Best Online Therapy

Overall: Talkspace

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Key Specs

• Cost: $276 to $436 per month
• Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, couples, and teen therapy; psychiatry
• Insurance Accepted? Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

Talkspace offers various therapy plans and accepts insurance, making it a great fit for those who need flexible care that is covered by their insurance plan.

Pros & Cons

Overview

Talkspace is an online therapy platform that gained popularity for offering text messaging-based sessions. It has since expanded its services to include live video and audio sessions for individuals, couples, and teens seeking therapeutic support. Plus, you can also receive psychiatry services. 

It is currently in-network with insurance companies including Cigna, Optum, and Oscar. Talkspace also partners with major corporations to provide employees with discounted or free therapy, so check in with your employer to see if this is an option for you. Additionally, it typically offers a $100 discount on the first month of services. You can find the code at the top of its homepage.

Heads up, though: Talkspace has come under fire for misusing user data. Be sure to read its privacy policies to make sure this platform’s security practices are right for you.

Plans & Pricing 

Talkspace offers three tiers of therapy plans:

• The first tier offers unlimited messaging with a therapist for $276 a month.
• The second tier gets you unlimited messaging and weekly 30-minute live therapy sessions (video or audio). It costs $396 a month.
• The third tier offers everything included in the first and second tiers, plus access to weekly mental health workshops. 

Its couples therapy plan is $436 a month and includes weekly 30-minute sessions and unlimited messaging.

Psychiatry services are offered on a per session basis. The initial evaluation session costs $249 and subsequent sessions are $125. 

Talkspace does accept insurance so if the company takes your plan, you will only be responsible for your copay.

User Satisfaction 

The users we surveyed are pleased with the qualifications of Talkspace therapists, with 92% of those we surveyed giving them an overall positive rating of good, very good, or excellent. Seventy-five percent of users would use Talkspace again if they needed a new therapist, and 97% of those we surveyed said Talkspace beats out other online therapy services they’ve used in the past.

Best for Availability: BetterHelp

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Key Specs

• Cost: $240 to $360 per month
• Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, couples, and teen therapy
• Insurance Accepted? No
  

Why We Chose It 

BetterHelp is an online therapy service that offers live chat, phone, and video sessions to individuals, couples, and teens in every state in the U.S. and 200 countries abroad. This makes it the most accessible online therapy platform of all the companies we reviewed.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

BetterHelp is one of the largest mental health platforms in the world, with services available in all 50 states and 200 countries. This alone makes therapy much more accessible. It vets its providers to ensure each therapist has at least three years of experience and passes a case study exam. The exam is known for being challenging, and just 20% of those who apply are actually accepted to serve as BetterHelp therapists. 

The company offers services for individuals, couples, and teens ages 13 and above. This variety means someone can opt to seek out individual therapy for themselves, support for their relationship, and even help the teen in their life. Some of the mental health conditions BetterHelp treats include anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, ADHD, and self-esteem issues, making it a great fit for many. All therapy sessions are delivered through live chat, phone, or video. 

BetterHelp isn’t the most affordable treatment option. It prices its services according to a surge model. This means that the higher the demand is in your area for online services, the higher your fee will be. Since there is already a high demand for mental healthcare nationwide, we find this practice problematic. Only 58% of BetterHelp users surveyed found the platform to be affordable. This means nearly half of those we surveyed struggled with the service’s affordability.

Plans & Pricing 

At BetterHelp, there is only one plan available and the exact price you’ll pay varies from $240 to $360 a month, because the company engages in surge pricing so the rate depends on where you live, your therapist’s experience, and demand for therapy when you sign up - The higher the demand, the higher the rate. The plan includes four live sessions and unlimited in-app messaging with your therapist.

Unfortunately, BetterHelp also does not accept insurance.

User Satisfaction 

According to our survey, users are satisfied with their experiences on the platform, with 86% of BetterHelp clients surveyed giving it an overall positive rating. The sign-up process was pretty painless as well: 76% of users surveyed found it to be easy.

Best for Depression: Brightside Health

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Key Specs

• Cost: $95 to $349 a month
• Types of Therapy Offered: Individual therapy, psychiatry
• Insurance Accepted? Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

Brightside Health is an affordable online therapy platform that offers both individual therapy and psychiatry. The company focuses specifically on treatment for depression, as well as anxiety.

Pros & Cons

Overview

Brightside Health is an online therapy platform dedicated to helping those with depression and anxiety feel better. It offers live therapy sessions, virtual therapy lessons, and psychiatry.  The first therapy session is 45 minutes and subsequent sessions are about 30 minutes long. Psychiatry sessions last about 15 minutes, but the initial session may run longer.

We are specifically impressed with its psychiatry services for depression. Brightside’s psychiatrists can prescribe all sorts of antidepressants, including SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, and atypical antidepressants. For $95 a month, you’re able to receive ongoing medication management. We especially love that medications are only $15 each for those paying out of pocket. 

A huge issue with medication management is needing to get a refill or adjusting your medication swiftly. Brightside helps make this possible with its communication formats. You can message your psychiatrist at any time and track your progress within the platform. If you choose to receive therapy in addition to medication management, your mental healthcare becomes even more streamlined since all your needs will be managed through one platform.

Plans & Pricing 

Brightside offers three different plans:

• The individual therapy plan includes four weekly sessions and access to virtual therapy lessons that focus on self-care and mindfulness. This plan costs $299 a month.
• The psychiatry plan offers one session a month for $95. Any medications that aren’t covered by insurance will cost $15 each. 
• To have access to both the individual therapy and psychiatry plans, it costs $349 a month. 

Brightside does accept some health insurance plans so you could pay less than the amounts above, depending on your copay.

User Satisfaction 

Brightside has an impressive user rating: 90% of clients we surveyed gave it a positive rating of good, very good, or excellent. Seventy-one percent of users considered it a good value for the money it costs. Over half of users are able to use their insurance benefits to fund their care, providing promising insight into the range of insurance plans it accepts.

Best for Couples: Octave

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Key Specs

• Cost: $75 to $275 per session
• Types of Therapy Offered: Individuals, couples, family, and group therapy
• Insurance Accepted? Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

Octave offers a variety of different types of therapy—individual, couples, family, and group—but we especially love its eclectic approach to couples therapy and its matching service that pairs you with a therapist.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

Octave aims to provide quality mental healthcare to a wide range of clients. It accomplishes this mission by accepting insurance and working with therapists who are diverse in terms of credentials and identities. Octave offers individual, couples, family, and group therapy. It also offers workshops that focus on psychoeducation, coping tools, and self-care. However, it is our choice for best couples therapy due to its evidence-based approach. Therapists on the platform practice emotionally-focused therapy (EFT), the Gottman Method, and integrative behavioral couples therapy (ICBT). 

Some virtual therapy platforms, like BetterHelp and Talkspace, offer therapy sessions that are as short as 30 minutes and might be offered in a live chat format. While that works for some couples, many may need longer than 30 minutes to delve into their issues. Sessions through Octave last at least 45 minutes and may vary based on the care plan you and your therapist develop. 

However, a major drawback to keep in mind is services are only available in California, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington, D.C.

Plans & Pricing 

Session prices vary based on the type of treatment and location. Individual therapy will range from $170 to $250 per session. Couples and family therapy is $190 to $275. Group therapy is about $75 per session.

User Satisfaction 

Octave users surveyed were satisfied with their providers, with 82% stating their therapist met most, if not all, of their needs. Seventy-four percent of users were impressed with the provider qualifications presented.

Best for BIPOC Communities: Inclusive Therapists Directory

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Key Specs

• Cost: Free
• Types of Therapy Offered: Psychiatry; individual, couples, family, children, teens, and group therapy
• Insurance Accepted? Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

The Inclusive Therapists Directory offers a roster of thousands of therapists dedicated to providing culturally informed mental health care.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

Finding a BIPOC provider can be extremely challenging since 84% of mental healthcare providers are white. Only 4% identify as Black, another 4% as Asian, and 6% as Latinx. If you’re a person of color who is hoping to find a provider that looks like you, it can feel like a daunting process. The Inclusive Therapists Directory makes the process much easier. It has aggregated nearly 4,000 practitioners across 47 states, Washington D.C., and Canada, providing plenty of options to choose from. The directory has providers that offer therapy for individuals, couples, families, children, and teens, as well as group therapy, psychiatry, reiki, and breathwork.

“BIPOC therapy seekers have a unique experience that is sometimes not accounted for in education and therapeutic models,” says subject matter expert Nic Hardy, PhD, LCSW. As such, he encourages those searching for a provider to be intentional in finding a therapist that has both the professional and personal experience they feel could meet their needs. The Inclusive Therapists Directory can make this much easier.

Plans & Pricing 

Pricing is dependent upon the provider, location, and type of treatment provided. Service fees can range from $35 to over $200, though some do accept health insurance or offer sliding scale rates. In fact, of the 180 users of this directory in our survey, 79% used health insurance to pay for their care.

User Satisfaction 

The majority of users surveyed (68%) classified the process of finding a provider with this directory as easy, and another 24% said the process was average. 81% of users were either satisfied or very satisfied with the therapist options listed in the directory. Another 77% of stated they were likely, or very likely, to recommend this directory to others.

Best for LGBTQIA+: TherapyDen Directory

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Key Specs

• Cost: Free
• Types of Therapy Offered: Medication management; individual, couples, family, children, teen, and group therapy
• Insurance Accepted? Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

We thrive in community, not in isolation, and the LGBTQIA+ experience is no exception. TherapyDen is our pick for the best LGBTQIA+ therapy due to the sexual and gender diversity of providers on the directory.

Pros & Cons

Overview

TherapyDen is a social justice-oriented therapy directory that focuses on celebrating mental health for diverse populations. One of the first things you’ll notice when landing on the homepage is a section that states “Therapy for the Trans Community” followed by a listing with a wide range of trans-affirming therapists from all over the country. It is estimated that there are over 1 million trans folks in the United States alone and they face significant barriers to care. Some of these barriers include cost and experiences of discrimination. This makes the feature of highlighting trans-affirming providers all the more necessary.

Beyond its support for the trans community, TherapyDen offers the ability to filter your therapist search based on gender, ethnicity, cost, specialty, and insurance offerings. The directory lists a range of clinicians who offer individual, couples, family, children, teen, and group therapy. There are also psychiatrists who offer medication management on the platform, too.

“A platform that provides individuals with diverse options is a tremendous value-add,” says Dr. Hardy. He notes that even in communities with a niche focus, like the LGBTQIA+ community, diversity should still exist since no one population is homogeneous. We feel TherapyDen achieves this effort.

Plans & Pricing 

As with all directories, pricing varies based on the provider. Some providers offer sliding scale rates and accept insurance plans. You can filter based on your needs when performing a search on the directory.

User Satisfaction 

TherapyDen has a generally positive reputation; its founder Jeff Guenther has over 2.3 million followers on TikTok. The majority of his video content has high engagement with positive user feedback. 

Of the total 180 users we surveyed, nearly 30% indicated that finding a therapist with a similar identity or cultural background was most important to them in the search for care, and another 26% said that finding an affirming provider was one of their priorities. Keeping these stats in mind, about 12% of TherapyDen users felt the directory could improve by bringing on more therapists from a background similar to theirs. Despite this, about 70% of users reported they were either likely or very likely to recommend TherapyDen to others.

Best Relationship Course: OURS

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Key Specs

• Cost: $400
• Types of Therapy Offered: Video sessions and self-guided lessons for couples
• Insurance Accepted? No
  

Why We Chose It 

OURS is a relationship course that reimagines the concept of couples counseling. It is an educational program that helps couples learn healthier modes of communication.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

OURS makes the idea of getting help for your relationship feel fun, cool, and engaging. This course can be completed at your own pace and covers hot-button topics like family planning, common values, money management, and communication styles. You and your partner will meet with an OURS guide (who is essentially a relationship coach) for two private 45-minute sessions. Together, you and your partner will also complete four self-guided relationship lessons and will have a variety of communication prompts to try out between sessions. 

This program is perfect for those who are newly partnered, about to get married, and everything in between. We like that it can fit a variety of lifestyles, so even couples who travel often can schedule their live sessions for when they’re together and can complete the lessons while they’re apart.

Plans & Pricing 

The OURS program costs $400 and includes two 45-minute live sessions with an OURS guide and four 60-minute self-directed lessons. You’ll also be sent different prompts throughout the program to generate emotional intimacy and connection. 

You can also try out one live session and one lesson for $50. If you don’t want to proceed, the company has a money-back guarantee. If you do want to continue, you just pay the other $350.

User Satisfaction 

Out of the OURS users we surveyed, 78% said most, if not all, of their needs were met. OURS users were generally satisfied, with 80% of those surveyed giving it a positive rating of good, very good, or excellent overall.

Best for Integrative Care: Hers

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Key Specs

• Cost: Psychiatry starts at $49 per month, therapy is $99 per session
• Types of Therapy Offered: Individual therapy, psychiatry
• Insurance Accepted? No
  

Why We Chose It 

Hers is more than a mental health platform: it is a women’s wellness hub. It offers individual counseling, medication management, birth control, primary care services, sexual health support, and even supplements.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

Hers is an integrative wellness platform for women. When you head over to its website, you aren’t only offered mental health treatment in the form of individual therapy and psychiatry; you also have access to birth control, supplements, primary care, and sexual health support. This holistic approach to women’s health sets Hers apart from many other therapy platforms. While it doesn’t accept insurance, its offerings are reasonably priced. Its psychiatry services are especially affordable, starting at just $49 a month. 

Its approach to women’s mental health is refreshing and non-stigmatizing. “Finding the right therapist can sometimes change someone’s feelings and beliefs around therapy and the surrounding stigmas,” says Dr. Hardy. We feel that Hers’ approach to mental health for women can combat that stigma while helping women in feeling heard and supported.

Plans & Pricing 

Therapy at Hers costs $99 per session, while psychiatry services start at $49 per month, depending on the medication prescribed.

User Satisfaction 

Hers received one of the highest user satisfaction ratings in our survey, with 91% of users giving it positive feedback. Users were satisfied with the providers’ qualifications, with 89% of them giving it a high rating. Hers is also highly rated when it comes to therapist diversity, with 87% of users stating they found the diversity of providers to be good, very good, or excellent.

Best for Substance Use: Mindful Care

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Key Specs

• Cost: $35 to $175 per session
• Types of Therapy Offered: Individual and group therapy, adolescent and adult psychiatry, substance use counseling
• Insurance Accepted? Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

Mindful Care offers support specifically for substance use, with medication, individual therapy, group therapy, and even addiction coaching.

Pros & Cons

Overview  

Mindful Care aims to make mental health care access much easier by offering same-day appointments and accepting insurance. It even accepts Medicaid and Medicare, which is rare for many online therapy companies. When someone is ready to get help for substance use, it can be essential to receive care immediately and to have support from others who can relate to the unique experience of substance recovery. Mindful Care offers a program called Mindful Recovery, which is a harm reduction program that uses medication-assisted treatment and therapy to help individuals recover from substance use. This program can treat both opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder. 

Mindful Care offers 20-minute and 40-minute individual therapy sessions for adults, as well as urgent psychiatric care for adolescents 13 and up and adults. Virtual group therapy (held in 60-minute sessions) is also available.

While we appreciate Mindful Care’s offerings, there are a few things to be aware of. First, its services are only available in six states, though it is working on expanding to other locations. Second, it is very difficult to find pricing on the website. This was frustrating, and I can imagine it might be hard for someone who is simply trying to receive care as soon as possible.

Plans & Pricing 

The prices at Mindful Care vary by service:

• An initial psychiatric evaluation costs $175 and lasts 40 minutes. Follow-up sessions are $75 and last 20 minutes.
• An initial therapy evaluation costs $150. Subsequent individual sessions are $50 for 20 minutes or $100 for 40 minutes. 
• Group therapy sessions cost $35 each.
• A monthly recovery plan is available for $49 a month and includes weekly recovery support and symptom monitoring. 

Mindful Care does accept a variety of insurance plans, including Aetna, Cigna, Oscar, UnitedHealthcare, and more, so you could pay less depending on your copay and deductible.

User Satisfaction 

The users we surveyed loved this service, with 92% rating Mindful Care as good, very good, or excellent. The majority of users (84%) surveyed found Mindful Care to be especially helpful in connecting them to a therapist. Eighty-three percent of those we surveyed are so confident in Mindful Care’s services, they’d recommend them to a friend.