The notes got faster. The rest of the chart did not.
A lot of therapists land here a few months into Mentalyc. SOAP notes sit in one tab. SimplePractice or TherapyNotes sits in another. The claim still needs medical necessity rebuilt by hand. Searching for a Mentalyc alternative usually means the second subscription, a note cap, or that paste step started to feel like the actual job.
Mentalyc is a strong therapy-specific standalone AI scribe. Love your current EHR and only wanted notes? Keep it. This guide is for the other case: when the note, the treatment plan, and the claim need to live together.
Why Therapists Look for Mentalyc Alternatives
Start with the bill. Mentalyc’s 2026 solo plans run $19.99, $39.99, $69.99, and $119.99 a month (Mini through Super), or $14.99 to $99.99 billed annually.1 Team seats list at $59.99 monthly or $49.99 annually for new teams.1 That sits on top of the EHR you already pay for.
Then the caps. Mini includes 40 notes a month. Basic 100, Pro 160, Super 330.1 A solo LPC in Asheville seeing 25 clients a week blows through Mini in about a week and a half. SOAP and DAP notes live on the cheap plans. BIRP notes, PIRP, GIRP, PIE, SIRP, couples and family templates, and auto CPT sit on Pro and up. Group notes sit on Super or Team.1
The architecture is the quieter reason. Mentalyc is EHR-agnostic on purpose. A Chrome extension can drop a finished note into SimplePractice, TherapyNotes, Jane, ICANotes, TheraNest, Valant, and other web EHRs.2 That is transfer, not a single chart. Mentalyc even tells you to keep notes in Mentalyc so the golden thread stays intact.2 Two systems, two BAAs, two places the record can drift.
Note quality is rarely why people shop. Capterra sits around 4.5 and G2 around 4.8.3 The down-side themes are operational: freezes after recording, support lag, annual plans with no refund, drafts that still need a careful edit.3
Standalone AI Scribe vs EHR-Integrated AI Scribe
An AI scribe for therapists comes in two shapes, and the ad copy blurs them.
A standalone AI scribe records or summarizes a session, drafts SOAP, DAP, or BIRP, then you move the note into the EHR. Mentalyc is the therapy-native version of that model. Four input modes (live listen, upload, dictate, type), Alliance Genie, a 14-day trial, a signed BAA, HIPAA, PHIPA, and SOC 2 Type II.12 Audio is kept up to three days for retries, then deleted. Mentalyc says it does not train on your data.2
An EHR-integrated AI scribe drafts inside the record the claim will use. No extension. No second place the golden thread has to live.
Mentalyc does not schedule, verify eligibility, or submit claims. It does not hold Wiley planners on the chart. It is not an ONC-Certified EHR. On 42 CFR Part 2, Mentalyc provides HIPAA-aligned safeguards under a BAA and is clear that consent and disclosure stay the provider’s job. It does not issue a Part 2 certificate.2 For a private-pay solo, that may not matter. For a Charlotte group adding an IOP track, it does.
PIMSY takes the second path. PAISLY AI turns chart data (diagnoses, medications, goals, measures, appointment details) into AI progress notes. Ambient Scribe listens during an in-person or telehealth session, fills the existing PIMSY template, and discards the audio. You review and sign either way. Prime is $99 a month for the first user and includes PAISLY AI and telehealth, plus Wiley’s treatment plan software. Platinum carries ONC certification. We’ve built a HIPAA compliant EHR for behavioral health since 2007, so 42 CFR Part 2 sits in the same system as the draft.
A 2025 JAMA Network Open study of 263 ambulatory clinicians found burnout dropped from 51.9% to 38.8% after 30 days with an ambient scribe.4 Time savings help more when the note already lives where billing and the treatment plan live.
Who Should Stay on Mentalyc, and Who Should Switch
Stay on Mentalyc when the EHR is working and the only gap is the note. A solo LCSW in Raleigh who likes TherapyNotes is the person Mentalyc was built for. Her caseload fits Pro. She has no plan to bring billing or prescribers in-house. Alliance Genie and the template library are genuine strengths. We do not pretend PIMSY clones them.
Look at an alternative to Mentalyc, especially an EHR-native one, when the note has to match treatment-plan goals and the claim. The second BAA and the paste step are the headache, not the draft quality. Groups, IOP, SUD, or a mix of therapists and prescribers all push you toward one chart.
Canceling Mentalyc is easy. You request cancellation, keep access through the billed period, then lose new notes when the cycle ends.2 Switching EHRs is the heavier move. A 5-minute Chrome install and a 6-week EHR rollout are not the same project.
PIMSY’s typical implementation is a phased, roughly 6-week rollout with US-based support. You trade a weekend of extension setup for a chart that already knows the claim. A Portland outpatient group stacking a scribe, an EHR, and a clearinghouse is the practice that trade is for.
Other Mentalyc Alternatives Worth a Look
Other Mentalyc alternatives are real. Pick by architecture, not by who shouts “therapy-trained” the loudest.
Freed is a general-medical ambient scribe with a fast trial. 2026 roundups commonly list Starter at $39 a month for 40 notes, Core at $79 unlimited, and Premier at $104 to $119 with EHR push.5 HIPAA and SOC 2 Type II. Strong for mixed medical settings. Light on psychotherapy-specific formats compared with Mentalyc.
JotPsych started as behavioral health documentation and has grown into scheduling, telehealth, e-prescribing, and billing. Official plans start at $53 a month billed annually for Moonlighting (15 notes) and $135 a month for Basic with unlimited notes.6 Worth a look for psychiatry and PMHNP workflows. It is a younger platform than a 2007 EHR.
Blueprint prices by session: $0.99 alongside your current EHR, or $1.49 as an all-in-one EHR. Credits do not expire, and there is no monthly minimum.7 Assessment-led, and a fair pick for a measurement-based solo. Confirm claims depth before you bet a growing agency on per-session credits.
AutoNotes is therapy-focused, with unlimited progress notes on Economy and live recording plus custom templates on First Class. Published prices moved through 2026 (promotions versus $29 / $69 listings in mid-year roundups), so confirm current rates on their site before you budget.5
One more option that gets skipped: the AI already inside the EHR you use. It will not match Mentalyc’s template library. It will kill the second vendor, which is sometimes the whole point.
How PIMSY Compares as a Mentalyc Alternative
PIMSY’s pitch as a Mentalyc alternative is simple. The draft lands in the same behavioral health EHR that holds the treatment plan, the claim, telehealth, and Wiley.
PAISLY pulls structured chart data and assembles a narrative in SOAP, DAP, BIRP, and related formats, then stops where the data stops. Ambient Scribe adds spoken session detail into that same template. You remain the author of record. Audio is processed and discarded, not stored as a second medical file.
Cost is the part therapists undercount. A standalone scribe at $70 to $120 a month, stacked on SimplePractice, becomes a $99-to-$149-class add-on on a full caseload. PIMSY Prime puts PAISLY AI and telehealth in the first-user price.
What we will not overclaim: Mentalyc’s Alliance Genie is a supervision-style session analysis product. PIMSY does not ship that. We ship notes that already sit on the chart a biller, a supervisor, and a prescriber can open without a Chrome extension.
Conclusion: Pick the Architecture, Not the Ad Price
A Mentalyc alternative is an architecture choice. Standalone notes next to an EHR you like, or notes on the chart the claim uses.
Keep Mentalyc when the EHR is staying and notes were the only gap. Choose PIMSY when notes, chart, and claims need to live together: treatment plans, telehealth, Wiley, and billing on one record, with PAISLY and Ambient Scribe inside it.
Want to see that path on your own workflows? Book a demo and we will walk one real note from session to claim.
Sources
1 Mentalyc Pricing (official, 2026)
2 Mentalyc FAQs: BAA, EHR extension, audio retention, 42 CFR Part 2
3 Mentalyc Reviews on Capterra
5 Best AI Therapy Note-Writing Software 2026, Psychology.com
