Heidi vs Upheal: AI scribe vs mental health EHR compared
Heidi is one of the most widely used AI scribes in healthcare. Physicians, nurses, physios, and therapists all use it. The transcription is fast, the free tier is genuinely useful, and it works across specialties without much setup.
What it isn't is a therapy platform. There's no scheduling, no billing, no client records, no telehealth. Therapists using Heidi are also running a separate EHR—two subscriptions, two logins, two systems that don't share data. Upheal does what Heidi does, and replaces the EHR running alongside it. Plus, it wasn't built to meet the specific needs of mental health clinicians, Upheal was.
What is Heidi?
Heidi is a general medical AI scribe. It records clinical encounters across all healthcare specialties, from primary care and surgery to mental health, and generates structured notes. It has no scheduling, billing, client records, or telehealth. Therapists using Heidi still need a separate EHR for everything else.
Upheal is a full AI-native EHR. Documentation connects to your client's full record: treatment goals, diagnosis, what shifted last session. The compliance checker audits notes against payer standards before you sign. The AI assistant handles scheduling, billing, and admin. If you're paying for Heidi plus a separate EHR, Upheal replaces both.
Heidi vs Upheal at a glance
Privacy
Both platforms are HIPAA compliant and SOC 2 Type II certified. The meaningful difference is what you can verify before signing up.
Upheal's privacy policy is public, specific, and has been consistent since launch. It requires explicit opt-in consent from both therapist and client before any session data is used for AI training. You can read the policy, confirm what it says, and hold Upheal to it.
Heidi's privacy policy is publicly available and worth reviewing directly before committing, particularly around how session data is handled and what subpoena notification commitments exist. For a platform processing therapy session recordings, those details matter.
AI documentation
Heidi records clinical encounters across any healthcare specialty and generates structured notes. It works. The medical focus means it handles physician encounters well, but therapy sessions have different requirements: treatment plan continuity, modality-specific documentation, compliance with behavioral health payer standards.
Upheal's AI was built for therapy from the start. Notes connect to your client's treatment goals and diagnosis. Smart Sections let you build custom note sections using your own prompts: EMDR phases, DBT skills, family systems dynamics. The compliance checker audits every note against payer standards before you sign.
Before your next session, the AI assistant pulls the client's last session, open goals, and what hasn't shifted. It drafts discharge summaries, referral letters, and client messages, all using the full clinical record, not a generic template. Heidi has no equivalent for solo practices: Heidi Comms is a patient call-handling product aimed at healthcare teams, available only through a sales demo. Upheal's client messaging is included in the standard plan and drafts directly from session notes, treatment plans, and assessments. Heidi generates a note. Upheal runs the documentation side of your practice.
Pricing
Heidi has two main individual plans. Evidence Plus is $40/month and includes unlimited transcription with a limited number of AI actions per month — enough for occasional use but limiting for a full caseload. Clinician is $150/month with unlimited actions.
Add a separate EHR at $49-99/month and you're at $89-139/month on Evidence Plus or $199-249/month on Clinician. All for two systems that don't share data.
Upheal is $1/session capped at $69/month, with scheduling, billing, treatment plans, compliance checking, and client messaging all included. A lighter caseload pays less.
Insurance billing is coming soon. If that's part of your practice, now is a good time to get started on the free plan and be ready when it goes live.
Where Upheal goes further
The AI assistant.
Heidi generates a note from your session recording. That's where the product ends. Upheal's AI assistant has access to the full clinical record — treatment goals, diagnosis, session history — and works before and between sessions, not just after them. Before your next client, it pulls their history, open goals, and what hasn't moved. It drafts discharge summaries, referral letters, and client messages from the actual record, not a generic template. You can ask it to flag unsigned notes, pull outstanding balances, or prep you for a specific client. Heidi can't do any of that.
Everything else a practice needs.
Scheduling, billing, a client portal, intake forms with AI import, telehealth, and a compliance checker that audits notes against Aetna and Optum standards before you sign. Heidi has none of these. Therapists using Heidi are running all of this somewhere else — in a separate EHR that doesn't share data with their scribe. Upheal is one platform.
Who it's for
Heidi makes sense if you work in a large integrated medical system where consistent documentation across specialties is required, and you have a separate EHR already in place. For hospital settings where therapists work alongside physicians on the same platform, it does what it says.
Upheal makes sense if you want an AI that was built for therapy, not adapted for it, with notes that connect to the clinical record, compliance checking, an AI assistant that handles the work between sessions, and a pricing model that replaces both Heidi and your current EHR.
What therapists say
The therapeutic community's response to these platforms reveals telling insights about what practitioners truly value when balancing efficiency with clinical depth.
"When [Heidi] works, it works well but when it doesn't, it causes excessive catch up work. It also takes a long time to generate a note so I have to stand around waiting for it sometimes for several minutes when I'd prefer to just get started with the next client/patient."
Verified Reviewer
Interface complexity also surfaces as a barrier to efficient workflow integration:
"I've had a few frustrations with Heidi, particularly with the occasional clunky text or errors in the notes. I also found the interface a bit overwhelming at times, especially when trying to use it on mobile or tablet. While it's a great tool, I've been exploring other options to see if I can find something that's even more intuitive and flexible."
Conversely, therapists consistently highlight Upheal's value proposition and behavioral health specialization:
"I feel that the rates are more reasonable than other services and that what Upheal offers is a great value!"
Lark Lovejoy, LPC
The depth of clinical understanding resonates with mental health professionals seeking tools that enhance rather than complicate their therapeutic work. When platforms understand therapy as deeply as practitioners do, the result is not just faster documentation — but better clinical care.
The bottom line
Heidi is a capable scribe. If you work in a setting where everyone uses the same tool regardless of specialty, or if documentation is your only pain point and you have no plans to change your EHR, it does what it says.
For therapists in private practice, the total cost tells the real story. Heidi at $150/month plus a separate EHR at $49–99/month puts you at $199–249/month for two systems that don't share data. Upheal is $69/month for everything, including notes that connect to treatment plans and the full clinical record, plus an AI assistant to help take the load off of admin tasks. The AI was built for therapy. The pricing was built for private practice.
Frequently asked questions
Is Heidi an EHR?
No. Heidi is an AI medical scribe. It does not include scheduling, billing, client records, or telehealth. Therapists using Heidi also need a separate EHR.
How does Heidi's pricing compare to Upheal?
Heidi's Evidence Plus plan is $40/month. The Clinician plan is $150/month with unlimited actions. Upheal is $1/session capped at $69/month, including scheduling, billing, AI notes, treatment plans, compliance checking, and telehealth.
Was Heidi built for therapists?
No. Heidi is a general medical scribe for all healthcare providers. Upheal was built specifically for behavioral health practitioners.
Can Upheal replace Heidi and my current EHR?
Yes. Upheal covers AI notes, treatment planning, scheduling, billing, intake forms, telehealth, and client records in one platform.
