SimplePractice Website vs a Managed OT Site (Honest Comparison)

If you already run your occupational therapy practice on SimplePractice (or Jane), the website add-on is tempting: one login, one vendor, one invoice. Convenience is real. So is the monthly line item — often $60+ on top of the EHR you need anyway — and the fact that the public site is rarely the product's main job.

The short answer: use SimplePractice (or Jane) for scheduling, billing, and clinical intake. For the marketing site parents and referrers actually Google, many solo OTs are better served by a dedicated managed site at ~$59/mo — or DIY if you'll truly maintain it. This isn't anti-SimplePractice; it's anti-paying twice for a half-finished front door.

What the EHR website add-on does well

• Fast to turn on if you're already a customer.
• Booking can wire into the same ecosystem.
• One less vendor to think about on a busy week.

Where solo OTs get frustrated

• Cost stacking. EHR fee + website add-on vs EHR + a $59 managed site that is actually designed for referrals.
• Template feel. Parents comparing you to two other OTs notice sameness.
• SEO & specialty clarity. Sensory vs feeding, hand therapy, telehealth states — these need intentional pages, not an afterthought tab.
• Exit & ownership. Confirm what you keep if you leave the add-on or the EHR.

What a managed site (like ours) is for

East Lake Union Studio builds and maintains a 5–8 page OT practice site for $59/mo: specialties, insurance/self-pay, OTR/L + NBCOT credentials, light-touch inquiry form with no PHI on the site, hosting, and one update per month. Your EHR stays SimplePractice or Jane. We don't replace it — we stop asking the EHR to also be your marketing department.

Details: eastlakeunion.com/for-ots/.

Side by side

	EHR website add-on	Managed OT site (us)	DIY builder
Typical cost	~$60+/mo on top of EHR	$59/mo all-in	~$16–25/mo + your time
Design	Template / limited	Custom within tight scope	Whatever you build
Updates	Mostly you	We do (1 small/mo)	You
EHR	Bundled vendor	Stays yours (SP / Jane)	Separate
PHI on site	Avoid clinical data either way	Light-touch form only	Your responsibility
Contract	Tied to EHR plan	Month-to-month	Month-to-month

When to keep the add-on

If the template looks good enough, booking integration saves you real hours every week, and you're not competing hard on local search — keeping everything in one vendor can be the rational choice. Just price the stack honestly.

When to split EHR and website

If parents keep asking questions your site should answer, if referrers land on something that doesn't match your credentials, or if the add-on fee feels like paying twice — split them. EHR for operations. Site for trust and clarity.