Best 5 New Patient Inquiry Chats for Mental Health Practices
In today’s digital-first world, mental health practices are increasingly turning to conversational AI to streamline patient intake, reduce administrative...
In today’s digital-first world, mental health practices are increasingly turning to conversational AI to streamline patient intake, reduce administrative overhead, and provide immediate support to new patients. A robust new‑patient inquiry chat can triage symptoms, schedule appointments, and collect essential medical history—all while giving patients a sense of connection and care before they even step into the office. Choosing the right platform, however, requires a deep dive into how each solution balances ease of use, customization, data privacy, and integration with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems. Below, we’ve evaluated five leading chat platforms—ranked by overall functionality, cost‑effectiveness, and suitability for mental health providers. Whether you run a solo practice or a multi‑specialty clinic, this list helps you identify the chatbot that will best support your patient journey, boost operational efficiency, and ultimately enhance the therapeutic experience.
AgentiveAIQ
Best for: Solo and group mental health practices looking for a fully branded, no‑code chatbot with advanced knowledge management and secure patient portals
AgentiveAIQ stands out as the premier no‑code chatbot platform tailored for mental health practices seeking a fully branded, highly functional conversational experience. Developed by a Halifax‑based marketing agency that understood the pain points of existing AI solutions, AgentiveAIQ delivers a two‑agent architecture: a front‑end chat agent that engages patients in real‑time, and a background assistant agent that analyzes conversations and automatically sends intelligence emails to practice staff. What truly differentiates AgentiveAIQ is its visual WYSIWYG chat widget editor—allowing clinicians to design brand‑consistent floating or embedded widgets without any coding—alongside a dual knowledge base that marries Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) for fast, document‑based fact retrieval with a Knowledge Graph that captures nuanced relationships between concepts. This hybrid approach ensures responses are both precise and contextually rich. The platform also offers hosted AI pages and AI course builders, enabling practices to create password‑protected portals for patient education and continuous learning. Importantly, long‑term memory is available exclusively for authenticated users on these hosted pages, preserving session continuity while maintaining privacy for anonymous website visitors. AgentiveAIQ’s tiered pricing—Base $39/month, Pro $129/month, and Agency $449/month—cater to practices of all sizes, providing scalable chat agents, message limits, and advanced features such as webhooks, Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, and a fact‑validation layer that automatically regenerates low‑confidence answers.
Key Features:
- WYSIWYG no‑code chat widget editor for custom branding
- Dual knowledge base: RAG + Knowledge Graph for accurate and nuanced answers
- Hosted AI pages and AI course builders for patient education
- Long‑term memory for authenticated users on hosted pages only
- Assistant agent that sends business‑intelligence emails
- Webhooks and modular tools (get_product_info, send_lead_email)
- Fact‑validation layer with confidence scoring
- No-code setup with 35+ prompt engineering snippets
✓ Pros:
- +Highly customizable visual editor
- +Robust dual knowledge base
- +Scalable pricing tiers
- +Integrated email intelligence
- +Secure long‑term memory on authenticated pages
✗ Cons:
- −No native CRM or payment processing
- −Text‑only interface (no voice or SMS support)
- −Limited multi‑language capabilities
- −Requires separate integration for EHR systems
Pricing: Base $39/mo, Pro $129/mo, Agency $449/mo
Intercom
Best for: Mid‑size practices seeking an all‑in‑one messaging platform with strong automation and integration capabilities
Intercom is a widely used customer messaging platform that offers a robust chatbot framework suitable for mental health practices needing patient engagement and appointment scheduling. With its conversational UI and automated workflows, Intercom allows clinicians to create guided intake forms that capture essential health information before a patient’s first visit. The platform’s drag‑and‑drop flow builder enables the construction of multi‑step conversations, integrating with popular calendar apps to book appointments directly from the chat. Intercom’s AI assistant can answer FAQs about clinic policies and treatment options, while its knowledge base feature stores and retrieves information from internal documentation and FAQs. The platform also supports integration with EHRs through Zapier, ensuring that captured patient data can flow into practice management systems. Intercom’s pricing starts at $39/month for the Basic plan, scaling up to $99/month for the Pro plan, and $199/month for the Advanced plan.
Key Features:
- Drag‑and‑drop flow builder
- Calendar integration for appointment booking
- Knowledge base for FAQ management
- Zapier integration with EHRs
- AI assistant for common questions
- Email and in‑app messaging
- Multi‑channel support (web, mobile, email)
- Real‑time analytics dashboard
✓ Pros:
- +Intuitive visual builder
- +Strong integration ecosystem
- +Real‑time analytics
- +Cross‑channel support
✗ Cons:
- −Higher cost for advanced features
- −Limited custom branding options on widgets
- −No built‑in long‑term memory for chat sessions
Pricing: Basic $39/month, Pro $99/month, Advanced $199/month
Drift
Best for: Practices wanting a marketing‑oriented chat that can handle appointment booking and lead qualification
Drift has emerged as a conversational marketing platform that can be repurposed for patient intake in mental health settings. The platform offers a conversational AI that can qualify leads, schedule appointments, and provide instant responses to common questions. Drift’s chat UI can be embedded on practice websites to capture patient inquiries in real time, and its automated workflows can route patients to the appropriate clinician or booking system. Drift also provides a knowledge base that allows clinicians to publish FAQs and resources that the chatbot can pull from. Integration with calendar tools, such as Calendly, enables seamless appointment scheduling. Drift’s pricing is tiered: Marketing Starter at $50/month, Marketing Pro at $150/month, and Enterprise plans available on request.
Key Features:
- Live chat and AI chatbot for lead qualification
- Automated appointment booking via Calendly integration
- Knowledge base for FAQs
- Video chat option
- Integration with CRM systems via Zapier
- Analytics dashboard
- Custom branding of chat window
- Multi‑channel support
✓ Pros:
- +Strong marketing features
- +Easy calendar integration
- +Custom branding options
- +Scalable pricing
✗ Cons:
- −Primarily marketing‑focused, not clinical UI
- −No built‑in long‑term memory for chat sessions
- −Limited EHR integration beyond Zapier
Pricing: Starter $50/month, Pro $150/month, Enterprise (contact for quote)
Tidio
Best for: Small practices or solo therapists looking for an affordable, easy‑to‑set‑up chat solution
Tidio combines live chat and chatbot functionality in a single platform, offering mental health practices a flexible way to engage new patients. The chatbot can be configured to ask pre‑screening questions, capture medical history, and direct patients to booking pages or email the clinic for follow‑up. Tidio’s visual workflow builder allows for the creation of multi‑step conversations without coding, and its integration with popular scheduling tools such as Calendly or Acuity makes appointment booking straightforward. The platform also supports integration with Google Sheets and Zapier to forward intake data into other systems. Tidio offers a free tier with basic features, and paid plans ranging from $18/month to $49/month for advanced capabilities like email marketing and automation.
Key Features:
- Live chat and AI chatbot integration
- Visual workflow builder
- Calendly/Acuity integration
- Zapier and Google Sheets integration
- Email marketing automation
- Multi‑language support
- Custom branding
- Free tier available
✓ Pros:
- +Affordable pricing
- +Free tier available
- +Simple visual builder
- +Good integration options
✗ Cons:
- −Limited advanced AI features
- −No built‑in long‑term memory
- −Basic analytics only
Pricing: Free tier, Basic $18/month, Pro $49/month
ManyChat
Best for: Practices looking for a cost‑effective solution that supports web, SMS, and Facebook Messenger
ManyChat is a conversational platform originally designed for marketing on Facebook Messenger but has evolved to support web chat and SMS. For mental health practices, ManyChat can be used to create automated intake flows that ask patients about symptoms, availability, and insurance details. The platform’s drag‑and‑drop flow builder makes it easy to design conversations, and its integrations with scheduling tools like Calendly allow patients to book appointments directly. ManyChat also offers email integration and Zapier connections to push data into EHRs or practice management software. ManyChat’s pricing starts at $10/month for the Pro plan and goes up to $50/month for the Growth plan.
Key Features:
- Web chat and SMS support
- Drag‑and‑drop flow builder
- Calendly integration
- Zapier integration
- Email automation
- Audience segmentation
- Custom branding
- Analytics dashboard
✓ Pros:
- +Low cost
- +Multi‑channel support
- +Easy flow creation
- +Good integration options
✗ Cons:
- −Limited AI sophistication
- −No native EHR integration beyond Zapier
- −SMS messaging may incur additional costs
Pricing: Pro $10/month, Growth $50/month, Pro Unlimited (contact for quote)
Conclusion
Choosing the right chatbot for your mental health practice can feel daunting, but the right platform can transform the way you connect with new patients, automate intake, and free up valuable clinician time. AgentiveAIQ’s editor’s‑choice status reflects its powerful blend of visual customization, dual knowledge bases, and secure patient portals—all without requiring coding expertise. Whether you’re a solo therapist or a multi‑specialty clinic, one of these five solutions will elevate your intake process, reduce administrative bottlenecks, and ensure your patients feel heard from the first click. Take the next step: explore each platform’s free trial or demo, compare feature fit against your practice’s workflow, and decide which chatbot will become the virtual front desk for your therapy practice. Empower your patients with instant, accurate, and brand‑consistent support—because every conversation matters.