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DrinCloud vs SimplePractice: an honest comparison for cash-pay practices
SimplePractice is the best-known practice management platform for US therapists. DrinCloud is the US edition of a clinic system with 12+ years and 8,000+ clinics in 14 countries, built for practices paid directly by the patient. We compare both block by block with data verified on the official sites, and where SimplePractice is the better buy, we say so.
SimplePractice is built around the insurance workflow: claims, eligibility checks and e-prescribing, sold per clinician with paid add-ons for AI notes and prescriptions. DrinCloud is built for cash-pay practices: one flat price per practice size with the clinical record and superbills already inside from $49 and the AI scribe at $20 a month per provider, unlimited telehealth and the patient portal from the $107 Solo plan, the patient CRM with surveys and marketing campaigns from the $119 Clinic plan, and no claims engine at all, on purpose.
The math that matters: for one clinician with AI notes, SimplePractice runs $114 a month (Essential at $79 plus Note Taker at $35) while DrinCloud runs $69 on the annual plan ($49 Essential plus the $20 AI scribe). At ten clinicians with AI for everyone, SimplePractice reaches $1,115 a month and DrinCloud comes to $487. The mirror image is insurance: SimplePractice takes that block 5.0 to DrinCloud's 1.0, and if you bill payers you should stop reading here and keep SimplePractice.
What each one really costs (August 2026)
| Pricing | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | $49/moEssential, billed annually; $59 month to month. One provider, with the record and the superbills inside; the AI scribe adds $20 per provider | $49/moStarter, solo. Promoted at $24.50 for the first 3 months at the check date |
| Higher plans | $107 · $119 · $287Solo is one user with the portal and telehealth inside, Clinic covers 1 to 3 users, Medical Center covers 4 to 30; Large Clinics at $574 covers 31 to 50 and above 50 we quote | $79 · $99Essential and Plus for solo practices; group practices run on Plus at $99 for the first clinician |
| How the price scales | By practice size bandgoing from 4 to 30 users never changes the $287 bill | Per clinician$74/mo for each additional clinician in a group |
| AI note drafting, what it costs | ✓ $20/moper provider, switched on with one button; $15 under SimplePractice's Note Taker | Paid add-onNote Taker, $35/mo per clinician after a 30-day trial |
| Same clinical core on every plan | ✓ Yesthe record and the superbills are in every plan, from $49 to $574, and the AI scribe can be switched on from any of them | ✗ NoStarter, Essential and Plus each gate different features |
| Add a provider without touching the bill | ✓ Yesproviders 5 through 30 cost $0 extra on Medical Center | ✗ Noeach additional clinician adds $74/mo |
| Sign up online in 3 minutes | ✓ 3 minutesno sales call and no demo to schedule | ✓ 30 daystwice as long as ours, and we say so |
| No setup fee, no minimum term | ✓ Yesmonth to month, cancel whenever you want | ✓ Yesmonth to month per its pricing page |
| All prices published openly | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yesplans and add-ons are on the pricing page |
| Launch discount running | ✗ Nothe price you see is the price, every month | ✓ Yes50% off the first 3 months at the check date |
| Block score · Pricing and transparency (20%) | 4.3 | 3.2 |
Sources: simplepractice.com/pricing and drincloud.com/pricing, checked August 20, 2026. The regular Note Taker price is published in the SimplePractice support center; the pricing page showed a 50% promotion for the first 3 months on the same date.
The two entry stickers match at $49, so the sticker settles nothing. The structure does: SimplePractice prices per clinician and sells AI notes at $35 per clinician on top, while DrinCloud prices by practice size and sells the AI scribe at $20 per provider, $15 less per head. SimplePractice earns real points here too: a 30-day free trial, a live 50% promotion for the first 3 months, and month-to-month terms. We do not run a free trial, but the smallest commitment you can make is one month: subscribe, use the whole product, and leave at the end of it if it is not for you. The three scenarios below turn both models into actual invoices.
The real math: three scenarios
| Scenario | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Solo clinician with AI notes | $69/moEssential $49 plus the $20 AI scribe, annual billing. Nothing else to add | $114/moEssential $79 + Note Taker $35 = $114. Starter at $49 exists, but with fewer features it is still $84 with AI |
| 3 clinicians, AI for everyone | $179/moClinic $119 for 1 to 3 users, plus 3 x $20 for the AI scribe | $352/mogroup runs on Plus: $99 first clinician + 2 x $74 = $247, plus 3 x $35 Note Taker = $352 |
| 10 clinicians, AI for everyone | $487/moMedical Center $287 from 4 to 30 users, plus 10 x $20 for the AI scribe | $1,115/mo$99 + 9 x $74 = $765, plus 10 x $35 Note Taker = $1,115 |
Arithmetic with the rates published on simplepractice.com/pricing and its support center, checked August 20, 2026, assuming every clinician uses AI notes. DrinCloud figures are the annual rate; monthly billing runs $59, $143 and $344. Redo the math with your own headcount: it is the only price comparison that matters.
Before you sign with anyone, ask the two questions we would ask: what does clinician number four cost, and what does AI for the whole team cost. At SimplePractice the answers are $74 a month and $35 per clinician a month. At DrinCloud the fourth clinician is $0 because the band already covers them, and AI for the whole team is $20 per provider a month. SimplePractice's 50% promotion softens the first three months; month four onward is the number in this table.
Charting, notes and the AI that drafts them
| Feature | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Customizable clinical notes and forms | ✓ Yesform builder per specialty | ✓ Yestemplate editor |
| Ready-made template library | ✗ Noyou start from our specialty forms and adapt them; there is no community catalog | ✓ Yesa large library, plus the Wiley Treatment Planners add-on for therapists |
| Fields that carry history forward | ✓ Yesmemory fields pull allergies, history and medication into the next visit | Not documented |
| AI turns the recorded visit into a draft note | ✓ Yesyou review and sign; $20/mo per provider, one button to switch on | ✓ YesNote Taker add-on |
| AI clinical assistant | ✓ Yesdifferential diagnosis, drug interactions, guidelines | Not documented |
| AI patient chatbot trained on your clinic's own information | ✓ Yes | Not documentedbeyond the Care Aide add-on named on its pricing page |
| Pre-visit forms the patient completes from the portal | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| In-visit procedures billed on top of the visit fee | ✓ Yeslogged during the visit, charged separately | Not documented |
| One-click follow-up recall | ✓ Yesschedule an automatic 'come back in 3 months' SMS or email from the note | Not documented |
| Informed consents with remote e-signature | ✓ Yesthe patient signs on their own phone, included | ✓ Yes |
| Block score · Clinical record and AI (25%) | 4.5 | 2.5 |
Sources: simplepractice.com feature pages and support center, and drincloud.com/features, checked August 20, 2026.
SimplePractice's template library is a genuine head start for a therapist: hundreds of ready-made notes, plus the Wiley Planners add-on. DrinCloud asks you to spend an afternoon adapting our specialty forms instead, and pays you back with memory fields that drag the patient's history forward and with AI that goes past transcription: a clinical assistant for differentials and interactions, and a patient chatbot trained on your own center. Both platforms turn a recorded visit into a draft note; DrinCloud charges $20 per provider a month for it, SimplePractice $35 per clinician.
Scheduling and patient communication
| Feature | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-provider, multi-room calendar | ✓ Yesshifts link the provider to the room; surgery scheduling included | ✓ Yes |
| Online booking on your own website | ✓ Yesembeddable widget with real-time availability by provider and specialty | ✓ Yes |
| Waitlist that fills cancelled slots | ✓ Yesopen gaps offer themselves to the waitlist | ✓ Yes |
| Email appointment reminders | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Text message reminders | Paid pack$36 per 300 SMS; TCPA consent captured at intake | ✓ Yesincluded |
| Patient portal | ✓ Yesappointments, payments, documents, forms and messages | ✓ Yes |
| Telehealth | ✓ Unlimitedincluded from the $107 Solo plan, never metered by the minute; a $10 add-on on Essential | ✓ Yesincluded; group telehealth on Plus |
| Self check-in kiosk at reception | ✓ Yesthe patient checks in on a tablet and rates the visit on the way out | Not documented |
| Waiting room call screen | ✓ Yes | Not documented |
| Work and school excuse notes in one click | ✓ Yes | Not documented |
| Google Calendar sync | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yescalendar sync documented |
| Block score · Scheduling and patient communication (15%) | 4.8 | 3.6 |
Sources: simplepractice.com feature pages and drincloud.com/features, checked August 20, 2026.
The daily front-desk basics tie: both handle multi-provider calendars, online booking, reminders, a portal and telehealth. SimplePractice wins a row we concede without drama: its text reminders are included while DrinCloud sells SMS in $36 packs of 300 messages. DrinCloud pulls ahead at the physical front desk, with a tablet check-in kiosk, a waiting room call screen and one-click excuse notes that SimplePractice's public site does not document.
Getting paid without an insurer in the middle
| Feature | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Charge at the desk, online or by payment link | ✓ Yesall three included | ✓ Yescard processing built in |
| Charge the visit or a deposit at booking | ✓ Yes | Not documented |
| Superbill with NPI, EIN, CPT and ICD-10 | ✓ Yesa PDF the patient submits for out-of-network reimbursement; you enter your own CPT codes | ✓ Yes |
| Prices per service, specialty and provider | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yesfees per service |
| Sliding scale fees per patient | ✓ Yes | Not documented |
| Product sales with stock deducted at invoice | ✓ Yesinventory counts fall as you sell | Not documented |
| Quotes and treatment plans | ✓ Yes | Not documented |
| Automatic receipts | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Block score · Getting paid (15%) | 5.0 | 2.5 |
Sources: simplepractice.com feature pages and drincloud.com/features, checked August 20, 2026.
Card charges and superbills are covered on both sides. The gap opens where a cash-pay practice actually lives: DrinCloud takes deposits at booking, keeps a sliding scale per patient, sells products with inventory that discounts itself, and turns a quote into a treatment plan. None of that appears on SimplePractice's public site, which is consistent with its focus: SimplePractice is built to bill payers, DrinCloud is built to bill people.
Languages, surveys and how patients find you
| Feature | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Interface language per user | ✓ YesEnglish, Spanish, Portuguese and more, chosen per user | Not documented |
| Communication language per patient | ✓ YesEnglish, Spanish, Portuguese or German on the record; reminders and the portal follow it | Not documented |
| Patient portal with no app to download | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Post-visit satisfaction surveys with statistics | ✓ Yesanonymous or named, sent after each visit | Not documented |
| Automated campaigns by patient event | ✓ Yesif X happened, send Y after Z days, by email or SMS | Not documented |
| Patient-facing directory that brings you patients | ✗ No | ✓ Yesthe Monarch directory |
| Large US community of peers | ✗ Nowe are new to the US market and say so | ✓ Yesthe best-known platform among US therapists |
| Block score · Languages and patient experience (10%) | 3.6 | 2.1 |
Sources: simplepractice.com (product and Monarch pages) and drincloud.com/features, checked August 20, 2026.
Two honest wins for SimplePractice: the Monarch directory can put new clients on your calendar, and no vendor matches its community of US therapists, which counts when you hire someone who already knows the tool. DrinCloud's ground is the bilingual practice: the interface in each user's language, and every patient tagged with the language their reminders, portal and documents arrive in. If half your schedule speaks Spanish or Portuguese, that one field does more for show-up rates than any directory.
Insurance, claims and prescribing
| Feature | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance claims and clearinghouse | ✗ Noby design: DrinCloud is only for practices paid directly by patients | ✓ Yesclaim filing built in; group Plus lists 35 free claims per month |
| Automatic insurance eligibility checks | ✗ No | ✓ Yeslisted on the group Plus plan |
| e-Prescribing with EPCS | ✗ Noprescriptions print or go out as PDF; in mandate states like CA, FL, NY, MI, MN and DE you need a separate e-Rx platform | ✓ YesePrescribe add-on with an $89 one-time setup fee |
| Insurance payment reports | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| Superbill for out-of-network reimbursement | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Block score · Insurance, claims and prescribing (10%) | 1.0 | 5.0 |
Sources: simplepractice.com/pricing and feature pages, and drincloud.com, checked August 20, 2026.
This block is not close: SimplePractice scores 5.0 and DrinCloud scores 1.0, and no copywriting changes that. If insurance claims pay your rent, close this tab and keep SimplePractice. We skipped the claims engine on purpose, because it is the machinery that makes most EHRs heavy and expensive, and a cash-pay practice never uses it. The one insurance artifact a cash-pay practice does need, the superbill the patient submits, DrinCloud produces with NPI, EIN, CPT and ICD-10.
Integrations, data ownership and compliance
| Feature | DrinCloud | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| AI switched on inside the platform, nothing to set up | ✓ Yesone button, nothing to configure anywhere else; patient data is never used to train the models | ✗ NoAI add-ons are billed by SimplePractice per clinician |
| Hosted website for your practice | ✗ Nowe embed booking into the site you already have | ✓ Yesa professional website is part of its offer |
| Free self-service import from Excel or XML | ✓ Yesfree, built-in importer you run yourself with any Excel or XML file | ✓ Yesclient import documented in its help center |
| Full data export, free, no retention | ✓ YesCSV and PDF whenever you want, including the day you leave | ✓ Yesexport documented in its help center |
| HIPAA with a BAA on every plan | ✓ YesBAA included, encryption in transit and at rest | ✓ Yes |
| Block score · Integrations and data (5%) | 4.2 | 3.3 |
Sources: simplepractice.com help center and drincloud.com/security, checked August 20, 2026.
Both sign a BAA, both let your data in and out. The difference is what the AI costs: SimplePractice charges $35 per clinician a month for its add-on and DrinCloud charges $20 per provider, with the clinical assistant included on every plan. SimplePractice takes the website row: it will host your site, we will only embed booking into one you already have.
Which one fits you?
SimplePractice is the better fit if...
- You bill insurance. Claims, eligibility checks and payment reports are the core of the product, and DrinCloud has none of them.
- You prescribe electronically. Its ePrescribe add-on covers e-Rx including EPCS; DrinCloud prints or sends PDFs, which is not enough in mandate states like CA, FL, NY, MI, MN and DE.
- You are a therapist who wants ready-made notes on day one: its template library and the Wiley Planners add-on are a real head start.
- You want new clients from a directory: Monarch lists your practice where patients already search.
- You value the largest peer community in US mental health, including hires who already know the tool.
- Included SMS reminders and a hosted practice website matter more to you than the per-clinician bill.
DrinCloud is the better fit if...
- Your patients pay you directly and an insurance engine is dead weight you would rather not fund.
- You are 2 providers or more: DrinCloud runs $119 for 1 to 3 users and $287 for 4 to 30, while SimplePractice adds $74 per clinician.
- You want the AI price written down: drafting at $20 a month per provider, the website booking chatbot at $20 a month per practice and the clinical assistant included.
- Part of your schedule speaks Spanish or Portuguese: interface per user and reminders, portal and documents in each patient's language.
- Your front desk needs hardware-level help: tablet check-in kiosk, waiting room call screen, one-click excuse notes.
- You live off repeat visits: post-visit surveys, automated event campaigns, birthday messages and referral-source tracking are included.
- You sell products: invoices deduct stock automatically, with separate numbering.
- You do procedures or aesthetics: before and after photos, quotes and treatment plans, and surgery scheduling are in every plan.
- You want a superbill workflow without a claims engine: NPI, EIN, CPT and ICD-10 on a PDF the patient submits.
- You want the exit door open: full CSV and PDF export, free, whenever you want.
Questions about this comparison
Can I migrate from SimplePractice to DrinCloud?
Why does DrinCloud look cheaper? Where is the catch?
Where does the final score come from?
Is this comparison impartial?
What does the AI cost?
How often is this page updated?
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SimplePractice is a trademark of its owner. This page is an informational comparison published by DrinCloud (Massive Bionics LLC), not affiliated with or endorsed by SimplePractice, using public data verified on simplepractice.com/pricing, the SimplePractice support center and drincloud.com/pricing on August 20, 2026. 'Not documented' means the feature does not appear on the vendor's public website on that date, not that it does not exist. Price scenarios are arithmetic with the official published rates and the assumptions stated under each table. Scores are computed only from the table cells with the published formula. If you represent SimplePractice and find an inaccuracy, write to info@dricloud.com and we will correct the data and the score immediately.
Correction history: first published August 20, 2026.