AI Medical Scribe Pricing: What Clinicians Should Expect

Pricing models in AI medical scribing

AI scribe vendors use several pricing structures, and the model a product uses directly affects how costs scale as your usage grows. The four most common approaches:

• Per-month subscription — the most common model for individual clinicians. You pay a flat monthly fee for access to the tool, usually with a defined set of features included at each tier. Session limits may or may not apply depending on the plan level.
• Per-encounter pricing — some enterprise-focused tools charge for each encounter processed. This keeps costs low for clinicians who see fewer patients but can become expensive at high volumes. Watch for minimum commitments or bundled encounter packs.
• Per-provider-per-month — common for practice and team plans. Each clinician on the account adds to the monthly cost. This model works well for multi-provider practices that want a single billing relationship and centralized management.
• Usage-based tiers — a hybrid approach where a free or low-cost tier covers limited usage, and paid tiers unlock higher session volumes, additional features, or both. This is the model Dictum uses, with a free tier at 5 sessions per month and paid plans starting at $29.99/month for unlimited sessions.

No single model is universally better. The right fit depends on your patient volume, whether you practice solo or in a group, and how predictable you want your monthly cost to be.

Common pricing factors

Two AI scribe subscriptions at the same price point can include very different feature sets. These are the factors that most commonly drive cost differences between plans and products:

• Session or encounter limits — some plans cap the number of sessions per month. Unlimited plans cost more but remove the risk of overage charges or mid-month cutoffs.
• Documentation types — basic plans may generate SOAP notes only. More comprehensive plans add patient summaries, referral letters, H&P notes, and procedure notes.
• Custom templates — the ability to create and save your own documentation templates is typically a paid feature, sometimes reserved for higher tiers.
• Number of devices — some products limit how many devices (phone, tablet, desktop) you can use with a single account. If you work across multiple locations, check device limits carefully.
• EHR integration or export — direct EHR integration is usually a premium feature. Copy-paste export is common at all tiers, but structured export formats or direct API connections typically require a higher plan.
• Team management — adding multiple providers, managing permissions, and consolidated billing are features that appear on practice or enterprise plans.
• Priority support — standard support (email, help center) is usually included. Dedicated or priority support channels are a paid upgrade on most products.
• Storage and retention policies — how long the product retains your notes and recordings, and whether you can export historical data, varies by plan and vendor.

Free vs paid plans

Free tiers serve a specific purpose: they let you test the product with real encounters before committing to a subscription. What you get for free varies widely across products, but there are common patterns.

Most free plans limit session volume (typically 3–10 sessions per month), restrict documentation to basic note types, and limit you to a single device. Advanced features — custom templates, patient summaries, clinical letters, export tools, and team management — are almost always reserved for paid tiers.

Dictum’s free tier includes 5 sessions per month with SOAP note generation on one device. The free plan does not expire. When your needs grow beyond 5 sessions or you want access to additional documentation types, you upgrade to a paid plan.

The practical question is whether the free tier gives you enough usage to evaluate the product properly. Five sessions is enough to test the tool across a few different encounter types and decide whether the output quality justifies a subscription.

What to compare beyond price

Two plans at $50/month can deliver very different value depending on what is included. Before comparing prices across products, make sure you are comparing equivalent feature sets. Key areas to evaluate:

• Documentation types included — does the plan cover only SOAP notes, or does it include patient summaries, referral letters, and other clinical documents? A plan that generates everything you need at $60/month may be cheaper than a $40/month plan that requires manual work for anything beyond SOAP.
• Session limits — a low-cost plan with 20 sessions per month may not be enough if you see 15+ patients per day. Calculate your monthly encounter volume before comparing.
• Template flexibility— can you customize documentation templates for your specialty and workflow, or are you limited to the vendor’s built-in options?
• Export options — how does the note get from the scribe tool to your EHR? Copy-paste, structured export, direct integration, or API access? The answer affects your daily workflow.
• Security features at each tier — some products include HIPAA-compliant processing at all tiers. Others reserve certain compliance features (audit logs, BAA, encryption standards) for enterprise or premium plans. Verify what is included at the tier you are considering.

Dictum pricing overview

Dictum offers four plans. All include HIPAA-compliant processing and clinician-reviewed output. See the Dictum pricing plans page for full details and current rates.

Questions to ask before subscribing

Before committing to any AI scribe subscription, work through these questions. They apply regardless of which product you are evaluating:

• Is there a free trial or free tier? — test the product with real encounters before paying. A free tier with no expiration is better than a 7-day trial that pressures you into a decision.
• What happens to my notes if I downgrade? — confirm whether notes created on a higher plan remain accessible if you move to a lower tier or cancel. Data portability matters.
• Are there per-encounter limits?— “unlimited sessions” should mean unlimited. Verify there are no soft caps, fair-use policies, or throttling at high volumes.
• Can I change plans at any time? — flexibility to upgrade or downgrade without penalties gives you room to adjust as your needs change.
• What is included vs add-on? — some products advertise a low base price but charge extra for features like EHR export, custom templates, or additional devices. Get the full cost picture before comparing.