30 adsProblem
Counts 15% of your scoreDo other people have this problem?
Yes, many therapists describe this exact problem. We found 40 people in your target group across 17 discussions in 4 communities, plus 9 more people outside it. Another 42 people described a nearby problem that your main feature would not fully fix, so we did not count them.
r/therapistsApr 2026"I feel so overwhelmed at the end of the day and week that I keep putting the note writing aside and now I'm so behind, is a nightmare!"
r/therapistsMay 2026"I absolutely loath notes. I’m fast, they are easy, and I can knock them all out in 2 hours/week if I focus. But I can’t focus😩"
r/PMHNPFeb 2026"I know it is excessive and I am charting in the mornings, evenings, and weekends. I am freaking out about the risks from the insurance companies for records"
How much does it hurt, and how often?
It hurts a lot, and it comes back often. Of 130 posts we rated, 60 describe lost time and 10 lost money, like a year of notes clawed back by insurers, and 24 say it happens daily. People already pay to fix it with AI scribes or hired helpers, though one user said she spends more time correcting the scribe than typing herself.
r/PMHNPFeb 2026"A scribe has saved me hours of documentation per week and immense amounts of cognitive energy and stress. Well worth the monthly cost for me."
r/therapistsApr 2026"After a years worth of notes (with a template) were clawbacked I lost a bunch of my sparkle"
r/PMHNPFeb 2026"I know it is excessive and I am charting in the mornings, evenings, and weekends. I am freaking out about the risks from the insurance companies for records"
Are people already trying to fix it?
Yes, therapists are already trying many fixes. They hand write notes, convert tablet handwriting, body double on video calls, hire helpers and pay for AI scribes. We found 8,460 US searches a month for tools like this, but 7,360 are brand names like Freed, and the trend is flat at minus 4%.
r/PMHNPFeb 2026"A scribe has saved me hours of documentation per week and immense amounts of cognitive energy and stress. Well worth the monthly cost for me."
r/therapistsJul 2026"I take notes on a tablet, convert my handwriting to text, and paste it into my EHR."
r/therapistsSept 2026"I take really good handwritten notes but hate typing them into formal progress notes in the EHR"
Market
Counts 10% of your scoreAre you targeting the right audience?
Mostly yes, and the person who uses it is the person who pays. In searches that did not name your audience, 9 of the 18 people we could place were solo private practice therapists, and tools like Freed and Mentalyc charge each therapist directly. The other half were therapy interns, agency therapists, occupational therapists, psychiatric nurse practitioners and social workers, so the problem is wider than your group.
MentalycDirect competitorMentalyc turns your therapy sessions into finished notes, plans and progress updates.
FreedDirect competitorFreed turns patient conversations into accurate clinical notes, so clinicians spend less time on paperwork.
UphealDirect competitorUpheal turns your therapy sessions into draft progress notes in about a minute.
How big is the market?
The market is big enough for a solo founder. The US Census counted 59,962 mental health practice offices in 2023, and 1% of them paying $39 would bring about $23,385 a month. That count only covers offices with paid staff, and the Census also counted 249,151 offices without staff in 2024, though not all are therapists.
Still missing: We found no official count of solo licensed therapists by staff size, which would show how many fit your audience exactly.
46,513 business locations
13,449 business locations
The U.S. Census Bureau counted 249,151 nonemployer offices of mental-health practitioners in 2024, which are businesses without paid employees and not a count of licensed therapists.
Money
Counts 20% of your scoreWill people pay for this?
Yes, therapists already pay for tools like this. Six direct competitors charge for it, three at $39 a month or more, and Freed and Mentalyc kept search ads running for 430 and 639 days. The strongest point against you is that Upheal has a free plan and Mentalyc starts at $14.99 a month.
Still missing: We found no figures on what therapists spend on hired helpers, which could show they pay more than $39.
SponsoredMentalycSponsoredMentalycr/PMHNPFeb 2026"A scribe has saved me hours of documentation per week and immense amounts of cognitive energy and stress. Well worth the monthly cost for me."
Is my price right?
Yes, $39 a month fits the market. Direct note tools charge $14.99 to $119 a month, $39 matches Upheal's AI Notes and Freed's Starter plan, and therapists say the pain is high. The risk is that Upheal's free plan already turns dictation into notes, and SimplePractice users can add its note taker for $35.
Still missing: We found no reviews showing how happy users are with Upheal's free plan.
UphealDirect competitorUpheal turns your therapy sessions into draft progress notes in about a minute.
FreedDirect competitorFreed turns patient conversations into accurate clinical notes, so clinicians spend less time on paperwork.
MentalycDirect competitorMentalyc turns your therapy sessions into finished notes, plans and progress updates.
Which way of making money fits best?
A monthly subscription fits best, and it is the model you chose. All six direct competitors charge monthly, and Freed and Mentalyc kept search ads running for over a year, which shows real paying customers. Ads make little sense for a private tool for therapists, while pay per session, like Blueprint's $0.99, could be a later option.
FreedDirect competitorFreed turns patient conversations into accurate clinical notes, so clinicians spend less time on paperwork.
MentalycDirect competitorMentalyc turns your therapy sessions into finished notes, plans and progress updates.
r/PMHNPFeb 2026"A scribe has saved me hours of documentation per week and immense amounts of cognitive energy and stress. Well worth the monthly cost for me."
How many customers do I need, and is that realistic?
You need 267 paying therapists, and keeping that many is hard alone. At $39 you keep $37.57 after card fees, so $10,000 a month takes 267 customers. If each stays about 20 months, you must win about 13 new therapists every month, even though 267 is only 0.4% of your market.
Still missing: We have not checked competitor revenue or team size, which would show what a small player really reaches.
FreedDirect competitorFreed turns patient conversations into accurate clinical notes, so clinicians spend less time on paperwork.
MentalycDirect competitorMentalyc turns your therapy sessions into finished notes, plans and progress updates.
UphealDirect competitorUpheal turns your therapy sessions into draft progress notes in about a minute.
Competition
Counts 20% of your scoreWho is already doing this, and how strong are they?
Several well-funded tools already write therapy notes from speech. We found six direct note tools, including Blueprint with $47M raised and Freed with $30M raised and about 21,800 monthly visits. Upheal even has a free plan that turns dictation into notes, but we found no star ratings for any of them.
Still missing: We found no star ratings for the direct note tools.
BlueprintDirect competitorBlueprint gives therapists AI help with notes, admin, and clinical work, alongside their current EHR or in its own all-in-one EHR.
FreedDirect competitorFreed turns patient conversations into accurate clinical notes, so clinicians spend less time on paperwork.
UphealDirect competitorUpheal turns your therapy sessions into draft progress notes in about a minute.
What do their customers hate?
The main complaint is about privacy, and it comes from only a few people. In posts, 4 people worried about AI tools and client data, and 2 said they might leave their record system over it. On Trustpilot we read 40 reviews and found just 3 low ones, about lost data at TherapyNotes and Mentalyc freezing a computer.
Still missing: We could not read G2 or Capterra reviews, the main review sites for this kind of software.
r/therapyJan 2026"The EHR I use and love for notes and virtual sessions is adopting optional Ai tools and I’m already considering migrating off."
r/therapistsJun 2026"I’m starting to wonder if I should change EHR altogether."
r/therapistsAug 2026"I also think therapists need to read the legal terms themselves"
Why would anyone switch to yours?
Your local-only promise is a real difference, but few people ask for it directly. No direct competitor says notes are made on the therapist's own computer, and we found 10 posts from people who distrust AI with client data. Still, no one asked for an on-device tool by name, and Upheal already has a Mac app, so it could copy you.
Still missing: We found no one saying they would switch to a tool because it runs only on their computer.
r/therapyJan 2026"The EHR I use and love for notes and virtual sessions is adopting optional Ai tools and I’m already considering migrating off."
r/therapistsJun 2026"I’m starting to wonder if I should change EHR altogether."
r/therapistsAug 2026"I also think therapists need to read the legal terms themselves"
Could a big company or ChatGPT do this for free tomorrow?
Yes, big platforms already do the main job, but not for free and not on the therapist's computer. SimplePractice sells a Note Taker for $35 a month, and 83% of surveyed users said it helped them finish notes faster. TherapyNotes added note dictation in November 2025, and about 8,500 practitioners used Jane's AI Scribe in its first months.
Still missing: We did not test whether ChatGPT itself writes usable therapy notes.
SimplePractice's Note Taker drafts notes inside the client chart, and 83% of surveyed users said it helped them complete notes faster.
SimplePractice has an AI-powered note taker feature for therapy sessions.
SimplePracticeBig platformSimplePractice is an all-in-one, HIPAA-compliant software platform for therapists and other health professionals.
best therapy progress note software
MentalycUphealSimplePractice
TherapyNotes
Sessions Health
AutoNotesTherapyFuelThe one in violet is not in your competitor list. See the answer ↗
Timing
Counts 5% of your scoreIs interest growing or dying?
Interest is holding steady, not growing or dying. Searches across all terms for products like yours changed by minus 4% over the last 12 months. Posts about the problem did rise, from 22 in October to December 2025 to 42 in July to September 2026.
Why would this work now, and did others try and fail?
It works now because Apple released on-device speech-to-text and an on-device summary model in 2025, which run offline at no cost per use. Rivals are still raising money, like Freed in March 2025 and Blueprint in July 2025. Against this, Clarigent closed in February 2025 for unclear reasons, and Cydoc closed over costly record-system connections that you avoid by copy and paste.
Still missing: We could not find the real reason Clarigent closed, or whether it wrote progress notes.
At WWDC25 Apple introduced the Foundation Models framework, a Swift API giving developers access to the on-device large language model.
The on-device model is designed for tasks such as summarization, extraction, and classification, and it can run offline.
Apple introduced the SpeechAnalyzer API at WWDC 2025, providing native, long-form, on-device transcription.
Marketing
Counts 15% of your scoreWhere do these people gather, and can I reach them without paying?
Your idea's people gather mostly on Reddit, but search is your one free route today. Open search terms like "therapy notes app" (590 a month) and "therapy progress notes cheat sheet pdf" (720) add up to 2,750 searches a month. Every community we found bans promotion, including r/therapists with 228,534 weekly active users, though its rule 6 allows a self-promo thread on the 1st of each month.
Still missing: We found no creators and only 1 decision maker with a work email.
r/therapists228,534 people active a weekA supportive international community for therapists, social workers, counselors, psychologists, and other mental health professionals (who are actively seeing clients in a clinical capacity) to gather, discuss, and gain information. You are welcome to set your own flair or contact mod mail to get a
r/PMHNP14,516 people active a weekA place for PMHNPs and others interested in mental health.
r/NDtherapists1,496 people active a weekA supportive international group of neuro-diverse counselors, social workers, psychologists and other relevant professionals to gather, discuss and gain information. You are welcome to set your own flair, or contact mod mail to get a verified flair so that other members know you are a certified prof
How do I get my first 10 customers?
Start by messaging the 25 therapists who already posted about this problem. You also have 2 people leaving a competitor, 2 companies hiring for this job, the monthly self-promo thread in r/therapists, and 2,750 open searches a month. The catch is that we don't know yet how many will say yes, and most communities ban selling.
Still missing: We don't know how many of these warm leads will actually reply or buy.
r/therapists228,534 people active a weekA supportive international community for therapists, social workers, counselors, psychologists, and other mental health professionals (who are actively seeing clients in a clinical capacity) to gather, discuss, and gain information. You are welcome to set your own flair or contact mod mail to get a
r/PMHNP14,516 people active a weekA place for PMHNPs and others interested in mental health.
If I pay for ads, is a customer worth more than they cost?
Yes, and your $300 a month buys about 8 customers on the cheap search terms. A $0.73 click means about $37 per customer if 2% of clicks buy, against $780 over 20 months. The risk is the median click across all terms, $10.91, which pushes a customer to about $546.
Still missing: We have no real rate of how many clicks turn into paying therapists.
FreedDirect competitorFreed turns patient conversations into accurate clinical notes, so clinicians spend less time on paperwork.
MentalycDirect competitorMentalyc turns your therapy sessions into finished notes, plans and progress updates.
TherapyNotesNearby productTherapyNotes is an all-in-one practice management system for behavioral health professionals.
Building
Counts 10% of your scoreCan I build this, and how long will it take?
Yes, one person can build this in about 11 weeks. We assumed one person using AI coding tools for 15 hours a week, which adds up to 140 hours of work plus about 1.5 weeks waiting for Apple and payment approval. The hardest part is running a small AI model on the Mac itself, which takes 20 to 40 hours, plus 10 to 24 hours of testing note quality on slower Macs.
Still missing: We do not know your coding experience or real weekly hours, which could change the 11 weeks.
UphealDirect competitorUpheal turns your therapy sessions into draft progress notes in about a minute.
MentalycDirect competitorMentalyc turns your therapy sessions into finished notes, plans and progress updates.
The Apple Developer Program membership includes distributing Mac apps outside the Mac App Store using a Developer ID certificate and Apple's notarization process.
What are the hidden hard parts, and could one platform shut me out?
Your biggest hidden hard part is health privacy law, even though your design avoids most of it. HHS says cloud services that handle client data count as business associates, so keeping everything on the Mac may spare you contracts that cost $2,000 to $8,000 in legal fees. Still, substance use records have extra consent rules, New York wants records kept secure and backed up, and therapists will ask you to prove no data leaves the Mac, so this is not legal advice and you should check with a lawyer.
Still missing: We found no web answer on whether a vendor whose app never touches client data must sign a business associate agreement.
HHS FAQ says a covered entity may use a cloud service to store or process ePHI if it has a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement with the cloud provider.
HHS states that cloud service providers handling ePHI are business associates even if they cannot view the data because it is encrypted.
Under 42 CFR Part 2, substance use disorder patient records require specific patient consent for disclosure, with limited exceptions such as medical emergencies or court orders.
What will it cost me to run?
Running costs are very low because the AI runs on the therapist's own Mac. You pay no per-note AI fees, so your main costs are card fees of about $1.43 out of each $39 and Apple's $99 a year developer fee. Hosting the model download is the one cost we could not price, and it could matter while you have few customers.
Still missing: We did not find prices for hosting large model downloads or your payment provider's exact fees.
The Apple Developer Program annual membership fee is 99 USD per membership year.
The Apple Developer Program membership includes distributing Mac apps outside the Mac App Store using a Developer ID certificate and Apple's notarization process.
TherapyDraft pricing is $39 per month for solo use and $29 per seat per month for groups.
Founder fit
Counts 5% of your scoreDo I have an advantage?
You have a partial advantage, based on what you told us. You have this problem yourself and you have built software before. You have not worked in this market or sold software yet, so you will learn selling as you go.
Still missing: We could not check anything you told us about your background.
Do my time, money and income goal fit this route?
Your plan fits only with a lower goal or more time and money. At 15 hours a week the build takes about 11 weeks, and your $300 a month in ads buys about 8 customers. That levels off near 160 therapists, about $6,000 a month against $10,000, and this assumes 2% of clicks buy, which we have not seen proven.
Still missing: We had no real buy rate from clicks for this kind of tool, so the ad numbers are estimates.
Recommendations
No scoreWhat to do with the answers above, written after them.
Send the DM to 15 of the 25 therapists who posted about notes. Ask for a 15 minute call.
Who should I sell to first?
A Mac app that writes your progress note from a 2-minute spoken summary, and no client data ever leaves your computer.
Sell to these people first: Solo private practice therapists in the US who are weeks behind on notes and have said they distrust AI tools with client data. Start with the 25 therapists who posted about this problem, plus the 2 people leaving a competitor.
No competitor says notes are made on the therapist's own computer, and we found 10 posts from people who distrust AI with client data. Big tools already write notes, so you win on privacy and on being simple, not on speed.
What should I charge?
Start at $29 a month with a 14-day free trial, and test $39 against it.
| Plan | Price | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | $29 a month | Unlimited notes, SOAP and DAP templates, copy into any record system, works with no internet. |
The report says $39 fits the market, but Upheal's free plan and Mentalyc at $14.99 make a new, unknown app a hard sell at $39. Upheal, Freed Starter and Sessions Health all sit at $39, so $29 gives you a clear reason to try you. Raise the price to $39 once 10 therapists are paying and keep the privacy promise in the pitch.
What should I build first?
- Record a 2-minute spoken summary after a session: This is the core job. Therapists said notes eat their evenings.
- Turn the summary into a SOAP or DAP progress note on the computer itself: This is your one real difference. No competitor does it.
- Works with no internet: This is how you prove that no data leaves the Mac.
- Copy into the practice's record system: Copy and paste avoids costly record-system connections. It also kept you out of the trap that closed Cydoc.
- A simple proof page showing that no data leaves the Mac: Therapists will ask you to prove it. A short page with clear steps builds trust.
- A one-page consent sheet for clients: 9 posts said clients get upset about AI notes. A ready-made sheet helps therapists use you with less worry.
- Note templates: Start with SOAP and DAP only. Add more templates after customers ask for them.
Who can I talk to this week?
25 people who posted about this problem, 2 companies hiring for this job, and 2 decision-makers. Every lead links to where we found it.
| Person | Why talk to them | Post |
|---|---|---|
| u/L••• | Described the problem: Months behind on notes (would pay) | link |
| u/C••• | Described the problem | link |
| u/t••• | Described the problem: Months behind on notes | link |
| u/S••• | Described the problem: Notes eat my evenings | link |
| u/L••• | Described the problem: Months behind on notes | link |
| Person | Role | Company | Fit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben P. | Spa Owner | Balance Wellness Center | Not found | 60 |
| Kathy H. | Founder | DREAM CATCHER THERAPY CENTER | •••@dctc.org ✓ | 55 |
| Company | Job | Where | Fit | Job post |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mellow Therapy | Licensed Therapist - Private Practice | Los Angeles, California, United States | 65 | link |
| Ember and Sage Therapy Collective | Mental Health Therapist | East Lansing, Michigan, United States | 55 | link |
Hi, I saw your post about being behind on notes. I know that feeling, since I have the same problem. I'm building a small Mac app that turns a short spoken summary into a note on your own computer, with nothing sent to a server. I'm not selling anything yet. Could I ask you 3 quick questions about how you handle notes today?
- Walk me through the last time you wrote a progress note. What did you do first?
- How far behind on notes are you right now, and what happens when you fall behind?
- What have you tried to fix this, and what did you stop using?
- Have you used an AI note tool? What did you like and not like?
- How do you feel about client details going to a cloud server?
- Have any clients asked you about AI and their notes? What did you say?
- Which record system do you use, and how do notes get into it?
- What do you pay for notes or admin help today, and what made you start paying?
What is the cheapest test, and when should I stop?
Put up a simple page, send people to it, and talk to them. The targets tell you whether to keep going.
Write your therapy notes in 2 minutes. Nothing leaves your Mac.
Speak a short summary after each session. QuietNotes turns it into a SOAP or DAP note on your own computer, even with no internet.
- No client data is sent to any server
- Get evenings and weekends back from notes
- Copy the finished note into your record system
r/therapists monthly self-promo thread (1st of the month): Rule 6 allows self-promotion in this one thread only. Follow the posted rules and do not post anywhere else in that group.
Google search pages like "therapy notes app" and "soap note generator": These 2,750 open searches a month are your one free route. Publish a landing page and an offline SOAP note page.
r/therapists, r/PMHNP, r/slp, r/NDtherapists (read and answer only): These ban promotion and market research. Do not share a link. Read, help with real questions and find people to message by DM.
LinkedIn: 4 relevant posts were found there. Message therapists directly and keep it personal.
| Day | What to do |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Send the DM to 15 of the 25 therapists who posted about notes. Ask for a 15 minute call. |
| Day 2 | Send the DM to the other 10 leads and the 2 people leaving a competitor. Book calls. |
| Day 3 | Hold 3 to 5 calls using the 8 questions. Focus on privacy: ask if on-device would change what they buy. |
| Day 4 | Build the landing page with the $29 pre-order button. Add a short mock demo video or screenshots. |
| Day 5 | Hold more calls. Send the page to everyone who replied, and ask them to pre-order. |
| Day 6 | Write the page "SOAP Note Generator That Works Offline on Your Mac" and publish it. Email the 2 hiring companies' contacts. |
| Day 7 | Count replies, calls and pre-orders. Note every reason people gave for saying no. |
Where will my first customers come from?
| Channel | Why | First step |
|---|---|---|
| Direct outreach to therapists who posted about notes | You have 25 warm leads, and they already said the problem hurts. Every community bans selling, so DMs are the fastest route. | Send the DM to 15 leads on Monday and ask for a 15 minute call. |
| Search pages | Open terms like "therapy notes app" and "soap note generator" bring about 2,750 searches a month for free. Your privacy angle is not covered by anyone. | Publish "SOAP Note Generator That Works Offline on Your Mac" and a free progress notes cheat sheet PDF. |
| The monthly self-promo thread in r/therapists | It is the one place with 228,534 weekly users where a link is allowed. Use it once a month. | Write a short, honest post for the next 1st of the month and read the thread rules first. |
Is there a better version nearby?
Ideas close to QuietNotes that this research points to. We have not checked them yet.
Audit-ready notes for therapists who bill insurance
Same therapists, but the product fixes the fear of insurance clawbacks instead of the time spent writing.
The quick check on audits and clawbacks found 30 relevant posts out of 57 read, which is real demand. That is more than double the 14 posts on months-behind notes. Therapists wrote about insurers taking back $1,200 and thousands of dollars, and one said she is terrified of being audited.
Not known yet: We only did a quick check on this problem and did not look at competitors for it. We do not know if therapists would pay for a note checker or what rules insurers use.
Check this ideaBacklog rescue for therapists months behind
Same therapists, but you sell a one-time catch-up service for piled-up notes instead of a daily note tool.
The quick check on being months behind found 14 relevant posts out of 47 read. Some therapists have 100 or more notes waiting, and they feel shame and panic. Daily tools do not help someone who starts with a huge pile.
Not known yet: We only did a quick check and did not look at competitors for this. We do not know if therapists would pay for a catch-up tool, or if they would trust it with old notes.
Check this idea