a 30-day free trial, on top of a SimplePractice plan.

The whole app is rated 4.72/5 on the App Store from 34,000 ratings.

TherapyNotes TherapyFuel has the tightest transcript window of the EHR add-ons. It also does the least, so it suits solo clinicians on TherapyNotes who see clients one to one.

• Audio "is deleted immediately on confirmation of a successful transcript".
• Transcripts last until the note is signed, or 30 days, whichever comes first.
• It uses "a stock model offered by our vendor that also does not learn from our use."
• It's "covered under our BAA with you, just like any other feature", with TherapyNotes, SOAP, DAP, BIRP and custom templates.

Who should skip it

It's not for group therapy, and its FAQ rules out couples and family sessions. It also "cannot access a third-party telehealth platform", and recordings must run at least 8 minutes.

It costs $40 per clinician per month ($480 a year), on top of TherapyNotes. The whole TherapyNotes Mobile app is rated 2.73/5 on the App Store from 40 ratings.

Supanote is cheap to try. Its privacy terms are also the hardest to turn into a consent-form line.

• It works with any mic, in person on your phone or laptop, or in browser telehealth like Google Meet, Doxy or your EHR's.
• Recordings are "immediately deleted after scribing, and removed from cache".
• Starter includes consent forms and a BAA.

The research clause

Its privacy policy says it "may use de-identified data, which meets HIPAA privacy standards, for research purposes." I found no explicit no-training statement, and no Trustpilot or App Store ratings.

Starter is $29.99 a month, or $19.99 billed annually ($239.88 a year, 40 notes). Pro is $49.99, or $39.99 annually, after a 14-day trial.

Some clients will say no, and some therapists would rather not record at all. Either way, you can dictate a summary in your own words after the session.

What that looks like with Voibe

• Voibe's dictation works in SimplePractice, TherapyNotes and browser-based EHRs.
• On Apple Silicon Macs, dictation can run on-device with no internet. Windows and Intel Macs use the zero-retention cloud.
• The Dictionary learns modality names, medications and acronyms. Memory turns a spoken shortcut into your note template.
• Smart Formatting fixes punctuation and filler words. It doesn't rewrite what you said.
• Voibe Free costs $0 (limited words, one device), Voibe Dictation is $99 a year, and Voibe Work includes it.

The state laws above are written around a session that is "recorded or transcribed". Whether dictating your own summary falls outside them is a question for your board or counsel.

More in dictation for therapists and psychiatrists and EHR dictation.

Therapy and medical scribes

• Jane AI Scribe costs $15 a month on top of a Jane plan and never trains AI, but I couldn't find a BAA page.
• Berries "never uses protected health information or personal data to train its models."
• Freed is a general medical scribe that may use de-identified, aggregated data for improvement. It's in our AI medical scribe guide.
• Heidi Health has Mac and Windows apps and a BAA for every covered entity, but no published prices.

General meeting notetakers

• Circleback offers a self-serve BAA on Enterprise, and tells customers not to use it for Part 2 records.
• Otter's BAA is Enterprise-only. Both are in our AI note takers for healthcare.

Bot-free capture puts disclosure on you. A federal class action alleges Granola's bot-free notetaker records everyone on the call (the Granola lawsuit, explained).

More in our best no-bot meeting note takers, and in AI note takers for lawyers, where privilege adds to the same questions.

The law sets the floor. A good script names the tool, says what it's for and answers Maine's four lines.

Five steps before the first recorded session

1. Put it in writing first. Illinois, Colorado and Maine require written notice and consent.
2. Fill the four lines from the vendor's own pages.
3. Make saying no easy. In Colorado, a refusal or revocation can't be used to deny therapy.
4. Recheck your form when a vendor changes its defaults, as SimplePractice did in June 2026.
5. In Louisiana, say it out loud too, before you record.

A script you can adapt

"I'd like to use an AI tool, [name], to help with my notes, so I can focus on you. It [records / transcribes] our session. The audio is [deleted when …]. The transcript is kept [where] for [how long]. It is [never / sometimes] used to train AI. You can say no or change your mind at any time, and it won't affect your care. Is that okay?"

With Voibe Work, the middle reads: "The audio is deleted as soon as it's processed. The transcript and summary are saved on my computer and never used to train AI."

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts; following recording-consent rules is up to you. In supervision and consult groups, tell everyone on the call.

1. Has the client agreed in writing to AI recording or transcription?

• If not, don't record. Dictate the note yourself after the session.

2. Do all your sessions happen inside SimplePractice or TherapyNotes?

• If yes, try the built-in scribe, Note Taker or TherapyFuel. On SimplePractice, check the retention setting first.

3. Do you want the AI to draft the progress note for your EHR?

• If yes, pick Mentalyc. Upheal suits flat-price unlimited notes, and Blueprint suits pay-per-session.

4. Do you want the record on your own computer, plus notes from supervision and consult calls?

• If yes, Voibe Work fits at $149 a year, with a BAA available on request.

For therapy sessions

For the work around sessions

Every Voibe Work row assumes written consent where the law requires it. More professions and workflows are on our use cases hub.

Consent and the law

Do I need client consent to use an AI note taker in therapy?

Yes, in a growing number of states.

• Illinois, Colorado and Maine require written notice and consent; Louisiana requires verbal disclosure.
• The APA, ACA, NASW and AAMFT codes call for consent before recording. This is general information, not legal advice.

What must I tell clients about AI session notes in Maine?

That AI will be used, its purpose, and how session data will be "stored, retained, used for training and deleted".

• Consent can be an initialed section of your consent to treatment. This is general information, not legal advice.

Can a client refuse AI note-taking and still get therapy?

In Colorado, yes, by law.

• HB 26-1195 says a refusal or revocation can't be used to deny psychotherapy services. Elsewhere, an easy opt-out is good practice.

Privacy and HIPAA

Is an AI transcript of a therapy session a psychotherapy note?

Not automatically.

• Under 45 CFR 164.501, psychotherapy notes must be kept separate from the record. A transcript stored with a vendor is PHI, and how you keep it decides the rest.

Do AI note takers for therapists sign a BAA?

Most do, at signup.

• Mentalyc, Upheal, Blueprint, Twofold and Berries cover every account. SimplePractice and TherapyNotes cover their scribes under the EHR's BAA.
• For Voibe Work, a BAA is available on request.

Does Voibe Work keep a copy of my therapy sessions?

No.

• The audio is deleted as soon as processing completes, and the transcript and summary are saved on your computer, never used to train AI.

Does SimplePractice keep Note Taker transcripts?

Yes, by default for anyone who enables Note Taker on or after June 17, 2026.

• You can opt out, but SimplePractice says it "can't fulfill deletion requests" for de-identified transcripts.

Choosing a tool

What is the best AI note taker for therapists?

Mentalyc, for most therapists.

• It drafts SOAP, DAP, BIRP and more for four EHRs and signs a BAA at signup. Voibe Work is second, for a record kept on your own computer.

Can Voibe Work write SOAP or DAP progress notes?

No.

• It gives you a transcript and summary, with templates for each type of meeting, but no SOAP, DAP or BIRP note.
• Its dictation lets you speak the note into your EHR instead.

Can I use an AI note taker for clinical supervision or peer consultation?

Yes, with everyone's consent.

• Voibe Work captures supervision and consultation calls in any meeting app or in person, with no bot.
• Mentalyc's Pro plan also writes supervision notes.

Pricing

How much does an AI note taker for therapists cost?

Most cost $149 to $948 per clinician per year.

• The EHR add-ons charge on top of the EHR plan, and Blueprint also lists a per-session price.

Is there a free AI note taker for therapists?

Yes, a few.

• Upheal Free costs $0 but has no live capture. Jane AI Scribe and Berries have free tiers too. Voibe Free is dictation only.

Pick the tool whose four answers you'd be comfortable reading aloud to a client. That's the test I'd use.

• For most therapists, I'd pick Mentalyc. Ask about Super if you want transcripts auto-deleted.
• If you'd rather hold the record yourself, pick Voibe Work on Mac or Windows, and write or dictate the note.
• If you want free or flat-price notes, try Upheal, and ask which training answer applies.
• If you already run SimplePractice or TherapyNotes, use the built-in scribe after checking its retention setting.

Voibe reminds you to tell everyone you're taking notes when recording starts; following recording-consent rules is up to you.

Try Voibe Work free for 7 days, with every feature, no credit card and no automatic charge.

Related reading

• Best AI meeting note takers for healthcare
• Dictation for therapists and psychiatrists
• Dictation and HIPAA: what actually matters
• Best no-bot meeting note takers