Online therapy offers you the convenience and privacy of appointments from the comfort of your own home, and it’s usually cheaper and more widely available than in-person therapy. However, as a licensed social worker and former therapist, I can assure you that not all services are created equal. To find the best online therapy services, I’ve spent the last three years researching and extensively testing 55 different companies, racking up hundreds of reviews and thousands of pages of personal insights from testers all across the country. After parsing all this information, I’ve built this online therapy guide, in which I’ll share everything you need to know about all the major online therapy platforms.
What to Expect from Online Therapy
- How much does it cost? The services we recommend cost anywhere from $55 per session to over $200.
- Who is it for? Someone who wants to work through challenges, improve their overall wellbeing, or receive help for a mild or moderate mental health condition. It is not for people dealing with serious mental illness or who are in crisis or suicidal.
- Will insurance cover it? Maybe. Most companies list the insurance plans they accept or let you search for your plan when signing up. I’ve noted the online therapy services on our list that accept insurance.
- Is it confidential? Be sure to read through any company’s privacy policy to better understand whether it is HIPAA-compliant (HIPAA is the law that protects personal health information) and whether it shares any private information with third parties; we recommend opting out of data collection.
- How do we meet? You can talk to your therapist via video chat, phone, or text, for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more.
- Does online therapy work? That depends on your commitment to doing the hard stuff, the skill of your therapist, and the services offered by the company. For this reason, don’t be afraid to switch therapists until you find the right match. Once these elements come together, you’ll be surprised at how effective therapy can be.
How I Review Online Therapy Services
Here is a breakdown of the online therapy research and testing process on Verywell Mind.
Firsthand Experience
I had 65 different people sign up for talk therapy with all 55 online therapy companies reviewed. Over the past three years, I’ve published 153 reviews (here are our reviews for BetterHelp and Talkspace, for instance). I had my testers try out each company’s therapy services, and if the company offered other services (like couples therapy and kid or teen therapy) we tested those too.
I asked each tester to try each service for at least a month, which usually meant between two and six sessions at each company. I also asked testers to switch therapists partway through, if possible, in order to get a holistic idea of the offerings and quality of each company. My testers were located all across the United States and abroad, meaning I gained extensive information about each company’s services in a variety of areas.
User Surveys
I surveyed more than 8,000 therapy clients who are currently using one of the 55 online therapy companies tested or who had used one in the recent past, as well as users of 27 different online therapy directories. I asked users to evaluate each company’s services, from their therapist’s qualifications to whether they found a therapist who met all their needs to how they’d rate the company overall—all told, I gathered 350 different data points.
Compare Our Top Picks
Most Comprehensive
Talkspace
Most Comprehensive Talkspace
talkspace
See Retailer
$69-$109 per week, billed as a monthly subscription
Yes, check to see if your insurance is accepted
Individual therapy, couples therapy, teen therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video, phone, messaging
Best Availability
BetterHelp
Best Availability BetterHelp
betterhelp
See Retailer
$70-$100 per week, billed as a monthly subscription
No
Individual therapy
Video, phone, messaging
Best for Anxiety and Depression
Brightside
Best for Anxiety and Depression Brightside
brightside
See Retailer
$95-$349 per month, billed as a monthly subscription
Yes
Individual therapy, teen therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video, unlimited messaging
Best for CBT
Online-Therapy.com
Best for CBT Online-Therapy.com
Online-Therapy.com
See Retailer
$60-$120 per week, billed as a monthly subscription
No
Individual therapy, couples therapy
Video, phone, messaging
Best with Insurance
Thriveworks
Best with Insurance Thriveworks
thriveworks
See Retailer
$160-$240 per session
Yes
Individual therapy, couples therapy, teen therapy, child therapy, family therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video, phone, in-person
Most Affordable
E-Therapy Cafe
Most Affordable E-Therapy Cafe
e-therapycafe
See Retailer
$55-$65 per session, bundles available
No
Individual therapy, couples therapy, coaching
Video, phone, messaging
Best for Couples
Regain
Best for Couples Regain
regain
See Retailer
$70-$100 per week, billed as a monthly subscription
No
Couples therapy, individual therapy
Video, phone, messaging
Best for Scheduling
Teladoc Health
Best for Scheduling Teladoc Health
teladoc
See Retailer
$119 per therapy session, $129-$299 per psychiatry session
Yes
Individual therapy, teen therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video, phone
Best for Families
Doctor on Demand
Best for Families Doctor on Demand
doctorondemand
See Retailer
$134-$184 per therapy session, $129-$299 per psychiatry session
Yes
Individual therapy, couples therapy, teen therapy, child therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video
Best for Psychiatry
Talkiatry
Best for Psychiatry Talkiatry
talkiatry
See Retailer
Varies depending on copay
Yes
Psychiatry/medication management, individual therapy, teen therapy, child therapy
Video
Full Review
Other Options to Consider
Headspace: Headspace is best known for its mental health app, which offers mindfulness and meditation exercises, CBT courses, and sleep resources—but in June of 2025, it also started providing online therapy services. Headspace’s mission is to make therapy more accessible, and it does so by offering its therapy services all across the country and accepting 45 different insurance plans, with a flat $149 fee for each session if you’re paying out-of-pocket. In addition, Headspace therapy clients receive a free three-month subscription to the Headspace app, followed by a significantly discounted monthly rate afterwards. Because Headspace is an app-first service, its in-app resources are top-notch—combine that with how affordable its therapy is, and we’re intrigued.
Sesame: Sesame is an online resource for quick, affordable healthcare services, including therapy and psychiatry. Sesame’s motto is “half-price, whole-quality care” for people who are uninsured or who have high-deductible health plans who need care without insurance, high costs, or long wait times. This company is unusual, because all of its mental healthcare providers are independent clinicians listing their private services and offering low out-of-pocket rates (which vary by provider)—they don’t accept insurance, but the rates rival what you might pay for a copay. You can choose your own provider by filtering by things like specialty, prices, and available session times, and can have a “new patient visit” consultation to determine whether that provider is right for you. In addition, you can message your therapist or psychiatrist anytime between sessions, with guaranteed responses within 24 hours. Ultimately, Sesame seems to be a good option for those who need low out-of-pocket fees in order to be able to afford therapy or psychiatry services.
Rula: Rula is an online therapy and medication management service offering individual, couples, and family therapy for ages 5 and up, as well as medication management for ages 13 and up. There are a few things that set Rula apart, one of which is its commitment to diversity and equity. Forty-nine percent of its clinicians identify as non-white, with 12 ethnicities represented, 11 genders represented, and over 40 different languages spoken across 18,000 providers. It also emphasizes its proactive oversight of its clinicians, consistently making sure they are providing evidence-based, measurable care and support to their clients. Rula is in-network with most major US insurers, including Medicaid and Medicare, and it reports that 99% of its clients use their insurance to pay for services (out-of-pocket prices vary depending on location and services provided). In addition, Rula follows rigorous privacy practices, including being HIPAA-compliant and encrypting all sensitive personal information. If you are looking for an affirming online therapy service that lets you choose your therapist from a curated list and accepts your insurance, Rula might be for you.
Finding the Right Online Therapist for You
The most important aspect of therapy is the rapport you are able to build with your provider. Establishing trust and feeling like you are able to be honest and open with your therapist means that you can really dig into the issues that brought you to therapy without having to worry about being judged, how your therapist is going to react, or censoring yourself because you are concerned about how what you’re talking about will affect your relationship with your therapist. A good therapist will practice unconditional positive regard, which means that no matter what you say or do (as long as it is not harming yourself or others), your therapist will support you and not make judgments about your worth as a person based on your thoughts or actions.
If you have a first session with a therapist and do not feel comfortable with them or you are having trouble building rapport over time, it is perfectly reasonable—and actually encouraged—to find a new therapist with whom you do connect. This can take some trial and error, but it will absolutely be worth it in the end when you find someone you really click with. The great thing about online therapy is that most companies make it extremely easy to switch therapists, increasing your chances of finding the right therapist for you.
Paying for Online Therapy: Insurance or Out-of-Pocket
When it comes to in-person services, it can be extremely difficult to find a therapist who accepts insurance—many providers simply don’t want to deal with the bureaucratic hassle and diminishing financial returns of working with insurance. This is where online therapy really comes in handy. Many online therapy companies are in-network with a wide range of insurance plans, and they often let you check your plan to see if you’re covered even before you sign up. If you need to use your insurance to pay for therapy, many of the companies on this list (specifically Talkspace, Brightside, Thriveworks, Teladoc, Doctor on Demand, and Talkiatry) are a good place to start.
If you are uninsured or underinsured and need to pay out-of-pocket for your therapy services, online therapy is a great option here as well. Many companies—such as BetterHelp, Talkspace, Brightside, and Online-Therapy.com—are subscription services, meaning you pay a relatively low monthly fee (especially compared to the average price of in-person therapy) for a certain number of sessions per month. For many, subscriptions like these make online therapy affordable and accessible.
Many online therapy companies also offer pay-per-session costs that are comparable to or much less than the out-of-pocket prices you’ll find with in-person services. None of the companies on this list charge more than $200 per therapy session, and most cost significantly less. If you are looking for an affordable non-subscription self-pay option, try E-Therapy Cafe.
Privacy and Online Therapy
When considering an online therapy company, the first thing to do is to check that it is HIPAA-compliant. HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a federal law dictating how personal health information is shared. This is the bare minimum of privacy protection, and any company you work with should be HIPAA-compliant—it will usually say in its privacy policy, or sometimes even directly on its website, if it is. That being said, HIPAA does allow sharing of tons of different types of health information.
But there are other privacy concerns to keep in mind. In the early 2020s, as online therapy was on a meteoric rise, many companies such as BetterHelp and Talkspace came under fire for unethical privacy practices, such as selling client information to advertisers, which resulted in some class action lawsuits. Since then, it seems as though the online therapy world has really buttoned up its privacy standards, with more transparency about what information is shared, when, and with whom. With many online therapy companies, you can opt out of the company collecting certain data.
However, because online therapy companies are completely virtual, this does mean that any and all information you share with them will live on the internet, making it inherently susceptible to data breaches and sharing. Bear this in mind when considering an online therapy platform.
The bottom line is: read the company’s privacy policy before you sign up for services, confirm that it is HIPAA-compliant, and make sure it provides a way to opt out of data collection.
Why Trust Verywell Mind
Hannah Owens is Verywell Mind’s Mental Health Editor. Hannah is a licensed social worker with a clinical background in community mental health. She’s worked at programs treating those with serious mental illness, providing both individual and group therapy. In her time at Verywell Mind, Hannah has designed and run years of online therapy testing, overseeing and editing reviews of the top online therapy companies out there and writing and editing roundups of the best online therapy services based on our extensive and thorough testing. Hannah brings her unique combination of both clinical and editorial expertise to her work for Verywell Mind.
- Licensed social worker since 2019
- Clinical background in community mental health
- Specializes in serious mental illness
- Believes in the mission of online therapy to make mental healthcare more accessible
