Comparing Nuance Dragon to Mentalyc, Medical Dictation vs AI note-taker (2025)

🕑 5 minutes read

Manual documentation can be a tedious and time-consuming task for therapists, but new technology is emerging that can make the process more efficient. As a therapist, you may need to spend a significant amount of time writing therapy progress notes and documenting patient information. It can be easy to fall into the habit of typing out everything on a computer or paper, but this method may not be the most effective use of your time. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the reality!

The good news is that there are now more convenient ways than ever to capture and document patient information thanks to the advancement of AI technology. Tools such as Nuance Dragon and Mentalyc are apps therapists use, that utilize AI technology to make the documentation process easier and more efficient for therapists.

While at the first glance, both apps seem similar, there’s a big difference between their functions. Nuance Dragon uses speech recognition software to allow therapists to create documentation using their voices. On the other hand, Mentalyc uses voice AI technology to automatically convert session audio recordings into perfect progress notes, taking away the stress and time-consuming aspect of manual transcription.

What is Nuance Dragon

Nuance Dragon is an AI speech recognition tool that allows professionals in different career fields to create documentation on their mobile devices or computers. With their voice AI software, they create accurate dictation and transcription.

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While being a potent tool, Nuance Dragon isn’t by any means a therapist-dedicated software, targeting various professionals in need of voice dictation. Education, finance, healthcare, law, business, and social services – can all benefit from this sort of technology.

How Nuance Dragon works

Nuance Dragon’s speech recognition technology works across multiple devices, making it conveniently accessible to users. The software is also easy to install and maintain. The setup takes only one click. As an extra, the app updates itself, ensuring you have the latest updates and that all users are working on the same version.

Additionally, Nuance Dragon’s AI has high recognition accuracy, which ensures that dictations are fully accurate regardless of accents or situations (virtual or in-person). With their resiliency mode feature, they ensure that interruptions do not affect the documentation.

With those features, Nuance Dragon is a good documentation tool for a wide variety of professions, but if you’re a therapist looking for options to save your time spent on writing progress notes, it may not be the best tool for you. After all, you still need to take a lot of time reviewing the entire, sometimes hour-long recording and making any necessary adjustments.

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Introducing Mentalyc

Mentalyc is an AI-powered notetaking software developed especially for mental health professionals. Created with taking better and faster notes in mind. The main difference between Mentalyc and any voice recognition software is that our AI automatically creates the therapy keynotes that need little-to-no adjustments. Therefore, it can save you up to 30% of the time taken on the post-session review. As a result, you won’t have to spend hours transcribing and then analyzing notes anymore. The specialized AI can do all of this for you in a fraction of the time.

Moreover, Mentalyc automatically provides insightful statistics and charts, further helping with pattern and symptom recognition. It allows you to focus more on client needs and deliver the high-quality care they deserve.

With highly advanced AI technology, Mentalyc is the best tool for creating psychotherapy notes currently available on the market. Therefore, you can expect your notes to be created both quickly and precisely, and the notes taken by the AI usually take up to 2 minutes to review.

How Mentalyc works

Using the Mentalyc AI tool is simple and convenient. The tool will ask you for your session audio recording. After uploading recordings from a mobile device or PC to the platform, simply select the client’s name and date, and our AI will take care of the rest.

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Your session recording will be converted into a verbatim transcript and a progress note, all done by Mentalyc. Within minutes, the fully transcribed and edited counseling note is ready, saving you time and effort. Additionally, for higher privacy reasons, there is no need for entering client personal data before creating a note.

While using the software, all your information and notes are fully secure. All data is stored in HIPAA-compliant databases that are fully encrypted and inaccessible by Mentalyc. The software also deletes the session recordings immediately after the note has been created.

If you’re a psychotherapist looking for a solution allowing you to create high-quality progress notes that make your work easier and meet insurance standards, Mentalyc is the perfect tool for you.

Streamline your therapy practice with our tech startup by eliminating cumbersome onboarding and creating top-notch progress notes in mere minutes. Compare our introductory videos to see the tangible daily usage differences.

 

 

Key Differences Between Nuance Dragon and Mentalyc

When it comes to AI-based transcription software, both Nuance Dragon and Mentalyc offer great solutions to optimize working time and streamline the documentation process by creating notes for the user. However, there are significant differences between the two options, making them suitable for different industries and purposes.

  • Nuance Dragon is a versatile tool that can be applied to various fields such as education, finance, healthcare, law, business, and social services. It uses speech recognition technology to allow users to create documentation using their voice, making it an efficient and convenient solution for professionals in a wide range of career fields.
  • Nuance Dragon is perfect for professionals in a wide range of fields who want to create documentation using their voices.
  • Mentalyc is a specialized AI-powered tool designed specifically for the psychotherapy field. It utilizes voice technology to create accurate and detailed notes for therapy sessions, eliminating the need for manual transcription. With Mentalyc, users can simply upload recorded sessions and within minutes, specialized notes will be generated.
  • The advanced AI support also allows for the generation of statistics, identification of symptoms, and even OFAID analysis (onset, frequency, and intensity of symptoms). When there is not enough information, the AI-scribe feature can provide an analysis of the main issue and any influencing circumstances.
  • While both Nuance Dragon and Mentalyc can greatly improve efficiency and streamline the documentation process, they are best suited for different fields and purposes.

Try Mentalyc now

If you are looking for a versatile tool that can create speech-to-text notes for various fields, Nuance Dragon may be the solution for you. But for those in the psychotherapy field, Mentalyc takes your medical notes to the next level. You can even combine both tools, using Dragon for voice comments and client case management, and Mentalyc for session data and template suggestions based on previous sessions. However, Mentalyc alone is more than sufficient for most users.

Check out our features on our website, and start your free trial today!

 

 

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Why other mental health professionals love Mentalyc

Jack Marchant
“By the end of the day, usually by the end of the session, I have my documentation done. I have a thorough, comprehensive note … It’s just saving me hours every week.
Jack Marchant
CDCII
Ileana OxleyIleana Oxley
“It takes me less than 5 minutes to complete notes … it’s a huge time saver, a huge stress reliever.”
Ileana OxleyIleana Oxley
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Karen Martin
“Having Mentalyc take away some of the work from me has allowed me to be more present when I’m in session with clients … it took a lot of pressure off.”
Karen Martin
LPC
Liliana Palacios
“A lot of my clients love the functionality where I can send them a summary of what we addressed during the session, and they find it very helpful and enlightening.
Liliana Palacios
Therapist

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Your Author

Maria Szandrach is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mentalyc, a clinical intelligence platform for mental health practitioners that transforms therapy sessions into insurance-ready notes, treatment plans, and progress insights.

With an MSc from London Business School and experience founding three startups, Maria combines entrepreneurial expertise with a personal mission – shaped by her own journey with an eating disorder – to make psychotherapy more effective and accessible.

Recognized as a thought leader in AI in mental health and clinical documentation, she leads Mentalyc in redefining how technology supports therapists, from documentation automation to tools like Alliance Genie™ and Impact Tracker that improve therapeutic outcomes and strengthen therapeutic relationships.

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