Best Therapy Recording Apps in 2026

The best therapy recording app depends on who you are. If you're the person in therapy and you want to remember your own sessions, Undertone is the strongest pick: it turns each session into structured summaries you can actually use, keeps only those outputs instead of the raw audio, asks for consent up front, and works for both in-person and telehealth sessions. If you're a therapist documenting sessions for clinical records, GraceNotes is the standout: it drafts SOAP, DAP, BIRP, and other note formats right in your browser, with United States and Canadian data residency. The criteria come first below, then both lists.

First, the criteria

A comparison is only as good as the questions behind it. Here's what actually separates these tools, and why each one matters.

• Who it's built for: a tool made for clinicians optimizes for compliant notes and billing. A tool made for clients optimizes for memory, reflection, and continuity. These are different products, and it's easy to use the wrong one.
• What it does with the recording: some tools hand you a raw audio file or a transcript. Others turn the session into structured summaries. The second is far more useful if you don't want to relive the whole hour to find the part that mattered.
• Privacy and data retention: a recording of your therapy is among the most sensitive data you can create. What gets stored, where it lives, and for how long matters more here than almost anywhere else.
• Consent design: recording another person has legal and relational weight. A good tool makes consent part of the flow instead of an afterthought.
• In-person versus telehealth: these are technically different problems. Recording a room is simple; recording a video call on the same device you're using for it is not, especially on iPhone.
• Cost: free options exist, paid options exist, and the real question is what you get for the price, not the price alone.

That second criterion, what you're left with after the session, is the one that quietly decides everything. Here's the difference.

What you actually have when the session ends

A raw recording

• A long audio file or wall of transcript
• You do the listening and note-taking yourself
• Sensitive audio stored somewhere indefinitely
• The same effort every single week

Structured outputs

• Key themes and a clear next-step plan
• Meaningful moments resurfaced for you
• No raw audio kept, just the summary
• Ready to use in a couple of minutes

Best therapy recording apps for the person in therapy

If you're recording your own sessions to remember them, here are the real options, from purpose-built to bare-bones.

1. Undertone: best for remembering your own sessions

Undertone is built for the client, not the clinician. You record the session, in person on the iOS app or for telehealth through a browser handoff you start by scanning a QR code, and instead of leaving you with a long audio file, it gives you back structured outputs. A Session Summary lays out the key themes and a next-step plan. Moments resurface meaningful pieces of the session over the days that follow, one at a time, so what came up doesn't fade by the next morning. And a Pre-Session Brief pulls your last session forward right before your next one, so you walk in with continuity instead of a blank.

What Undertone does with the recording is the real difference. It keeps only those structured outputs. It doesn't store the raw audio or a transcript, which means there's less sensitive material sitting around and a cleaner answer when your therapist asks what happens to the recording. Consent is built into the flow rather than bolted on. It isn't a therapy replacement or a clinical tool. It's a private companion for reflection and continuity, and if remembering your own sessions is the job, that's what it's for.

2. Your phone's voice recorder: the free baseline

Voice Memos on iPhone, or the built-in recorder on Android, is the genuinely free option, and it's where a lot of people start. You get a complete audio file you own outright, with no subscription. The tradeoff is that a file is all you get. You still have to listen back, take notes, and do the structuring yourself, which is exactly the work most people don't have the energy for after a hard session.

Two practical things to know. A raw recording of your therapy is about as sensitive as personal data gets, so where it syncs, whether iCloud or Google, is worth a thought. And on iPhone you can't record a call while you're on it, so a phone alone can't capture a telehealth session on the same device. If most of your therapy is virtual, see how telehealth recording actually works before you rely on this.

3. A journaling app: reflection, not a recording

Apps like Day One, or Apple Notes if you want free, are good for reflecting after a session, and journaling is a genuinely valuable habit. But a journaling app captures what you remember, not what was actually said. If your memory of the session is already patchy by the time you sit down, you're journaling a reconstruction, not the session. These apps pair well with a recording tool; they don't replace one. If memory is the issue, here's more on remembering what you talked about.

4. A general transcription tool: built for meetings, not therapy

Tools like Otter.ai or Rev will transcribe a session accurately, especially a telehealth call on a laptop. But they're built for business meetings, not therapy, and not for this privacy context. Your transcript, and often the audio, lives on a general-purpose cloud under terms written for sales calls. You also end up with a wall of transcript text, which is more to wade through, not less. Useful in a pinch, but not designed for the job you're actually doing.

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Best therapy recording apps for therapists (clinical documentation)

These tools solve a different problem: helping a clinician turn a session into a compliant note in minutes instead of an evening. If you're a client, this isn't your section, and noticing why is useful. None of these is trying to help you remember your own therapy. That's the whole reason a client-side tool exists.

1. GraceNotes: best overall for clinical notes

GraceNotes, from Mosaic Health Analytics, is the strongest all-rounder for clinical documentation. It runs entirely in the browser with no install, and drafts notes in the widest range of formats in this roundup: SOAP, DAP, BIRP, GIRP, PIRP, and PIE, plus a custom template builder. A clinician can record an in-person or telehealth session, upload an audio file, or simply dictate a short summary, and the audio is transcribed but never stored.

It's also one of the few tools that runs separate United States and Canadian versions with data kept in-region, which matters for Canadian clinicians who can't send client information across the border. Beyond the clinical note itself, GraceNotes also generates pre-session prep and client-facing summaries, which is uncommon in a category that usually stops at the therapist's note. There's a free Starter tier, so it's easy to try without a credit card.

2. Upheal: documentation plus a practice layer

Upheal is an AI documentation tool and electronic health record built for therapists. It records in-person or telehealth sessions, transcribes them, and drafts progress notes, then adds session analytics like talk-time patterns and recurring topics, along with scheduling and billing. It's closer to a full practice-management platform, which is useful if a clinician wants everything in one place, and well beyond what someone recording their own sessions would ever need.

3. Mentalyc: notes with progress tracking

Mentalyc generates progress notes from session audio and layers on tools aimed at clinicians: a progress tracker that visualizes symptom and goal trends drawn from session data, and features for reflecting on the therapeutic relationship over time. It's HIPAA-aligned and offers a free trial with paid plans. Like the others here, it's built for the person writing the note, not the person in the chair.

A few more are worth knowing if you're a clinician: Blueprint leans into measurement-based care built around standardized scales like the PHQ-9 and GAD-7, and AutoNotes covers a broad set of note templates with HIPAA and PHIPA compliance. All of them are clinician tools.

Before you pick

Whichever side of the list you're on, a few questions save you from choosing the wrong tool.

Questions worth asking first

• Who is this tool built for: are you documenting as a clinician, or remembering as a client?
• What happens to the audio: is it stored, or only used to create your summary, and for how long?
• Where does the data live, especially if you're in Canada?
• Does it handle your session type: in person, telehealth, or both?
• Have you had the consent conversation with your therapist before hitting record?

So which therapy recording app should you use?

If you're a therapist, choose based on the note formats you use, the electronic health record you're tied to, and where your data has to live. GraceNotes is the strongest overall, with Upheal and Mentalyc close behind for different needs.

If you're the one in therapy, none of those is built for you, and that's the point. You don't need a clinical note for billing. You need to remember your own sessions, hold onto what mattered, and walk back in with continuity. That's the gap Undertone is built for, and it's why it's the client-side pick.

Whatever you choose, start with consent. Have the conversation with your therapist before you record anything, and check the rules where you live. Then pick the tool that matches what you actually need the recording to do. If that's remembering your own therapy, you can get Undertone on iPhone.

A note on the legal side: this is general information, not legal advice. Consent rules for recording conversations vary by state and province, and your therapist's consent matters regardless of the law. This article is for reflection and education, not medical advice. If something here resonates, the best next step is a conversation with your therapist.