How much does an AI therapy scribe cost per year?

Based on published starting prices as of mid-2026: roughly $228/year for Supanote, $348/year for Mentalyc, and $828/year for Upheal. Eclio runs on your own device and is free during its beta period.

Why are cloud AI scribes priced monthly instead of showing an annual cost?

Monthly pricing makes the number look smaller and is standard SaaS practice. Because cloud tools pay ongoing server and compute costs per session, the subscription reflects a recurring expense that doesn't go away — unlike a tool that runs on hardware you already own.

How Much Does an AI Therapy Scribe Actually Cost You in a Year?

Cloud AI scribes are priced monthly, which hides the real annual number. Here's what a year of Mentalyc, Upheal, or Supanote actually costs — and why on-device tools change the math.

Monthly pricing is designed to look small. $29/month sounds like a coffee subscription; $348 a year is a different number entirely. For a solo therapist evaluating an AI scribe, the annual cost — not the monthly sticker price — is the number that actually matters for your practice budget.

The annual math, per tool

Tool	Monthly (published)	Annual cost

|---|---|---|

Supanote	~$19/mo	~$228/year
Upheal	~$69/mo	~$828/year
Eclio	Free in beta	$0

Pricing reflects publicly available starting tiers as of mid-2026; verify current pricing on each vendor's site — most tools also have higher tiers with more features.

Why cloud tools are priced this way

Cloud AI scribes run your transcription and note generation on their servers, using compute they pay for on every session you record. The subscription isn't just software access — it's a recurring bill for server time, storage, and API costs that scale with your usage. That's a legitimate cost structure, but it means the price is structurally tied to a recurring expense that never goes away.

What changes with on-device tools

An on-device tool like Eclio runs transcription and note generation on hardware you already own — your laptop. There's no per-session server cost to pass on to you, which is why the pricing model looks fundamentally different: a one-time or much lower recurring cost instead of a monthly server rental.

The hidden costs beyond the subscription

Beyond the sticker price, watch for:

Per-seat pricing if you bring on an associate or supervisee
Storage limits that push you into a higher tier as your caseload grows
Add-on features (extra note formats, integrations) priced separately
Price increases after an introductory period — common in SaaS pricing generally

The real question to ask

Not "what's the monthly price," but: what will this cost me over 3 years, at my actual caseload volume, including any tier upgrades I'll likely need? Multiply the monthly number by 36 before comparing tools — it changes the picture more than most therapists expect.