TherapyNotes vs SimplePractice: Which EHR Is Better for Solo Therapists in 2026?
Choosing an electronic health record (EHR) is one of the biggest decisions you'll make when launching a solo therapy practice. It's the system that will hold your clinical notes, your calendar, your billing, and most of your clients' Protected Health Information (PHI). Switching later is painful, so it's worth getting right the first time.
For solo mental health clinicians in the US, two names come up again and again: TherapyNotes and SimplePractice. Both are mature, well-supported, and genuinely HIPAA-capable. They're also built on slightly different philosophies — and that difference is what should drive your decision.
Quick Verdict
If you want a polished, all-in-one platform with the most modern client experience, SimplePractice is usually the better fit. If you want focused, no-frills clinical documentation at a predictable price, TherapyNotes tends to win.
Neither is "more compliant" than the other — both will sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) and both encrypt your data. The real differences are in features, workflow, and price.
Pricing
Pricing changes, so always confirm on each vendor's site — but here's the shape of it in 2026:
| Plan tier | SimplePractice | TherapyNotes | |-----------|----------------|--------------| | Entry | ~$29/mo (Starter) | ~$49/mo (solo) | | Mid | ~$69/mo (Essential) | included | | Top (solo) | ~$99/mo (Plus) | ~$59/mo (with add-ons) | | Telehealth | Add-on / higher tiers | ~$15/mo add-on | | Free trial | Yes (30 days) | Yes (30 days) |
SimplePractice has a wider price range because features are split across tiers — the cheapest plan is genuinely limited, and most therapists end up on Essential or higher. TherapyNotes is flatter and more transparent: you largely get the full clinical product at one price, with telehealth as a small add-on.
For a solo therapist running a lean practice, TherapyNotes is often the cheaper total bill once you account for the features you actually use.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | SimplePractice | TherapyNotes | |---------|----------------|--------------| | Clinical notes & templates | Strong, customisable | Excellent, very structured | | Insurance billing & claims | Yes | Yes (well-regarded) | | Telehealth (built-in) | Yes | Yes (add-on) | | Client portal | Polished, modern | Functional, plainer | | Online booking | Yes | Limited | | Mobile app | Strong (iOS/Android) | Basic | | Automated reminders | Yes (SMS/email) | Yes | | Measurement-based care | Yes | Limited |
Where SimplePractice pulls ahead: the client-facing experience. The portal, online self-booking, document sharing, and mobile app feel like a modern consumer product. If you want clients to book themselves, complete intake forms on their phone, and join telehealth in one tap, SimplePractice is smoother.
Where TherapyNotes pulls ahead: clinical documentation and billing. Its note templates are thorough and structured around real clinical workflows, and its insurance billing has a strong reputation among therapists who file a lot of claims. It does fewer things, but it does the core EHR job extremely well.
HIPAA Compliance
Both vendors will sign a BAA — and you must execute one before storing any client PHI. With SimplePractice the BAA is accepted as part of account setup; with TherapyNotes it's similarly available during onboarding. Keep a copy either way.
Both encrypt data in transit (TLS) and at rest (AES-256), support two-factor authentication, host on reputable US cloud infrastructure, and maintain audit logs. On the security fundamentals, they're effectively even.
Here's the part too many new therapists miss: a HIPAA-compliant EHR does not make your practice HIPAA compliant. The BAA only covers the vendor's responsibilities. You're still responsible for your own Security Risk Analysis, written policies, workforce training, BAAs with your other vendors (email, scheduling, storage), and an incident response plan. The EHR is one box checked out of dozens.
Who Should Choose Which
Choose SimplePractice if:
- You want one platform to run the whole practice (scheduling, notes, billing, telehealth, portal)
- The client experience matters to you — self-booking, slick intake, a strong app
- You're comfortable paying a bit more for polish and breadth
Choose TherapyNotes if:
- You want excellent clinical documentation and reliable insurance billing without paying for extras
- You prefer predictable, transparent pricing
- You don't need self-booking or a consumer-grade mobile app
- You value a focused tool over an all-in-one suite
A useful tie-breaker: if you bill insurance heavily, lean TherapyNotes. If you're private-pay and care about client-facing polish, lean SimplePractice.
Telehealth and the Client Experience
If you see clients virtually, telehealth quality matters daily. SimplePractice's telehealth is built in on the appropriate tiers, integrates with the calendar and client portal, and clients join with a single link — no separate app or account. TherapyNotes offers telehealth as a low-cost add-on (~$15/mo) that's perfectly functional but feels a touch more utilitarian.
The same pattern shows up in the client portal. SimplePractice's portal is genuinely consumer-grade: clients complete intake on their phones, book themselves into open slots, sign documents, and pay — with minimal hand-holding. TherapyNotes' portal covers the essentials (forms, secure messaging, payments) but expects a little more from you to drive the workflow. If reducing your admin load by letting clients self-serve is a priority, that's a point for SimplePractice.
Switching Costs and Migration
If you're already on one platform, factor in the cost of moving. Neither vendor offers a clean one-click import of the other's full clinical record. Demographics and appointments can often be migrated with support assistance or a CSV import, but historical progress notes usually have to be exported as PDFs and archived rather than imported as structured, editable notes. Plan for a transition window where you retain read access to the old system.
This stickiness is exactly why the EHR decision deserves care up front — assume you'll live with your choice for years, not months.
Support and Reliability
Both vendors have solid uptime and support reputations, but different styles. SimplePractice leans on extensive self-serve help content, an active user community, and email/chat support, with more limited phone access. TherapyNotes is well known for responsive, US-based phone support — which therapists who'd rather talk to a human about a stuck claim genuinely value.
For a solo practitioner without IT help, support responsiveness matters more than it looks on paper. A claim that won't submit on a Friday afternoon is a real problem, and being able to reach someone quickly is worth money.
Common Questions
Can I use either one part-time? Yes. With SimplePractice, watch which tier you actually need so you're not overpaying. With TherapyNotes, the flat solo price applies regardless of caseload.
Do both produce superbills? Yes — both generate superbills, which is essential if you're private-pay but your clients submit for out-of-network reimbursement.
Is my data portable if I leave? Both let you export your data, but structured clinical notes typically export as PDFs rather than re-importable records. Always export and retain your records when you switch or close — it's also a HIPAA retention obligation.
What Your EHR Doesn't Cover
Whichever you pick, your EHR is only the central repository for electronic PHI. Your compliance posture also depends on:
- BAAs with every other vendor that touches PHI
- A documented, practice-wide risk analysis (an OCR requirement)
- Written policies and procedures
- Annual security awareness training
- A breach/incident response plan
Both TherapyNotes and SimplePractice handle their slice well. The rest is on you.
If you're not sure where the gaps are, take Yundra's free 25-minute HIPAA Risk Assessment. It evaluates your entire practice — not just your EHR — and hands you a prioritised report of exactly what to fix.