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Buyer’s guide · Updated September 2026

Best AI Medical Scribes in 2026: Full Comparison (Pricing, Features & HIPAA)

Ten AI medical scribe platforms compared on pricing, ratings, security score, HIPAA compliance and EHR compatibility. Every figure is sourced, dated and linked, so you can check our work.

At a glance

Sort any column to rank the field your way.

Platform ▲Monthly cost per user, from▲Rating avg across review sites▲Security score Mozilla scan, click to verify▲Free trial ▲Inputs what you can upload▲
BastionGPTSolo to multi-provider practices wanting scribe and full AI assistant in one HIPAA platform.$20–$45Professional / Plus4.84/521 ratingsB+80/100secure.bastiongpt.com7-day trialAudio + PDF, Word, Excel, PPT, images
FreedSolo practitioners and small outpatient practices wanting fast setup and browser EHR push.$39–$119Starter caps 40 notes/mo4.80/5621 ratingsB+80/100secure.getfreed.ai7-day trialAudio + .txt transcript
TaliCanadian practices on Accuro, CHR, PS Suite or Oscar Pro needing PIPEDA and PHIPA.Free–$135free tier, then Pro4.60/521 ratingsF0/100app.tali.aiFree tierAudio only
Dragon CopilotLarge health systems already in the Microsoft and Epic ecosystem with IT resource. Rebranded from DAX Copilot in 2025.$160–$1,500*via resellers4.20/588 ratingsC50/100www.copilot.us.dragon.com14-day trialAudio only
AbridgeEnterprise health systems on Epic needing published trial data for procurement.$208*per provider4.20/570 ratingsA+105/100notes.abridge.comNoAudio only
DeepScribeHigh-documentation specialties needing specialty-tuned models and E&M coding hints.$350–$500*per provider4.20/589 ratingsD−25/100portal.deepscribe.aiNoAudio only
Heidi HealthMultilingual practices, or clinicians wanting a free tier before committing.Free–$150free tier, then Clinician4.15/53.2K ratingsC−45/100scribe.heidihealth.comFree tierAudio + PDF, Word, images
NablaEnterprise environments needing deep EHR integration across 20+ systems.Free–$119*free to 30 consults/mo3.90/58 ratingsC50/100copilot.nabla.comLimited free tierAudio only
Suki AIPractices wanting voice-command workflow automation beyond note generation.$299–$399*Compose / Assistant2.73/5102 ratingsB70/100app.suki.aiNoAudio only
Ambience HealthcareLarge health systems needing ambient AI with coding suggestions and HITRUST infrastructure.$233–$417*per providerNot ratedno public reviewsB+80/100app.ambiencehealthcare.comNoAudio only

* These vendors do not publish their pricing. Dragon Copilot, Suki AI, Abridge, DeepScribe, Ambience Healthcare and Nabla’s paid tier all route buyers to a sales conversation instead of listing a rate. The figures marked with an asterisk are estimates compiled from third-party reports, not quotes, and will vary by contract, region, seat count and reseller. Implementation fees and markups sit on top of whatever is eventually quoted. Every unmarked price links to the vendor’s own published pricing page.

Sorted by rating on load. Every figure links to its source: prices to the vendor’s own page, ratings to our methodology page, security scores to a live scan you can re-run yourself. The security score measures HTTP response headers on the host where clinicians sign in; it is not a measure of how any vendor stores or handles patient data. Three of these ten score worse on the host they ask you to sign into than on their own marketing site: DeepScribe drops 45 points, Suki 10, Heidi 5.

How much does an AI medical scribe cost in 2026?

Published AI scribe pricing in this comparison runs from free tiers to more than $1,500 per provider per month. Most practices land in one of four bands.

Price bandMonthly cost per userPlatformsTypical buyer
Free tier$0, with usage capsHeidi Health, Tali, NablaTrying the category, or very low visit volume
Under $50$20 to $45BastionGPT (unlimited use, BAA included); Freed Starter at $39 with a 40-note monthly capSolo practitioners and small practices
Self-serve unlimited$79 to $150Freed Core and Unlimited, Nabla*, Tali Pro, Heidi Health ClinicianSmall to mid-size outpatient practices
Enterprise contract$160 to $1,500+*Dragon Copilot, Abridge, Suki AI, DeepScribe, Ambience HealthcareHealth systems with IT resources and procurement cycles

* Estimated. Enterprise scribes rarely publish a price. Five of the ten platforms here do not, and reported implementation fees and reseller markups push the all-in cost well above the base rate. The asterisked figures come from third-party reports, not vendor quotes.

The lowest published price for an AI medical scribe with unlimited use and a signed BAA in this comparison is BastionGPT at $20 per user per month. Self-serve scribes without an assistant cluster between $79 and $150 once you need unlimited notes. Enterprise pricing is quoted per provider, usually on an annual contract, and the base rate is only part of the total cost. Every price in the At a glance table links to the vendor page it was read from.

What an AI medical scribe does

An AI medical scribe listens to the clinician and patient conversation, live or from a recording, transcribes it, and drafts a structured clinical note such as a SOAP, DAP, BIRP, progress or H&P note. The clinician reviews, edits and signs every note before it enters the medical record. Ambient scribes capture the visit in the background; dictation tools still need you to speak the note yourself.

Modern scribes separate speakers, understand clinical terminology and format notes to your template. Most connect to the EHR through bidirectional integration, a browser push, or copy and paste, which is why “integrates with Epic” needs clarifying before you buy. A few platforms, BastionGPT among them, pair the scribe with a full AI assistant so the same subscription drafts referral letters, appeals and patient education from uploaded records.

Physicians report one to two hours a day of after-hours charting, and documentation load is a leading driver of burnout. A scribe produces a near-complete draft immediately after the visit, so charting stops following providers home. Practices using AI scribes typically report charting time cut by half or more, more consistent notes across providers, and more eye contact in the room. None of the tools on this page replaces clinical judgment. The signing provider remains responsible for the final note.

Full feature matrix

Ten vendors across eighteen rows is more than anyone can read at once. Pick the platforms you are actually weighing and the tables narrow to just those.

Compare:

Swipe sideways to see more platforms, or pick fewer above.

FeatureBastionGPTFreedHeidi HealthNablaDragon CopilotSuki AIAbridgeDeepScribeAmbience HealthcareTali
Cost and access
Monthly costper user, per month$20–$45Professional / Plus$39–$119Starter / Core / PremierFree–$150free tier, then ClinicianFree–$119*free to 30 consults/mo$160–$1,500*via resellers$299–$399*Compose / Assistant$208*per provider$350–$500*per provider$233–$417*per providerFree–$135free tier, then Pro
Usage capsmonthly limit on notes generatedUncappedunlimited scribe & assistant, both plans40 notes/moon $39 Starter · uncapped from $79 CoreUncappedincl. free tierNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot published5 notes/mo freeStarter 40/mo · uncapped on Pro
Free trialtest with real visits first7-day trial7-day trialFree tierLimited free tier14-day trialNoNoNoNoFree tier
Setup timeto first usable noteMinutesMinutesSame dayMinutesWeeksWeeksWeeksWeeksWeeksMinutes
Confidence signals
User ratingaverage across review sites4.84/521 ratings4.80/5621 ratings4.15/53.2K ratings3.90/58 ratings4.20/588 ratings2.73/5102 ratings4.20/570 ratings4.20/589 ratingsNot ratedno public reviews4.60/521 ratings
Security scoreMozilla scan, click to verifyB+80/100secure.bastiongpt.comB+80/100secure.getfreed.aiC−45/100scribe.heidihealth.comC50/100copilot.nabla.comC50/100www.copilot.us.dragon.comB70/100app.suki.aiA+105/100notes.abridge.comD−25/100portal.deepscribe.aiB+80/100app.ambiencehealthcare.comF0/100app.tali.ai
Uptime guaranteepublished availability commitment99.90%Not publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot published

Swipe sideways to see more platforms, or pick fewer above.

FeatureBastionGPTFreedHeidi HealthNablaDragon CopilotSuki AIAbridgeDeepScribeAmbience HealthcareTali
Capability
AI assistantbeyond transcription✓BasicBasic––Basic–––Basic
File upload + analysisread and summarize documents✓–Limited–––––––
Attachments supportedfile types beyond audioPDF, Word, Excel, PPT, images, audioText transcript (.txt)PDF, Word, images, audioNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneAudio only
Multi-speaker recognitionwhy true speaker recognition mattersYes (up to 10)YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Customizable templatescan clinicians make their ownUnlimitedUnlimitedUnlimitedEnterprise-managedUnlimitedUnlimitedEnterprise-managedUnlimitedEnterprise-managedLimited
Max recording lengthlongest single session240 minNot publishedNot published180 min75 minPer encounterPer encounterPer encounterPer encounterPer encounter
Languagesspoken languages supported15+90+110+3550+80+28+110+Not published28
Fit and compliance
EHR compatibilityhow notes reach the chartAll major EHRs (copy/paste, doc upload)Any browser-based EHR (via EHR Push)35+ EHRs including Epic, athena, eCW20+ EHRs including Epic, Oracle Health, athena200+ EHRs via Dragon Medical One8+ EHRs including Epic, Oracle Health, athenaEpic (native via Haiku/Canto)7+ EHRs including Epic, athena, eCWEpic, Oracle Health, athenahealthCanadian EMRs (Accuro, CHR, PS Suite, Oscar Pro)
HIPAA compliantUS baseline✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
Additional compliancebeyond HIPAAFERPA, PIPEDA, PHIPA, APPPIPEDAPIPEDA, PHIPA, APP, GDPRPIPEDA, GDPRNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedNot publishedHITRUSTPIPEDA, PHIPA, SOC 2 Type II
Customer supportchannels availableEmail, Phone, Chat, VideoIn-app, Email24/7 Chat, EmailEmail, WebEmail, Phone, VideoEnterprise onlyEnterprise onlyEnterprise onlyEnterprise onlyEmail, Onboarding

* Estimated. Dragon Copilot, Suki AI, Abridge, DeepScribe, Ambience Healthcare and Nabla’s paid tier publish no pricing. Those figures come from third-party reports, not vendor quotes, and will vary by contract, region, seat count and reseller.

Compiled from publicly available sources, August 2026. Features and prices change and may vary by plan, region or contract. Always confirm directly with each vendor before purchasing.

What each column measures

Monthly cost per user: the published price per clinician per month at the entry tier. Some vendors offer volume discounts or require annual contracts. Always confirm total cost with the vendor, including implementation fees.

Rating: the mean of each platform’s scores across the review sites where it holds a published rating, with the review count shown beside it. The full per-site breakdown is on our methodology page.

Security score: an MDN HTTP Observatory scan of the host clinicians sign in to. It measures HTTP response headers only, not how a vendor stores or handles patient data. Click any score to re-run the scan.

Free trial: whether you can test the product with real patient visits before committing. Trials are the most reliable way to evaluate note quality, workflow fit and ease of use in your own clinical setting.

AI assistant: whether the platform includes generative AI beyond transcription, such as summarizing uploaded documents, analyzing data, drafting referral letters, generating patient education materials, or answering clinical questions.

File upload and analysis: whether you can upload PDFs, images, spreadsheets or Word documents for the AI to read, summarize or incorporate into its output. This matters for intake forms, records from other providers and scanned documents.

Attachments supported: the file types the platform accepts beyond audio recordings.

Multi-speaker recognition: the ability to distinguish clinician, patient and additional speakers during a recorded session, so the note attributes statements to the right person.

Customizable templates: whether clinicians can create, modify and save their own note or prompt templates, or are limited to company-provided formats.

Max recording length: the longest single session the scribe supports. Important for lengthy evaluations, psychological assessments and complex consultations.

Languages: the number of spoken languages supported for transcription and note generation.

EHR compatibility: how the scribe gets notes into your electronic health record, from bidirectional integration that writes into EHR fields, to browser-based push, to copy and paste.

HIPAA and additional compliance: the regulatory frameworks the vendor supports. HIPAA is the baseline for US healthcare. PIPEDA and PHIPA cover Canadian privacy requirements, APP covers Australia, GDPR covers the EU, and FERPA protects student education records in the US.

Customer support: the channels available when something goes wrong, including whether you can reach a human during business hours.

The platforms in detail

What each one is genuinely good at, and where it stops.

BastionGPT

Best for: Solo to multi-provider practices wanting scribe and full AI assistant in one HIPAA platform.

Rating4.84 /5
Security scoreB+
Max session240 min
Speakers10
  • SOAP, DAP, BIRP, Detailed SOAP and Custom Note output from every recording
  • Multi-speaker recognition for up to 10 participants using diarization and acoustic fingerprinting
  • Session lengths up to 240 minutes; Custom Note tab accepts any free-form prompt
  • Upload and analyze documents up to 700,000+ words, or 1,000+ pages, on Professional Plus
  • BAA included with every subscription; AES-256 at rest, TLS in transit, Microsoft Azure
  • Data never shared with OpenAI or any third-party AI provider for model training
$20–$45Professional / PlusStart your 7-day free trial

See the BastionGPT AI scribe · Compare plans

Freed

Best for: Solo practitioners and small outpatient practices wanting fast setup and browser EHR push.

  • Real-time capture with templates that learn provider preferences
  • One-click push to browser-based EHRs via Chrome extension
  • Pre-visit patient summaries and post-visit instructions
  • No document upload, image analysis or general AI tasks beyond the encounter
  • Starter plan caps 40 notes/month; unlimited notes need the $79 Core tier
$39–$119Starter caps 40 notes/mo7-day trial

Heidi Health

Best for: Multilingual practices, or clinicians wanting a free tier before committing.

  • 110+ languages for transcription and note generation
  • Free tier with unlimited basic dictation
  • “Ask Heidi” Q&A provides clinical information on demand
  • No large-scale document upload or broad content generation
Free–$150free tier, then ClinicianFree tier

Nabla

Best for: Enterprise environments needing deep EHR integration across 20+ systems.

  • Real-time transcription with multi-speaker identification
  • Built for enterprise EHR integration (Epic, Oracle Health, athenahealth, NextGen)
  • Powers NextGen Ambient Assist and Greenway Health as white-label
  • No file uploads; templates cannot be customized per user
Free–$119*free to 30 consults/moLimited free tier

Dragon Copilot

Best for: Large health systems already in the Microsoft and Epic ecosystem with IT resource. Rebranded from DAX Copilot in 2025.

  • Tight integration with Epic and Meditech
  • Backed by Microsoft’s ecosystem and infrastructure
  • Session limit of 75 minutes, the shortest in this comparison
  • No published price; implementation fees ($700 reported) and reseller markups sit on top
$160–$1,500*via resellers14-day trial

Suki AI

Best for: Practices wanting voice-command workflow automation beyond note generation.

  • Voice commands for ordering labs, prescriptions, scheduling and referral letters
  • Bidirectional integration with Epic, athena, Meditech, Oracle Health, eCW, Elation
  • Chart-aware Q&A and patient summarization
  • Needs administrative coordination and IT support to deploy
$299–$399*Compose / AssistantNo

Abridge

Best for: Enterprise health systems on Epic needing published trial data for procurement.

  • “Linked Evidence” ties AI output back to the source conversation
  • Native Epic integration (Haiku to Hyperdrive)
  • Published clinical trial data on accuracy and documentation time
  • Enterprise governance controls, SSO and usage analytics; IT-heavy deployment
$208*per providerNo

DeepScribe

Best for: High-documentation specialties needing specialty-tuned models and E&M coding hints.

  • Specialty focus on oncology, cardiology, urology and orthopedics
  • E&M coding suggestions embedded directly into draft notes
  • Optional human-in-the-loop QA layer, which can add delivery delay
  • Integrates with Athena, eClinicalWorks, Epic and AdvancedMD
$350–$500*per providerNo

Ambience Healthcare

Best for: Large health systems needing ambient AI with coding suggestions and HITRUST infrastructure.

  • AI-powered coding (AutoCDI) suggests billing codes from the clinical note
  • Specialty-tuned models across 20+ specialties
  • HITRUST-certified cloud infrastructure
  • Used by Cleveland Clinic, UCSF, Memorial Hermann and The Oncology Institute
$233–$417*per providerNo

Tali

Best for: Canadian practices on Accuro, CHR, PS Suite or Oscar Pro needing PIPEDA and PHIPA.

  • Integrates with major Canadian EMRs (Accuro, CHR, PS Suite, Med Access, Oscar Pro)
  • SOAP and DAP formats with ICD-10 code suggestions
  • Built-in “Ask a medical question” clinical reference tool
  • Free tier limited to 5 AI scribes per month
Free–$135free tier, then ProFree tier

* Estimated. These vendors publish no pricing; the figures come from third-party reports rather than vendor quotes and will vary by contract, region, seat count and reseller.

Head-to-head comparisons. BastionGPT vs Abridge, Ambience Healthcare, Claude Team and Enterprise, Commure, CompliantChatGPT, Dragon Copilot, DeepCura, DeepScribe, Freed, Hathr AI, Heidi Health, Lyrebird Health, Mentalyc, Microsoft Copilot, Nabla, Suki AI, Twofold Health.

How to choose

There is no single best AI scribe. The right choice depends on your practice size, EHR environment, workflows, budget, and what you need the tool to do beyond transcription.

1Accuracy and note quality

Run real patient visits through anything you are considering. A scribe that saves five minutes but needs ten minutes of edits is a net negative. Ask for specialty-specific examples during demos.

2Ease of setup

Some tools are ready in minutes. Others need weeks of IT coordination, EHR configuration and training. Match deployment complexity to your team’s capacity.

3EHR integration depth

“Integrates with Epic” can mean bidirectional write-back or browser copy/paste. Clarify what the integration actually looks like in your EHR before committing.

4Security and compliance

Verify the vendor offers a BAA, encrypts data in transit and at rest, and does not use patient data for model training. Operating in Canada or Australia? Confirm PIPEDA/PHIPA or APP coverage.

5Transparent pricing

Look for per-user pricing with no hidden implementation fees. Five of the ten platforms here publish no price at all. Free trials give the most reliable read on real-world value.

6Support accessibility

When a note fails to generate during a packed clinic day you need a response within hours, not days. Check whether support is human, reachable, and open during your hours.

7Breadth of capability

If your needs go beyond visit notes, covering referral letters, appeals, patient education and chart summarization, a platform combining scribe and assistant can replace several subscriptions. Large-document support matters: 700,000+ words, or 1,000+ pages, in one session means a whole patient history without splitting it up.

8Clinical content flexibility

If you document trauma, substance use, abuse, sexual health or forensic evaluations, verify the AI does not filter legitimate medical language. Some platforms apply consumer-grade restrictions that interfere with clinical documentation.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI medical scribe in 2026?

It depends on practice size and what you need beyond transcription. BastionGPT is the only platform here combining an AI scribe with a full generative AI assistant, document analysis and healthcare-appropriate content filtering in one subscription. The matrix above breaks down all ten.

Are AI medical scribes HIPAA compliant?

Every tool here is HIPAA compliant, but depth varies. Verify a signed BAA, encryption in transit and at rest, no use of patient data for model training, and a clear retention policy. BastionGPT also supports FERPA, PIPEDA, PHIPA and Australian Privacy Principles.

What is the difference between an AI scribe and an AI assistant?

A scribe converts a clinician-patient conversation into a structured note. An assistant handles broader work: summarizing uploads, writing reports, analyzing data, generating patient education, composing appeal letters. Most tools here are scribe-only.

How do AI scribes handle patient consent and data privacy?

Responsible use means informing patients and obtaining consent before recording. Ask how long recordings are retained, where data is stored, and whether it is used for training. BastionGPT retains transcripts for 30 days by default, with the option to delete sooner, runs on HIPAA-compliant Microsoft Azure, and never shares data with third parties.

How much do AI medical scribes cost?

Self-serve tools run from free tiers (Heidi, Nabla, Tali) to roughly $150 per clinician per month. BastionGPT starts at $20 with unlimited transcription and assistant usage. Enterprise scribes are harder to answer, because five of the ten platforms compared here publish no price at all. Abridge, Ambience, DeepScribe, Dragon Copilot and Suki all route buyers to a sales conversation. Third-party estimates for that group run from about $200 to $500 per provider per month, and implementation fees and reseller markups sit on top of whatever is quoted.

Can I use an AI scribe for therapy notes and mental health documentation?

Yes, but some platforms filter language around trauma, abuse, substance use or sexual health, which interferes with behavioral health documentation, forensic reports and crisis notes. BastionGPT’s content filtering is healthcare-appropriate, allowing the full scope of clinical language without false flags. It has been reviewed by the American Psychological Association and exhibited at APA 2025.

Do I need to change my EHR to use an AI scribe?

No. Most work with your existing EHR through copy/paste or browser workflows, with no IT project. BastionGPT is compatible with all major systems including Epic, Oracle Health, Allscripts, Meditech, Practice Fusion, TherapyNotes and TheraNest. Enterprise scribes offer deeper bidirectional integration but need weeks of setup.

What should I look for when choosing a scribe for my practice?

Five areas: note accuracy on your actual visits, setup effort (minutes vs weeks), EHR compatibility, security and data handling, and total cost including hidden fees. If your needs extend past visit notes, look for a platform bundling an assistant. Run a free trial with real clinical workflows first.

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How we compiled this

Pricing: read from each vendor’s public pricing page in July 2026, and every price links to the page it was read from. Prices without an asterisk are the vendor’s own listed rate. Prices marked with an asterisk are estimates: Dragon Copilot, Suki AI, Abridge, DeepScribe, Ambience Healthcare and Nabla’s paid tier publish no rate at all and route buyers to a sales conversation, so those figures come from third-party reporting rather than a quote. They will vary by contract, region, seat count and reseller, and implementation fees and markups sit on top of whatever is eventually quoted. Prices are per user per month at the entry tier, before annual discounts.

Ratings: mean of each platform’s scores across the review sites where it holds a published rating (Apple App Store, Capterra, G2, GetApp, Google, Google Play, Software Advice, Trustpilot, TrustRadius), read on 18 July 2026. Each site counts once and counts equally, so a site holding 3,000 reviews does not outweigh one holding 12. TrustRadius scores are converted from a 10-point to a 5-point scale. Ratings built on very few reviews move on a single opinion, which is why the review count is shown next to every score. Tali’s figure was read on 26 July 2026, and BastionGPT’s figures were re-read on 14 August 2026 after two new G2 reviews. Every rating links to our methodology page, which shows the full rule set and a per-site breakdown of every score and review count behind each average.

Security score: MDN HTTP Observatory scan of the host where clinicians actually log in, run 26 July 2026 and re-checked 16 August 2026. We grade the sign-in host rather than the marketing site because marketing sites carry analytics and ad tags that break Content Security Policy and frame rules, so grading them penalizes a company for its tag manager rather than its product. Where a vendor does not publish its app hostname we resolved the conventional one and confirmed it serves a real sign-in app before scoring it. The exact hostname scored is printed beneath every score.

The score reflects HTTP response headers only: HSTS, Content Security Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, cookie and subresource settings. It is not a measure of how any vendor stores, encrypts or handles patient data, it does not cover TLS configuration or application security, and it is not a HIPAA assessment. A vendor can hold a weak score here and still run a well-secured clinical application, and an A+ proves nothing about the product behind it. It is included for one reason: it is among the very few security signals a buyer can verify independently, in a browser, without taking any vendor’s word for it. Click any score to re-run that scan yourself.

Features: compiled from publicly available vendor documentation, July 2026; the Languages figures were re-read on 15 August 2026. Where a vendor documents nothing we record it as “Not published”, which is different from absent; enterprise contracts routinely include capabilities that never appear on a public page.

Corrections: spot an error? Tell us and we will fix it and date the change.