DrChrono and SimplePractice are top electronic health record (EHR) platforms that help healthcare professionals manage patient care, billing, and documentation. Both offer telehealth, mobile access, and cloud-based tools, but they differ in customization, user experience, and practice fit.

DrChrono is a platform that is full of features for its users, like custom charting, billing tools, and secure e-prescribing of regulated drugs with Surescripts. It is best for large or multi-specialty practices that require more flexibility. While being a therapy platform, SimplePractice is best for small and mid-sized practices. It is a simple and intuitive telehealth platform with easy calendar management, automated reminders, and tools for keeping patient notes and treatment plans.

This guide compares their features, usability, and scalability to help you choose the better fit for your workflow.

Head-On Comparison

DrChrono EHR is a cloud-based EHR built by EverHealth. The platform is designed for medical practices of all sizes and specialties, supporting over 20 specialties through customizable workflows, templates, and specialty‑specific tools. Key features include customizable charting with macro buttons, speech‑to‑text, drawing tools, lab and e‑prescribing integrations, and claim submissions. DrChrono received the 2022 MedTech Breakthrough Award as well as the 2022 DEVIES Healthcare Award for its fast healthcare interoperability resources (FHIR) API, and processes millions of appointments monthly and supports over 32 million API calls per month.

SimplePractice is a practice management platform designed to simplify both administrative and clinical tasks for health and wellness professionals. Built to support solo practices, the platform caters to speech-language pathologists and physical therapists, amongst other providers. The software offers a comprehensive suite of features such as HIPAA-compliant telehealth, secure client messaging, customizable intake forms, and Wiley treatment planners. The platform offers a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Over 225,000 practitioners use SimplePractice, which underscores the platform's reliability and versatility.

DrChrono Vs SimplePractice: At A Glance

Feature	DrChrono	SimplePractice
Appointment Scheduling	✓	✓
Billing And Payments	✓	✓
Patient Portal	✓	✓
E-Prescriptions	✓	✓
Telehealth	✓	✓
Documentation And Intake	✓	✓
AI Functionality	✘	✓
Analytics And Reports	✓	✓

Comparing Strengths And Weaknesses

Side-By-Side Feature Comparison

Appointment Scheduling

The scheduling widget enables practices to embed their DrChrono calendar availability directly onto their own website, allowing patients to self-schedule appointments without leaving the practice's site. The tool works across devices (iPhone, iPad, and desktop) and eliminates booking friction by integrating real-time office hours and appointment types into an embeddable link or widget. By leveraging appointment profiles, practices can preset default durations, billing codes, visit reasons, consent forms, and color-coding, streamlining the patient intake and reducing administrative errors from the moment an appointment is requested.

SimplePractice offers a flexible, HIPAA-compliant scheduling and calendar system designed to simplify appointment management. It allows providers to sync with Google, iCal, or Outlook calendars, send unlimited automated reminders via text or email, and enable online booking through the client portal. Users can filter appointments by client type, payment status, or documentation needs, and color-code events by service or clinician. The calendar supports daily, weekly, and monthly views, customizable privacy settings, and out-of-office blocks to pause bookings. Group practices benefit from team filters and permission controls, making it easy to manage availability and client flow efficiently.

Winner: SimplePractice takes the lead for its calendar sync and group tools that offer greater scheduling flexibility.

Billing And Payments

With DrChrono, providers can accept payments anytime from any location using features like patient payment plans, recurring payments, and credit card processing for insurance reimbursements. The feature includes Text-to-Pay, which enables sending payment links via SMS to patients’ phones for copays or outstanding balances, and once the payment is completed, it's automatically posted to the patient's chart. Multi-location practices can assign separate merchant IDs per office for accurate financial tracking and deposit routing. The platform supports sending electronic receipts and is known for driving rapid payment collection.

SimplePractice integrates Stripe-powered, HIPAA, and PCI-compliant payment processing directly within the platform, enabling practitioners to securely store client credit, debit, FSA/HSA, and “Link” cards via the Client Portal or manually in client files. Being a billing and invoice software, DrChrono allows users to manage payments from the calendar, invoices, or client profile, apply partial payments, issue refunds, and track transaction/reporting via the platform’s billing tools. The platform supports 'Tap to Pay' on compatible Android devices via its mobile app for in-person payments, with the same processing fee structure.

Winner: DrChrono wins this round for its 'Text-to-Pay' functionality, payment plans, and multi-location billing support.

Patient Portal

The ‘OnPatient Portal’ by DrChrono serves as a HIPAA-compliant patient engagement interface integrated directly with the EHR. Through it, practices can enable secure messaging, online appointment scheduling, and streamlined patient check-in with customizable consent and intake forms. This allows patients to complete paperwork ahead of visits. Patients also gain access to their clinical summaries, medications, lab results, and educational resources tailored to their care. Billing is integrated as well, enabling online bill viewing and payments directly from the portal. Providers can invite patients via email or letter, manage portal status, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The result is a unified solution that enhances patient access, engagement, and administrative efficiency.

SimplePractice provides a secure, HIPAA-compliant patient portal software that empowers clients to manage their care directly from their computer or mobile device. Through the portal, clients can request or cancel appointments, complete intake forms and questionnaires, pay invoices, and securely message their practitioner, with access determined by their provider’s preferences. Moreover, practitioners can send push or email notifications, share, and remind clients about documents.

Winner: DrChrono wins this round since its portal offers deeper clinical access, including lab results, medication history, and billing.

E-Prescriptions

DrChrono includes a built-in e-prescribing (eRx) module that enables clinicians to send both controlled and non-controlled prescriptions directly from the EHR using any device. The system integrates with Surescripts, giving access to patients’ pharmacy history and formulary info, and performs automatic drug-drug and drug-allergy interaction checks before prescriptions are sent. The platform supports electronic prescribing for controlled substances (EPCS), compliant with DEA, NIST, and Surescripts standards. It requires identity verification through ID.me and multi-factor authentication (via push notification or code generator) before a provider can sign and transmit controlled substance prescriptions.

SimplePractice has e-prescribe as a paid add-on for all subscription plans. Once activated, clinicians access a Medications tab on each client’s profile to view active and inactive medications, manage prescriptions, add or select pharmacies, and record allergies. This interface enables prescribers to create, modify, refill, or cancel prescriptions directly through ‘DrFirst’. For controlled substances, two-factor authentication ensures compliance and security. Optional prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) integration is available for clinicians in states with controlled-substance monitoring requirements, streamlining risk identification and regulatory compliance.

Winner: DrChrono takes the lead for its built-in e-prescribing with full EPCS support and no extra fee.

Telehealth

DrChrono enables providers to schedule and conduct secure, HIPAA-compliant video visits directly within the EHR, no external app or integration needed. Patients can request or join telehealth visits via desktop, iPad, or iPhone, and consent forms can be signed in real time during appointments. Clinicians can schedule follow-up sessions mid-call, share screens to explain labs, images, or other documents, and maintain continuity without leaving the platform. Practices with multiple locations simply enable telehealth per office, with providers agreeing to updated policies before offering video visits.

SimplePractice offers a fully integrated, HIPAA-compliant telehealth solution built directly into its EHR platform, requiring no additional logins to start video sessions from the calendar. Clinicians can host individual or group video appointments (up to 15 participants), with support for automatic appointment reminders, virtual waiting rooms, session timers, virtual or blurred backgrounds, screen-sharing, secure chat, and a digital whiteboard to enhance engagement. The telehealth feature is included on all subscription tiers at no extra cost, and leverages automatic appointment links sent to clients via email or text.

Winner: It’s a tie! Both platforms offer secure, integrated telehealth tools with device flexibility and built-in scheduling.

Pricing Plans For DrChrono And SimplePractice

DrChrono offers custom pricing bundles to fit the needs of individual practices:

Prometheus
Hippocrates
Apollo
Apollo Plus

SimplePractice offers three pricing tiers, tailored to the unique requirements of different practices:

Starter: $49/month
Essential: $79/month
Plus: $99/month

All plans include a 30-day free trial.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

What Users Have To Say?

DrChrono is renowned for its high-quality telemedicine appointments, straightforward note tracking, and streamlined billing processes that simplify working with insurance. However, some users report that navigating between sections of patient information can be confusing. Despite this, the platform continues to garner support because of its efficiency; once templates are designed to fit your needs, notes are written and signed very quickly.

SimplePractice is praised for its video conferencing for both individual and group sessions, integrated calendar management, and ability to edit treatment plans. However, some users note limitations in adding multiple contacts to a client profile. Nonetheless, the software is well-regarded for offering multiple client reminder options, which may help reduce no-shows.


PROS	PROS
ICD-10 codes are easy to locate when documenting Allows creating shortcuts for patient education Speeds up charting with ready-to-use macros	Supports custom forms to fit specific documentation needs Makes daily calorie tracking easier with user-filled food entries Gives clear access to billing and insurance documents
CONS	CONS
Limited data entry space can make patient histories harder to review Lack of message threads makes patient communication confusing	Evaluation template lacks sufficient detail Lack of text alerts can cause missed provider messages


Starting Price: Custom Pricing Best for: Family Practice, Pain Management Mobile App: iOS Rating: 3.6	Starting Price: $49/user* Best for: Psychiatrists, Occupational Therapists Mobile App: iOS, Android Rating: 4

DrChrono Vs SimplePractice: Which EHR Fits Your Workflow?