PRICING BREAKDOWN · 2026

SimplePractice pricing

$49, $79 or $99 a month — and that is not the bill. Claims are 50¢ each, insurance checks 25¢, CPT code access $20 a year per clinician, and the PDMP add-on carries a $699 setup fee. Half of those numbers are published on a different page from the one you were reading. Here is the whole thing.

RealCostLabs is independent and reader-supported. We earn no commission from SimplePractice. All prices are read from the vendor’s own pages and verified in August 2026.

The short answer

A solo private-pay therapist pays $588 to $1,188 a year. A solo insurance-based practice filing 60 claims a month pays about $1,268. A five-clinician group filing 400 claims a month pays about $7,030.

Three things drive the gap between the sticker and the bill:

• Claims are metered. 10 free a month on Essential, 35 on Plus, then 50¢ each.
• Group practice forces the Plus plan. You cannot add a clinician on Starter or Essential at any price.
• The introductory discount lasts three months. Year two costs 14% more than year one at every tier.

Plans and limits in 2026

Billed monthly; SimplePractice does not offer annual prepayment pricing. 30-day free trial, no card required.

What each tier actually adds

The jump that matters is Starter to Essential, and it is not the claim allowance — it is reminders. On Starter you cannot send appointment reminders at all. For most practices that alone decides the tier, and we work out what it is worth further down.

The metered fees, and where they are actually published

This is the part worth knowing before you compare SimplePractice with anything else. The plan prices are on the pricing page. The per-use rates are on the plan comparison page, one click further in, and they are not summarised anywhere on the page most people read.

Two of those deserve a second look.

50¢ a claim is high for this category. TherapyNotes charges 14¢ per electronic claim with no free allowance and no cap — so SimplePractice costs 3.6 times as much per claim. On a busy insurance practice that single line runs to thousands a year, and it does not appear in any plan comparison you will find elsewhere.

The card processing rate is not stated anywhere. The footnote confirms Stripe fees are passed through and excluded from the discount, but no percentage is given. If a meaningful share of your income arrives by card, get that number before you sign.

The add-ons, and how they stack

Note the shape of Care Aide. At $59 for the owner and $49 for every additional clinician, a five-person practice adding it pays $255 a month — $3,060 a year, which is more than two-thirds of the plan itself.

And the PDMP setup fee is $699, more than a full year of the Starter plan, charged once. It is excluded from the introductory discount, and it appears only on the comparison page.

What you will really pay: three realistic setups

The solo private-pay therapist: $588 to $948

No insurance billing, so no claim fees and no CPT charge. The only real decision is whether you need appointment reminders.

The upgrade costs $360 a year. Whether it is worth it is a no-show question, not a software question: at 25 sessions a week and a $150 fee, every percentage point of no-show rate costs $1,725 a year. If reminders move your rate by even a fifth of a point, Essential has paid for itself.

The solo insurance practice: about $1,268 — and stay on Essential

Sixty claims a month, Essential plan: $948 subscription, $20 CPT access, and 50 chargeable claims at 50¢ = $300. Total $1,268.

Now the question everyone asks: does Plus pay for itself through its larger claim allowance? No, and it never does.

Subscription plus claim overages. Excludes CPT access, which applies to both.

The arithmetic is fixed: Plus gives you 25 more free claims a month, worth $150 a year at 50¢ each — but Plus costs $240 a year more. The gap settles at exactly $90 once you are past 35 claims and never closes.

Upgrade to Plus for group appointments, automatic insurance status checks, the premium support line, or to add a second clinician. Never for the claim allowance.

The five-clinician group: about $7,030

Group practice is Plus-only, so the entry price is set for you.

Card processing excluded. We assume the 35-claim allowance is per account rather than per clinician — SimplePractice does not state which, so confirm it, because at five clinicians the difference is $1,050 a year.

Claims are 31% of that bill. If you are comparing platforms on the monthly plan price alone, you are comparing about two-thirds of what you will actually be invoiced.

Year one is not year two

SimplePractice offers 50% off for three months if you add a card within seven days of starting the trial. It is a real discount, and it distorts every first-year comparison.

Every tier costs 14% more in year two. That is not a price rise — it is the introductory rate ending. Budget from the year-two column, and note that the discount never applies to the CPT fee, Stripe processing, the ePrescribe setup or the PDMP registration.

SimplePractice against TherapyNotes on price

Neither is simply cheaper. SimplePractice wins on reminders; TherapyNotes wins on claims and staff seats. Which matters depends on your mix — and for a five-clinician insurance practice, TherapyNotes comes out roughly $2,100 a year ahead. We work that comparison through in full in our guide to software for therapy practices.

How to pay less for SimplePractice

1. Start the paid plan inside seven days if you are going to buy anyway. Three months at half price is $74 to $592 depending on your size, and the window is short.
2. Do not upgrade to Plus for the claim allowance. It costs $240 a year to save $150. Upgrade for group features or a second clinician, or stay on Essential.
3. Stay on Starter only if you genuinely do not need reminders. $360 a year against a no-show rate is almost always the wrong saving.
4. Price Care Aide per head before enabling it. $59 for you plus $49 for everyone else compounds fast — $3,060 a year across five clinicians.
5. Ask for the Stripe rate in writing, and ask whether the claim allowance is per account or per clinician. At five clinicians that second answer is worth $1,050 a year.
6. Check whether you need PDMP at all before committing to the $699 setup fee. It is charged once, is excluded from the discount, and is not refundable by any published policy.

FAQ

How much does SimplePractice cost in 2026?

$49 a month for Starter, $79 for Essential and $99 for Plus, billed monthly. Additional clinicians start at $74 each and require the Plus plan. Realistically, a solo private-pay practice pays $588 to $948 a year and a five-clinician insurance group about $7,030.

Does SimplePractice have a free plan?

No, but there is a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, and it gives you every feature in the Plus plan while it runs.

What does SimplePractice charge per insurance claim?

50¢ per electronic claim above your allowance — 10 free a month on Essential, 35 on Plus. Manual insurance status checks are 25¢ each. Both rates are on the plan comparison page rather than the pricing page.

Is the Plus plan worth it?

Not for the claim allowance. The extra 25 free claims a month save $150 a year while the tier costs $240 more. Plus is worth it for group appointments, group telehealth, automatic insurance status checks, the premium support line, or because you need to add a clinician — which is only possible on Plus.

Can I add a second therapist on the Essential plan?

No. Adding clinicians, billers, supervisors, schedulers or a practice manager requires Plus. That makes the real entry price for any group practice $99 a month plus $74 per additional clinician.

What is the $20 annual fee?

AMA CPT code access — an $18 royalty to the American Medical Association plus a $2 processing fee, charged per clinician per year. It is excluded from the introductory discount.

How much does SimplePractice cost after the discount ends?

14% more than year one at every tier, because the 50% discount runs for three months only. A solo Essential account goes from $830 in year one to $948 in year two; a five-clinician group goes from $4,148 to $4,740.

What are the SimplePractice credit card processing fees?

Not published. The promotional footnote confirms Stripe processing fees are passed through and excluded from the discount, but no rate is stated on either the pricing page or the comparison page. Ask before signing.

Is SimplePractice cheaper than TherapyNotes?

For a solo private-pay practice, yes — Essential at $948 with free reminders beats TherapyNotes Solo at $828 plus 14¢ reminders once you send them. For a five-clinician insurance group, no: TherapyNotes runs about $2,100 a year less, because claims are 14¢ instead of 50¢ and administrative staff are free.

Does SimplePractice sign a HIPAA business associate agreement?

Yes — there is a BAA link in the site footer. Confirm and execute it before you put any client data in the system, as required by 45 CFR § 164.502(e).