What a scribe does
Records or transcribes a session and drafts a structured note. That's the whole job — a genuinely useful one, and nothing more.
Weighing up an AI scribe?
Do you need an AI scribe, or a practice?
Most counsellors evaluating tools like this are really choosing between three bigger things: doing it all yourself, joining a group practice and giving up 30–40% of billings, or a flat-fee platform like Zenvia. Heidi and Lyrebird are good at one thing — turning a session into a draft note — but neither books your appointments, sends a reminder, runs telehealth, or invoices a client. Here's the actual difference.
Written by Steve Daniel, founder of Zenvia — GAICD · MBA · Master of IT · Author, Cybersecurity for Australian Not-for-Profits. Last reviewed October 2026.
First, the bigger picture
DIY, a group practice, or Zenvia — before you add another tool
Whatever note-taking tool you pick, you're still choosing how the whole practice runs: run it entirely yourself, join a group practice, or keep 90% on Zenvia with the admin handled.
Comparing the tool specifically
A scribe is a point solution. A practice needs more than one point solved.
What it doesn't do
Bookings, calendar management, reminders, telehealth, invoicing, third-party billing, a client portal, or a place to actually store the record it just wrote.
What that means in practice
Most practices running a standalone scribe are still paying for — and reconciling data between — a separate practice management system underneath it.
The honest numbers
What a standalone scribe actually costs, on top of everything else
Heidi's Clinician plan is USD $150/user/month billed annually (their pricing is quoted in USD even for Australian users; it was raised from roughly $99 in February 2026) — Practice and Enterprise tiers are custom-quoted, not published. Lyrebird has consolidated down to a simpler lineup: a free tier, then Pro at A$160/month billed annually (A$240 month-to-month) plus GST, with a discounted rate for part-time clinicians under 25 hours/week, and a custom-quoted Enterprise tier. Either way, that's a per-practitioner subscription for note-drafting alone — before you've paid for anything to manage bookings, telehealth or invoicing.
On Zenvia, unlimited AI-drafted session notes are one feature inside the 10% of billings (plus card processing at cost) that also covers bookings, calendars, reminders, telehealth, invoicing, third-party billing and the client portal. There's no separate scribe subscription to layer on top, and nothing metered by transcription hour.
Heidi figures sourced from heidihealth.com/pricing and recent pricing-change coverage; Lyrebird figures sourced directly from lyrebirdhealth.com/au/pricing — both verified October 2026. Check their sites directly for current rates, as both have changed pricing and plan structure within the past year.
Common questions
Zenvia vs AI scribes, the questions people actually ask
Can I use Heidi or Lyrebird instead of Zenvia?
You can, but they solve a different problem. Heidi and Lyrebird draft your session notes; they don't handle bookings, calendars, invoicing, telehealth or client records. Most practices running one of them still run a separate practice management system alongside it.
Is Zenvia's AI note-taking as good as a dedicated scribe?
It covers the same core job — turning a session into a structured draft note in your chosen format (SOAP or DAP), which you review, edit and sign. See how it works.
Do I pay extra for AI notes on Zenvia, on top of the 10%?
No. Unlimited AI-drafted session notes are included in the 10% of billings — no per-user subscription, no metered transcription hours.
See the whole practice, not just the notes
Free for 90 days, no card required.
Comparing something else? See Zenvia vs Halaxy or Zenvia vs Power Diary / Zanda.