Side-by-side comparison
Mena vs SimplePractice
European clinical intelligence vs US practice management
SimplePractice is a mature US-based practice management platform with scheduling, billing, telehealth, and insurance claims management for the American market. Mena is built for European psychologists with clinical intelligence on top of practice management: session themes, thinking-pattern notes, cross-session clinical memory, and an interactive AI assistant, all on GDPR-first EU infrastructure.
The short answer
SimplePractice is the stronger choice for a US practice that bills insurance: it files claims electronically, holds HITRUST certification, and has a decade of maturity behind it. Mena is the stronger choice for a psychologist practising in Portugal or the wider EU, because AI clinical documentation is included in the base price rather than sold as an add-on, in-person sessions are covered as well as video, and patient data never leaves the EU.
Choose Mena if
- You practise in the EU and need GDPR compliance with data held in the EU, not a HIPAA-shaped equivalent.
- You see patients in a consulting room. Mena documents in-person sessions; SimplePractice's Note Taker runs on its Telehealth video only.
- You want AI documentation in the subscription rather than as a per-clinician add-on billed on top of the plan.
- You work in Portuguese and need fiscal documents filed with the Autoridade Tributária.
Choose SimplePractice if
- You bill US insurers. Mena has no claims clearinghouse, no ERA and no EDI, and will not gain them.
- Your practice and your patients are in the United States, where HIPAA is the operative regime.
- You need a long tail of US-specific back-office features — ePrescribe, US payroll-style reporting, wiley planners.
- You want a longer evaluation before committing: SimplePractice gives 30 days, Mena gives 14.
Feature comparison
Where each product is strong, based only on what each vendor publishes on its own site.
| Feature | Mena.ai | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical documentation | ||
| AI-Powered Clinical NotesSimplePractice: paid Note Taker add-on. Mena: included in the plan. | Yes | Partial |
| Session Recording & TranscriptionSimplePractice records its Telehealth video only, not in-person sessions. | Yes | Partial |
| Session Analysis (CBT) | Yes | No |
| Validated Questionnaires (PHQ-9, GAD-7) | Yes | Partial |
| Cross-Session Clinical Memory | Yes | No |
| Psychology-Specific Templates | Yes | Partial |
| Practice management | ||
| Patient Portal | Yes | Yes |
| Online Scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Telehealth / Video Calls | Yes | Yes |
| Billing & Invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| Insurance Claims Management | No | Yes |
| Portugal & compliance | ||
| GDPR / RGPD Compliance | Yes | No |
| EU-Only Data Storage | Yes | No |
| EU AI Act Compliance | Yes | No |
| Portuguese Language AI | Yes | No |
| Plans & pricing | ||
| Starting PriceMena includes clinical AI. SimplePractice's Note Taker is a further $35/mo. | €39.99/mo | from $49/mo |
Clinical documentation
- AI-Powered Clinical NotesSimplePractice: paid Note Taker add-on. Mena: included in the plan.
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticePartial
- Session Recording & TranscriptionSimplePractice records its Telehealth video only, not in-person sessions.
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticePartial
- Session Analysis (CBT)
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeNo
- Validated Questionnaires (PHQ-9, GAD-7)
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticePartial
- Cross-Session Clinical Memory
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeNo
- Psychology-Specific Templates
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticePartial
Practice management
- Patient Portal
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeYes
- Online Scheduling
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeYes
- Telehealth / Video Calls
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeYes
- Billing & Invoicing
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeYes
- Insurance Claims Management
- Mena.aiNoSimplePracticeYes
Portugal & compliance
- GDPR / RGPD Compliance
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeNo
- EU-Only Data Storage
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeNo
- EU AI Act Compliance
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeNo
- Portuguese Language AI
- Mena.aiYesSimplePracticeNo
Plans & pricing
- Starting PriceMena includes clinical AI. SimplePractice's Note Taker is a further $35/mo.
- Mena.ai€39.99/moSimplePracticefrom $49/mo
Comparison based on each vendor's own public pages. Capabilities a vendor does not publicly document are shown as not stated rather than unavailable. Pricing and features change — please verify current details with each vendor.
Criterion by criterion
What each platform actually does
A tick says whether a capability exists. This says what it does, how it is delivered, and what it costs — which is usually where the decision is made.
| Criterion | Mena.ai | SimplePractice |
|---|---|---|
| AI clinical documentationBoth ship it. The difference is price and scope, not existence. | Included in every paid plan at no extra charge. Records and transcribes the session, drafts the clinical note, and organises the themes and thinking patterns you confirm — each tied to the quote it came from. | Note Taker transcribes live and drafts a note. It is a paid add-on at $35 per month on top of the plan, and Care Aide is $59 per month for the account owner plus $49 per additional clinician. |
| In-person sessionsDecisive if your practice is room-based rather than remote. | Records and transcribes sessions in the consulting room as well as over video, so documentation does not depend on how the session was delivered. | SimplePractice states Note Taker is designed to work only with SimplePractice Telehealth, through its web or mobile app. A room-based session is documented by hand. |
| Where patient data is heldThe one criterion where an EU practice has no discretion. | Stored in the EU, with field-level AES-256 encryption for health data, per-tenant keys, TLS 1.3 in transit and immutable audit logs. | US infrastructure, built around HIPAA and HITRUST certification. SimplePractice publishes no EU data-residency commitment; HIPAA is a US statute and does not substitute for the GDPR. |
| Transcript retentionDifferent philosophies; SimplePractice's is arguably the more conservative. | Session material is retained as part of the clinical record under your control, so it remains available across sessions and forms the basis of cross-session memory. | Audio is deleted as soon as a transcript exists, and the transcript is kept for the shorter of seven days or until the note is signed and locked. Deliberately minimal retention. |
| Insurance and claimsSimplePractice wins this outright, and it is not close. | None. Mena issues invoices and receipts and does not file claims to any insurer. Portuguese subsistemas and private reimbursement are handled by the patient or the practice. | Electronic claim filing, ERA and EDI, an integrated clearinghouse and a decade of refinement around the US payer system. This is the product's centre of gravity. |
| Portuguese fiscal complianceThe mirror image of the previous row. | Fiscal documents are generated and communicated to the Autoridade Tributária portal automatically, through Cegid Vendus, an AT-certified provider. Invoicing is a tiered add-on from €14.99 per month. | Not offered. SimplePractice's billing is built for US requirements and states no Portuguese, ATCUD or SAF-T capability. |
| LanguageMatters for the note, not just the interface. | Interface and clinical AI both operate in European Portuguese, alongside English, Spanish, French, German and Italian. | English-first product built for the US market. Note Taker's supported languages are not published. |
SimplePractice claims taken from its own public pricing, feature and support pages, read on 26 August 2026. Vendor pricing and features change without notice — verify current details before deciding.
What it costs
Pricing, both sides, in full
Published list prices as of 26 August 2026, excluding VAT and US sales tax. The number that matters is the one with AI documentation included, because that is the capability being compared.
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | €39.99/mo | Scheduling, video sessions, patient portal, billing, and the full clinical AI suite — recording, transcription, drafted notes, session themes and cross-session memory. |
| Intelligent | €79.99/mo | Everything in Essential, plus the advanced tooling for growing practices and small teams. |
| Enterprise | Custom | For clinics and organisations needing custom integrations, on request. |
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $49/mo | Entry tier. AI documentation is not included at this or any tier — Note Taker is a separate add-on. |
| Essential | $79/mo | Mid tier, adding the practice-management breadth most solo US clinicians buy it for. |
| Plus | $99/mo | Top published tier, including the group-practice and insurance workflows. |
- AI is an add-on on one side and included on the other
- SimplePractice's Note Taker is $35 per month on top of the plan; Care Aide is $59 per month for the account owner and $49 per additional clinician, with ePrescribe a further $49 per month plus an $89 setup fee. A solo US clinician wanting AI notes therefore pays $49 + $35 = $84 per month at the entry tier. Mena includes the clinical AI suite at €39.99.
- Mena's invoicing is not free either
- Portuguese fiscal invoicing is a tiered add-on: €14.99 per month for up to 170 documents, €49.99 per month for unlimited. Stated plainly because a comparison that hides its own add-on has no standing to point at anyone else's.
- Annual billing
- Mena's annual billing saves 20%, bringing Essential to €31.99 per month (€383.90 per year) and Intelligent to €63.99 per month (€767.90 per year).
- SimplePractice's trial is longer
- SimplePractice offers a 30-day free trial; Mena offers 14 days and starts with a setup call. If a long unaccompanied evaluation matters to you, that is a point for SimplePractice.
Mena prices from mena-ai.pt/pricing. SimplePractice prices from simplepractice.com/pricing, read 26 August 2026. Promotional discounts are excluded on both sides so the comparison is like for like.
Two approaches
Two platforms built for different markets
SimplePractice is purpose-built for US therapists, with deep insurance integrations, HIPAA compliance, and a large US user community. Mena is purpose-built for European psychologists, with clinical intelligence (session themes, thinking-pattern notes, cross-session clinical memory), GDPR compliance, EU data residency, and Portuguese language support.
SimplePractice strengths for the US market:
- Industry-leading US insurance claims and billing workflows
- Deep integrations with US insurance providers and ERA processing
- HIPAA compliance for the US market (note: HIPAA is US-specific and does not substitute for GDPR in Europe)
- Mature, feature-rich platform with a large US user community
Mena excels at:
- Interactive AI clinical assistant with 12 specialized tools
- Automatic session recording with real-time transcription
- AI-powered clinical analysis with CBT frameworks
- Comprehensive patient portal with mood tracking
- Cross-session clinical memory that surfaces your notes when you need them
- Full GDPR, EU AI Act, and EU data storage compliance
The honest part
When SimplePractice is the better choice
These are not hedges. In each of these situations we would tell you to buy SimplePractice, and a comparison that cannot say so is not worth reading.
- You bill US insurance
- This is the single clearest case. SimplePractice files claims electronically, handles ERA and EDI, and has spent years on the edge cases of the US payer system. Mena does none of this and has no plan to. If a meaningful share of your revenue arrives through an insurer, no other consideration on this page outweighs it.
- Your practice is in the United States
- Mena's compliance work is EU work: GDPR, the EU AI Act, EU data residency, Portuguese tax law. None of that helps a clinician in Ohio, and Mena's Portuguese invoicing is irrelevant to you. SimplePractice's HIPAA and HITRUST posture is the one built for your regulator.
- You want the largest, most-tested product
- SimplePractice has a far larger user base, a deeper feature surface, an established integrations ecosystem and a long support history. Mena is a younger, narrower product. If breadth and track record are what you are buying, that is a rational preference and SimplePractice has more of both.
- You want the shortest possible data retention
- SimplePractice deletes session audio as soon as a transcript exists and discards the transcript within seven days or on signing. If your risk position is that recordings and transcripts should exist for the minimum possible time, that design is stricter than Mena's, which keeps session material in the clinical record so it can be recalled across sessions.
If none of the above describes your practice, and you work in Portugal or the EU, the case for Mena is the one made in the table above: AI documentation included rather than billed as an add-on, in-person sessions covered, and patient data that never leaves the EU.
When Mena fits
Why European psychologists choose Mena
SimplePractice is a strong fit for US-based therapists managing insurance claims. For European psychologists, Mena adds GDPR compliance, EU data residency, Portuguese-language clinical AI, and documentation of in-person sessions — where SimplePractice sells AI notes as a paid add-on that runs on its Telehealth video only.
- Pricing that reflects the European market
- Paid plans start at EUR 39.99 per month and include scheduling, billing, telehealth, and a patient portal, plus AI clinical notes.
- Clinical intelligence on top of practice management
- Mena captures each session and organizes the themes and patterns you note, with an optional vocabulary of 28 emotion categories and 13 thinking patterns, and maintains cross-session clinical memory.
- Built for European clinical workflows
- Mena organizes the CBT themes and patterns you note, administers PHQ-9 and GAD-7 questionnaires, and recalls your notes across sessions.
- EU-compliant by design
- All data is stored in the EU. Mena is aligned with GDPR and the EU AI Act and supports Portuguese-language AI. HIPAA-only platforms do not meet European data protection requirements.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is SimplePractice and who is it for?
- SimplePractice is a US-based practice management platform designed primarily for American therapists and healthcare professionals. It excels at US insurance billing, claims management (ERA/EDI), and HIPAA compliance. While it offers solid scheduling, telehealth, and a patient portal, it is not designed for European regulatory requirements, lacking GDPR compliance, EU data storage, EU AI Act compliance, and Portuguese language AI.
- Is SimplePractice GDPR compliant?
- SimplePractice is designed around US HIPAA compliance, not EU GDPR. Its infrastructure is US-based, which means patient data is not stored exclusively in the EU as required by many European data protection authorities. European psychologists using SimplePractice may face compliance risks. Mena is built from the ground up for EU compliance: GDPR, EU AI Act, and EU-only data storage.
- Does SimplePractice have AI notes, and how do they compare?
- Yes. SimplePractice offers Note Taker, which transcribes a session live and drafts a note, and Care Aide, a broader assistant. The differences are cost and scope rather than existence. Note Taker is a paid add-on at $35 per month on top of a plan starting at $49, and Care Aide is $59 per month for the account owner plus $49 per additional clinician; Mena includes its clinical AI in every paid plan from €39.99 per month. Note Taker also runs only on SimplePractice Telehealth, so it does not document a session held in a consulting room, and SimplePractice deletes the audio once a transcript exists and the transcript within seven days or on signing.
- Can either platform document in-person sessions?
- Mena can: it records and transcribes sessions in the consulting room as well as over video, so the documentation does not depend on how the session was delivered. SimplePractice states that Note Taker is designed to work only with SimplePractice Telehealth, through its web or mobile app, which means a room-based session is written up by hand. If most of your work is face to face, this is likely the single largest practical difference between the two products.
- Can I migrate from SimplePractice to Mena?
- Yes. Mena supports importing patient data from other platforms. Our team can assist with migration to ensure a smooth transition without data loss. Given that SimplePractice is US-focused, European psychologists often find the migration straightforward as Mena is built specifically for their workflows.
- How does Mena's pricing compare to SimplePractice?
- SimplePractice publishes three plans: Starter at $49, Essential at $79 and Plus at $99 per month. AI documentation is not included in any of them — Note Taker is a $35 per month add-on — so a solo clinician who wants AI notes pays about $84 per month at the entry tier. Mena starts at €39.99 per month with the clinical AI suite included, and €31.99 per month billed annually. Mena's own add-on is Portuguese fiscal invoicing, from €14.99 per month. SimplePractice's free trial is 30 days against Mena's 14.
Ready to try Mena for European practice?
Start a 14-day free trial, no credit card required. Your data stays in the EU, and Mena is aligned with GDPR and the EU AI Act from day one.