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Best EHR for your mental health practice

TheraNest vs SimplePractice

TheraNest and SimplePractice are both therapy practice management software options, but they’re built for different practice sizes and billing complexity. SimplePractice works for solo therapists who want a self-directed setup. But add clinicians, complex billing, or growing workflows, and it shows its limits. This page helps you choose before switching becomes costly.

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TheraNest vs SimplePractice: Which is the Best EHR for your mental health practice?

TheraNest
Simple Practice
Running a growing team
yesBuilt to support multiple clinicians, staff roles, and complex workflows with structure that keeps operations organized as you add people
limitedStreamlined and self-directed; works well for smaller teams but has fewer operational layers as complexity increases
Billing visibility as volume grows
yesClear view of what's paid, pending, and needs follow-up so unpaid claims don't slip through as caseload grows
limitedWorks well for straightforward, lower-volume billing; less built for practices tracking a high volume of insurance claims
Getting set up correctly
yesGuided onboarding with a specialist who configures your workflows alongside you so you're not discovering setup mistakes later
limitedSelf-directed setup designed to get you started quickly with minimal configuration; most configuration is on you
Best fit over time
yesStrong fit if you're building a multi-clinician practice and need more operational control as workflows and billing complexity grow
limitedStrong fit if you value simplicity and a self-serve model – but may require workarounds as the practice scales
yes Supportedlimited Limitedno Not Available

SimplePractice strengths and weaknesses

We’re not going to tell you SimplePractice is bad. That would be dishonest, and you’d know it.  What we will tell you is where the two platforms diverge and let you decide which tradeoffs make sense for your practice. 

Team success starts with better workflows

With SimplePractice, team management costs scale with every hire. TheraNest charges for additional clinicians and practice admins, but not for schedulers and billers so growing your administrative team doesn’t drive up your costs.

Billing without the headache

SimplePractice handles billing fine at low volume, but as claims grow, tracking what’s unpaid or stuck becomes manual work. TheraNest treats billing visibility as a core feature, showing exactly what’s paid, pending, or needs attention at a glance.

Set up right from day one

SimplePractice’s self-directed setup works great for solo therapists, but group practices often discover configuration mistakes when they start costing money. TheraNest pairs you with an Implementation Specialist to guide your setup so roles, billing settings, and workflows are structured correctly from the start.

Not sure which platform fits your practice?

Talk to a specialist who can look at your actual setup, including team size, billing volume, workflow complexity, and give you a direct recommendation. If SimplePractice is the right answer for you right now, we’ll tell you.

Request a demo

What therapists say

 Switching EHRs takes time, trust, and a real commitment. We think the results speak for themselves. Here’s what clinicians say after moving to TheraNest, from solo therapists to growing group practices.

Melissa W., Owner, Therapist
“TheraNest makes running my small private practice easy. It’s simple, affordable, and has everything I need in one place.”
Shea H., LPC-A
“Switching to TheraNest was seamless. The intuitive design and customer support made it easy to transition and manage client records.”
Nick S., Office Manager
“TheraNest is a one-stop shop for my practice. From billing to telehealth, it simplifies everything and keeps us organized.”
Kyle M
“TheraNest makes the end of my session a 10 min wrap up with documentation, and the end of my day a 5 min wrap up to submit ALL billing.”
Ryan Camlin, Alta Pediatrics
“When they come in, we’re essentially just clicking a button, checking them out and now we’re taking that payment. So we’ve gotten to a place where we had, you know, tons of open invoices or services that we provided that we didn’t really get paid for, to now, we’re really getting paid almost every single day as those services are happening.”
Alta Pediatrics
“We wanted a balance for something that was going to be cost-effective but also was going to allow us to do all the critical things that we needed to be able to do. We saw we’d be able to manage payments. And we saw we’d be able to automate some of the things we were doing around insurance billing”.
Cardinal Hope Mental Health Counseling Services
“Overall, I’ve seen a lot of areas where I’ve been able to save time, money, and help grow my practice with TheraNest.”
Marty Goehring, M.A., Ph.D., Formation Counseling Services
“TheraNest has brought much-needed harmony to our practice — it quietly handles the administrative work in the background so we can focus fully on care. It’s helped us save time, maintain balance, and ultimately serve more clients without burning out our team.”
Stacey Keslar, Sanderson Psychological
“Managing multiple providers’ schedules and documentation can be challenging. With TheraNest we’ve been able to optimize workflows to make life easier for our staff and it allows us to spend more time with clients and ensure better outcomes for them. As our needs evolve, TheraNest continues to partner with us to adapt best practices.”
Rebecca Houser, Blank Slate Therapy
“What attracted me to the software was that we could file claims, in addition to keeping our progress notes, treatment plans, and our calendar all in one place.”
Marina Agustin, New Hope Family Counseling Center, Inc.
“Quick and easy customer support.”
Erin Choice, Licensed Professional Counselor. Living Wellness, LLC
“My experience with TheraNest has been excellent. Their team provides consistent communication and assistance whenever I have a question or concern, and updates are always easy to manage. TheraNest prioritizes the needs of clinicians and practices when making changes, which makes the partnership seamless and supportive.”
Clive Kennedy, South Central Training Consortium
“My practicum students are in training. The TheraNest software provides excellent opportunities for assisting the student in collecting sufficient information to develop case conceptualization, treatment planning, and developing diagnostic impressions. It is a great adjunct to training.”

FAQs

Does TheraNest work for solo practices, or just group practices?
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TheraNest supports solo practices, group practices, and multi-location organizations. Its advantages are most visible once you’re managing multiple clinicians, complex billing workflows, or need team-level visibility. If you’re a solo clinician with simple, stable billing and no plans to grow, SimplePractice may genuinely be a better fit. If you’re planning to add clinicians or need more billing control soon, it’s worth building on the right foundation now.
Is TheraNest hard to set up?
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No – and TheraNest includes implementation support that SimplePractice doesn’t offer by default. SimplePractice is fast to start but leaves most configuration to you. TheraNest onboarding pairs you with a specialist who handles guided setup for core items like roles & permissions and billing settings – so you’re not discovering configuration mistakes six months later. For practices that want more hands-on support, Quick Start Plus ($300) adds live 1:1 sessions with an Implementation Specialist and support through go-live.
Is TheraNest more expensive than SimplePractice?
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It depends on your practice size. SimplePractice’s Plus plan charges per clinician, so costs scale with every hire. TheraNest pricing is tiered per therapist (Essentials $29, Advanced $59, Premier $89), with additional practice administrator seats at $19/user/month on Essentials and Advanced. SimplePractice’s non-clinician practice manager seats are $39/month (biller/scheduler roles are free). We’d rather show you the honest math than make a claim we can’t back up.
What can you migrate from SimplePractice, and how long does it take?
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TheraNest can migrate client demographic records from SimplePractice. Clinical documents, progress and case notes, intake forms, and stored credit card information are not included. You can export billing history and documentation from SimplePractice for your own records, but those items won’t carry over into TheraNest. Most practices complete the transition in two to four weeks, depending on size and complexity. If your situation is more involved, we’ll give you an honest timeline estimate upfront. Check out our data migration plans here.
Can TheraNest handle multiple clinicians with different roles and permissions?
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Yes. TheraNest supports multiple clinicians and staff with granular roles & permissions, so each team member only sees what they need. The permissions are divided into five categories: Default, Billing, Therapist, Administration, and Organization Administration. This is one of the areas where TheraNest and SimplePractice differ most for growing practices.
Which is better for telehealth – TheraNest or SimplePractice?
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Both platforms include built-in telehealth. TheraNest’s telehealth is integrated directly into the session workflow, including documentation and billing. SimplePractice also includes telehealth and is well-regarded for solo use. If telehealth is central to your practice and you need it connected to claims submission and unpaid claims tracking, TheraNest’s end-to-end workflow is worth evaluating directly.
Which has a better client portal?
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Both platforms offer a client portal for scheduling, intake forms, and messaging. TheraNest’s portal is built to support multi-clinician practices, with team access controls and billing visibility across clients. SimplePractice’s portal is well-designed for solo or small practices that prioritize ease of use. The better fit depends on how many people need access and how much billing complexity you’re managing.
Does TheraNest integrate with other tools?
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Yes. TheraNest integrates with tools commonly used in behavioral health practices, including clearinghouses like Office Ally for claims submission, payment processors like Stripe, and calendar applications like iCal. If you’re asking about a specific integration, the best step is to confirm directly with the TheraNest team, since available integrations can change.

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