5 Best Scheduling Tools for Therapists in 2026

TL;DR

• SimplePractice: Best for "I want everything in one expensive box."
• Jane App: Best for multi-clinician group practices.
• OnlyCaly: Best for solo therapists who want a Free HIPAA option.
• Key Takeaway: Don't pay $99/mo just for a calendar. Check your actual needs.

If you've been doing therapy for more than five minutes, someone has probably told you to "just use Calendly." And look, Calendly is fine. It's the Honda Civic of scheduling tools. Reliable, boring, gets the job done.

But is it the best option for therapists specifically? Eh. That's what we're going to find out.

I've spent the last three months testing every major scheduling tool on the market. My practice served as a guinea pig. My assistant threatened to quit twice. But we learned things.

Here's what actually works.

What Therapists Actually Need (That Regular Businesses Don't)

Before we get into specific tools, let's talk about what makes therapy scheduling different:

• Privacy matters more. Your clients don't want their appointment visible on a shared calendar
• Intake forms are crucial. You need client info before the first session
• Payment integration helps. Collecting payment at booking reduces no-shows
• HIPAA compliance. This is non-negotiable. More on this later.

With that in mind, here's my ranking.

1. SimplePractice

Price: $39-$99/month
Best for: Solo practitioners who want an all-in-one solution

SimplePractice is the 800-pound gorilla in therapy practice management. It's not just scheduling—it's billing, notes, telehealth, and everything else bundled together.

What I liked:

• Truly built for therapists (not adapted from generic scheduling)
• Client portal is solid
• Integrates with major EHRs
• HIPAA compliant out of the box

What annoyed me:

• Price adds up quick
• Learning curve is steeper than expected
• The interface feels a bit 2018

If you want one system to rule them all, this is it. Just be prepared to commit.

2. Jane App

Price: $54-$99/month
Best for: Group practices and clinics

Jane is Canadian (hence the politeness of the design) and weirdly beloved by practitioners. It's like SimplePractice's cooler cousin who studied abroad.

What I liked:

• Beautiful, intuitive interface
• Great for multi-provider practices
• Waitlist feature is genuinely useful
• Online booking is smooth

What annoyed me:

• No native telehealth (need to integrate Zoom)
• Pricing can get pricey for larger teams
• Some features are hidden in weird places

If you're running a group practice, Jane makes a lot of sense. For solo folks, it might be overkill.

3. OnlyCaly

Price: Free (seriously) – paid plans from €9.99/month
Best for: Therapists who want simplicity without the price tag

Full disclosure: I'm featuring OnlyCaly because it's new and I was curious if the "free forever" thing was real. Spoiler: it is.

What I liked:

• Actually free, not "free trial"
• Setup took maybe 10 minutes
• Reminders are built in
• Payment integration through Stripe works well
• Clean, modern interface

What annoyed me:

• Newer product, so fewer integrations than big players
• No built-in telehealth (yet)
• Less customization than enterprise tools

Honest take: if you're starting out or don't need the full practice management suite, this is hard to beat on value. The "free" tier is genuinely usable, not a crippled demo.

4. Acuity Scheduling

Price: $16-$50/month
Best for: Therapists who need flexibility

Acuity (now owned by Squarespace, weirdly) is the power user's choice. If you want to customize every tiny thing about your booking flow, this is it.

What I liked:

• Incredible customization options
• Intake forms are flexible
• Works great with existing websites
• Reliable uptime

What annoyed me:

• Interface is... functional, not beautiful
• Squarespace acquisition made some things clunkier
• HIPAA compliance requires the highest tier

Good tool for control freaks (said with love, I am one).

5. TherapyNotes

Price: $49-$59/month
Best for: Therapists who need everything integrated

TherapyNotes is similar to SimplePractice but with a slightly different philosophy. Less flashy, more substance.

What I liked:

• Solid all-in-one solution
• Good customer support (actual humans!)
• Billing integration is robust
• Been around forever, very stable

What annoyed me:

• Design feels dated
• Mobile app could be better
• Less intuitive than newer options

If reliability matters more than aesthetics, TherapyNotes is worth considering.

The HIPAA Question

I need to address this directly: not every scheduling tool is HIPAA compliant.

HIPAA compliance means the company:

• Signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA)
• Encrypts data in transit and at rest
• Has proper access controls
• Has policies for breach notification

Tools that sign BAAs: SimplePractice, Jane, TherapyNotes, OnlyCaly (yes, they do), Acuity (highest tier only)

Tools that don't: Regular Calendly (you need the Teams plan), most generic calendar apps

If you're in the US treating patients, this matters. Don't skip it.

My Personal Setup (If You're Curious)

After all this testing, here's what I landed on:

• OnlyCaly for booking and reminders (free tier does what I need)
• Simple Practice for notes and billing
• Zoom for telehealth

Could I do everything in SimplePractice? Sure. But the booking experience in OnlyCaly is cleaner, and clients actually complete their bookings more often. Worth the minor inconvenience of two systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which scheduling tool is completely free?

Everything on this list has a cost except for OnlyCaly, which offers a robust "Free Forever" plan that includes unlimited bookings and reminders.

Can I just use Google Calendar?

For personal use, yes. For therapy? No. Standard Google Calendar is not HIPAA compliant unless you have a Workspace BAA, and even then, clients can often see too much info if not configured perfectly. Dedicated tools are safer.

Do I really need HIPAA compliance if I don't take insurance?

Yes. If you transmit any patient health information (PHI) electronically—which includes names and emails in appointments—HIPAA rules apply to you, regardless of whether you take insurance.

Quick Decision Matrix

The Bottom Line

There's no perfect tool. There's only the right tool for your specific situation.

My advice: try the free trials. Book yourself as a fake client. See how the experience feels. Because at the end of the day, if your scheduling tool makes clients' lives harder, they'll find a different therapist.

Not because you're bad at therapy. But because they couldn't figure out how to book with you.

That's an avoidable problem.

Common Selection Mistakes

1. Buying "Shelfware": Paying for features (billing, notes) you never use.
2. Ignoring the Client: Picking a tool you like, but clients find impossible on mobile.
3. HIPAA Gambles: Using standard Calendly without the BAA upgrade. Be safe.