Quick answer
Nabla is self-serve: a clinician can sign up, use a free tier for a limited number of encounters, and pay per seat (Pro from $119 a month), with EHR integrations on higher plans. Abridge is the enterprise leader, deployed across major US health systems with deep Epic integration and "linked evidence" tying each note line to the transcript. Dragon Copilot is Microsoft's combination of Nuance dictation and ambient note drafting, sold enterprise-only. Similar technology; very different ways to buy it.
Documentation is the part of medicine clinicians like least and the part AI has changed fastest. Ambient scribes record the conversation with consent, transcribe it, and draft a structured note for the clinician to review and sign. The three products below are the ones most clinics and health systems now compare.
Nabla: for individuals and small practices
Nabla runs in a browser and on mobile with no hardware. Notes are generated in the clinician's chosen template and style, with coding suggestions. The free tier lets a doctor evaluate it on real visits; Pro adds volume and features; practices get EHR integrations. It is the only one of the three a solo clinician can adopt this afternoon.
Abridge: for health systems
Abridge is deployed at scale across large US systems, drafts notes directly into Epic and other EHRs, supports many specialties and languages, and links each sentence of the note to the moment in the transcript that supports it, which matters for audit and trust. It is bought through procurement, not a sign-up form.
Dragon Copilot: for Microsoft and Dragon shops
Dragon Copilot folds Nuance's long-established Dragon Medical dictation into ambient drafting, plus orders, referral letters, and a conversational assistant, on Microsoft's healthcare cloud with EHR integrations. Health systems that already license Dragon or standardise on Microsoft find the migration natural. It is enterprise-only and features vary by region.
How to evaluate any scribe
- Test on your own specialty and accents; accuracy is domain-specific
- Check how the note reaches the EHR: copy-paste, integration, or direct write
- Ask where audio and transcripts are stored, for how long, and under which agreements
- Measure minutes saved per visit after a month, not in the demo
- Every note still needs the clinician's review and signature; that does not change
Related reading
Bottom line
Nabla if you are buying for yourself or a small practice. Abridge if you are a health system on Epic. Dragon Copilot if you already run Dragon or Microsoft. The drafting quality is closer than the sales models suggest; the integration and the contract are the real decision.
