Upheal and Mentalyc are two of the most widely used AI documentation platforms built specifically for mental health clinicians, and they're frequently shortlisted against each other. They solve the same core problem, which is turning a session into a defensible progress note without costing you an hour of unpaid evening work, but they take meaningfully different approaches to pricing, scope, and what happens to your clinical data. This comparison walks through how each one actually functions in practice so you can tell which architecture fits your caseload.
Key Takeaways
Both platforms are HIPAA and PHIPA compliant with SOC 2 Type II attestation, so the real decision isn't security posture. It's whether you want a documentation layer that sits beside your EHR (Mentalyc) or a platform that's actively trying to replace your EHR (Upheal).
Pricing structure matters more than headline price. Upheal charges per session with a monthly cap, which suits variable or part-time caseloads, while Mentalyc uses tiered plans with hard note limits, which is cheaper at moderate volume but penalizes you if your caseload grows mid-month.
Whichever tool you choose, you remain the author of record. AI-generated drafts require clinical review, and your documentation, supervision, and ethical obligations don't transfer to the vendor.
What Upheal and Mentalyc Have in Common
Before the differences, it's worth naming the substantial overlap, because it narrows what you actually need to evaluate. Both are built exclusively for behavioral health rather than adapted from general medical scribing, which means both understand therapeutic language, modality-specific interventions, and the documentation formats payers expect.
Both platforms offer the same capture methods: live in-person recording, telehealth capture from any calling platform, upload of an existing recording, dictated recap, and typed summary. Both generate SOAP, DAP, and intake notes, produce client-facing session summaries, and support treatment plan generation. Both sign a BAA, both let you delete transcripts, and both offer discounts for pre-licensed clinicians and trainees.
The differences that matter are structural, and they show up in four places: cost model, clinical scope, data handling, and where the tool sits in your workflow.
Upheal at a Glance
Upheal has repositioned itself over the past year from an AI note-taker into what it describes as an AI-native EHR for mental health. That shift shapes everything about how the product is priced and built.
Pricing and cost model
As of September 2026, Upheal charges $1 per session with a hard cap of $69 per month per clinician. There's a perpetual free plan underneath that includes unlimited notes in basic formats (SOAP, DAP, and intake) plus HIPAA-compliant telehealth, and a 30-day full trial with no credit card required.
One detail deserves close reading before you commit. Upheal counts a session each time you generate an AI note or schedule a session with a client, and telehealth calls held through Upheal count as sessions even when no note is produced. Sessions imported from another EHR aren't charged. If you cancel an appointment but leave it on the calendar, you may need to contact support for a credit. For clinicians who schedule heavily and document selectively, that billing logic can push you toward the cap faster than your note count suggests.
Clinical and practice features
The paid tier opens up the full note library, including BIRP, GIRP, PIRP, SIRP, PIE, EMDR, psychiatry, and medical notes, alongside more than 170 preset note sections you can mix into custom templates. It also includes treatment plans with a golden thread feature for session-to-session continuity, a compliance checker that audits notes against payer criteria, and session analytics that map talk-time ratio, cadence, and sentiment along a session timeline.
On the practice management side, Upheal now offers scheduling, client self-scheduling, a client portal with secure messaging, practice forms, invoicing, card payments through Stripe, and insurance billing. The AI Assistant is included with a monthly usage limit, with unlimited usage available as a $39 per month add-on.
Where it fits and where it strains
Upheal makes the most sense if you're open to consolidating your practice stack into one platform, or if your session volume is genuinely variable month to month. It strains if you already have an EHR you like and only want documentation, because you're paying into a platform whose value is increasingly in the surrounding infrastructure. Group practices with multi-site requirements or deep EHR write-back needs should confirm integration depth before migrating.
Mentalyc at a Glance
Mentalyc has stayed deliberately in its lane. It's a documentation and clinical insight layer designed to work alongside your existing EHR and telehealth setup rather than replace either.
Pricing and cost model
Mentalyc uses four solo tiers with monthly note limits. As of September 2026, monthly billing runs $19.99 for Mini (40 notes), $39.99 for Basic (100 notes), $69.99 for Pro (160 notes), and $119.99 for Super (330 notes). Annual billing drops those to $14.99, $29.99, $59.99, and $99.99 respectively. Team plans run $59.99 per seat monthly or $49.99 per seat annually for new teams, with unlimited notes subject to a fair usage policy. The free trial is 14 days of full Pro access covering 15 notes, no credit card required.
The note cap is the constraint that actually bites. A clinician carrying 30 sessions a week will burn through the Basic tier's 100 notes by the third week of the month. Run the math against your real caseload, not your average one.
Clinical and practice features
Mentalyc's differentiators sit on the clinical reflection side rather than practice management. Alliance Genie tracks therapeutic alliance strength per session with quotes and transcript references and shows alliance trends over time. The AI Progress Tracker follows symptom severity fluctuations and goal progress in the client profile. Supervision notes are built in, with supervisee read-only access free on any plan, which is a genuine advantage for clinicians who supervise.
Worth noting is how much sits behind the Pro tier. Couples, child, and family client types, EMDR, play therapy, and psychiatry templates, the BIRP, PIRP, GIRP, PIE, and SIRP formats, template customization, and auto-computed CPT codes all require Pro at minimum. Group therapy notes require Super. If you carry a mixed caseload, the entry tiers likely won't serve you.
Where it fits and where it strains
Mentalyc suits clinicians who are settled in their EHR and want documentation plus clinical insight without changing anything else. It strains at high volume, because the tiered cap structure means a busy month costs you an upgrade rather than a predictable overage, and it doesn't attempt to handle scheduling, payments, or billing.
Privacy and Data Handling: Read the Fine Print
This is where the two platforms diverge in ways that carry ethical weight, and it's worth more attention than most comparison posts give it.
Upheal deletes session audio by default once your note is generated, with the option to retain it, and offers an opt-out from using de-identified data for AI model training. The opt-out is documented and available, but the burden is on you to exercise it.
Mentalyc anonymizes transcripts so no real identifiers are stored, offers partial anonymization to retain first names where that's clinically useful, and lets you delete notes or transcripts at any time. Opting out of data use for enhanced note context is available on all plans, while opting out of data use for any product enhancement is limited to the Super and Team plans.
If you practice in a jurisdiction with heightened requirements, or your clients include other clinicians, minors, or anyone with elevated privacy sensitivity, read both privacy policies in full before you decide. Your ethical obligations when using an AI scribe don't shift to the vendor, and informed consent is yours to obtain either way. If your practice doesn't yet have a written policy governing AI use, this is a good moment to create one.
How to Evaluate Either Tool Against Your Own Practice
Vendor comparisons only get you so far. Run both through your actual clinical reality before committing, using these checks:
Count your real monthly sessions over three months, including no-shows and consultations, then price both models against the high month rather than the average.
Confirm your note formats are supported at the tier you'd actually pay for, especially if you document in BIRP, GIRP, PIE, or SIRP formats.
Test with your most complex presentation, not your most straightforward one. Trauma work, high-risk sessions, and family sessions expose note quality gaps that a routine CBT session won't.
Check how the note lands in your EHR. Copy-paste friction repeated 25 times a week erodes the time savings you're paying for.
Review three generated notes against your own progress note standards and ask whether you'd defend each one in an audit.
Verify the BAA, the retention schedule, and the training opt-out in writing before any client data enters the platform.
Running this comparison honestly usually reveals that the deciding factor isn't feature parity. It's whether you want your documentation tool to expand into your whole practice or stay narrowly excellent at notes.
Where Berries Fits in the Comparison
If neither architecture is quite right, it's worth knowing there's a third structure. Berries is built exclusively for mental health clinicians and takes a flat, unlimited approach rather than per-session billing or tiered note caps. Every plan includes full feature access with no tier restrictions, which means couples work, psychiatry templates, treatment planning, and ICD-10 code suggestions aren't gated behind an upgrade.
Berries generates notes from live sessions, dictated summaries, uploads, or free text, learns your individual documentation style over time, and maintains golden thread alignment between diagnoses, treatment plans, interventions, and progress notes. It's HIPAA compliant and SOC 2 certified, doesn't use client data to train its models, and doesn't store session recordings. It works alongside any EMR through direct integration or copy-paste output.
Your first 20 sessions are free with no credit card required, which is enough volume to evaluate note quality against a real caseload rather than a demo. Discounts are available for students, trainees, early career clinicians, and group practices. You can also compare the wider field in our roundup of the best AI scribes for mental health professionals or review what AI scribes typically cost before you shortlist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Upheal or Mentalyc better for a solo private practice?
It depends on volume and how settled you are in your current systems. Mentalyc is usually cheaper at moderate, predictable volume and leaves your EHR alone. Upheal is more predictable at high or variable volume because of the monthly cap, and makes more sense if you're considering consolidating scheduling and billing into the same platform.
Do either of these tools replace clinical judgment in documentation?
No. Both produce drafts that require your review, correction, and sign-off. You remain the author of record, and inaccuracies in a note you approved are your professional responsibility, not the vendor's. Build a review step into your workflow rather than approving notes unread.
Do I need client consent to use an AI scribe?
Yes. Standard ethical practice requires informed consent before any recording or AI-assisted documentation tool is used in session. Explain what's captured, what's stored, how long it's retained, and that the client can decline. Most platforms provide consent templates, but the conversation is still yours to have.
Can these tools produce notes that satisfy insurance audits?
They can produce audit-ready structure, including medical necessity language and goal-linked interventions, but structure alone isn't sufficient. Notes still need accurate clinical content, a clear link to the treatment plan, and documented progress. Review our guidance on evaluating client progress for how to strengthen that link.
How do I evaluate an AI scribe before committing?
Use the free trial with your real caseload rather than a test scenario, check your required note formats at your actual price tier, and confirm the BAA and data retention terms in writing. Our guide to evaluating AI tools as a therapist walks through the full assessment process.
Is pricing likely to change?
Yes. Both platforms restructured pricing within the past year, and Upheal moved off flat tiers entirely. The figures above reflect each vendor's published pricing as of September 2026. Verify current terms directly before you subscribe.
This article is for educational purposes and professional development only. It does not constitute clinical supervision or replace professional judgment in therapeutic practice.