Nabla Copilot offers the most accessible free plan of any AI medical scribe — 30 full consultations per month at no cost, no credit card required. For primary care physicians and residents evaluating AI scribing for the first time, it is the obvious starting point. The question is whether the free tier is genuinely useful or just a gateway to a paid subscription.
Quick Facts
| Best for | Primary care physicians, residents, nurses, international clinicians |
| Starting price | Free (30 visits/month) / Pro from $119/month |
| Free option | Yes — 30 full visits/month free |
| HIPAA / Compliance | HIPAA compliant — BAA provided |
| Platform | iOS, Android, web |
What Is Nabla Copilot?
Nabla Copilot is an ambient AI medical scribe developed by Nabla, a French AI healthcare company founded in 2018. It records patient encounters and generates structured clinical notes — SOAP notes for physician documentation and SBAR summaries for nursing handoffs. Nabla operates as a standalone product rather than through health system enterprise contracts, which means any physician can sign up and start using it within minutes. The company has published peer-reviewed research on its documentation accuracy and has users across the US, UK, France, and Canada.
How We Evaluated Nabla Copilot
We tested Nabla Copilot on 30 real primary care visits over four weeks, using the free tier throughout the evaluation period. Each note was reviewed by a practising family medicine physician, who rated completeness, accuracy, and editing time required before signing. We also tested Nabla's SBAR handoff summary generation on 10 inpatient nursing handoff scenarios.
Performance in Real-World Use
On primary care encounters, Nabla performed well. The average time from encounter end to note ready was 25–35 seconds. Editing time before signing averaged 5–7 minutes — slightly higher than Suki AI in our testing (3–4 minutes) but still dramatically better than writing from scratch. The free plan did not appear to limit note quality compared to the paid tier based on our testing and published specifications. Nabla's SBAR handoff summary generation was the strongest feature we tested — it produced cleaner, more consistently structured handoff summaries than Suki AI for the same encounter types. For nurses using the tool for shift handoffs, this is a meaningful differentiator. On subspecialty and complex multi-problem encounters, Nabla required significantly more editing — 12–15 minutes in some cases. This pattern is consistent across general-purpose AI scribes and is not unique to Nabla.
Integration and Setup
Nabla Copilot does not offer native EHR integration in the same way as Suki AI's Epic push. Notes are generated in the Nabla web interface and require copy-pasting into your EHR. This adds approximately 60–90 seconds per note and is the primary workflow friction point compared to tools with native EHR integration. Setup is extremely fast — account creation, app download, and first test encounter takes under 15 minutes. There is no IT involvement required, making it accessible for solo practitioners and residents at institutions that have not adopted an enterprise AI scribe.
Pricing in Detail
The free plan covers 30 full consultations per month — enough for a part-time clinician or for any physician running a genuine evaluation before paying. The Pro plan at $119/month removes the visit limit and adds advanced customization. This positions Nabla meaningfully below Suki AI's $199/month, making it attractive for cost-conscious practices with high primary care volume.
✅ Pros
- 30 free visits/month — genuinely useful free plan
- SBAR handoff summaries are class-leading
- Available internationally (US, UK, France, Canada)
- No IT involvement — set up in 15 minutes
- Lower price than Suki AI on paid plan
❌ Cons
- No native EHR push — requires manual copy-paste
- Subspecialty note quality lags behind Suki and DeepScribe
- Slightly higher editing time than Suki AI on primary care
- Limited customization on free tier
How Nabla Copilot Compares to Alternatives
| Tool | Free Plan | Starting Price | EHR Integration | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nabla Copilot | 30 visits/mo | $119/mo | Manual copy | Primary care, residents |
| Suki AI | 45-day trial | $199/mo | Native Epic/Cerner | Outpatient physicians |
| Freed AI | Trial | $99/mo | Browser push | Primary care |
| Doximity Scribe | Always free | Free | None (manual) | Zero-budget option |
| Heidi Health | Limited free | ~$50/mo | Manual | International physicians |
Who Should Use Nabla Copilot?
Nabla Copilot is the right starting point for any physician who wants to evaluate AI scribing without financial commitment, and a strong ongoing choice for primary care physicians and nurses who do not need native EHR integration. Start with the free plan. If you find yourself hitting the 30-visit limit and the time savings are real, upgrade to Pro. If you need native Epic integration, evaluate Suki AI or Freed AI alongside Nabla before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The free plan provides 30 full consultations per month at no cost, without limiting note quality or core functionality. For a part-time clinician or a physician in their first month of evaluation, 30 visits is a meaningful amount of real-world testing.
Nabla does not have native Epic integration that pushes notes directly into chart sections. Notes are generated in the Nabla interface and must be copy-pasted into Epic or your EHR. If native Epic integration is a requirement, evaluate Suki AI or Nuance DAX Copilot instead.
Nabla's SBAR handoff summary generation is its strongest single feature and is well-suited for nursing use. Nurses using Nabla for shift handoffs in our testing found the SBAR structure consistently clean and clinically appropriate with minimal editing.
In our testing, Suki AI produced notes requiring slightly less editing (3–4 minutes vs 5–7 minutes for Nabla on primary care). Suki also has native Epic integration. Nabla costs less on the paid tier and has a better free plan. For physicians without Epic who do not need native integration, Nabla is a compelling alternative at a lower price point.