Optiq vs ChatGPT for confidentiality-sensitive professionals
ChatGPT trains on your conversations and stores chats in the cloud. Here's how Optiq compares for law firms, advisors, and other sensitive-work teams.
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Optiq vs Heidi for healthcare teams
Updated August 4, 2026
Heidi is one of the most accessible AI medical scribes: free to start, HIPAA compliant with signed BAAs, regional data residency across the US, UK, EU, Australia, and Canada, and integrations into Epic, Oracle Cerner, and dozens of other EHRs. It deletes consultation audio as soon as transcription finishes and states plainly that patient data is not used to train its models. As cloud scribes go, Heidi takes privacy seriously.
The structural difference is that Heidi is a cloud service built around the consultation, while Optiq is a local-first workspace built for the whole care team. With Heidi, your notes live on Heidi's regional servers. With Optiq, notes, transcripts, and agent memory live in an encrypted database on your own machine, and the product covers internal meetings, private chat, and a local agent, work a clinical scribe does not touch.
| Optiq | Heidi | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A private AI workspace for care teams: chat, dictation, meeting notes, and a local agent. | An AI medical scribe for consultations, with note templates, documents, and clinical Q&A. |
| Where notes live | In an encrypted database on your machine. | In Heidi's cloud, stored in your region, with consultation audio deleted after transcription. |
| Model training | Never, on any plan. | States no patient data is used to train its models. Evidence queries may be reviewed in de-identified form. |
| Meeting notes | Yes, for team meetings, with nothing joining the call. | Not a marketed use case. Heidi is consultation-focused. |
| Dictation | Types into any app on your machine. | Also dictates into any app through its desktop app. |
| HIPAA | In private beta. No HIPAA claims yet, and we say so plainly. | States HIPAA compliance, signs BAAs, and lists SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certification. |
| EHR integration | None today. | Epic, Oracle Cerner, and dozens more, with full integration gated to the Practice plan and above. |
| Pricing | Per-seat billing for organizations, with no per-request charges. | Free tier for individuals, paid Clinician and Practice plans, and custom Enterprise. Heidi's blog cites $99 per month for its Pro plan. |
| Platforms | macOS and Windows desktop app. | Web, iOS, Android, and macOS and Windows desktop apps. |
Choose Heidi if
Heidi is a strong pick for clinical documentation today.
- You need an AI scribe for patient consultations now, with a free tier to trial it.
- You need HIPAA compliance and a signed BAA today.
- You want notes pushed into Epic, Cerner, or your practice's EHR.
- Regional data residency in a Heidi-supported jurisdiction fits your obligations.
Choose Optiq if
Optiq fits teams that want AI without a cloud copy of their work.
- You want notes and transcripts kept on the device, not on any vendor's servers.
- Your team needs notes for internal meetings, not just patient consultations.
- You want a local agent for files, research, and drafts, with approval gates on risky actions.
- You prefer an architecture that can be verified over a policy that must be trusted.
A careful cloud, versus no cloud copy at all
Heidi handles the cloud model about as responsibly as a scribe can: consultation audio is deleted the moment transcription completes, data is stored in your own region, identifiable details are automatically stripped from transcripts, and Heidi states that patient data is never used to train its models. If your team is comfortable with notes living on a vendor's servers under a BAA, Heidi has done the work to deserve that comfort.
Optiq removes the question instead of answering it. Notes, transcripts, and agent memory never leave your machine; they sit in an encrypted local database whose key lives in your operating system's keychain. Model calls transit a confidential backend to zero data retention models and nothing persists server-side. When there is no cloud copy, there is no cloud copy to secure, subpoena, or breach.
Where they overlap, and where they don't
The overlap is dictation: both products can type what you say into any application on your computer. From there they diverge. Heidi is built around the consultation: specialty note templates, referral letters and discharge summaries, a clinical Q&A product with citations, and EHR write-back. Optiq is built around the team: meeting notes for internal calls with nothing dialing in, a persistent private chat workspace, and a local agent that can work across your files with your approval.
Being direct about the gap in the other direction: Optiq is not a medical scribe. It does not offer clinical note templates, EHR integration, or consultation workflows today. If encounter documentation is the job, Heidi is the better tool for it right now.
The compliance picture
Heidi claims HIPAA compliance, signs business associate agreements, and lists SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certification, alongside GDPR and Australian Privacy Principles adherence. That is a real, audited posture you can rely on today.
Optiq is in private beta and does not claim HIPAA compliance yet, and we would rather say that plainly than imply otherwise. The bet we are making is architectural: keeping sensitive material on the device shrinks what a compliance program has to cover, and the parts that do touch our infrastructure are being built to be verifiable rather than just promised. Details are on our security page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Heidi HIPAA compliant?
Heidi states that it is HIPAA compliant, executes business associate agreements when processing PHI for covered entities, and lists SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certification. Optiq is in private beta and makes no HIPAA claims yet.
Does Heidi keep recordings of consultations?
No. Heidi deletes consultation audio as soon as transcription completes. The resulting transcripts and notes are stored in Heidi's cloud in your region. Optiq keeps audio, transcripts, and notes on your machine.
Is Optiq a medical scribe like Heidi?
No. Optiq does not document patient consultations, offer clinical templates, or write to EHRs. It is a private AI workspace for the rest of a care team's work: chat, dictation into any app, internal meeting notes, and a local agent.
Can my team use Optiq today?
Optiq is rolling out through a private beta for healthcare organizations. Book a demo and we will walk your team through it.
Sources
- Heidi safety page
- Heidi privacy policy
- Heidi HIPAA page
- Heidi pricing
- Heidi pricing plans help article
- Heidi compliance help article
- Heidi integrations
This comparison is based on each product's public documentation as of August 4, 2026. If something here is out of date, email support@tryoptiq.com and we will fix it.
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