AI Medical Scribe Pricing in 2026: What You'll Actually Pay

You’ve decided an AI scribe is worth trying. Then you open five vendor websites and find five different ways of charging: per clinician, per note, “unlimited” with an asterisk, a free tier, or just a “Talk to sales” button.

This guide sorts that out. It explains the pricing models you’ll run into, what actually moves the price, and what the major vendors publish today. Every price below was checked on the vendor’s own page, with a link, as of October 2026. Prices in this category change often, so confirm on the vendor’s page before you buy.

Why AI scribe pricing matters more than it looks

Documentation time has a real cost. In a widely cited time-and-motion study in Annals of Internal Medicine, ambulatory physicians spent 49.2% of their office day on EHR and desk work and reported 1 to 2 hours of after-hours work each night, mostly EHR tasks.

AI scribes are one of the few tools aimed squarely at that problem. The Permanente Medical Group’s rollout, reported by the AMA, estimated 15,791 hours of documentation time saved across 7,260 physicians over about a year.

So the question usually isn’t “Can I afford an AI scribe?” It’s “Which pricing model fits how I actually practice?”

The four AI scribe pricing models

1. Per clinician, per month (flat subscription)

This is the most common model for private practices. You pay a fixed monthly fee per clinician, often with a discount for annual billing.

• Good for: full-time clinicians with steady visit volume.
• Watch for: what “unlimited” means. Most vendors attach a fair-use policy. Read it, especially if you see a high volume of patients.

2. Tiered plans with note caps

Many vendors sell a lower-priced tier with a monthly cap (for example, 40 or 100 notes) and a higher tier that removes the cap.

• Good for: part-time clinicians, locums, and anyone ramping up.
• Watch for: what happens when you hit the cap. Some vendors let you buy extra credits; others require an upgrade.

3. Free tiers

Several vendors offer a permanent free plan, usually with limits on notes or features. A free plan is a low-risk way to judge note quality on your own visits.

• Good for: evaluation and very low volume.
• Watch for: whether the free plan comes with a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). If you’ll use it with real patient information, you need one. (More on that in our guide to HIPAA questions to ask an AI scribe vendor.)

4. Enterprise and quote-based pricing

Vendors focused on health systems often don’t publish prices. You get a quote based on seat count, EHR integration depth, contract length, and support level.

• Good for: larger groups that need deep EHR integration, SSO, and centralized administration.
• Watch for: minimum terms, implementation fees, and auto-renewal clauses. Ask for all of them in writing.

AI medical scribe price comparison (as of October 2026)

The table below lists only prices we could verify on each vendor’s own website. Where a vendor doesn’t publish prices, it says “Not published.” This is a snapshot, not an endorsement or a feature-by-feature ranking.

Vendor	Free option	Entry paid plan	Top individual / unlimited plan	Groups	Source
Chartnote	Basic: $0, 15 AI Scribe notes/mo	Pro: $39.99/mo per clinician (up to 100 notes/mo); $35.99/mo billed annually	Max: $99.99/mo per clinician (unlimited*); $89.99/mo billed annually	Team Max: $99.99/mo per clinician ($89.99 billed annually), teams of 2 to 50; Enterprise: contact sales	chartnote.com/plans
Freed	7-day free trial	Starter: $39/mo (up to 40 notes/mo)	Core: $79/mo (unlimited notes); Premier: $119/mo, or $104/mo billed annually	Custom (“Talk to sales”)	getfreed.ai/pricing
Heidi Health (US)	Free plan: $0	Clinician Standard: $150/user/mo monthly, or $110/user/mo billed annually	Clinician Max: $409/user/mo monthly, or $299/user/mo billed annually	Teams: custom	heidihealth.com/en-us/pricing
Nabla	30-day free trial	$119/mo per individual subscription	—	Group rates by request	Nabla help center
Twofold	7-day free trial	Personal: $69/mo monthly ($19 first month promo), or $49/mo billed annually	—	Custom	trytwofold.com
DeepCura	Free trial with credits	$129/mo per provider, or $999/yr annual plan	—	Monthly volume pricing: $116/seat (seats 3–5), $110 (6–10), $101 (11+)	deepcura.com/plans-pricing
Scribeberry	Free: 20 uses/mo (after 3 days unlimited)	Pro: $99/mo (unlimited)	—	Enterprise: from $79/user/mo for 5+ providers	scribeberry.com/pricing
Sunoh.ai	—	Starting at $149/user/mo (“for a limited time”)	—	—	sunoh.ai/pricing
Abridge	—	Not published	Not published	Contact sales	abridge.com
Suki	—	Not published	Not published	Contact sales	suki.ai
DeepScribe	—	Not published	Not published	Request a demo	deepscribe.ai

*Chartnote’s “unlimited” reflects typical full-time clinical use under its Fair Use & Account Policy.

A few notes on reading this table:

• Monthly vs. annual billing. Several vendors show a lower “per month” figure that’s only available if you pay for a year up front. Compare like with like.
• Taxes. Heidi notes its prices exclude applicable sales tax. Others may too.
• Enterprise vendors. Abridge, Suki, and DeepScribe sell mainly through sales conversations. Third-party sites publish estimates for them, but those aren’t vendor list prices, so we haven’t repeated them here.

What actually drives the cost of an AI scribe

The sticker price is only part of it. These are the factors that move your real cost up or down.

Visit volume and note caps

If you see 20+ patients a day, a capped plan will run out fast. Count your monthly encounters (including telehealth and follow-ups) before you pick a tier. A part-time clinician may be better served by a capped plan at half the price.

EHR integration depth

There’s a big difference between:

• Copy-and-paste or browser-based transfer into any web-based EHR (common, quick to set up), and
• Deep, bidirectional integration with a specific EHR (often enterprise-only, with longer implementation).

Deep integration can be worth it for large groups. For many small practices, a browser extension that inserts the note into the EHR is enough, and much cheaper.

Features bundled vs. sold separately

Look at what’s actually in each tier: coding suggestions (ICD-10, CPT, E/M), dictation, after-visit summaries, patient letters, clinical-question answering, and custom templates. Two plans at the same price can include very different things.

Team and admin needs

Groups typically need centralized billing, shared templates, admin controls, and sometimes SSO. These usually live in team or enterprise tiers. Also ask whether medical assistants need their own paid seats.

Contract terms

Month-to-month plans let you walk away. Annual plans save money but lock you in. Enterprise contracts may add implementation fees and auto-renewal. Read the terms before you sign, not after.

Support and onboarding

Self-serve tools are cheaper. Guided onboarding, dedicated support, and training sessions add value, especially for groups, but may cost more or only come with higher tiers.

Not sure which plan fits your volume? Book a 20-minute demo and we’ll walk through your visit numbers and workflow with you before you commit to anything.

How to estimate your real monthly cost

Here’s a simple way to compare vendors on equal footing:

1. Count your notes. Average encounters per clinician per month, including telehealth.
2. List your must-haves. EHR transfer method, coding suggestions, templates, mobile app, languages.
3. Find the lowest tier that covers both. Not the cheapest tier overall.
4. Normalize billing. Convert everything to the same billing cycle (monthly or annual).
5. Add the extras. Assistant seats, add-on credits, implementation fees, taxes.
6. Multiply by clinicians. Then check for volume discounts.

For the full set of non-price criteria, see our 12-point checklist for choosing an AI scribe.

Where Chartnote fits

Chartnote publishes its prices and offers a free plan, so you can test it on real visits before paying. Personal accounts can start a 14-day free trial of paid plans. Chartnote is HIPAA compliant. A SOC 2 Type II audit covers the whole platform on every plan. Patient data is never used to train AI models. As listed on chartnote.com/plans as of October 2026:

• Basic ($0): 15 AI Scribe notes per month, note transfer into any web-based EMR, custom templates and snippets. No credit card required.
• Pro ($39.99/month per clinician): up to 100 AI Scribe notes per month, unlimited Copilot tools, and priority support. Built for part-time clinicians.
• Max ($99.99/month per clinician): unlimited AI Scribe notes under the fair-use policy, plus up to two 1:1 expert support sessions. Built for full-time practice.
• Team Max ($99.99/month per clinician, teams of 2 to 50): shared templates, snippets, and notes, centralized billing, and admin tools. Chartnote Teams also includes one assistant seat per clinician subscription at no extra cost.
• Enterprise (contact sales): SSO, dedicated support, usage analytics, and org-wide data retention settings.

Annual billing lowers Pro to $35.99 and Max and Team Max to $89.99 per clinician per month. All plans include the web app, iOS and Android apps, a Chrome extension for web-based EHRs, support for 50+ languages, and custom templates. Basic and Pro users can buy extra AI Scribe credits if they need more notes in a given month.

Chartnote also offers a student discount, and its FAQ notes that eligible nonprofits may receive up to 50% off Team or Enterprise plans.

Questions to ask before you sign

• What happens when I hit my note limit?
• Is “unlimited” subject to a fair-use policy, and what does it say?
• Is a BAA included on every plan, including free and trial accounts?
• Are coding suggestions, dictation, and templates included or extra?
• Do my medical assistants need paid seats?
• What’s the minimum term, and is there an implementation fee?
• Can I cancel month-to-month?

FAQ

How much does an AI medical scribe cost per month?

As of October 2026, published individual plans range from free tiers to roughly $39 to $150 per clinician per month for most self-serve vendors, with some premium tiers higher (Heidi’s Clinician Max is $409 billed monthly). Enterprise-focused vendors such as Abridge, Suki, and DeepScribe don’t publish prices.

Is there a free AI medical scribe?

Yes. Chartnote, Heidi, and Scribeberry offer permanent free plans with limits, and several others offer free trials. Before you use any free plan with real patients, confirm it’s covered by a BAA.

Is per-note or per-month pricing better?

It depends on your volume. Part-time clinicians often save with a capped tier. Full-time clinicians usually come out ahead on an unlimited per-clinician plan. Count your monthly notes first, then compare.

Why don’t some AI scribe vendors publish prices?

Vendors that sell mainly to health systems price by contract, based on seat count, EHR integration, and support level. Ask for a written quote that includes term length, implementation fees, and renewal terms.

Does Chartnote offer a free trial?

Chartnote has a free Basic plan with 15 AI Scribe notes per month, and a 14-day free trial of paid plans for personal accounts.

Try Chartnote on your next visit

The fastest way to judge an AI scribe’s value is to run it on your own patients. Start free with 15 AI Scribe notes a month, no credit card required, at chartnote.com/welcome.

Evaluating for a practice or group? Book a demo and we’ll help you size the right plan for your team.

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