If the one you have is not working
Medical scribe AI alternatives
The right alternative depends on why you are leaving. Notes do not reach the chart — that is EHR write-back: Freed offers EHR push, and Suki names Epic, Oracle Health, athenahealth and MEDITECH. You want to start without a sales call — Freed and Heidi are both self-serve. You are a health system — Abridge is the most widely deployed of the five. It does not work outside the exam room — every tool here is built for the consultation, and none of them captures a corridor conversation or a phone call from the car.
§Our position, stated. Scriben does not appear as an alternative in this list because our clinical console is in preview and cannot be bought. What we make, and when it is worth waiting for, is at the end. Every fact below was read off the vendor’s own site, checked on 15 September 2026. Where a vendor does not publish something, this page says so rather than repeating a third-party estimate.
The ranking
5 scribes, in order, and why.
01 / Freed
Individual clinicians, self-serve
- Move here if — You want to set it up yourself, and you need the note to reach the chart with coding attached.
- Do not move here if — You are a health system. Freed is built for individual clinicians and small practices.
- Into the chart — EHR push available.
02 / Heidi
Clinicians and practices, self-serve
- Move here if — You want to try ambient scribing yourself before involving anyone else.
- Do not move here if — You need EHR write-back confirmed in writing before you commit.
- Into the chart — Not stated on its site.
03 / Nabla
Clinicians and organisations
- Move here if — You are building on top of a scribe rather than only using one — Nabla Connect is the API-first route of the five.
- Do not move here if — You are a solo clinician comparing options, because there is little published to compare it on.
- Into the chart — "Reliable integrations" stated, no detail given.
04 / Suki
Clinicians, organisations and platform partners
- Move here if — Your EHR is the constraint, and you want it confirmed by name before you spend an hour on a call.
- Do not move here if — You are one clinician who would like to start this evening.
- Into the chart — Names four: Epic, Oracle Health, athenahealth and MEDITECH.
05 / Abridge
Health systems only
- Move here if — You are a health system with a procurement process, and depth of EHR integration is what decides it.
- Do not move here if — You are a solo practitioner or a small practice. It is not sold to you at all.
- Into the chart — Deep health-system integrations; enterprise deployment.
Side by side
The same facts, in a table.
- Freed
- Individual clinicians, self-serve — move here if you want to set it up yourself, and you need the note to reach the chart with coding attached. Source: getfreed.ai
- Heidi
- Clinicians and practices, self-serve — move here if you want to try ambient scribing yourself before involving anyone else. Source: heidihealth.com
- Nabla
- Clinicians and organisations — move here if you are building on top of a scribe rather than only using one — Nabla Connect is the API-first route of the five. Source: nabla.com
- Suki
- Clinicians, organisations and platform partners — move here if your EHR is the constraint, and you want it confirmed by name before you spend an hour on a call. Source: suki.ai
- Abridge
- Health systems only — move here if you are a health system with a procurement process, and depth of EHR integration is what decides it. Source: abridge.com
All facts checked on 15 September 2026 against each vendor’s own site. Where a vendor does not publish a detail, this table says so rather than quoting an estimate. Products change — check theirs before you buy, and tell us if anything here has gone out of date.
Before any of them
Consent, records and the thing nobody can certify.
Recording a patient encounter is governed by state law, by your professional obligations and by your employer’s policy, and the tool you choose does not change any of them. Fourteen US states require every party to consent; where you and the patient are in different states, assume the stricter rule. Our guide to recording people lawfully sets out which applies where you are. There is no such thing as HIPAA certification, so no vendor on this page holds one and none can — what you should ask for instead is a signed Business Associate Agreement, and confirmation of where audio is processed and how long it is kept. This is general information for practitioners, not medical or legal advice.
Where this comes from
What we make, and why it is not ranked above.
Scriben is a real ballpoint pen that records the room to its own storage for up to 18 hours with no phone and no network. Scriben’s clinical console is in preview and not yet available to buy. The pen ships today at $99; the healthcare workflows described on healthcare.scriben.ai are not live yet. Every tool ranked above is built for the consultation itself; a pen reaches the conversations around it — the corridor handover, the call from the car, the family meeting — which is the part none of them capture. If that is the gap you have, join the healthcare preview; if you need a scribe in the exam room today, buy one of the five above.