5 Best AI Note Takers for Therapists in 2026

Your client sessions are the most confidential conversations you have all week. Most AI note takers for therapists send every word of them to a company's servers to be transcribed and summarized, then store the result in a cloud database you have to trust. That is the trade at the centre of this whole category, and it is worth looking at squarely before you pick a tool.

The privacy question comes first for a reason. Your professional code treats what a client says as a protected record, so before you weigh note formats or price you have to answer one thing: where does the recording of the session actually go? The tools below split cleanly on that answer. Four of them are cloud platforms built specifically for clinical documentation, and they are genuinely good at it. One keeps the entire session on your own Mac and never uploads it at all.

This guide compares five AI note takers for therapists on the things that decide the choice: where the audio gets processed, whether they produce structured progress notes, how they handle an EHR, their HIPAA posture, and what they cost. There is a decision framework at the end so you can match a tool to your own practice.

Best AI note takers for therapists: a brief overview

Fully on-device

• Weeve: Best when the session cannot leave your Mac. Recording, transcript, and summary all run locally, so there is no cloud copy of the conversation to protect.

Cloud, built for clinical documentation

• Mentalyc: Best for structured, insurance-ready notes with progress tracking built in.

• Upheal: Best for solo and telehealth therapists who want notes and a full EHR in one place.

• Blueprint: Best for pay-per-session flexibility plus assessments and clinical prep.

• Supanote: Best for simple, affordable per-note documentation with a fast setup.

The split at the top of that list is the real decision. A cloud tool writes the polished, formatted progress note for you, and processes protected health information (PHI) in its cloud to do it, under a signed business associate agreement (BAA). Weeve gives you a private, accurate transcript and summary to build your own note from, and nothing it hears ever leaves your machine. Which of those matters more depends on your practice, and the sections below spell out the difference.

1. Weeve, best for sessions that cannot leave your Mac

Weeve is an AI notetaker that runs entirely on your Mac. You ask the client for consent, start a recording before the session, and Weeve captures the audio on the device itself, so no bot joins the call and nothing uploads. The transcript builds while you talk, and when the session ends the summary is already written, processed by a local model on your machine. Recordings, transcripts, and summaries never leave the Mac. For confidential work that is the entire point: there is no cloud copy of the session to audit, no processor to vet, and no upload step that can fail halfway through.

Be clear about what Weeve is for a clinician. It is a private meeting-memory tool rather than a clinical documentation platform: what it gives you is a faithful, private transcript and summary that you turn into your own progress note, in whatever style you already use. If your hard constraint is that the raw session must never touch a third party's servers, that constraint is met by architecture rather than by a promise.

Key features

• Recording, transcription, and summary all run on the Mac; nothing is uploaded

• No bot joins the call; Weeve captures the Mac's own audio for Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams

• Imports existing audio and video files and transcribes them locally

• Local AI models generate the summary on-device

• GDPR-compliant by default because the data never leaves the device

Best for

• A private-practice therapist on a Mac whose first rule is that the session stays off the cloud

• A clinician who keeps their own note style and just wants a private transcript to work from

Pricing

• Free Starter plan: up to 10 recordings a month, no cloud account needed

• Pro: €12,99 a month for unlimited recordings and projects

Pros

• The session never becomes a cloud record, so there is no BAA to chase and no external store to explain to a client

• No upload step means no upload step to fail, and the summary is ready when the session ends

• Consent is a one-sentence answer: the recording never leaves this Mac

Cons

• Mac only today, with no Windows or mobile app

• No built-in EHR export; you write your progress note in your own style from Weeve's transcript and summary

• The summary arrives after the session, not live during it

Weeve is built and backed in Europe, in Amsterdam, by a team that took investment from Achmea Impact Ventures. You can read more about the team behind Weeve if procurement or data-residency questions come up in your practice.

Clients get nervous when they are recorded, and they are right to ask where the recording goes. With Weeve the honest answer is one sentence: it never leaves this Mac. Ask for consent, record locally, and the session notes are done when the session is. Try Weeve free.

2. Mentalyc, best for structured, insurance-ready notes

Mentalyc is a cloud platform built specifically for mental health professionals, and it is the most established name here, with the company citing more than 30,000 clinicians. You record a session, upload a file, or dictate, and it returns a structured note in the format you use. It covers a wide spread of structured note formats, plus intake notes. It also tracks progress across sessions and surfaces therapeutic-alliance insights.

The trade is where the work happens. Mentalyc processes and stores session data in its cloud, which is why the BAA and its security posture matter. The company states it is HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and offers immediate deletion of audio after transcription. For a therapist who wants the finished, defensible note written for them and is comfortable with a vetted cloud processor, it is a strong pick.

Key features

• Structured clinical notes across a wide range of formats

• Progress tracking and treatment planning across a client's history

• Therapeutic-alliance insights across a course of treatment

• Works alongside any EHR by copying the finished note across

Best for

• A therapist who bills insurance and needs audit-ready notes in a specific format

• A clinician tracking longitudinal progress across many clients

Pricing

• 14-day trial of Pro with 15 notes, no card required

• Paid plans from $19.99 a month (Mini, 40 notes) up to $119.99 (Super, 330 notes)

• Team plan $59.99 per seat a month, or $49.99 per seat billed annually

Pros

• The widest range of clinical note formats in this list

• Progress and alliance tracking that a solo tool does not attempt

Cons

• Session data is processed and stored in the cloud under a BAA, not kept on your device

• No permanent free plan, only a time-limited trial

3. Upheal, best for solo and telehealth practices

Upheal aims to be more than a note writer. It generates AI progress notes in a range of structured formats, then adds the pieces a solo practice needs around them: HIPAA-compliant telehealth, scheduling with calendar sync, a client portal, intake forms, and billing with superbills and insurance claims. The pitch is that it can replace your EHR when you are ready, which suits a therapist who would rather run everything in one place.

Like the others in this group, Upheal runs in the cloud, and it states it is HIPAA, PHIPA, PIPEDA, GDPR, and SOC 2 compliant. Its pricing is unusually forgiving for a low-volume practice: one dollar per session, capped at $69 a month, with a permanent free plan for testing and a 30-day trial. If your caseload varies week to week, paying per session rather than a flat fee can work out cheaper.

Key features

• AI progress notes plus treatment plans and compliance checking

• Built-in HIPAA-compliant telehealth and a client portal

• Scheduling, intake forms, superbills, and insurance claim submission

• Session capture by audio, video, text, or file upload

Best for

• A solo or telehealth-first therapist who wants notes and practice management together

• A variable caseload where per-session pricing beats a flat monthly fee

Pricing

• Permanent free plan with limited features

• Individual: $1 per session, capped at $69 a month, with a 30-day trial

• Group and Enterprise plans are custom-priced

Pros

• Per-session pricing that scales down for a light caseload

• Covers telehealth, scheduling, and billing on top of the notes

Cons

• Session data is processed and stored in Upheal's cloud

• The breadth can be more than a therapist who only wants a note generator needs

4. Blueprint, best for pay-per-session flexibility and clinical prep

Blueprint markets itself as the AI assistant for therapists, designed to sit alongside your existing EHR or replace it with its own AI-native one. Beyond drafting session notes, treatment plans, and discharge summaries, it leans into the clinical side: pre-session recaps, suggested focus areas, and recommended assessments, worksheets, and interventions pulled from a clinical library. The company reports more than 70,000 mental health professionals on the platform.

Blueprint runs in the cloud and states it is HIPAA, PHIPA, and SOC 2 compliant, with a BAA available. Its pricing is per session and among the lowest here, starting at $0.49 a session on the Standard tier, with a free Core tier for basic EHR use and a 60-day money-back guarantee. It fits a therapist who wants documentation help and light clinical decision support in the same tool.

Key features

• AI-drafted notes, treatment plans, and discharge summaries

• Session prep with prior-session recaps and suggested focus areas

• Suggested assessments, worksheets, and interventions from a clinical library

• Works alongside your EHR or as a standalone AI-native EHR

Best for

• A therapist who wants clinical prep and assessment suggestions alongside the note

• A practice testing AI documentation before committing to a monthly fee

Pricing

• Free Core tier for basic EHR use

• Standard: $0.49 a session; Plus: $0.99; Pro: $1.49

• 60-day money-back guarantee, no contracts

Pros

• Some of the lowest per-session pricing in this comparison

• Clinical support features beyond documentation

Cons

• Session data is processed and stored in the cloud

• The assessment and EHR breadth may be more than a documentation-only user wants

5. Supanote, best for simple, affordable per-note documentation

Supanote keeps its scope tight: it turns a recorded, uploaded, or dictated session into a clinical note, and does that one job cleanly. It supports custom templates for structured notes, intake, and treatment plans, works in more than 120 languages, and lets you request edits in plain English. It strips personally identifiable information from transcripts and notes, and states that recordings are deleted immediately after the note is scribed.

Supanote runs in the cloud and stores data in what it describes as HIPAA and PHIPA compliant databases, with a BAA available and PII scrubbing applied automatically. Pricing is straightforward: a 14-day free trial, then Starter at $19.99 a month for 40 notes, Pro at $39.99 for unlimited notes with EHR integration, and XL at $69.99 for group sessions. For a therapist who wants a no-fuss note generator without a wider platform, it is the most focused option here.

Key features

• Notes from recordings, uploads, or dictation in structured and intake formats

• Custom templates and plain-English edit requests

• Automatic PII scrubbing from transcripts and notes

• 120+ language support with automatic detection

Best for

• A therapist who wants a straightforward note generator, not a full platform

• A multilingual practice documenting sessions in several languages

Pricing

• 14-day free trial, no card needed

• Starter: $19.99 a month for 40 notes

• Pro: $39.99 a month for unlimited notes and EHR integration; XL: $69.99 a month

Pros

• Simple and affordable at the entry tier

• Automatic PII scrubbing and strong language coverage

Cons

• Session data is processed and stored in the cloud

• Fewer surrounding features than the broader platforms here

How to choose the best AI note taker for your practice

The five tools do not compete on a single axis, so the right one depends on which of these questions carries the most weight in your practice.

1) Where does the session get processed?

This is the filter that comes before features. Your professional code treats the session as a confidential record, so decide first whether it can be processed off your device at all.

• If the recording cannot leave your machine under any circumstances: Weeve, because the audio, transcript, and summary all stay on your Mac and there is no cloud copy to protect.

• If a vetted cloud processor under a signed BAA is acceptable: Mentalyc, Upheal, Blueprint, or Supanote, all of which state HIPAA compliance and sign a BAA.

There is no free lunch in that choice. The cloud tools write the structured clinical note for you and take on PHI in their cloud to do it. Weeve keeps everything local but leaves the formatted progress note as your work.

2) Do you need a structured clinical note, or a private record?

If you bill insurance and need an audit-ready, formatted progress note generated automatically, a cloud tool is doing real work you would otherwise do by hand: Mentalyc for the widest format range, Upheal or Blueprint if you also want scheduling or assessments, Supanote for a focused note generator. If you already have a note style you trust and mainly want a private, accurate transcript to write from, Weeve fits and keeps the raw session off the cloud entirely.

3) What does it cost at your real caseload?

Sticker price and real cost diverge here. Per-session pricing (Blueprint from $0.49, Upheal at $1 capped at $69) rewards a light or variable caseload, while flat monthly tiers (Mentalyc and Supanote from $19.99, Weeve's Pro at €12,99) suit a steady schedule. Weeve's free Starter plan and the free tiers on Upheal and Blueprint all let you test on real sessions before paying. Record one real session on a free tier and read the output before you commit.

For work where confidentiality is a professional obligation, the simplest architecture is the one where nothing leaves the device. The cloud platforms here earn their place by writing the clinical note for you; a local tool earns its place by making sure the raw session never becomes someone else's record. Decide which of those you are optimising for, then test your shortlist on one real session before you commit.

FAQ

Is there an AI note taker for therapists that does not use the cloud?

Yes. Weeve runs the recording, transcription, and summary entirely on your Mac, so the session is never uploaded to a server. That is different from the cloud tools built for therapy notes, which process and store the session in their own infrastructure under a business associate agreement. If keeping the raw session off third-party servers is your priority, a fully local tool is the only architecture that guarantees it. You can read more about why an AI note taker should stay off the cloud.

Which AI note taker is safest for therapy sessions?

Safety depends on what you are guarding against. If the risk you care about is the session ever existing as a cloud record, Weeve is the strongest choice because nothing leaves your Mac, so there is no external store to breach. If you need a vetted processor to write insurance-ready notes, Mentalyc, Upheal, Blueprint, and Supanote all state HIPAA compliance and sign a BAA. No consumer tool should be described as certified for you without you confirming its current BAA and security documentation.

Can an AI note taker be HIPAA-compliant?

A cloud AI note taker supports HIPAA compliance by signing a BAA and applying encryption and access controls; the four cloud tools here do that. Weeve takes a different route: because PHI never leaves your Mac, there is no processor relationship to cover with a BAA in the first place. That is a HIPAA-friendly architecture rather than a certification, and Weeve does not claim SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO certification. Confirm any tool's current compliance documents before relying on them for your practice.

Do I have to tell clients I am recording the session?

Yes. Recording a therapy session means getting the client's informed consent first, and that is true whatever tool you use. The practical difference is what you can honestly tell them about where the recording goes. With a cloud tool the answer involves a third-party processor and a BAA; with a local tool like Weeve the answer is that the recording stays on your Mac and is never uploaded. Ask before recording, and keep the consent on file.

What is the difference between Weeve and a tool like Mentalyc or Upheal?

Mentalyc and Upheal are clinical documentation platforms: they process the session in the cloud and return a structured, insurance-ready progress note, plus features like progress tracking or telehealth. Weeve is a private meeting-memory tool: it keeps the whole session on your Mac and gives you a transcript and summary to build your own note from. The cloud tools do more of the clinical writing for you; Weeve does more to keep the session private.

Is there a free AI note taker for therapists?

There are free options with limits. Weeve's Starter plan is free and runs entirely on your Mac with up to 10 recordings a month. Upheal offers a permanent free plan with limited features, and Blueprint has a free Core tier. Mentalyc and Supanote offer time-limited free trials rather than an ongoing free plan. Record one real session on a free tier and judge the output before you pay.

Can I transcribe a session I already recorded?

Yes. If you have an existing audio or video file, Weeve imports common formats and transcribes them locally on your Mac, without uploading the file. You can try this on Weeve's local transcription tool before installing anything. Most of the cloud tools here also accept uploads, though in those cases the file is processed in their cloud rather than on your device.

Does Weeve produce a finished clinical note?

Weeve produces a private, accurate transcript and summary of the session that you shape into your own progress note, in whatever style you already use. If you need a fully formatted, insurance-ready note generated for you, one of the cloud tools here does that. If you keep your own note style and mainly want a private, accurate record of what was said, Weeve fits. For a wider view of local and cloud options, see our roundup of the best AI note taking apps.