"Free" in software usually means a crippled demo with a sales rep attached. But a surprising number of AI tools for therapists have genuinely usable free tiers in 2026 — enough to run meaningful parts of a lean practice without spending anything.
Here's what's actually free, what the catch is, and when you'll outgrow each one. (Pricing changes constantly; each link goes to our directory page with current details.)
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Free AI note-taking
Heidi Health — the headline act: the free plan includes unlimited AI notes, with a BAA. It's a general-medical scribe, so expect to customize templates for DAP/BIRP output. Paid tiers (~$99/mo) add EHR integrations. Upgrade trigger: you need Epic/athenahealth integration or team features. Try Heidi
Upheal — the best mental-health-specific free plan, with therapy note formats and session analytics; then usage-based at $1/session capped around $69/mo. Upgrade trigger: your session volume exceeds the free allotment. Try Upheal
Supanote — free plan, then $19.99–$69.99/mo, with audit-ready formatting aimed at behavioral health. A solid budget alternative to the big two.
Nabla — a clinically validated ambient scribe used across large health systems, with a free tier. More medical than therapy-flavored, but the pedigree is real.
Free treatment planning
Emosapien — free AI treatment plan generator (5 plans/month) with SMART objectives and discharge criteria.
River AI — free treatment plan and goals generator inside a broader clinician writing toolkit.
A caution for both: neither advertises a BAA on its free tools — keep PHI out of them and use client-neutral descriptions. Our HIPAA guide explains why this matters.
Free practice management
Carepatron — the rare EHR whose free plan is genuinely functional: scheduling, documentation with a huge template library, telehealth, billing, client portal. AI note drafting arrives on paid tiers from ~$19/user/mo. Upgrade trigger: you want the AI features or a second clinician. Try Carepatron
Healthie — a low-cost/free starter tier on an API-first platform that scales to serious group practices. Upgrade trigger: seats and features as you grow. Try Healthie
Free billing help (really)
Headway — free for therapists because insurers pay the platform: it handles credentialing, billing, and payment for insurance-based therapy. The trade-off is practicing within Headway's network model.
Thrizer and Mentaya — both free for therapists (clients pay small per-claim fees) and both automate out-of-network claims so your cash-pay clients actually get reimbursed. For OON practices these are close to no-brainers.
Free telehealth
Doxy.me — the classic: browser-based telehealth, free plan, BAA included even on free. Upgrade trigger: waiting-room customization and quality features at $35/mo.
VSee — free basic tier, notably good on low-bandwidth connections.
The honest caveats
- Free tiers change without notice. Vendors fund free plans to convert you; terms tighten when growth slows.
- Check the BAA on the free tier specifically. Some vendors only sign BAAs on paid plans — Doxy.me's free-tier BAA is the exception, not the rule. No BAA = no PHI, ever.
- Your time is the real cost. If a $39/mo scribe saves an extra hour a week over a free one you're fighting with, the paid tool is cheaper.
A realistic all-free stack for a lean solo practice: Carepatron (EHR) + Heidi or Upheal (notes) + Doxy.me (telehealth) + Mentaya or Thrizer (OON claims) — roughly $0/month until your caseload fills.
When you're ready to spend deliberately, start with our pillar guide to the best AI tools for therapists or browse all 91 tools with pricing and HIPAA status.
FAQ
Can I run a whole practice on free tools? A lean solo practice, yes — see the stack above. You'll feel the ceilings at a full caseload: note caps, single-seat limits, and missing insurance workflows.
Is free ChatGPT safe for therapy notes? No. Consumer ChatGPT has no BAA, so putting PHI into it is a HIPAA problem. HIPAA-configured alternatives like BastionGPT exist for general AI assistance with a BAA.
Do free AI scribes sign BAAs? Heidi and Upheal offer BAAs including free-tier use; always confirm at signup before recording real sessions. When in doubt, test with mock sessions only.
What's the first paid upgrade worth making? For most therapists: notes. Documentation is the biggest time sink, so a paid scribe (our comparison) usually pays for itself before anything else does.