For a 5-person team, chat with a signed BAA costs anywhere from $0 (Hucu.ai's limited free tier) to $120 a month (Spruce Health) as of November 2026, with most tools landing between $10 and $50. Yodl is $10 a month flat. The price that matters is the price of the plan that includes the BAA, and that is where the surprises live.
The market at a glance
First the two terms every price depends on. PHI is protected health information: anything that identifies a patient and relates to their care. A BAA is a Business Associate Agreement, the contract HIPAA requires a vendor to sign before it can hold PHI for you. A chat plan without a BAA has a price but not a HIPAA price. The table shows what 5 people pay on the cheapest plan that includes the agreement, as of November 2026, read from each vendor's site. Prices change, so verify before you buy.
| Tool and plan | Price for 5 people | BAA on that plan |
|---|---|---|
| Yodl Team | $10 a month flat, 5 users included | Yes, every plan |
| Chanty Business | $15 a month ($3 per user billed annually; $4 monthly) | Yes |
| Microsoft Teams Essentials | $20 a month ($4 per user, paid yearly) | Yes, by default on commercial plans |
| Google Workspace Business Starter | $35 a month annual or $42 flexible | Yes, accepted in the Admin console |
| Celo Growth | $49 a month billed annually, up to 20 users | Yes, Growth and up |
| Zenzap Business+ | $50 total a month, up to 5 users, plus an unpriced HIPAA add-on | Only with the add-on |
| Spruce Health Basic | $120 a month ($24 per user, taxes and fees extra) | Yes, all trials and plans |
| Slack Pro | $43.75 a month, but the BAA needs an Enterprise plan (contact sales) | No, Enterprise only |
| Pumble Pro | $12.45 a month ($2.49 per seat, annual), or free | No HIPAA or BAA statement found |
| TigerConnect | Contact sales, no published pricing | Yes, standard BAA published |
The three pricing models
Per user. Slack, Spruce, Teams, Google Workspace, Chanty and Hypercare charge for every seat. The bill tracks headcount exactly, which is fair when everyone works full time and painful when a per-diem nurse or a part-time biller needs a seat for two shifts a month.
Per workspace tier with a user cap. Zenzap Business+ is $50 total for up to 5 users, Celo Growth is $49 for up to 20, and Brosix Essentials 20 is $40 a month paid yearly for up to 20. You pay the same whether you fill the tier or not, and the price jumps when you cross the cap.
Flat per location. Yodl charges $10 a month per location with 5 users and 20 GB included, then $2 per extra user. A second site is another $10 with 5 more users. The bill grows with locations and only slowly with people.
The hidden costs
- HIPAA add-ons and tier gates. Zenzap sells HIPAA compliance and a signed BAA as an add-on with no published price. Slack requires an Enterprise plan. Trillian's BAA comes only with its $7.99 Enterprise tier. The cheap headline is not the HIPAA price.
- Annual commitments. Teams Essentials is paid yearly on an auto-renewing subscription, Google charges $8.40 instead of $7 if you want monthly flexibility, Celo's plans are billed annually, Chanty is $4 instead of $3 month to month, and Hypercare's page does not label which of its two price sets is annual.
- Contact-sales minimums and setup fees. TigerConnect publishes no pricing, QliqSOFT quotes per seat plus a one-time implementation fee, and OhMD starts at $300 a month with 'minimums apply' on its Enterprise tier.
- Usage and per-message fees. Spruce charges a one-time $19.50 to enable outbound SMS plus pass-through taxes and telecom fees, Updox sells bundles with usage caps, and WhatsApp's Business Platform bills per delivered message (and offers no BAA at all).
A worked example: two locations, 13 people
Take a practice with a main office of 8 and a satellite office of 5. Everyone needs chat, and the owner wants both sites in one workspace. Here is the arithmetic from the published prices.
| Tool | Monthly | Per year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yodl | $26 | $312 | Two locations at $10 each include 10 users and 40 GB; 3 extra users at $2 |
| Chanty Business | $39 billed annually ($52 monthly) | $468 | 13 users at $3; BAA on Business |
| Microsoft Teams Essentials | $52 | $624 | 13 users at $4, paid yearly |
| Celo Growth | $49 billed annually | $588 | Flat for up to 20 users |
| Google Workspace Business Starter | $91 annual or $109.20 flexible | $1,092 | 13 users at $7 or $8.40 |
| Slack Pro | $113.75 | $1,365 | 13 users at $8.75, and no BAA on this plan |
| Spruce Health Basic | $312 | $3,744 | 13 users at $24, plus taxes and fees; includes phones and patient texting |
| Zenzap | Not published | Not published | 13 users is in the 'Up to 20 users' tier, which shows 'Book a Demo'; HIPAA add-on also unpriced |
| TigerConnect | Contact sales | Contact sales | No published pricing |
Two things stand out. Flat and capped plans (Yodl, Celo) barely move between 10 and 13 people, while per-user plans move with every hire. And the two best-known names, Slack and Zenzap, cannot be priced for HIPAA from their public pages at all.
Where Yodl lands
Yodl is the flat option in the table: $10 a month per location with 5 users, 20 GB and a signed BAA, $2 per extra user, month to month, no free trial. API access is $20 a month per workspace and Enterprise is custom. It is staff-to-staff chat only, with no voice or video calls, no SMS and no SSO yet, so if you also need patient texting you will pair it with a patient-messaging tool.
The full numbers are on the pricing page: $10 a month for 5 people, signed BAA.
Expect $10 to $50 a month for 5 people with a BAA on the plan, and check three things before trusting any number: is the BAA on that plan, is the price annual or monthly, and what happens at user 6.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest HIPAA team chat for 5 people?
Yodl at $10 a month flat. Chanty Business is $15 billed annually, Teams Essentials is $20 paid yearly, and Hucu.ai has a free tier with a BAA that is limited to 10 users, 2 weeks of data access and 500 MB.
Is Slack's $8.75 per user a HIPAA price?
No. Slack's HIPAA support requires an Enterprise plan with an executed BAA, and Enterprise+ pricing is contact sales.
Why is Zenzap's HIPAA price not listed here?
Zenzap sells HIPAA compliance and a signed BAA as an add-on, and its site does not publish the add-on price. Business+ is $50 total a month for up to 5 users before the add-on.
Do I pay for part-time staff?
On per-user tools, yes, every seat costs the same. On capped or flat plans like Celo Growth or Yodl, part-timers fit inside the included users, so a per-diem nurse costs nothing extra until you pass the cap.
What does TigerConnect cost?
TigerConnect does not publish pricing; you contact sales. Its standard BAA is published on its legal pages.