Disclosure: Mako CRM publishes this comparison and is one of the products discussed. This is vendor-authored analysis, not an independent review or hands-on product test.
Method: We checked the official sources below on September 1, 2026. Features, prices, fees, promotions, limits, and contract terms can change. Quote-only or unverified items should be labeled; absence from an official page is not proof that a feature is unavailable.
| Publisher | Source | What it supports | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| SimplePractice | SimplePractice Pricing | Starter $49 Essential $79 Plus $99; 30-day trial; temporary 50%-off offer; add-on displays | Promotion is temporary and conversion-window dependent; add-on prices and future changes date-sensitive |
| SimplePractice | Comparing SimplePractice Features by Plan | Plan feature differences; telehealth; insurance claim charges; ePrescribe and Note Taker pricing; no public API/eFax statement | Page announces future October changes; claim pricing is date-limited through September 30 2026 |
| SimplePractice | Subscription Plan and Pricing FAQs | Standard plans; additional clinician and manager pricing; promotion and cancellation-related FAQ information | Cohort/team pricing may vary; no complete processor or custom enterprise price |
| Mako CRM | Pricing - Transparent Plans for Service Businesses | Public plan prices, annual totals, included team members, additional-location price, and month-to-month contract statement | Vendor-authored and changeable; checked date required; does not independently prove value, superiority, or competitor differences |
| Mako CRM | Invoicing and Payment Software for Service Businesses | Invoice creation, payment links, partial-payment tracking, reminders, recurring billing, Stripe processing, and Mako fee statements | Vendor-authored; Stripe fees can vary by market and account; sample collection and speed figures are not independent outcome evidence |
SimplePractice is the dominant platform for solo practitioners in health and wellness — therapists, counsellors, nutritionists, and allied health. Clinical documentation, telehealth, insurance workflows, and a client portal that patients navigate without help. Mako is a different category: the business platform underneath a service company, with no clinical records layer. Being clear about that boundary is more useful than pretending the two overlap completely.
SimplePractice: Published. Starter at $49/month, Essential at $79/month, and Plus at $99/month for the first practitioner. Group practices add roughly $74/month per additional practitioner. Promotional first-months discounts are frequently displayed — check what the rate becomes afterwards.
Mako: Pulse is free. Basic at $139/month — the complete platform with three team members. Team at $249/month — fifteen team members, advanced reporting, QuickBooks sync. Enterprise at $999/month — unlimited members. Roughly 20% off annually, no contract.
The per-practitioner line is the comparison. Solo, SimplePractice at $49–$99 is well under Mako's $139. A three-person group practice on Plus is $99 plus two at $74, about $247/month — level with Mako Team at $249, which covers fifteen. A six-person practice is roughly $469 against the same $249.
SimplePractice is built for regulated practice. If you need clinical notes, treatment plans, telehealth with compliance obligations, or insurance claim submission, that is a requirement Mako does not meet and you should choose accordingly. Verify specifics against your own licensing body rather than any vendor's marketing.
If your practice is wellness rather than clinical — coaching, bodywork on a cash basis, nutrition without insurance, a studio with treatment rooms — then the compliance layer you would be paying for is not the thing you need, and business operations become the deciding factor.
Notes, treatment plans, and compliant video in one system. Deep, mature, and not something a general platform replicates.
Claim submission, tracking, and superbills. Essential where insurance is a revenue channel.
At $49 to start, it is significantly cheaper than Mako for one practitioner.
Genuinely good, and patients use it without needing to be walked through it.
$74 per additional practitioner compounds fast. Six practitioners is roughly $890 a month more per year than a flat tier. Mako's Team covers fifteen at $249 with nothing added per head.
Profit per service after practitioner pay, cash-flow forecasting, unit economics, LTV. SimplePractice reports billings and appointments well but is not built to answer whether a service line is profitable.
Percentage splits varying by service and seniority, tips, timesheets, payouts — native, and historically accurate against the rate that applied on the day.
Supplements, products, packages, memberships, classes alongside one-to-one work — one platform, with margin visible.
Pick SimplePractice if:
Pick Mako if:
Your practice is a business. Not a hobby, not a side project, not a calendar with a cash register. It deserves software that treats it accordingly. If your platform cannot tell you whether you are financially healthy, it is not doing its job. And in 2026, you have better options.
See Mako in action — no sales call required
Mako is built for independent practice owners who would rather spend their time on clients than on demo calls. Open the live demo, poke around, and see exactly how booking, payments, and financial intelligence come together in one place.
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