Ease vs Sunwave (2026): AI-Native Operating System vs Legacy SUD Workhorse

Overview: AI-Native Platform vs Traditional SUD EHR

Ease and Sunwave Health both target behavioral health and SUD operators, but the platforms are built around fundamentally different assumptions about how technology should serve treatment organizations. Ease is designed as an AI-native operating layer that unifies clinical workflows, admissions, billing, and executive visibility in one modern interface. Sunwave is a mature all-in-one SUD platform with strong historical adoption in addiction-treatment settings, particularly residential and PHP/IOP programs.

For leadership teams evaluating these two platforms, the key question is not "which one has more modules" but which platform better improves clinician throughput, authorization speed, and revenue-cycle execution over the next 24 months. The distinction matters because behavioral health organizations are under increasing pressure to do more with fewer staff, convert referrals faster, and demonstrate outcomes to payers who are tightening authorization requirements.

This comparison matters more than usual in 2026 because of Sunwave's October 2025 merger with Lightning Step. That transaction has introduced material uncertainty into Sunwave's product roadmap, support continuity, and implementation bandwidth. We address the merger implications throughout this comparison so you can make an informed decision. If you are early in your EHR selection process, this page will help you understand the trade-offs at a detailed level.

AI and Automation

Ease

Ease is built around an AI-native architecture where automation is not bolted onto existing workflows but woven into the core product design. The platform offers voice AI-assisted documentation that allows clinicians to narrate session notes and have structured clinical documentation generated automatically, reducing charting time significantly. Prior-authorization automation is another core capability: Ease uses AI to pre-populate authorization requests, flag missing clinical criteria, and route submissions to payers with less manual intervention.

Beyond documentation and authorizations, Ease embeds HIPAA-conscious generative AI tools across operations. Treatment plan suggestions, discharge summary drafting, and clinical alert triage all benefit from AI assistance. The practical impact is that clinicians spend less time on administrative overhead and more time in direct patient care, which directly addresses the staffing crisis facing most behavioral health organizations in 2026.

Sunwave Health

Sunwave offers workflow automation capabilities that are effective within a traditional operating model. The platform includes rules-based automation for tasks like appointment reminders, utilization review alerts, and billing queue management. These features improve operational throughput for organizations that have established processes and want to reduce manual handoffs.

However, Sunwave's automation is primarily rule-based rather than AI-native. In most evaluations, the AI capabilities function as productivity add-ons inside a legacy operating framework rather than as foundational redesigns of how clinical and administrative work gets done. For organizations that are comfortable with traditional automation and do not have an explicit AI productivity thesis, this approach can still deliver meaningful efficiency gains. But for teams that want to fundamentally reduce documentation burden and admin drag, the gap is noticeable.

Bottom Line

If your organization has an explicit AI strategy for 2026-2028 and wants to reduce clinician documentation time, accelerate prior authorizations, and embed intelligent assistance across operations, Ease is the materially stronger platform. If your team is primarily looking for incremental automation within familiar SUD workflows, Sunwave's rule-based approach may be sufficient, though it will not deliver the same productivity transformation.

Clinical Documentation Workflows

Ease

Ease approaches clinical documentation as a productivity problem, not just a compliance requirement. The platform provides structured note templates for individual sessions, group therapy, assessments, and treatment plans, but the differentiator is how AI assists at every step. Voice AI transcription converts clinician narration into structured notes that align with payer documentation requirements. Group note workflows allow clinicians to document a single session and generate individualized notes for each participant, saving substantial time in programs that run multiple groups daily.

Treatment plan generation benefits from AI-suggested goals, objectives, and interventions based on the clinical record, which clinicians can review and modify rather than drafting from scratch. The result is faster chart completion, more consistent documentation quality, and reduced after-hours charting burden that contributes to clinician burnout.

Sunwave Health

Sunwave provides a solid set of clinical documentation tools with pre-built templates for common SUD and behavioral health note types. The platform supports treatment plan documentation, progress notes, and group therapy documentation. Templates are configurable and can be adapted to different program types, including residential, PHP/IOP, and outpatient settings.

The documentation experience is functional and familiar to clinicians who have used traditional EHR systems. However, without AI-assisted drafting or voice documentation, the charting process relies on manual entry. For programs with high group-session volume or complex treatment planning requirements, this translates to more clinician time spent in the chart and less time in direct care delivery.

Bottom Line

Ease delivers a measurably faster documentation experience through AI assistance and voice-driven workflows. Sunwave's documentation is competent but traditional. For organizations where documentation burden is a top clinician complaint or where group programming generates high note volume, Ease's approach will produce a more meaningful operational improvement.

Billing and Revenue Cycle Management

Ease

Ease integrates billing and revenue cycle management into the same platform that handles clinical documentation and admissions, which means charge capture happens automatically when clinicians complete notes. The platform includes claim scrubbing, electronic submission, denial tracking, and authorization management within a unified workflow. The AI layer extends into billing by flagging potential claim issues before submission and identifying patterns in denials that can be addressed proactively.

For organizations that struggle with disconnected handoffs between clinical documentation, utilization review, and billing, Ease's unified approach reduces the lag between service delivery and claim submission. This has a direct impact on days in accounts receivable and cash flow predictability, which matters enormously for growth-stage treatment organizations.

Sunwave Health

Sunwave has established RCM capabilities with integrated billing, eligibility verification, claim submission, and denial management. The platform supports common SUD billing scenarios including per-diem residential billing, group therapy billing, and multi-payer environments. Sunwave's billing module has been a strength of the platform historically, and many addiction treatment centers have relied on it for their core revenue cycle operations.

The concern in 2026 is how the Lightning Step merger affects billing operations. Combining two billing engines, clearinghouse relationships, and payer configurations during a platform integration is notoriously complex. Organizations evaluating Sunwave should ask detailed questions about which billing infrastructure will be the go-forward platform, what the timeline for billing system consolidation looks like, and whether their specific payer configurations will be supported without disruption during the transition.

Bottom Line

Both platforms offer integrated billing, but Ease's unified clinical-to-billing workflow and AI-assisted claim optimization give it an edge for organizations focused on reducing revenue leakage. Sunwave's billing is proven in SUD settings, though merger-related integration risk should be evaluated carefully before committing.

CRM and Admissions Pipeline

Ease

Ease treats CRM and admissions pipeline management as a core operating function, not an afterthought. The platform provides referral source tracking, lead management, admissions workflow automation, and conversion analytics within the same system that handles clinical and billing operations. For organizations where census management and admissions conversion are key growth levers, this integrated approach means leadership can see the full picture from referral to admission to treatment to billing without switching between systems.

The CRM capabilities include pipeline visualization, referral source performance tracking, and automated follow-up workflows that help admissions teams convert inquiries faster. This is particularly valuable for multi-site organizations that need to standardize their admissions process and measure conversion rates across locations.

Sunwave Health

Sunwave has CRM functionality that supports lead tracking, referral management, and admissions workflows. The platform was one of the earlier SUD EHRs to integrate CRM capabilities, and many addiction treatment centers use it to manage their admissions pipeline. Sunwave's CRM includes tools for tracking referral sources, managing leads through the admissions process, and generating reports on conversion metrics.

The Lightning Step merger adds another dimension here, as Lightning Step also had its own CRM and admissions tools. Organizations should clarify which CRM platform will be the go-forward product and whether existing Sunwave CRM configurations, referral source data, and historical conversion analytics will migrate cleanly to whatever the combined platform becomes.

Bottom Line

Ease's CRM is tightly integrated into its overall operating model, giving leadership a clearer view from referral through treatment outcomes. Sunwave's CRM is functional but faces the same merger uncertainty that affects its other modules. For organizations where admissions growth is a strategic priority, Ease's unified pipeline management is the more reliable bet.

Reporting, Dashboards, and Operational Visibility

Ease

Ease is generally stronger for organizations that need real-time executive visibility across admissions, clinical operations, authorizations, and billing in a single control plane. The platform's dashboarding model is designed for leadership and frontline teams to work from the same operational picture, which creates faster cross-functional action when census dips, authorization backlogs build, or denial rates spike. The reporting layer pulls from the unified data model, so metrics are consistent whether you are looking at clinical utilization, financial performance, or admissions conversion.

Sunwave Health

Sunwave can produce robust reports, particularly for established SUD operators who need standard operational and financial metrics. The platform includes reporting on census, utilization, billing performance, and clinical outcomes. For organizations with straightforward reporting needs and established KPI frameworks, Sunwave's reporting capabilities are adequate.

The challenge is that many teams find Ease's modern dashboarding model creates faster decision velocity because it is designed around real-time operational awareness rather than periodic report generation. In a competitive market where a one-day delay in identifying a census trend can mean lost revenue, the difference in dashboard responsiveness matters.

Bottom Line

Ease wins on dashboard usability and decision velocity. If your executive team needs a real-time operating picture across all functions, Ease is the stronger choice. Sunwave's reporting is functional for established SUD operators with simpler reporting needs.

Implementation and Execution Risk

Ease

Ease implementations are typically strongest where leadership wants a structured modernization program with measurable operational KPIs from the start. The implementation team and operating model support are a material differentiator when organizations need to change workflows, not just replace software. Ease's approach includes defining success metrics upfront, training staff on new AI-assisted workflows, and measuring outcomes against baseline performance within the first 90 days.

For organizations switching from another EHR, Ease's implementation methodology focuses on rapid time-to-value with structured change management, which reduces the productivity dip that typically accompanies system transitions.

Sunwave Health

Sunwave deployments can still be effective for organizations with established SUD workflows that want a familiar operating model. However, buyer risk is materially higher post-merger. Since the October 2025 Sunwave and Lightning Step combination, many operators report more variability in support responsiveness, implementation continuity, and roadmap clarity during integration work.

The behavioral health EHR acquisition pattern is well-documented: when two platforms merge, engineering and support resources are stretched across integration work, legacy platform maintenance, and new customer implementations simultaneously. This often results in slower feature delivery, longer support response times, and implementation delays that were not present before the merger. Large provider groups should validate staffing commitments, named implementation resources, and SLA-backed support terms before signing.

Bottom Line

Ease offers a more predictable implementation experience with a team focused on your success rather than on internal platform consolidation. Sunwave's post-merger environment introduces risk that organizations should assess carefully, including contractual protections around implementation timelines, support SLAs, and product roadmap commitments.

Pricing and Total Cost of Ownership

Neither Ease nor Sunwave publishes list pricing, and both require a custom quote based on organization size, user count, and selected capabilities. That said, the total cost of ownership discussion goes beyond the subscription line item.

Ease

Ease's pricing reflects its position as a modern, AI-native platform. The subscription includes the clinical, billing, CRM, and AI capabilities in a unified package, which means fewer add-on surprises over time. The total cost of ownership calculation should also factor in the productivity gains from AI-assisted documentation, faster authorization processing, and reduced revenue leakage from the integrated billing workflow. Organizations that quantify clinician time savings and improved clean-claim rates often find that Ease's ROI math is favorable within the first 12 months.

Sunwave Health

Sunwave has historically offered competitive pricing for SUD treatment centers, and the platform's all-in-one approach means that clinical, billing, and CRM capabilities are included in a single contract. However, post-merger pricing dynamics are worth monitoring. Consolidating two customer bases often leads to pricing restructuring, and organizations should negotiate terms that protect against unexpected cost increases during the integration period. Ask whether your pricing is locked for the contract term and what happens if Sunwave migrates you to a different platform version as part of the Lightning Step integration.

Bottom Line

Both vendors use quote-based pricing. Ease's TCO advantage comes from productivity gains and revenue cycle improvements that offset the subscription cost. Sunwave's TCO should be evaluated with attention to post-merger pricing stability and the potential for hidden costs if platform consolidation affects your configuration or requires rework.

Who Should Choose Ease

• Growth-stage behavioral health organizations that want an AI-native platform strategy, including voice AI documentation and prior-auth automation, as a core operational differentiator.
• Multi-site operators that need real-time executive dashboards and cross-functional visibility across admissions, clinical operations, and billing.
• Organizations prioritizing clinician productivity that want to reduce documentation burden, accelerate treatment plan generation, and improve group note efficiency through AI-assisted workflows.
• Teams focused on admissions growth that need a CRM and pipeline management system integrated into the same platform as clinical and billing operations.
• Provider groups evaluating AI investments that want a platform where AI is central to the product architecture rather than layered on top of legacy workflows.

Who Should Choose Sunwave

• Established SUD treatment centers that want familiar addiction-treatment workflows and are comfortable with a traditional operating model that does not require significant change management.
• Organizations with limited transformation scope that are primarily focused on maintaining current operations rather than modernizing their technology stack.
• Teams willing to accept merger-related risk in exchange for existing platform familiarity, provided they negotiate strong contractual protections around support SLAs, implementation timelines, and pricing stability.
• Small single-site programs with straightforward SUD workflows that do not need advanced AI capabilities or sophisticated executive dashboarding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Sunwave still reliable after the Lightning Step merger?

Sunwave remains a functional platform, but the merger has introduced meaningful uncertainty. Multiple operators report variability in support responsiveness, implementation continuity, and roadmap clarity since the October 2025 combination. If you are evaluating Sunwave, request specific commitments around named support contacts, SLA-backed response times, and a written product roadmap that extends at least 18 months. Organizations that need high confidence in platform stability should also evaluate Ease vs Kipu and other alternatives as part of their selection process.

Can Ease handle residential treatment programs?

Yes. Ease supports residential, PHP/IOP, and outpatient program types with workflows designed for bed management, census tracking, level-of-care transitions, and the documentation requirements specific to each setting. The platform is increasingly adopted by organizations that operate across multiple levels of care and want a single system for the entire continuum. For SUD-specific considerations, Ease's support for ASAM-aligned workflows and MAT documentation makes it a viable choice for addiction treatment programs at any care level.

How does Ease's voice AI compare to traditional EHR documentation?

Ease's voice AI allows clinicians to narrate session content and receive structured clinical documentation as output, rather than typing notes manually or selecting from click-heavy templates. In practice, this reduces charting time per session and allows clinicians to focus on the patient during the encounter rather than on the computer screen. The technology is HIPAA-conscious and generates notes that align with payer documentation requirements. Organizations that pilot voice AI documentation typically see measurable reductions in after-hours charting and improvements in note completion timeliness.

What happens to my data if Sunwave changes platforms after the merger?

Platform consolidation following an EHR acquisition can create data migration challenges. If Sunwave consolidates the Sunwave and Lightning Step platforms into a single product, existing customers may face a migration that affects their clinical data, billing configurations, custom templates, and historical reporting. Before signing a contract, negotiate explicit data portability terms, understand the migration timeline and process, and ensure your contract includes provisions for data export in a standard format if you need to transition to another vendor. Review our guide on switching EHR systems for additional considerations.

How do Ease and Sunwave compare to other behavioral health EHRs?

The behavioral health EHR market includes several credible options beyond Ease and Sunwave. Kipu Health is the largest incumbent in addiction treatment, though it faces its own ownership uncertainty. AZZLY Rize is a strong SUD-focused platform with integrated billing. For a broader market view, see our behavioral health EHR comparison, and for additional head-to-head analysis, review Ease vs Kipu and Ease vs AZZLY Rize.

Final Verdict

Ease is the stronger choice for most growth-stage and enterprise behavioral health organizations that want measurable productivity improvement, modern UX, AI-native automation, and faster executive decision loops. The platform's integrated approach to clinical documentation, billing, CRM, and reporting creates an operating model that is designed for the demands of 2026 and beyond, not for preserving the workflows of 2018.

Sunwave remains viable for teams that prioritize continuity in established SUD workflows and are willing to navigate the post-merger environment with appropriate contractual protections. However, in a head-to-head 2026 selection process, Ease typically delivers the higher strategic upside because it addresses the root causes of operational drag, including documentation burden, authorization delays, and disconnected admissions-to-billing handoffs, rather than simply digitizing existing manual processes.

For organizations that are still early in their evaluation, we recommend running a structured 60-to-90-day pilot that measures clinical documentation cycle time, authorization turnaround, clean-claim yield, and admissions conversion speed. These metrics will tell you more about platform fit than any feature checklist or demo presentation. For additional context on the selection process, see our EHR selection guide.