Free software for psychologists in Europe: what free plans are worth

Free software for psychologists is a notes, patient record or clinical writing tool you can use without a paid subscription, either during a time-limited trial or permanently with limits on volume or features. For a psychologist in Europe, the price tag matters less than what the tool does with your clients' data: where it is stored, who can access it, whether it trains a model, and whether you can take it with you when you leave.

This article does not repeat our overview of paid tools in psychologist practice software. It answers a narrower buying question: what free plans are worth, and on what conditions you can adopt one safely. It is written for practitioners in France, Belgium and Switzerland.

What free actually means

The directories that rank for free therapy software mix three very different things. On the pages we read on 3 November 2026, few tools listed as free describe a permanent free plan: where any detail is given, it is often a 14 or 30 day trial, and many tools are built for the US market.

• Free trial: all features for a fixed period, then a subscription. Good for testing, not for keeping files.
• Permanent free plan: free with no end date, but capped (sessions, clients or features). This is the only real free software as a buying decision.
• Free consumer tool: online word processor, file storage, general AI assistant. Free for everyone, not designed for health data.

The real cost of free: six points to check

1. Where the data lives

A locked paper file or a document on an encrypted computer stays with you. As soon as an online service is involved, your notes sit on a third party's servers. The country, the host and the encryption should be written on the provider's site. If they are not, assume you do not know.

2. HDS or not

In France, HDS certification governs hosting health data on behalf of a professional. See our article on HDS-certified hosting. Check that the free plan itself is covered, not only the paid plans.

3. GDPR and the processing agreement

When a provider handles your clients' data for you, it acts as a processor. We advise choosing only a tool that offers a data processing agreement (DPA) and a privacy policy that covers health data, not just account data.

4. Model training

This is the least visible cost of free. Some AI assistants may use your conversations to improve their models unless you switch it off. Look for an explicit sentence on the provider's site. We explain the issue in does AI train on therapy notes?.

5. Volume and feature limits

A free plan nearly always has a cap. Count your real sessions in a busy month before choosing, and check what happens at the limit: blocked, moved to a paid plan, or simply waiting for next month.

6. Export and continuity

A client file must outlive your subscription. Check that you can export your notes in a readable format, and read what the terms say if the free plan ends or the provider closes.

What the rules say in France, Belgium and Switzerland

We could not open article L1111-8 of the French Public Health Code on Légifrance, so we rely on the official secondary source. According to the French Digital Health Agency FAQ (updated 22 September 2026), the certification duty under that article covers any service hosting personal health data from prevention, diagnosis, care or social and medico-social follow-up, provided on behalf of the patient or of the professionals, establishments and organisations who produced the data. The page does not name psychologists; it says professionals must assess, case by case, whether the data they entrust to a third party fall within this scope.

The agency's HDS page states that certification is issued by an accredited independent body for three years, with a yearly surveillance audit. The French data protection authority, the CNIL, published a non-binding framework for private medical and allied health practices in July 2020; its list of example professions does not name psychologists.

Our advice: treat session notes as health data and choose a tool hosted by an HDS-certified provider, free or not. HDS certification is a requirement of French law. In Belgium, the GDPR governs this data; in Switzerland, the Federal Act on Data Protection. The checklist below still holds.

Common free options

For each tool we state only what we read on its official site (public pages and help centre) on 3 November 2026. Anything not found there is marked not stated on its site.

• Paper files: free everything except supplies. Strengths nothing online, nothing to set up. Check locked cabinet, retention, loss or water damage, hard to reread a long course of therapy. Use small caseload, practitioners comfortable writing by hand.
• Word processor on your computer: free often already installed. Strengths files stay with you, templates are easy. Check disk encryption, login password, regular encrypted backup, automatic sync to a consumer cloud switched off if active. Use notes and letters, with backup discipline.
• Online word processor or consumer storage: free a basic space. Strengths access from several devices. Check HDS certification of the free tier and a processing agreement, on the provider's site. Use documents with no client data (blank templates, training material).
• ChatGPT, free version: free basic access to the assistant. Strengths rephrasing, outlining, general writing. What its site says according to its help centre, content from business offerings (Team, Enterprise, API) is not used for training; personal Free and Plus accounts can turn off training in settings or through the privacy portal, after which new conversations are not used to train models. HDS not stated on the page we read. Use text with no identifying data. Full comparison: Delta vs ChatGPT.
• Heidi, Free plan: free according to its help centre, unlimited transcription and note generation with standard templates. Limit 10 uses a month for advanced features (advanced templates, Ask Heidi, form filling, patient and session linking); beyond that, standard-template notes still work and advanced features resume the next month. Strengths according to its site, consultation data, transcriptions and notes are not used to train its model; ISO 27001 and SOC 2, with GDPR compliance stated. HDS and hosting country not stated on the pages we read. Use trying assisted transcription on a real volume.
• Carepatron, Free plan: free according to its pricing page, $0 with no credit card, unlimited clients, telehealth, client portal and AI note-taking, with caps (1 GB storage, AI credits, number of appointments). Strengths full practice management; according to its help centre, EU and UK data processing addendums are offered. HDS, hosting country, training not stated on the pages we read. Use check its security documentation before storing European client files.
• Delta, Free plan: free €0/month forever, no credit card, 10 sessions per month, according to the pricing page. Data hosted in France with an HDS-certified host, never used to train a model. Limit beyond 10 sessions per month, the Pro plan (€35/month incl. VAT monthly, or €29/month billed annually, €348/year) gives unlimited sessions. Use small caseload, starting out, or testing on real sessions.

For paid AI tools and their prices, see our comparison of the best AI note-taking software for psychologists.

Fictional example: is a free plan enough?

Fictional example. Claire works in private practice two half-days a week and sees three clients per half-day. That is six sessions a week, roughly twenty-four to twenty-six a month. A plan capped at 10 sessions a month does not cover her caseload; she can use it to try the tool with a few clients, then decide whether to pay or keep notes elsewhere.

Fictional example. Julien is setting up and sees two clients a week, eight or nine sessions a month. The free plan covers his current activity; he will need to redo the sum as his caseload grows.

Run this calculation on your busiest month, not an average one.

Checklist before adopting a free tool

• 1. Does the site state the country and the host of the data?
• 2. Is the host HDS-certified (France), and does the free plan benefit from it?
• 3. Is a data processing agreement offered, including on the free plan?
• 4. Does an explicit sentence say your content does not train a model?
• 5. Is data encrypted in transit and at rest?
• 6. What happens to any audio after the session?
• 7. What is the exact cap (sessions, clients, features) and what happens when you reach it?
• 8. Can you export the whole file in a readable format?
• 9. What do the terms say if the free plan changes or the provider closes?
• 10. Is a credit card required, and is there an automatic switch to paid?

Common mistakes with free tools

• Confusing trial and free: after 14 or 30 days, your files sit in a paid tool.
• Leaving default cloud sync on: a local folder can end up on a consumer service without you choosing it.
• Never testing export: do it in week one, on a fictional client.
• Trusting a directory: check every point on the provider's official site, not a summary listing.

Why Delta fits this case

Delta is the clinical assistant for mental health professionals, more than a scribe: it keeps the memory of each client. Its free plan does not change the data rules: hosting in France with an HDS-certified host, AI processing in France, names and identifying details pseudonymised before the AI, no audio file kept, no data ever used to train a model. For Belgium and other countries outside France, data stays in Europe, in France, on infrastructure certified for health data.

During the session, Delta transcribes what is said; or afterwards, you dictate your observations. It generates the session report (short summary, detailed summary, topics for next session) taking your approach into account, updates the client's file and drafts letters, certificates and assessment reports. Delta does not handle scheduling, billing or test scoring. The Pro plan adds unlimited sessions, clinical memory, specialised reports and templates by specialty. See also Delta for psychologists and our clinical document templates, usable with any tool.

Sources

• French Digital Health Agency (ANS), FAQ: scope of health data hosting legislation (in French, updated 22/09/2026, accessed 03/11/2026)
• French Digital Health Agency (ANS), health data hosting (in French, accessed 03/11/2026)
• CNIL, three frameworks for the health sector (in French, 28/07/2020)
• OpenAI help centre: disabling model training (accessed 03/11/2026)
• Heidi help centre: plan overview (accessed 03/11/2026)