Freed vs Upheal: AI scribe vs mental health EHR compared
Freed is a medical AI scribe at $39-119/month depending on plan. It joins your sessions, transcribes them, and generates notes. That's the product.
Upheal is an AI-native EHR built specifically for mental health practitioners. Notes connect to treatment plans and the client's full history. The compliance checker audits documentation before you sign. The AI assistant handles scheduling, billing, and the work between sessions. At €0.85/session capped at €59/month, with everything included, Upheal costs less than Freed alone.
If you're using Freed alongside a separate EHR, Upheal replaces both.
What is Freed?
Freed is a general medical AI scribe serving all healthcare specialties. It records clinical encounters and generates structured notes. It has no scheduling, billing, client records, or telehealth. Therapists using Freed also need a separate EHR.
Freed also trains on session data by default with no client opt-out, and their terms of service allow selling aggregated session data.
Freed vs Upheal at a glance
Privacy
Freed's privacy policy states that data may be used to train and improve their AI models, but their public documentation indicates this uses de-identified notes rather than PHI or raw session recordings. There is no opt-out mechanism specified for AI training.
Freed does not sell personal information. Their policy does permit sharing aggregated, anonymous data with third parties for lawful purposes.
Upheal requires explicit opt-in consent from both therapist and client before any session data trains their AI. Session recordings are deleted by default. The difference is transparency: Upheal's policy is public, specific, and has required active opt-in since the platform launched. Freed's AI training practices are less explicitly detailed in their publicly available documentation.
AI documentation
Freed requires recording. There's no text-to-note option. If a client isn't comfortable being recorded or you prefer not to record in-person sessions, Freed doesn't work.
Upheal supports in-person sessions via mobile app, telehealth through any platform or its own built-in video, text summaries, dictation, and uploaded audio.
Freed was built for all healthcare — primary care, surgery, mental health. The templates reflect that. Upheal was built for behavioral health from day one. Smart Sections let you build custom AI-powered note sections using your own prompts. The compliance checker audits documentation against payer standards before you sign. The AI assistant handles scheduling, billing, and clinical documents. Freed generates a note. Upheal runs the documentation side of your practice.
Where Upheal goes further
The AI assistant.
Freed generates a note. Upheal's AI assistant handles the work that builds up around it. Before your next client, it pulls their history, open goals, and what hasn't shifted. Between sessions it drafts discharge summaries, referral letters, and client messages from the actual clinical record. It handles scheduling changes and billing admin. You can ask it to flag unsigned notes or pull outstanding balances. Freed can't do any of this.
The full EHR scope.
Scheduling, billing, a client portal, intake forms with AI import, telehealth, and a compliance checker that audits notes against payer standards. Freed has none of these. Therapists using Freed are managing all of this in a separate EHR with no shared data. Upheal is one platform.
Note customization.
Upheal's Smart Sections let you build custom AI-powered note sections using your own prompts: any modality, any format, at the section level. Freed's templates are designed for all healthcare specialties, not for therapy specifically. The output reflects that.
Pricing
Freed's Starter plan is $39/month but caps at 40 notes per month. A therapist seeing 15 clients a week hits that limit in week two. The Core plan (unlimited notes) is $79/month. Their Premier plan with EHR integrations is $104-119/month. Add a separate EHR at $49-99/month and you're at $128-218/month for two systems.
Upheal is €0.85/session capped at €59/month—less than Freed alone, and it includes scheduling, billing, treatment plans, compliance checking, and client messaging.
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.
What therapists say about these platforms
The therapeutic community's response to these platforms reveals telling insights about what practitioners truly value in each tool.
Freed’s high prices are often called out by therapists, who find more specialized and affordable tools (like Upheal) to be a stronger choice for their practice.
“The note quality is dramatically better and the pricing is like half of Freed. I don't understand why I need to pay more for Freed than for my EHR, plus it writes generic notes that I need to edit extensively.”
Reddit
Freed’s general medical approach sometimes misses nuances important to mental health practice, with some therapists noting that specialized behavioral health features would enhance their clinical work.
Even previously-skeptical clinicians highlight the importance of deeper functionality that is tailored to mental health care:
“Upheal offers many features that other AI clinical note takers do not. The analytics set Upheal apart, the formatting of their notes with some customizability, and more. […] When mental health providers pay for a service, it is supposed to make their job easier, not more tedious or create unnecessary errors that wouldn't have been there while taking notes traditionally.”
Daniel Elliott, PhD
What Freed actually costs for a therapy practice
Freed's reputation is built on note quality and ease of use, and for general medical providers it earns that. For therapists, the math is hard to justify.
Choose Freed if:
- You work in a large integrated medical system where consistent documentation across all specialties is the priority
- You have a separate EHR already in place and need documentation only
- Ambient recording is standard in your clinical setting
Choose Upheal if:
- You want AI built specifically for therapy, not adapted for it
- You want notes that connect to treatment goals and prior clinical history
- You want privacy controls your clients can verify before the first session
- You want to stop paying for two systems that don't share data
The Starter plan hits a 40-note cap before the month is half over for most practices. The Core plan at $79/month does notes only. Add a separate EHR and you're at $128-178/month for two disconnected systems. Upheal is €59/month for everything, and it costs less than Freed alone.
Frequently asked questions
Is Freed an EHR?
No. Freed is a medical AI scribe. It does not include scheduling, billing, client records, or telehealth. Therapists using Freed also need a separate EHR.
How does Freed pricing compare to Upheal?
Freed costs $39-119/month depending on plan for notes only, with a 7-day trial. Upheal is €0.85/session capped at €59/month, including scheduling, billing, AI notes, treatment plans, compliance checking, and telehealth. Upheal costs less than Freed alone.
How does Freed handle data and AI training?
Freed uses de-identified notes to improve their AI models and does not sell personal information. Their policy permits sharing aggregated, anonymous data with third parties for lawful purposes. There is no opt-out mechanism specified for AI training use. Upheal requires explicit opt-in consent from both therapist and client before any session data trains their AI.
Can Upheal replace Freed and my current EHR?
Yes. Upheal covers AI session notes, treatment planning, scheduling, billing, intake forms, telehealth, and client records in one platform.
