Looking for a SimplePractice alternative? Here's the fair comparison

Why therapists are comparing now

Two changes in fall 2026 sent a lot of SimplePractice users looking at their invoices. SimplePractice's help article on what's changing with insurance pricing says that from October 1, 2026, free claims ended on all plans and electronic claims start at $0.39 each, with lower prices at higher volume; subscription prices didn't change. Its AMA fee FAQs add a $20 per paid clinician yearly fee, shown on the November 2026 invoice. Neither is unusual in the industry, and SimplePractice published both. But for an insurance-heavy practice, claims fees can now rival the subscription, which makes this a good moment to price the whole bill, not just the plan.

If you're comparing several EHRs, our guide to how behavioral health EHR pricing works has a worksheet that turns any quote into one monthly number, and the therapy practice EHR checklist lists the 60 features to check. This page is narrower: SimplePractice and Cima, side by side, with what each one doesn't do.

SimplePractice vs Cima, line by line

SimplePractice column: its subscription plan and pricing FAQs, features by plan and the articles linked in each row, read October 24, 2026. Cima column: our pricing page and the app itself. "Not found" means we didn't find it on SimplePractice's public pages, not that it doesn't exist; ask them.

Line	SimplePractice	Cima EHR
First clinician, per month	Starter from $49, Essential from $79, Plus from $99	Solo $59; Solo Prescriber $129; Program (IOP/PHP) $399
More than one clinician	Plus plan only; added clinicians $69 to $74 each depending on practice size; practice managers $39 each	Any plan; $39 per added clinician; billing and front-desk logins free
Insurance claims	From $0.39 per claim since October 1, 2026, lower above 250 a month; manual claim status checks $0.15 on Starter and Essential	30¢ per claim, 20¢ per electronic remittance (ERA), 30¢ per eligibility question, 30¢ per status check: the clearinghouse's standard rate
Claim forms	CMS-1500 (professional) claims, up to six appointments per claim, per its claim filing guide; a UB-04 option not found	837P (CMS-1500); 837I (UB-04) for program per diem days on the Program plan
AI note help	Note Taker add-on, $35 a month per clinician	Included in every plan; drafts only from what you typed; runs on a HIPAA-eligible AWS service under a BAA
E-prescribing	Add-on: $49 a month per clinician plus $89 one-time setup	Part of Solo Prescriber and Program, but not live yet (coming soon)
Video sessions	Built in; listed on every plan in its features comparison	Not built in. You paste a link from any HIPAA-ready video service; it goes in the reminder, and the claim gets modifier 95 and the telehealth place of service
Group sessions	On Plus (an add-on on Essential); up to 15 clients; one group note plus an optional individual note per client, per its group notes article	Program plan: topic and summary once, a required entry per client tied to a treatment-plan goal, one PIN signs all; near-identical entries are stopped
Client card payments	Built in: 3.15% + $0.30 per card payment; ACH 1.75% + $0.10, per its online payments article	Not built in. You run cards on your own processor and record the payment (card, cash, check) in Cima
Client paperwork and booking	Client portal, paperless intake and online appointment requests	Secure link by text or email, no client account; online booking page with each clinician's hours; text replies confirm
IOP / PHP program tools	Levels of care, attendance hours and per diem billing not found	Program plan: levels of care, attendance from signed notes, per diem charges, authorizations and continued-stay reviews
Getting your data out	Complete export from Settings > Practice > Data export; the export inside the cancel flow covers client information only; data kept no more than 64 days after termination, per its cancellation article	Whole practice in one file, or any chart as a PDF, any time; readable and exportable at least 90 days after you cancel
Trial and terms	30-day trial; 50% off for 3 months if you subscribe in the first 7 days; no refunds; $20 AMA fee per paid clinician a year	30 days free, no card; month to month; 30 days' notice of a price change; no setup fee

A worked monthly total

A headline price isn't a bill. Here is one common shape: a solo therapist with 80 insured sessions a month who wants AI note help. Prices as published on October 24, 2026; taxes and promotions left out.

Line	SimplePractice Essential	Cima Solo
Plan	$79.00	$59.00
80 claims	80 × $0.39 = $31.20 (the starting rate)	80 × (30¢ claim + 20¢ ERA back) = $40.00
AI note help	$35.00	Included
AMA fee	$20 a year, about $1.67 a month	None
Monthly total	about $146.87	$99.00

Read that honestly. Cima's per-claim cost is higher in this example, because we count the electronic remittance coming back and we didn't find SimplePractice's remittance price on its public pages. Without AI note help, the gap narrows to about $13 a month. And if you'd add a separate video service or card processor because Cima doesn't include them, count those too. The table at Cima pricing and our total-cost worksheet let you redo this with your own numbers.

Who SimplePractice fits better

• You see many clients by video and want it in the EHR. SimplePractice lists built-in video on its plans. Cima has none built in yet.
• You collect client payments by card and want it in one place. SimplePractice runs cards and ACH inside the app. Cima records payments you take elsewhere.
• You prescribe today. SimplePractice's e-prescribing add-on exists now. Cima's isn't live yet, so a prescriber who needs it this month shouldn't wait on us.
• You want a large, established platform with a long track record and a big help center. Cima is new.

Who Cima fits better

• You'd pay for AI notes anyway. It's in every Cima plan, not a per-clinician add-on.
• You have, or plan, a group practice. Cima lets any plan add clinicians at $39, billers and front desk log in free, and associates' notes go to the supervisor to co-sign. See Cima for group practices.
• You run, or will add, an IOP or PHP. Levels of care, group notes with each client's own entry, attendance hours, per diem claims (837P or 837I) and continued-stay reviews live on the Program plan. See Cima for IOP and PHP programs.
• You want guardrails before you sign. Cima lists what's missing before a note can be signed, marks notes signed more than 72 hours late as late entries instead of backdating, and checks each claim for NPIs, taxonomy, member ID and your filing limit before it goes.
• You want one published price list. Everything Cima charges is on the pricing page; there are no add-ons.

Other alternatives worth a look

A fair list includes more than us. TherapyNotes is the other common choice for therapy practices; our comparison covers its December 2026 price change. If you're on SimplePractice because a credentialing network pointed you there, see Headway, Alma and the alternatives. If you're a student or have a handful of clients, read what free EHRs really include before paying for anything. Running a program? Our IOP EHR comparison puts program EHRs side by side.

How to move off SimplePractice

1. Run the complete export first. SimplePractice's help center says the export inside the cancel flow covers client information only; notes, billing documents and messages come from the complete export the account owner runs under Settings > Practice > Data export. Do this while your account is open: its cancellation article says data is kept no more than 64 days after termination.
2. Store the export somewhere encrypted that you control, covered by a BAA if it's a cloud service. You still have to keep those records as long as your board requires; our guide to how long to keep records in Texas has the rules by license.
3. Import your client list into Cima. Cima reads SimplePractice's client CSV column names, shows a preview, skips duplicates, and saves nothing until you press Import. Past notes don't import; add current clients' latest plan, intake and releases to their Files tab.
4. Start ERA enrollment with each payer early. It takes 1 to 3 weeks per payer, so it's the longest step. Our ERA and EFT enrollment guide walks through it.
5. Pick a Monday cutover. From that date, document and bill new visits in Cima; finish older claims in SimplePractice until they're paid. The full two-week plan is in switching EHRs.

One practical detail: subscribe or cancel on SimplePractice's billing date that suits your cutover. Its pricing FAQs say it doesn't offer refunds, and plan changes are prorated.

Questions

Is there a cheaper alternative to SimplePractice?

On published prices, yes for many practices: Cima Solo is $59 a month with AI note drafting included, against SimplePractice's $49 to $99 plans plus a $35 Note Taker add-on. Per claim, Cima charges 30¢ plus 20¢ for the electronic remittance, and SimplePractice starts at $0.39. Cima doesn't include video or card processing, so add what those cost you elsewhere before deciding.

Does SimplePractice charge for insurance claims now?

Yes. SimplePractice's help center says free claims ended on all plans on October 1, 2026, and claims start at $0.39 each, with volume discounts. Subscription prices didn't change.

Can I export my notes from SimplePractice?

SimplePractice's help center describes a complete export, run by the account owner from Settings > Practice > Data export, that includes clinical notes, billing documents and messages. The export offered while canceling covers client information only. Run the complete export before you cancel.

Will my notes import into Cima?

No. Cima imports your client list (names, dates of birth, contact details, insurance and diagnosis codes) from a CSV. Keep past notes in your SimplePractice export, and upload the documents you need for current clients to their chart.

What does SimplePractice do that Cima doesn't?

Built-in video sessions, client card and ACH payments, and e-prescribing that's live today. Cima also has no client mobile app; clients use secure links in their phone's browser. If any of those decide it for you, SimplePractice is the better fit right now.

Is Cima HIPAA compliant? Will it sign a BAA?

Every Cima account comes with a Business Associate Agreement. Sign-in is two-step, every chart view is logged in a log that can't be edited, and records are encrypted. Our security page lists the details.

Sources

1. SimplePractice Help Center: Subscription plan and pricing FAQs; Comparing SimplePractice features by plan; What's changing with insurance pricing?; AMA fee FAQs. Read October 24, 2026.
2. SimplePractice Help Center: Filing primary claims; Adding progress notes for group appointments; Processing online payments; Canceling your SimplePractice account. Read October 24, 2026.
3. Cima EHR: the app's plan and clearinghouse price lists and its import, notes, claims and export screens (alturaops server/solo), the same numbers as cimaehr.com/pricing.

SimplePractice is a trademark of its owner, named here only to compare published facts. If something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it.