Top HIPAA-Compliant AI Notetakers for Therapists (2026)

Documentation audits are increasing, insurers are rejecting vague or inconsistent notes, and concerns about AI-generated therapy notes, from fabricated details to unclear data storage, are making clinicians more cautious.

Many tools claim to be HIPAA compliant, but stop at basic security. They encrypt data yet fall short on clinical accuracy, audit-ready documentation, and treatment-plan alignment—the areas insurers and supervisors care about most. Others raise concerns around recording storage, opaque data-use policies, or reliance on generic GPT-based models.

This guide compares the top AI note-taking tools for therapists in 2026, focusing on what actually matters: HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance, ethical data handling, zero recording storage, and documentation that holds up in audits and payer review.

Ranked List of Top HIPAA-Compliant AI Notetakers & Treatment Plan Generators

Tool	Best For	HIPAA + SOC2	Recording Storage	Uses Data for Training?	Clinical Accuracy	Treatment Plans?	Audit-Ready?	Price*	Overall Rating
Mentalyc	Best overall for therapists wanting full compliance + audit-safe notes + advanced session analytics	Yes – HIPAA + PHIPA + BAA and SOC2 Type II	Zero recording storage (rare)	No training on clinician data	Excellent (designed for audit-ready, clinical accuracy)	Yes – creates measurable goals from sessions and links them to ongoing progress.	Yes – notes are designed to support audits, supervision, and insurance review.	14-Day Free Trial with Full Pro and Paid Plan Access	A+
Upheal	Clinicians looking for basic AI notes with simple analytics	HIPAA compliant, SOC2 status less clearly detailed	Not Clear	Not Clear	Good – but less focused on audit-ready structure	Partial – note generation but treatment-plan support less emphasized	Partial	Free and paid plans available	A
Eleos	Large organizations focused on compliance oversight and operational analytics.	Yes – HIPAA + SOC2 + HITRUST	Not Clear	Not Clear	Good – enterprise grade documentation	Yes – treatment plan support offered	Partial – audit-ready features available	Contact for custom quotes	B+
Heidi	Entry-level / simple AI scribe for therapy and allied health	SOC2 compliant, HIPAA/GDPR noted	Not Clear	Not Clear	Moderate – more general, less therapy-specialized	Limited – treatment-plan depth less emphasised	Limited audit-ready focus	Free and paid plans available	B+
TherapyNotes AI Add-On	Best if you already use TherapyNotes EHR and just need AI drafting	HIPAA compliant core product	Not Clear	Data-use terms unclear	Good – in EHR context but AI note depth less documented	No strong treatment plan generator noted	No full audit-readiness clearly marketed	Add-on fee billed separately from the base subscription	B

What Makes An AI Notetaker “HIPAA-Compliant”?

When therapists evaluate a HIPAA-compliant AI note-taker, it’s easy to assume compliance is just a technical checkbox. In practice, there are two levels of compliance and most tools only meet the first.

What HIPAA Compliance Really Means for AI Note-Takers

Compliance Level	What It Covers	What Therapists Should Know
Level 1: Basic security (minimum)	HIPAA compliance, encryption for data in transit and at rest, and a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA)	Protects against basic security issues, but does not explain what happens to session recordings or transcripts after use.
Level 2: Data handling (real risk area)	How session data is stored, retained, deleted, and potentially reused	Therapists should know whether recordings are stored or deleted, how long transcripts are kept, whether deleted data is truly removed, and whether any data is used to train AI models.

⚠️ Why this matters:

Tools can still store full recordings, keep transcripts indefinitely, or reuse data for training increase legal, ethical, and privacy risk—even if they claim HIPAA compliance.

Red flags to avoid

Storing session recordings
Training AI on client or clinician data
No SOC 2 Type II certification
Unclear or vague privacy policies

Many GPT-based tools raise one or more of these concerns. By contrast, Mentalyc clearly states that it does not train on clinician or client data and does not retain session recordings—addressing both security and real-world clinical risk.

Clinical & Documentation Compliance for Audit-Ready AI Therapy Notes

Legal compliance protects data. Clinical compliance protects your license.

A tool can be HIPAA-compliant and still produce unsafe documentation. A truly compliant AI notetaker for therapists must generate audit-ready AI therapy notes that meet insurance, ethical, and clinical standards. That means the AI must:

Accurately reflect what happened in session (no guessing or fabrication)
Use proper clinical terminology, not generic AI language
Align notes with treatment goals and plans
Support insurance-ready documentation and medical necessity
Show continuity of care across sessions (the “golden thread” auditors expect)
Support SMART treatment planning and measurable progress
Avoid ethical misrepresentation of symptoms, risks, or interventions

This is where many AI note tools fall short. They generate notes that sound clinical but lack clear goal alignment, progress logic, and defensible structure – making them vulnerable during audits or payer review.

Key Features Therapists Should Look For in a HIPAA-Safe AI Notetaker (2026)

Feature	Why It Matters for Therapists
No recording storage	Session audio is never kept, reducing risk around subpoenas, breaches, and client consent concerns.
Encrypted data handling	Keeps PHI protected from the moment data is captured to the final signed note.
Clinically accurate note drafting	Avoids made-up symptoms, risks, or interventions that could cause problems in audits or supervision.
Evidence-based framework support	Helps notes align with recognized approaches like CBT, DBT, ACT, EMDR, and trauma-informed care.
SMART goal support	Produces clear, measurable goals that insurers and auditors expect to see.
Treatment plan alignment (“golden thread”)	Connects session notes, goals, and progress so care clearly builds over time.
Group, couples, and child therapy support	Accurately reflects relational work, family dynamics, and developmental context.
Clear continuity of care	Shows how each session follows from the last—important for audits, supervision, and payer review.
No AI training on client data	Protects client confidentiality and avoids ethical concerns around data reuse.
Consistent notes across sessions Watch real stories from Mentalyc users Try Mentalyc for Free	Keeps structure and language stable, reducing red flags during review.
Clinician-controlled style	Preserves your clinical voice, preferred language, and documentation approach.

Mentalyc — Best Overall HIPAA-Compliant & Audit-Ready AI Notetaker (Rank #1)

Mentalyc stands out in 2026 as the top HIPAA-compliant AI note taker and AI treatment plan generator built specifically for mental health professionals. It focuses on two things most AI tools fail to balance: strong data protection and clinically accurate, audit-ready documentation.

Unlike generic AI software, Mentalyc is designed for real clinical use – producing clinically accurate documentation that reflects actual session content while maintaining strong privacy protections.

What Makes Mentalyc Different

1. Privacy & Compliance

Mentalyc is built to meet real-world compliance expectations, not just marketing claims.

HIPAA & PHIPA compliant with BAA support
SOC 2 Type II compliant
No recording storage (session audio is not retained)
Does not train on clinician or client data
Encrypted workflows end to end

2. Clinical Accuracy & Audit Safety

Mentalyc produces documentation designed to hold up in audits, supervision, and payer review.

Clinically aligned, insurance-ready notes
Clear continuity of care across sessions (“golden thread”)
Structured documentation that supports medical necessity
Built-in guardrails to prevent hallucinations or speculative content

3. Therapy-Focused Functionality

Mentalyc supports how therapy actually unfolds across sessions.

Automated progress notes, intake, and treatment plans from real sessions
AI progress tracking with measurable goals and symptoms changes linked across notes
Notes adapt to clinician style, voice, and modality
Supports individual, couples, group, and child therapy
Includes **Alliance Genie™** (therapeutic alliance insights) for supervision-level reflection and skill development

Pricing

Free Trial: 14 days of full PRO access, including 15 notes—no credit card required.
Mini: USD 14.99/month billed annually
Basic: USD 29.99/month billed annually
Pro: USD 59.99/month billed annually
Super: USD 99.99/month billed annually

Visit the pricing page for more details.

Therapists Reviews on Mentalyc’s AI Note-taker

Why other mental health professionals love Mentalyc

“I’m able to move in and out of doing my notes within that small five-minute gap between sessions … I’m able to keep compliance and rest assured everything is covered.”

Amber McKinney
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

“My notes get finished after every single session now because Mentalyc makes it so easy. I’m not stressed out about notes and I feel like my notes are of much higher quality.”

Sasha Kendall
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

“It improves the quality of my work as I review my sessions … I bring a sense of continuity from session to session because of the really good summary and progress notes that Mentalyc gives me.”

Stanley LeMelle
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

“The treatment planning has been a huge support as well. I really appreciate the amount of guidance the program has given me.”

Kelley Dodson

Upheal — Best Known for Analytics-Rich AI Therapy Notes

Upheal is often evaluated by therapists looking for a HIPAA-compliant AI notetaker that combines documentation with session analytics. Clinicians generally value its insights into engagement and talk-time patterns, but reviews consistently note that accuracy checks and transcript cleanup remain necessary, which can affect audit readiness. One therapist described the trade-off this way:

“Incorrectly identifying male and female voice, even if the transcript speakers have been adjusted…Some interventions mention dialogue that happened that wasn’t correct” — Upheal user… via Trustpilot

Key Features

AI-generated therapy notes (SOAP, DAP, BIRP formats)
Session analytics (talk-time ratios, engagement trends)
SMART goal support and treatment-plan concepts
Works with telehealth and integrates with several EHRs

Pros

Basic analytics for session review
Free plan available

Cons

Session audio and transcripts may be stored, increasing data-privacy exposure
Data-training policies are less explicit than privacy-first tools
Notes often require manual correction for clinical accuracy