AI therapy notes have become too expensive
Running the numbers on AI scribes and therapists' income
5 min read
AI scribes can give therapists something genuinely valuable: more attention in the room and fewer unfinished notes at the end of the day.
But saving time does not justify pricing a documentation tool like enterprise healthcare software. Let's run some numbers…
Owl’s private-practice software report found that the average practitioner completed 49 client sessions per month—roughly 11 each week—at an average fee of $105 per session. That produces about $5,145 in gross monthly session revenue, before tax, supervision, insurance, software, room costs and other practice expenses.
Against that average:
AI scribe | Monthly price | Equivalent client sessions | Share of gross session revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
Nabla | $119 | 1.13 sessions | 2.3% |
Berries | $99 | 0.94 sessions | 1.9% |
Heidi | $80 | 0.76 sessions | 1.6% |
AirNote | $14.99 | 0.14 sessions | 0.3% |
Nabla effectively costs the average therapist more than the entire fee from one client session every month. Berries costs almost one full session, while Heidi costs more than three-quarters of one.
That may sound manageable when presented as a subscription. But for a solo therapist, revenue is not take-home pay. Each session also helps cover cancellations, unpaid administration, professional registration, supervision, insurance, continuing education and the many other costs of running a practice.
The value of AI documentation is real. A good scribe can reduce after-hours work, help notes remain timely and allow the therapist to be more present with clients.
The pricing is often wrong.
Priced for therapists, not healthcare enterprise
At AirNote, we do not believe solo therapists should have to give up the income from an entire client session each month simply to spend less time writing notes.
AirNote costs $14.99 per month—equivalent to about one-seventh of an average session. It provides therapy-specific Clinical Notes and Process Notes, client continuity, formulations, documents and AI support across the wider practice workflow.
The goal is straightforward: give therapists meaningful time back without adding another disproportionate expense to private practice.
AI therapy notes should be affordable to the clinicians who need and use them—not priced to meet hospital procurement budgets.
