Key differences
- Buying: Freed publishes $39 to $119/mo plans; Nabla's pricing is not publicly disclosed (ask vendor).
- Retention: Nabla keeps notes 14 days by default; Freed keeps notes until you delete them or enable 30-day auto-delete.
- Training: Nabla says it does not train on your data; Freed says it trains only on de-identified notes, with consent-based training in its Terms.
- Cloud: Nabla on Google Cloud US regions; Freed on Microsoft Azure in the US.
- EHRs: Nabla integrates with Epic and athenahealth; Freed pushes to browser-based EHRs on Premier.
Company background
Nabla
Nabla was founded in Paris in 2018 by Alexandre Lebrun (CEO), Delphine Groll (COO), and Martin Raison (CTO); Lebrun previously sold AI companies to Nuance and Facebook. Nabla raised a $70 million Series C in June 2025 led by HV Capital, bringing total funding to $120 million, and has a US office in Brooklyn, New York. Its site says it is deployed in 130+ health organizations, used by 85,000+ clinicians, and supports 20M+ patient encounters per year. Nabla has shifted toward organization deals and EHR-embedded deployments (Epic, athenahealth, and Nabla Connect for other EHRs), while still offering a free trial for individuals.
Freed
Freed was co-founded in January 2023 in San Francisco by Erez Druk and Andrey Bannikov, both former Meta engineers; Druk has said the idea came from watching his physician wife finish notes at night. In March 2025 Freed announced a $30 million Series A led by Sequoia Capital, bringing total funding to about $34 million, and reported more than 17,000 paying clinicians across 96 specialties at the time, with a team of roughly 50 people (CNBC). Freed's own company story page now says 26,000+ clinicians across 1,700+ clinics use the product. Freed sells directly to individual clinicians and small groups with self-serve checkout, and offers a Groups plan for clinics. It has also expanded beyond the scribe into coding, clinical evidence answers, visit prep, and a separate front desk product.
Side-by-side comparison
Prices in USD unless noted. "Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor)" means the vendor does not publish it. Each cell carries an evidence label; see how we label evidence. No hands-on clinical testing has been done yet.
| Feature | Nabla | Freed |
|---|---|---|
| Note quality and accuracy | Not yet independently tested by ClinicalAIWeekly Not yet independently tested | Not yet independently tested by ClinicalAIWeekly Not yet independently tested |
| Pricing tiers (exact, as published) | Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor). nabla.com/pricing returned 404 on 2026-10-12. Third-party trackers report a historical $119/mo Pro plan; treat as unverified. Not verified | Starter $39/mo (up to 40 notes/mo); Core $79/mo (unlimited notes); Premier $119/mo monthly or $104/mo billed annually; Groups: custom quote Documentation reviewed |
| Free tier / trial | "Try it for free" signup on the homepage; current free-tier limits: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Documentation reviewed | No permanent free plan. 7-day free trial, no credit card. Pricing page offers Core free to residents, students, and trainees. Documentation reviewed |
| EHR integrations | Epic and athenahealth integrations; Nabla Connect for other EHRs; export to EHR Vendor-reported | EHR push to browser-based EHRs on Premier ("send notes straight into any browser-based EHR with one click"); copy and paste on other plans Vendor-reported |
| Specialties and templates | Help Center and third-party listings cite 55+ specialties and custom templates; current list: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Third-party sourced | Specialty-specific templates for 20+ specialties, including psychiatry and mental and behavioral health; personal templates; instant template builder (Core and up) Vendor-reported |
| Languages | 35+ languages including bilingual encounters (vendor materials as reported); confirm current list Vendor-reported | Captures visits in multiple languages and writes the note in English (Spanish, Mandarin, Italian, German, Russian, Japanese, French, Korean, Thai, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Indonesian listed) Vendor-reported |
| Platforms | iOS and Android apps, web, and a Chrome/Edge extension; Echo desktop app for remote encounters on Zoom, Teams, or other apps Documentation reviewed | Web on any desktop, tablet, or smartphone browser; Zoom app for telehealth. Native app details: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Documentation reviewed |
| In-person, telehealth, offline | In-person and telehealth (Echo). Offline recording: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported | In-person and telehealth both supported (Zoom app available). Offline recording: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported |
| Note styles (SOAP/DAP/BIRP) | SOAP and custom note formats; named DAP/BIRP availability: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported | SOAP shown by default; specialty headers and custom formats. Named DAP/BIRP templates: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported |
| Editing and customization | Customizable templates, Magic Edit, dot phrases, and custom dictionaries (Core API features) Vendor-reported | Edit notes, "learn my format" from an edited note, dictation and saved phrases (Premier), custom templates Vendor-reported |
| Coding and billing help | E/M and ICD-10 suggestions grounded in documentation and AMA guidance (Coding product) Vendor-reported | Coding Assistant with ICD-10, E/M, and CPT suggestions on Premier Vendor-reported |
| Patient instructions and letters | Patient-friendly instructions listed as a Core API feature; letters in app: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported | Patient instructions, referral letters, and exception notes on Premier Vendor-reported |
| Data retention and deletion | No audio stored by default. Notes retained for a configurable period, 14 days by default. Documentation reviewed | Audio deleted after the note is processed (recoverable up to 48 hours; troubleshooting copies up to 14 days). Notes deletable anytime or auto-deleted after 30 days (backups up to 7 more days). Custom retention on Groups. Documentation reviewed |
| HIPAA BAA (and which plan) | HIPAA documentation available on request in the Trust Center; BAA plan availability: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Documentation reviewed | Yes. BAA is Schedule A of the Platform Terms and applies from sign-up on every plan; signed copy on request; organization-wide BAA on Groups Documentation reviewed |
| SOC 2 / ISO / HITRUST | SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 (Trust Center). HITRUST: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported | SOC 2 Type 2 (vendor states). ISO 27001 / HITRUST: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported |
| Where data is stored | US clients on Google Cloud US regions; others in EU Google Cloud Documentation reviewed | United States (Microsoft Azure) Documentation reviewed |
| Data used for model training? | Vendor states it does not train its models on your data Vendor-reported | Vendor says PHI is never used for training and models are trained only on de-identified notes; Terms also allow training on your data with consent given in Platform settings Vendor-reported |
| Consent features | Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Not verified | Sample patient consent script published in FAQ and Help Center; in-app consent capture: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Documentation reviewed |
| Support | support@nabla.com; enterprise support details: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Vendor-reported | Live support from a Clinician Success team; dedicated account manager on Groups Vendor-reported |
| Contract terms | Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Not verified | Monthly or annual self-serve; Groups by contract. Minimum term: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor) Documentation reviewed |
Workflow walkthrough
Nabla
Nabla's flow is built around speed (Nabla says it does not retain audio and stores patient data for a minimal amount of time based on the user's retention settings, 14 days standard): start the assistant on a phone, in the browser extension, or in Echo for video visits, have the conversation, and a structured note is ready within seconds. Edits and exports happen in the app, or the note lands inside Epic or athenahealth when the organization has an integration. Because notes are kept only 14 days by default, clinicians are expected to finalize and export promptly.
Freed
A typical Freed visit starts in the browser or on a phone: start a recording, see the patient, stop, and a draft note appears in about a minute. You review it against the transcript (available at the bottom of each note), edit, and either copy it into your EHR or, on Premier, push it into a browser-based EHR. Telehealth visits can be captured with the Zoom app. The workflow is deliberately simple and self-serve; there is little IT setup, which is the main reason solo clinicians adopt it quickly.
Psychiatry and behavioral health fit
Two federal rules matter for behavioral health. HIPAA treats psychotherapy notes (kept separate from the medical record) as a special category, so check that a scribe's default note does not blend process notes into the chart. Federally assisted substance use disorder programs are also covered by 42 CFR Part 2; the 2024 final rule aligned Part 2 more closely with HIPAA, with a compliance date of February 16, 2026 (HHS). None of the vendors here publicly describe Part 2 specific controls, The rule states that segregating Part 2 records is not required, and it creates a new category of SUD counseling notes that need separate patient consent, much like HIPAA psychotherapy notes. Part 2 programs should get written answers on how each tool handles consent, counseling-note content, and redisclosure before use.
Nabla
Nabla's no-audio-by-default and 14-day default note retention are among the most conservative in this group, which is attractive for behavioral health. Its 2025 funding release cited adoption growth in behavioral health settings. Short retention means you must export notes promptly, and you should confirm whether psychiatric templates (mental status exam, risk assessment, medication management) are available on your plan. Nabla does not publicly describe 42 CFR Part 2 specific controls: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor).
Freed
Freed lists psychiatry and mental and behavioral health among its specialty templates, and its blog and Help Center publish behavioral health note guidance. For therapy-heavy practices, check whether the default structure separates the progress note from anything you would treat as HIPAA psychotherapy notes, and confirm you can suppress sensitive details (trauma narratives, substance use, third-party information) before notes leave the tool. The 30-day auto-delete option and default audio deletion help minimize retained sensitive content. Freed does not publicly describe 42 CFR Part 2 specific controls: Not publicly disclosed (ask vendor).
Strengths and weaknesses
Nabla
Strengths
- No audio stored by default and 14-day default note retention
- Explicit statement that it does not train on customer data
- SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001
- Native mobile apps, browser extension, and desktop capture
- Epic and athenahealth integrations
Weaknesses
- No public pricing page as of 2026-10-12
- Sales-led for paid use, which slows solo purchasing
- BAA terms for individual users not public
- Short default retention requires disciplined export
- Psych-specific template list not published
Freed
Strengths
- Lowest published entry price in this group ($39/mo Starter)
- Transparent public pricing and self-serve signup
- BAA included in Terms on every plan, including the trial
- Psychiatry and behavioral health templates listed
- Default audio deletion plus optional 30-day note auto-delete
Weaknesses
- No permanent free plan (7-day trial only)
- EHR push, coding, and letters require Premier ($104 to $119/mo)
- Starter caps at 40 notes a month
- Note-level integrations are browser-based; deep Epic workflows are not its focus
- ISO 27001 or HITRUST not publicly listed
Who should pick which
| Practice type | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Solo psychiatrist buying with a credit card today | Freed |
| Group on Epic or athenahealth | Nabla |
| Practice that wants a no-training commitment | Nabla |
| Clinician who wants coding plus patient letters | Freed Premier |
| Very low budget | Freed Starter ($39/mo) or a Nabla free trial |
Verdict
Pick Freed for transparent self-serve pricing and a BAA from sign-up. Pick Nabla for conservative retention, a no-training statement, and Epic or athenahealth integration through an organizational deal.
Whichever you choose, sign the BAA before any real patient audio is recorded, set retention to the shortest period that fits your workflow, and test with your own templates during the trial or pilot.
Related reading: Nabla review, Freed review and the psychiatry AI scribe guide.
FAQ
How much is Nabla now?
Nabla does not publish pricing as of 2026-10-12. A historical $119/mo Pro price appears on third-party sites only.
Which stores less?
Nabla stores no audio and keeps notes 14 days by default. Freed deletes audio after processing and lets you auto-delete notes after 30 days.
Which works better for telehealth?
Both support telehealth: Freed through a Zoom app, Nabla through its Echo desktop app and browser extension.
Is this medical or legal advice?
No. This is general information. Confirm BAA terms, data use, and consent requirements with each vendor and your compliance advisor before using patient data.
How were facts checked?
Each fact comes from the vendor's official pricing, security, trust, or help pages, checked on 2026-10-12. Where a vendor does not publish something, we say so rather than estimate it.
Sources and last checked
All links checked 2026-10-12 (2026-10). Vendors change prices and terms often; re-verify before buying.
- Nabla homepage (free trial, scale figures) (checked 2026-10-12)
- Nabla Trust Center (checked 2026-10-12)
- Nabla data retention help article (checked 2026-10-12)
- Nabla HIPAA help article (checked 2026-10-12)
- Nabla EHR integration (checked 2026-10-12)
- Nabla Series C release (checked 2026-10-12)
- Freed pricing (checked 2026-10-12)
- Freed security (checked 2026-10-12)
- Freed BAA help article (checked 2026-10-12)
- Freed privacy and audio retention (checked 2026-10-12)
- Freed Platform Terms of Use (checked 2026-10-12)
- Freed Series A press release (checked 2026-10-12)
- HHS, 42 CFR Part 2 final rule fact sheet (checked 2026-10-12)