AdvancedMD vs. SimplePractice: Which EHR Is Best? 

AdvancedMD vs SimplePractice is a comparison that comes up often in the mental health EHR market, and for good reason. SimplePractice is purpose-built for solo and small behavioral health practices that want a clean, fast setup. AdvancedMD is built for practices that need to scale: more specialties, deeper billing infrastructure, and the architecture to support a Central Billing Office or multi-location operation. 

More than 65,000 practitioners across 14,000 practices run on AdvancedMD. This page compares both platforms honestly across features, pricing, support, and AI so you can decide which fits your practice. 

Which Platform Is Right for You? 

Choose AdvancedMD if… 

• You run a complex organization like a multi-location practice, group practice, or a Central Billing Office (CBO) requiring robust scale. 
• You need specialty coverage beyond mental health. AdvancedMD supports all specialties except dental and optometry. 
• You require technical extensibility like lab integrations, an open API, or custom third-party connectivity. 
• You want flexible pricing models with the choice between a per-provider or per-encounter structure. 
• You require 100% domestic support via phone, chat, and email for urgent clinical and billing issues. 

Choose SimplePractice if… 

• You operate a solo or small mental health practice such as a therapy, counseling, or psychology private practice. 
• Your top priority is AI-first, ambient documentation. SimplePractice’s Note Taker transcribes live sessions and auto-generates clinical progress notes.
• Your clinical team is Android-dependent for their day-to-day mobile workflows. 
• You want to test the platform before committing and prefer utilizing a 30-day free trial. 
• You prefer a standard, templated setup over deep workflow customization or practice scaling tools. 

Feature Comparison 

Feature	SimplePractice	AdvancedMD
Specialties	Mental Health, Wellness, Psychology, Counseling	All (except Dental and Optometry)
CBO Billing Support	Not available	Available (as an add-on)
AI Documentation	Add-on (Note Taker)	Add-on tool
Mobile App	Native (iOS & Android)	Native (iOS & iPadOS only)
Free Trial	Available (30 days)	Not available
Value-Based Care	Not available	Available (Third-party integration)
Clearinghouse	Third-party (Eligible, Inc)	Native (Change Health & Waystar)
Support	Chat, email, and 1:1 video	100% Domestic (Phone, chat, email)
API Connectivity	Not available	Available (as an add-on)
Pricing Model	Per provider only	Flexible (Per provider or per encounter)
Telehealth	Add-on (Proprietary platform)	Available (Third-party integration)
Lab Integrations	Not available	Native

 

Pricing 

SimplePractice offers three structural pricing tiers: Starter at $49/month, Essential at $69/month, and Plus at $99/month. All of these tiers are limited strictly to a per-provider model. While the entry price is accessible for solo startups, the Starter plan completely excludes telehealth and electronic insurance claim filing. Moving up to Essential or Plus unlocks insurance workflows, but introduces claim overage fees. The Essential plan only includes 10 free claims before charging $0.35 per claim, and the Plus plan charges $0.25 per claim after the first 35 claims each month. For growing practices billing at a higher volume, these fees compound quickly, making the baseline sticker price somewhat misleading. 

In contrast, pricing flexibility is a clear advantage for AdvancedMD. By offering both per-provider and per-encounter structures, lower-volume practices, part-time clinicians, or hybrid clinics can choose an encounter model that is significantly more cost-effective than paying a flat monthly seat rate per provider. Both platforms carry upfront implementation costs, and current AdvancedMD tiers should be verified against their live pricing page prior to launch. 

Support & Onboarding 

AdvancedMD provides 100% domestic support handled entirely in-house via phone, chat, and email. For practices handling complex medical billing or time-sensitive clinical workflows, having live, US-based technical support during business hours serves as a major operational safeguard. AdvancedMD implementation features a multi-week onboarding process guided by dedicated in-house specialists who manage data migration, configuration, and testing. 

SimplePractice relies more heavily on a self-serve ecosystem utilizing Help Center documentation, product videos, and online classes. However, they do provide active live support via email, chat, and phone queues during regular business hours. The primary difference lies in the tier structures: standard phone support handles foundational account setups and accessibility troubleshooting, while premium, priority phone support lines are reserved exclusively for customers on their highest-tier Plus subscription. 

Conclusion 

While both AdvancedMD and SimplePractice serve the behavioral health market, they are engineered for entirely different practice footprints. SimplePractice is highly effective for solo and small mental health practices prioritizing absolute software simplicity and rapid AI documentation workflows. AdvancedMD is the ideal choice when your mental health organization plans to scale, bill high volumes, or manage a multi-specialty, multi-location framework. 

Ready to evaluate your options? See how AdvancedMD can streamline your practice workflows by scheduling a live demo today. 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Is SimplePractice cheaper than AdvancedMD? 

At the entry level for a solo provider, yes, SimplePractice starts at $49/month. However, because their top tier charges a $0.25/claim overage fee after 35 claims per month, the platform’s cost scales up rapidly alongside your caseload. The AdvancedMD per-encounter pricing model often proves more cost-effective for multi-provider clinics or practices managing high patient volumes. 

Does AdvancedMD work for therapists and mental health practices? 

Yes. AdvancedMD features robust, specialty-specific templates and custom billing workflows tailored directly to behavioral health, including therapy, psychology, psychiatry, and counseling. Unlike SimplePractice, it easily supports hybrid practices that host multiple medical specialties under a single tax ID. 

Does AdvancedMD have an AI charting tool like SimplePractice’s Note Taker? 

Yes, though the underlying architecture differs. SimplePractice’s Note Taker is an add-on that transcribes live clinical audio into progress notes. AdvancedMD similarly offers AI documentation as an integrated add-on. While both systems minimize clinical charting burdens, SimplePractice’s tool has established a strong reputation specifically within solo behavioral health circles. 

Which platform is better for group or multi-location mental health practices? 

AdvancedMD is the superior choice. SimplePractice lacks the native architecture required to run a multi-location enterprise or support a Central Billing Office (CBO). AdvancedMD natively powers more than 900 billing networks and handles 9.5 million claims a month, making it built to sustain high-growth scaling. 

Can I use SimplePractice or AdvancedMD on Android? 

SimplePractice offers fully functional native applications for both iOS and Android platforms. The AdvancedMD mobile applications are heavily optimized for iOS and iPadOS environments. If your clinical team relies explicitly on Android devices for charting on the go, SimplePractice holds a practical coverage advantage. 

Does AdvancedMD offer a free trial? 

No, AdvancedMD does not offer a free trial period. SimplePractice offers a 30-day free trial so users can test the system. AdvancedMD instead handles pre-purchase evaluations through interactive product demonstrations. 

Does SimplePractice support billing companies (CBO)? 

No. SimplePractice is designed solely for internal practice billing where clinicians submit their own claims. AdvancedMD features built-in CBO architecture, currently supporting more than 900 independent billing companies with a ~100% first-pass claim acceptance rate driven by its ClaimInspector tool. 

What integrations does AdvancedMD have that SimplePractice doesn’t? 

AdvancedMD features native lab integrations, an open API for custom software connections, and built-in clearinghouse access via Waystar and Change Health. SimplePractice does not support an open API or lab connectivity, routing its claims through Eligible, Inc. as a third-party clearinghouse. For practices requiring deep data connectivity, AdvancedMD offers a vastly more mature ecosystem.