Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes
Abridge vs Glean vs Heidi
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Hospital and health-system leaders choosing an AI scribe for their doctors and nurses.
Pick it if: Mid-size and large companies whose knowledge is scattered across many apps and teams.
Pick it if: GPs, specialists, psychologists and allied health practitioners who spend their evenings writing up notes.
Overview
| Attribute | Abridge | Glean | Heidi |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Turns doctor–patient conversations into notes inside the hospital EHR. | Searches and answers questions across all your company's apps, with agents on top. | AI medical scribe that listens to a consult and writes the notes and letters. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | See website | See website | Free |
| Free plan | No | No | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | Yes | No |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Abridge | Glean | Heidi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.2 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Abridge | Glean | Heidi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | – | – | Yes |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | Yes |
| API access | – | Yes | – |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | – | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | – | – | – |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | – | No |
| Runs agents or automations | – | Yes | – |
| Learns your brand or style | – | – | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 5/ 17 | 9/ 17 | 10/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Abridge | Glean | Heidi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | EnterpriseOur pick Custom Health systems rolling it out across many clinicians. | EnterpriseOur pick Custom Companies with roughly 100 or more staff. | Free Free A single clinician trying it on real consults. |
ClinicianOur pick See website (14-day free trial) A clinician who uses it every day. | |||
Practice Custom Clinics with several practitioners. | |||
Enterprise Custom Health services and large groups. | |||
| Which plan to pick | There is only one way to buy it: a contract between your organisation and Abridge. If you are a single clinician or small practice, look at Heidi instead. | There is only a quoted enterprise contract. Ask for a pilot on your own data before committing, and compare the quote against Microsoft 365 Copilot or Gemini if you already pay for one of them. | Start on Free for a couple of weeks of real consults. If it saves you time every day, trial the Clinician plan; if you need notes to flow into your practice software or want one bill for the clinic, ask about Practice. |
Key features
| Attribute | Abridge | Glean | Heidi |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Abridge | Glean | Heidi |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Abridge | Glean | Heidi |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Abridge, Glean or Heidi?
They tie on our overall rating (Abridge 4.2/5, Glean 4.0/5 and Heidi 4.2/5). Abridge is best for large health systems on Epic and cutting after-hours note writing. Glean is best for finding information across many company apps and onboarding new staff faster. Heidi is best for writing up consult notes and drafting referral and specialist letters.
Which is cheaper, Abridge, Glean or Heidi?
Abridge: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote. Glean: Pricing isn't published; check the vendor's site for a quote. Heidi: It's free to use.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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