Spruce Health and Yodl do different jobs. Spruce is a patient communication platform: HIPAA phone lines, two-way patient texting, fax, video visits and a shared inbox, priced per user from $24 a month. Yodl is staff-to-staff team chat, $10 a month for 5 users with a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Pick Spruce to talk to patients, Yodl for private staff chat. Many offices want both.
At a glance
Protected health information (PHI) is any detail that identifies a patient and relates to their health or care. A BAA is the contract HIPAA requires from a vendor before it handles PHI. Spruce prices are as of November 2026 from sprucehealth.com/pricing and exclude taxes and fees; prices change, so verify there.
| What matters | Yodl | Spruce Health |
|---|---|---|
| Price for a 5-person office | $10 a month, BAA included | Basic $24 per user ($120 a month for 5 before taxes and fees); Communicator $49 ($245) |
| How it is priced | Flat per location; $2 per extra user; $10 per extra location | Per user, month to month by default; all users on the same plan |
| Signs a BAA, and on which plans | Yes, every plan | Yes, all trials and paid plans |
| Free tier or trial | None | 14-day trial, no credit card, SMS excluded |
| Built for | Small healthcare teams and small businesses | Solo practitioners and small to mid-size practices |
| File storage | 20 GB per location | Not published on the pages we read |
| API | $20 a month per workspace | Included in Communicator ($49 per user) |
| Apps and devices | Any browser, Mac app, iPhone app (beta) | iOS, Android, web and Mac apps |
Pricing in detail
Yodl has one plan: $10 a month for 5 users, 1 location, 20 GB and a signed BAA. Extra users are $2 each, an extra location is $10 with 5 more users and 20 more GB, and the API is $20 a month. Month to month, no free trial.
Spruce has two plans, both per user and month to month by default. Basic is $24 a month per user and includes the HIPAA BAA, phone, text, video, fax, team chat, a shared inbox, auto-replies and AI voicemail transcription. Communicator is $49 per user, labeled Best Value, adding IVR call flows, urgent escalation and after-hours triage, integrations and API access, VoIP phone service, and AI transcription and summaries.
Extras: a one-time $19.50 fee to enable outbound SMS, pass-through taxes and telecom fees, possible onboarding fees or an annual commitment for larger practices, and SSO as an unpriced add-on. All users must be on the same plan, so one person who needs Communicator means everyone pays $49.
HIPAA and the BAA
HIPAA requires a BAA before a vendor handles PHI (45 CFR 164.502(e) and 164.308(b)). HIPAA does not certify any app; compliance is your policies and training plus a vendor that signs. Both of these vendors sign.
Spruce lists the HIPAA BAA on its Basic plan card, and its FAQ says the BAA applies to all Spruce trials and paid plans: you agree to it electronically when you create an organization. The homepage shows HIPAA, HITRUST and SOC 2 badges. Its help-center BAA article returned an error when we tried to read it, and the pages we read do not describe encryption.
Yodl signs a BAA with every customer on every plan, including the $10 plan. It is encrypted in transit and at rest, hosted on HIPAA-eligible infrastructure with subprocessor BAAs, and not end-to-end encrypted, by design, so that search, retention and admin controls work, the same model Slack and Microsoft Teams use. One policy difference: Spruce is built so PHI flows to and from patients; Yodl is staff-only.
The features a small practice actually uses
| Feature | Yodl | Spruce Health |
|---|---|---|
| Patient phone, texting, fax, video | None; staff-to-staff only | HIPAA phone lines with two-way SMS and voicemail transcription; e-fax; video visits |
| Team chat | Channels, DMs, group DMs, threads, reactions, @mentions, saved messages | Team messaging with task assignment and a shared team inbox |
| Files and search | Preview and download; full-text search; 20 GB | Messages, files and audio notes with patients; storage and search not detailed |
| Roles, audit, lock | Manager, Member, Viewer; invite-only; audit viewer with CSV export; retention and legal hold; passkeys; 15-minute lock | Phone trees, IVR and after-hours triage on Communicator; SSO add-on |
| Extras | Website leads into a channel; optional AI teammate from PhiClaw (separate product) | Clinical questionnaires, digital payments, workflow automation |
Where Spruce Health is the better choice
Spruce is the better choice whenever the conversation includes a patient: HIPAA phone lines with two-way texting and voicemail transcription, e-fax in and out, video visits, secure patient messaging with files and audio notes, and a shared inbox so the front desk sees every patient thread in one place. Communicator adds phone trees, IVR call flows, urgent escalation and after-hours triage. Yodl does none of that.
Spruce also fits a solo practitioner or a two or three person practice that wants one app for everything: it is built for solo practitioners and teams alike, and Basic includes team chat, so a second chat tool may be one login too many.
Where Yodl is the better choice
Yodl is the better choice for the conversations patients never see: the front desk asking about a chart, the owner posting the schedule, a nurse flagging a supply problem, two locations coordinating coverage. It gives those conversations structure: channels per team or location, threads so one patient question does not bury the next, Viewer roles for a bookkeeper or locum, and full-text search.
It is also far cheaper for a team that only needs internal chat: $10 a month for 5 with the BAA, against $120 on Spruce Basic; a 10-person office is $20 on Yodl against $240. If you already have a phone and fax vendor you like, paying per user for Spruce's phone stack just to get team chat is hard to justify. Yodl's admin side is built for staff chat, with a 13-gate HIPAA readiness checklist.
Who should choose which
| Your team | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Needs a HIPAA phone line, patient texting, fax or video visits | Spruce Health | Spruce's core product; Yodl has none of it |
| Has a phone and fax vendor, needs private staff chat | Yodl | $10 a month for 5 with a BAA |
| Multi-location group coordinating staff across sites | Yodl | $10 per location, 5 users and 20 GB each |
| Wants patient communication and structured staff chat | Both | Spruce for patients, Yodl for staff |
If Yodl is the fit, start on the pricing page: $10 a month for 5 people, a signed BAA.
Spruce Health is a patient communication platform priced per user; Yodl is staff chat priced per location. Choose Spruce when patients are in the conversation, Yodl when they are not, and expect to run both if you need both.
Frequently asked questions
Is Spruce Health HIPAA compliant?
Spruce signs a BAA on all trials and paid plans; you agree to it when you create an organization, and the Basic plan card lists the HIPAA BAA. HIPAA does not certify any app.
How much does Spruce Health cost for 5 users?
As of November 2026, Basic is $24 a month per user, so $120 for 5 before taxes and fees; Communicator is $49 per user, so $245. Outbound SMS needs a one-time $19.50 fee. Prices change; verify on sprucehealth.com.
Can Yodl replace Spruce Health?
Only if you do not use Spruce's patient features. Yodl has no patient messaging, phone, SMS, fax or video; it replaces the staff-chat part only.
Does Spruce Health include team chat?
Yes. Basic lists team chat and a shared inbox, and Spruce's features include team messaging with task assignment. It is chat inside a patient-communication app rather than a channels-and-threads tool.