SimplePractice is strong for
Therapists who want a large established EHR with broad plan options, telehealth, client portal, billing, and a deep support ecosystem.
Clara vs SimplePractice: EHR features or follow-through around the practice?
SimplePractice is a major EHR platform with plans, telehealth, secure messaging, billing, team features, mobile apps, and AI add-ons. Clara is built for practices that want the client record and the follow-up work around it in one place.
Quick answer
SimplePractice vs Clara
Choose SimplePractice if you want an established EHR with broad feature maturity and familiar therapist workflows. Consider Clara if your biggest gap is not charting, but the follow-up, phone, billing, and rebooking work that keeps escaping the EHR.
Best fit, honestly
Clara is strong for
Practices where the owner still has to remember inquiry replies, billing nudges, clients without a next session, and practice texts from a personal phone.
The honest tradeoff
SimplePractice has scale, a large customer base, and mature plan packaging. Clara is newer and more opinionated around admin follow-through.
Side-by-side
This is based on public pages reviewed on June 22, 2026. Plans and features can change, so check the linked sources before making a final decision.
| Area | SimplePractice | Clara |
|---|---|---|
| Plans and pricing | SimplePractice publicly lists Starter at $49/month, Essential at $79/month, and Plus at $99/month after promotional pricing. | Clara starts with a 30-day free trial, then $49/month plus $19 per additional clinician, with booking, notes, billing, practice phone number, follow-up, Clara AI, and reporting included. |
| Team features | SimplePractice says team members are exclusive to Plus; additional providers are priced by group size. | Clara is designed for owner-led and group practices that need shared visibility into follow-up, billing, and rebooking. |
| AI | SimplePractice lists Care Aide and Note Taker as add-on features, with Care Aide including Note Taker, Session Sidekick, Treatment Planner, and Client Summaries. | Clara AI is focused less on care-note generation and more on admin drafts: first replies, billing reminders, intake nudges, and rebooking check-ins. |
| Client communication | SimplePractice includes secure messaging on Essential and Plus, with broader group/team messaging controls on Plus. | Clara includes a practice phone number for calls and texts, saved to the client record. |
| Follow-up and retention | SimplePractice covers core EHR workflows and has many client-management tools. | Clara's wedge is showing the open loops: inquiries, incomplete intake, unpaid balances, no-next-session clients, and past clients to check in with. |
The bottom line
No fake winner
Choose SimplePractice if you want an established EHR with broad feature maturity and familiar therapist workflows. Consider Clara if your biggest gap is not charting, but the follow-up, phone, billing, and rebooking work that keeps escaping the EHR.
Sources checked
We link to competitor sources directly so you can verify the comparison yourself.
SimplePractice pricing
Public plan pricing and listed add-ons.
SimplePractice feature comparison
Plan-level details for telehealth, secure messaging, team members, and group sessions.
Common questions
Quick answers
Is Clara better than SimplePractice?
Not universally. SimplePractice may be better for some practices. Clara is more focused on the admin follow-through around the client record: inquiries, calls, texts, billing nudges, rebooking, and Clara AI drafts.
When should I consider Clara instead of SimplePractice?
Consider Clara if your practice is already using an EHR but still relies on spreadsheets, personal phones, and memory for follow-up, billing reminders, and rebooking.
See if Clara fits your practice.
Bring the way your practice runs now. Clara will show what can move into one system and what should stay as-is.