Comparison
AI scribe or AI-native EHR?
What is the difference between an AI scribe and an AI-native EHR?
AI scribes used to be note generators you paired with an EHR. Two of the three best-known have since become EHRs themselves: Upheal charges $1 per session capped at $69 a month, and Blueprint charges $1.49 per session for its all-in-one plan. Mentalyc is still a scribe. On the plans a solo clinician would buy, all three meter your documentation by session or by note. Congruent charges a flat $20 per clinician per month, unlimited.
01Monthly totals
What it costs once documentation help is switched on.
Congruent Solo
$20/month
- Flat, per clinician
- Unlimited notes and treatment plans
- No per-session or per-note metering
Metered scribe or scribe-turned-EHR
$69–$149/month
- Upheal: $1/session, capped at $69/month
- Blueprint all-in-one: $1.49/session, so $149
- Mentalyc Basic: $39.99 for 100 notes, plus $49–$69 for the EHR it does not replace
One solo clinician at 100 sessions a month, billed monthly.
02Feature by feature
Line by line, without adjectives.
| Feature | Congruent | AI scribes |
|---|---|---|
| Drafts progress notes | Yes | Yes — this is what they are for |
| How you are billedUpheal $1/session capped at $69/month. Blueprint $0.99/session alongside your EHR, $1.49 all-in-one. Mentalyc $19.99–$119.99/month by note volume, billed monthly. On these plans a fuller caseload costs more; our documentation price does not move. | $20 per clinician per month, flat | Per session or per note |
| Unlimited notesMentalyc's Team plan is the exception: unlimited note credits at $59.99 per seat per month, billed monthly. | Yes | No on the solo plans — note credits or per-session charges apply |
| Is a complete clinical chartThe category changed during 2026. Two of the three added scheduling, a client portal, telehealth, and billing, and now sell themselves as EHRs. | Yes | Mentalyc, no. Upheal and Blueprint, yes. |
| Checks the note against your plan before you signWorth asking any vendor what its check actually reads — the diagnosis, the active treatment plan, and the CPT code, or only the note's own structure. | Golden Thread Check on every note | Upheal ships a compliance checker; Mentalyc references plan goals on higher tiers |
| Scheduling and calendar | Included | Mentalyc, no. Upheal and Blueprint, yes. |
| Billing and insurance claims | Practice plan, $29/month, plus $0.40 per claim | Mentalyc, no. Upheal $0.30 per claim submission. Blueprint includes insurance billing on its all-in-one plan. |
| Telehealth and client portal | Included on both plans | Mentalyc, neither. Upheal and Blueprint, both. |
| Works alongside an EHR you already likeIf you are happy with your EHR and only want notes, that is still the smaller change. | No — it replaces it | Yes — Mentalyc, or Blueprint's $0.99 alongside plan |
| Free trialNone of the three asks for a credit card to start. | 30 days, no credit card | Mentalyc 14 days; Upheal 30 days; Blueprint 30 days or 5 free sessions, by plan |
Figures are published list prices as of 29 August 2026 and may have changed. Verify current pricing on each vendor's own site. Sources: Mentalyc pricing, Upheal pricing, Blueprint pricing, SimplePractice pricing, TherapyNotes pricing, Congruent pricing.
03The honest part
When an AI scribe is the better choice.
No product is right for everyone, and a comparison page that pretends otherwise is not worth reading.
01
You run a light caseload. Metered pricing is genuinely cheaper at low volume: Upheal at $1 a session undercuts our $20 up to nineteen sessions a month, and Blueprint's all-in-one plan at $1.49 undercuts it up to thirteen. If you see a handful of clients, pay per session and keep the difference.
02
You genuinely like your current EHR and only want the note-writing problem solved. Mentalyc, or Blueprint's alongside plan, adds AI documentation without migrating a practice. There is no reason to move a whole chart to fix one workflow.
03
You want an independent security attestation today. Mentalyc states SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and Upheal states SOC 2 certification. Congruent holds no SOC 2 or HITRUST certification and says so plainly on our security page.
04
Your practice has requirements Congruent does not serve — inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, or a multi-site organization with an existing enterprise system.
04Switching questions
What people ask before they move.
What is the difference between an AI scribe and an AI-native EHR?
A scribe listens to a session and produces a note, which you then move into whatever system holds your records. An AI-native EHR is the system that holds the records, so the note is written where the diagnosis, treatment plan, assessment scores, and session length already live. The line has blurred: Upheal and Blueprint both started as scribes and now sell EHRs of their own. Mentalyc has stayed a scribe.
Do I still need Mentalyc, Upheal, or Blueprint if I use Congruent?
No. AI note drafting is included in the $20 Solo plan with no session limits or note credits, so a second documentation subscription becomes redundant. If you are choosing between them and us, the question is no longer whether they are a real EHR — Upheal and Blueprint now are. It is whether you would rather be billed per session or pay a flat monthly price.
See our pricing →Why does per-session pricing matter?
Because it moves with your caseload. At $1 to $1.49 a session, a clinician holding 100 sessions a month pays between $69 and $149 depending on the vendor and its cap, and a busier month costs more. Congruent is $20 per clinician per month whatever your volume, and nothing about your documentation is metered. At a light caseload — up to about thirteen to nineteen sessions a month, depending on the plan — the metered products are genuinely cheaper, which is why our comparison lists a light caseload as a reason to choose one of them instead.
What $20 includes →Is a note written inside the chart actually better?
It is better in one specific and consequential way: it can be checked against the rest of the record before you sign. The useful question to ask any vendor is what its check actually reads — whether it compares the note against the active treatment plan, the diagnosis, and the CPT code you are about to bill, or only reviews the note in isolation. Congruent's Golden Thread Check runs against all of them because it is the chart.
How the Golden Thread Check works →What if I want to keep my current EHR?
Then a scribe is probably your better option and you should use one. Congruent replaces an EHR rather than sitting beside it — if you are not looking to move your practice management, we are the wrong tool and would rather say so than sell you a migration you do not want.
30 days, all of it
Every feature, unlocked, with your real caseload if you want. Nothing is held back for a higher tier.
No credit card to start
Nothing charges automatically. If you don't subscribe, the account simply pauses.
No onboarding or setup fee
Not at signup, not when you add a clinician, not ever. Migration and training are included.
Your data leaves with you
Export charts, notes, plans, and your client list in standard formats, any time, at no charge.
Also compare: all comparisons · full pricing
Try it beside what you have now.
Run both for a month. Keep your current system open, put a week of sessions through Congruent, and compare the notes and the bill. Migration is free and we do it for you.
30 days free · No credit card · Free migration and BAA