Doxy.me and VSee Clinic are the easiest starts for a small practice. Both have a free plan that comes with a Business Associate Agreement (BAA).
FreeConference costs $49.99 a month and lets patients join by phone. SimplePractice starts at $49 a month and adds notes and billing.
In 2021, 37.0% of U.S. adults said they had used telemedicine in the past 12 months, according to a federal health survey.
In an AMA physician survey, 85% of doctors said they were still using telehealth to care for patients. The pandemic grace period that let practices run visits on everyday video apps ended on August 9, 2023.
So the practical question now is which tool will sign a contract with you.
Seven options follow, and two of them, Spruce Health and SimplePractice, are larger systems where video is one feature among many.
What a telehealth video platform needs before the first patient visit
HIPAA: No software gets an official HIPAA certificate. A practice stays compliant when the vendor and the practice both do their part.
Business Associate Agreement (BAA): Get a signed BAA from any vendor that handles patient information on your behalf.
The HHS telehealth guidance says providers must pick vendors that follow the HIPAA Rules. Those vendors must also sign a BAA for their video products.
Encryption: Any secure video conferencing tool should encrypt audio and video by default.
A BAA is usually tied to one plan, not to the whole brand. Ask the vendor which plan the agreement covers, by name, and get the answer in writing.
HIPAA-compliant video conferencing only exists on the plan the BAA covers.
Past the paperwork, look for joining from a link without an account, a waiting room and a meeting lock.
How these telehealth video platforms were compared
Every entry uses the same fields. Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page, and ratings come from Capterra, both as of 26 October 2026.
The 7 telehealth platforms, reviewed
This table shows the lowest plan with a BAA for each tool, and its price.
Platform | Lowest plan with a BAA | Price of that plan |
|---|---|---|
FreeConference | Healthcare Secure Plan | $49.99 a month |
VSee Clinic | Free | $0 |
Free | $0 | |
Spruce Health | Basic | $24 for each user, each month |
SimplePractice | Starter | $49 a month |
Zoom Workplace | Pro | $16.99 for each user, each month |
Google Meet | Business Starter | $7 for each user, each month, with a 1 year commitment |
1. FreeConference
Best for: solo clinicians who want HIPAA-compliant video at one monthly price, plus a phone option for patients.
FreeConference runs in a web browser, and its Healthcare Secure Plan is the version set up for telehealth video conferencing. Patients join from a link with no download and no account.
If the video connection is poor, a patient can join the same meeting by phone.
Key features:
Signed BAA included with the Healthcare Secure Plan
Waiting room, meeting locks, and audit trails that show who joined and when
Encryption listed for video, audio, screen shares, and chat
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 on Capterra (27 reviews).
Pricing: The Healthcare Secure Plan costs $49.99 a month, with up to 100 call participants and up to 5 web participants. Despite the brand name, this is a paid plan.
Where it falls short: With only 5 web participants, it suits one on one visits better than group therapy on video. It does not hold patient records.
Ask whether a second clinician can host under the same plan.
2. VSee Clinic
Best for: solo providers who want a free start with a BAA and a waiting room.
VSee Clinic gives each provider a personal waiting room that patients enter through a link. The Free plan covers unlimited one-to-one HD video, chat, and screen sharing.
Plus adds group video, SMS and email invites, and phone dial-out. Premium is for teams of up to 50 people who share one waiting room and front desk.
Key features:
BAA on every VSee Clinic plan, including Free
Group video and guest invites on Plus and above
Shared waiting room, scheduling and standard EMR notes on Premium
Rating: 4.1 out of 5 on Capterra (70 reviews).
Pricing: Free costs $0 for each provider, each month. Plus costs $29 and Premium costs $49 for each provider, each month, and Premium adds a $200 one time setup fee. Enterprise is priced by quote.
Where it falls short: Free and Plus allow only one provider. Monthly payments are not refundable, and its rating is the lowest in this group.
3. Doxy.me
Best for: solo providers who want the simplest patient experience and a free start.
Doxy.me runs in a web browser, and it says over 1.8M care providers use it. The patient clicks the provider's room link, types a name and waits in a virtual waiting room. There is nothing to install.
Key features:
A BAA at no extra cost on Free and Premium
Group calls of up to 25 participants on Premium
Shared rooms, patient transfer, roles and permissions on Premium
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 on Capterra (1,227 reviews).
Pricing: Free costs $0 for individual providers. Premium costs $29 for each user, each month, and you pay for the whole year.
Where it falls short: Screen sharing, group calls, and HD video sit on Premium, and a growing clinic pays for every provider.
4. Spruce Health
Best for: practices that want video, a business phone line, and secure texting in one app.
Spruce Health is a communication app where video is one part of a larger system. It also has phone lines, texting, secure messaging, fax, and team chat in a shared inbox.
Key features:
Video calls with patients
Practice phone lines, secure messaging, and a shared team inbox
BAA included automatically on all trials and paid plans
Rating: 4.4 out of 5 on Capterra (34 reviews).
Pricing: Basic costs $24 for each user, each month. Communicator costs $49 for each user, each month. Both bill month to month, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card needed.
Where it falls short: There is no free plan. If you only need video, you pay for phone and messaging tools you may not use.
5. SimplePractice
Best for: therapists and small mental health practices that want scheduling, notes, billing and video in one system.
SimplePractice is practice management and electronic health record (EHR) software, mostly for mental health. Telehealth video sits in the same calendar the clinician already uses, with group telehealth on the Plus plan.
Key features:
Telehealth included in every plan
Appointment reminders and calendar sync on Essential and above
Clinical notes, insurance billing, and claims
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 on Capterra (2,828 reviews).
Pricing: Starter costs $49 a month. Essential costs $79 a month, and Plus costs $99 a month. On Plus, each added clinician costs $74 a month. All plans bill monthly, and the free trial lasts 30 days.
Where it falls short: You are buying a whole EHR to get the video. Some Capterra reviewers report weak customer support and video links that fail at times.
6. Zoom Workplace
Best for: larger practices already on Zoom that want one tool for staff meetings and patient visits.
Zoom Workplace is the general video meeting tool many patients have already used. Zoom's own healthcare blog says the free Basic plan has no option for a BAA.
A BAA needs at least one paid license, Pro or above.
Key features:
BAA available on paid plans, Pro or above
Pro meetings up to 30 hours, with up to 100 participants
Single sign on, managed domains and up to 300 participants on Business
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 on Capterra (14,694 reviews, for Zoom Workplace as a whole).
Pricing: Pro costs $16.99 for each user, each month, or $14.16 when you pay for the whole year. Business costs $21.99 for each user, each month, or $18.33 when you pay for the whole year.
Enterprise is quoted by sales. The free Basic plan limits meetings to 40 minutes.
Where it falls short: It has no patient intake or front desk built in. The cost adds up once every provider needs a license.
7. Google Meet
Best for: practices already on Google Workspace that want video visits without another vendor.
Google lists Meet among the Workspace services covered by its Business Associate Agreement.
Meeting links come from Google Calendar, and patients join from a browser.
Key features:
Covered by the Google Workspace BAA
100 participants on Business Starter, 150 on Business Standard, and 500 on Business Plus
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 on Capterra (12,182 reviews).
Pricing: Business Starter costs $7 for each user, each month, with a 1-year commitment. Business Standard costs $14, and Business Plus costs $22 on the same terms.
Without the commitment, the prices are $8.40, $16.80, and $26.40.
Where it falls short: There is no patient queue, intake form, or clinical reminder workflow, only the standard ask-to-join step.
The BAA applies to paid Workspace accounts only, and an admin must accept it first. A personal Gmail account is not covered.
How to choose telehealth video conferencing for your practice
If some of your patients are older or on poor connections, look first at browser join and a phone dial-in backup.
Teams that juggle phone calls, texts, and video links may prefer Spruce Health. SimplePractice fits too, since video is one step in its larger workflow.
When cost decides it, price the whole team and not one user. Take 5 clinicians over 12 months.
Doxy.me Premium costs $29 for each user, each month. For 5 users over 12 months, that is $1,740.
FreeConference's Healthcare Secure Plan costs $49.99 a month. Over 12 months, that is $599.88. Ask the vendor whether all 5 clinicians can host on that one plan.
Before you sign with any of these telehealth video platforms, ask the vendor four things:
Which plan does the BAA cover, by name?
What does a patient have to install or create to join?
What happens to the visit if the patient's video drops?
Where are recordings stored, if you record at all?
FAQ
Which telehealth video platforms sign a BAA?
All seven tools here offer a BAA on at least one plan:
FreeConference on its Healthcare Secure Plan
VSee Clinic on all plans, including Free
Doxy.me on its Free and Premium plans
Spruce Health on all trials and paid plans
SimplePractice, through the BAA that starts when you create an account
Zoom on paid plans
Google Meet through a paid Google Workspace account
Zoom Basic and a personal Gmail account are not covered.
Is end-to-end encryption required for HIPAA?
No. HIPAA does not name one specific encryption method for video calls. The signed BAA is the part that differs between plans.
Can patients join a telehealth visit without downloading an app?
Yes, with most of these tools. FreeConference, Doxy.me, and VSee Clinic all let patients join from a browser link. Zoom and Google Meet also have a browser option.
FreeConference also lets a patient join by phone.
Is Zoom HIPAA compliant?
Only on a paid plan with a signed BAA. Zoom says its free Basic plan has no option for a BAA.
What does a telehealth platform cost for a small practice?
A solo clinician can start at $0 with VSee Clinic or Doxy.me, and both include a BAA. Paid plans for the video tools here run from $7 to $49.99 a month for one clinician.
SimplePractice costs $49 to $99 a month and adds notes and billing.
Conclusion
Doxy.me and VSee Clinic are the easiest free starting points. SimplePractice makes the most sense if you also need notes and billing, and Spruce Health if your phones are the bigger headache.
Zoom and Google Meet work when the practice already pays for them, and the BAA is signed.
FreeConference fits solo clinicians who want browser visits, a phone dial in backup and a signed BAA for $49.99 a month.