Honest comparison

PainTrace vs SimplePractice

SimplePractice is a serious health records platform, built first for therapists of the talking kind: counselors, psychologists, behavioral health. The $29 door is gone: plans now run $49, $79, or $99, every price is per clinician, reminders for in person visits need the $79 tier, and adding clinicians is a top tier feature at $74 each. Here is the honest side by side for a massage practice.

PainTraceSimplePractice
Price$29, flat, everything included$49, $79, or $99 per clinician
The working tier truthOne plan is the whole platformReminders for in person visits need the $79 tier
Two practitionersStill $29About $173 a month and up
Built forMassage and bodywork firstMental and behavioral health first
ChartingSOAP with sign and lock, sealed storageExcellent, built to medical records standards
Pain outcome trackingBuilt in: check ins, trend lines, body mapsNot a native feature
Video visitsIncluded at $29, charted like any sessionIncluded on every plan
SuperbillsIncluded, CPT codes, made for massageIncluded by tier
No show protectionDeposits, saved cards, one tap fees, includedCard on file tools available
Memberships and packagesIncluded, riding one credit systemNot the model
Your data if you leaveFull CSV export anytimeExport available

The $29 that left the shelf

Two platforms used to advertise $29 on the same shelf. In 2026 SimplePractice raised its door to $49, and the practice that actually runs lives at $79: the $49 Starter sends appointment reminders only for video visits, so a table based practice pays the middle tier just to remind anyone about an in person session. A second set of hands means the $99 tier plus $74 for each additional clinician, so a two practitioner massage studio budgets about $173 a month before a single card is processed. PainTrace is still $29 for the practice, whatever its size, with reminders, intake, charting, video visits, superbills, marketing, packages and memberships all inside.

An EHR for talk, a platform for touch

SimplePractice earns its reputation in rooms where the session is a conversation: video sessions on every plan, insurance claim filing, treatment plans for behavioral health. A massage practice needs different bones. Clients book by service and pressure, not by diagnosis code. Outcomes are physical: where it hurts, how much, and whether that number falls over months, which is exactly what PainTrace Pulse draws on every chart. And the front door matters: a branded booking page with deposits, a waitlist, and memberships that refill themselves is how a table stays full.

Where SimplePractice genuinely wins: mental and behavioral health practices that bill insurance and see clients over video. If your practice runs psychotherapy or counselling beside massage, its claim filing and video care are the real thing and it deserves your shortlist. For a practice where the work happens on a table, massage first bones win.

Switching is an afternoon, not a project

Export your client list as a CSV from SimplePractice, import it into PainTrace in one click, set your services and hours, connect your own Stripe or Square, and your branded booking page is live at yourname.paintracebooking.com. Your clients and your data stay yours on the way in, and they stay yours if you ever leave.

Start today
$29 a month, everything included · cancel any time
We work hard to keep comparisons accurate, drawing on public pricing pages, practitioner surveys and user reviews as of mid 2026. Competitor pricing and features change; check their sites for the latest, and tell us at paintracebooking@gmail.com if anything here has drifted. All trademarks belong to their owners.