Owl Practice vs TheraNest (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Owl Practice if

• Fits if you see couples, families or groups and want them in one telehealth call
• Works for Canadian practices that need data kept in Canada and support in French

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're on Growth, which stops at 20 sessions a month and has no client online booking
• Pricey if you want secure messaging and clinical measures, which need Professional at CA$100 plus tax
• Watch out: prices are published only in Canadian dollars; the US site shows none and offers a demo
• Skip it if you want a phone app, as none is named on its pages
• Watch out: there are no one-off add-ons, so one feature can mean a whole plan up, and group practices get custom quotes

Pick TheraNest if

• Fits if you're an insurance-based therapist who wants claims bundled into the plan
• Works for therapists who need help getting in-network, with one or two payer enrollments included

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you stay on Essentials: online booking, secure messaging, custom forms and bundled claims start on Advanced
• Watch out: Advanced covers 50 claims, checks and reminders a month, then 23¢ a claim, 25¢ a check and 10¢ a reminder
• Pricey if you add the Session Assistant at $35 a month, eRx at $45 plus $135 setup, or Wiley below Premier at $25
• Watch out: each therapist pays a $19.50 yearly CPT fee, cards cost 2.99% + 30¢, and Premier's unlimited has a fair usage policy
• Skip it if you might downgrade soon, as the change only takes effect when your contract ends

Owl Practice

• The published prices are the Canadian site's, in CAD plus tax; the US site, Owl Practice Suite, shows no prices and offers a demo or free start.
• Growth stops at 20 sessions a month; online booking needs Advanced, and secure messaging and clinical measures need Professional.
• Features come only with plan tiers, with no one-off add-ons; group practices get custom quotes.
• It runs in the browser; no native mobile apps are named on its pages.

TheraNest

• Advanced includes 50 claims, eligibility checks and reminders a month per practice; then claims cost $0.23, checks $0.25 and reminders $0.10 each.
• Add-ons: Ensai Session Assistant $35 a month per provider, Wiley Treatment Planner $25 a month below Premier, eRx $45 a month per therapist plus a $135 setup fee.
• Each therapist pays an AMA CPT license fee of $19.50 a year, billed in December; card payments cost 2.99% + $0.30.
• Premier's unlimited claims and reminders fall under a fair usage policy, and a downgrade takes effect only when the current contract ends.

Owl Practice

Scheduling and online booking

Rooms, waitlists, recurring sessions, couples and family bookings, and iCal or Google Calendar sync. Client online booking starts on Advanced.

Notes and clinical measures

A note template library, custom and handwritten notes, supervision support, and 85+ clinical measures that score themselves, subscales included.

Telehealth for families and groups

Video sessions with a waiting room and in-session chat, for individuals, couples, families and groups, with a supervisor able to join.

Secure messaging and portal

A client portal for booking, forms and payments; Professional adds secure conversations that clients can start, with read receipts and two-way documents.

Billing and insurance claims

Invoices, card and ACH payments, sliding-scale fees and split billing. The US edition files claims to 5,000+ payers and checks benefits with 2,000+.

Zencare directory (US)

Owl Practice Suite pairs the EHR with Zencare, a therapist directory and marketing service, plus out-of-network benefit checks and courtesy claims for private-pay clients.

TheraNest

Scheduling and client portal

Calendar management with personal calendar sync and staff availability, and a portal where clients see documents and appointments and pay online. Online booking starts on Advanced.

Notes and case management

Custom client, case and progress notes, built-in clinical case management with ICD-10 tools, and Wiley treatment planning, which is included on Premier.

Insurance claims and eligibility

Primary and secondary claims sent singly or in batches through clearinghouse partners, real-time eligibility checks, and billing automation on Premier.

Telehealth

HIPAA-compliant video for individual and group sessions, unlimited on Advanced and Premier and a $12-a-month add-on per therapist on Essentials.

Ensai AI

Ensai polishes progress notes on every plan. The Ensai Session Assistant, $35 a month per provider, scribes telehealth and office sessions into notes and writes case summaries.

Credentialing

A specialist team prepares and follows up payer enrollments with no commission: one or two payers per therapist by plan, and one more on annual billing.

Owl Practice

• GrowthCA$60

  per month plus tax, for up to 20 sessions a month

  All core features for therapists starting out or working part-time: calendar, notes, telehealth, client portal, payments and free email and SMS reminders.

• AdvancedCA$80

  per month plus tax

  Unlimited sessions, client online booking, circle of care, and customizable intake and consent forms.

• ProfessionalCA$100

  per month plus tax

  Adds shareable video links, secure messaging, couples and family conversations, clinical measures and medication tracking.

• Group PlusCustom

  Negotiated by number of clinicians, for multi-therapist practices; Group Plus Video adds integrated telehealth.

TheraNest

• Essentials$27

  per therapist / month, billed yearly ($29 billed monthly)

  Scheduling, client portal, calendar sync, basic intake forms and notes, Ensai note polishing and card payments. Telehealth is a $12 add-on.

• Advanced$54

  per therapist / month, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly)

  Adds online booking, secure messaging, custom forms and notes, unlimited individual and group telehealth, and 50 free claims and eligibility checks a month.

• Premier$82

  per therapist / month, billed yearly ($89 billed monthly)

  Adds insurance billing automation, Wiley Practice Planner, and unlimited claims, eligibility checks and text and phone reminders under a fair usage policy.

• GroupCustom

  Custom pricing for group mental health practices, quoted on request.

Owl Practice

• Other savings

  60% off the first 3 months

  On the Canadian pricing page, solo plans signed up by October 31 are 60% off for 3 months (Growth CA$24, Advanced CA$32, Professional CA$40), with a free month of Smart Notes.

• Other savings

  $100 off for each referred therapist

  Owl's Refer a Friend program takes $100 off the subscription for every referred therapist who signs up; partner Canadian associations also offer discounts.

TheraNest

• Annual discount

  One month free with yearly billing

  TheraNest's pricing page gives one month free on annual plans: Essentials is $319 a year instead of $348, Advanced $649 instead of $708 and Premier $979 instead of $1,068.