The 13 Best Online Therapy Services That Are Tried, Tested, and Expert-Approved

We had seven different people from various geographical locations (including New York, Ohio, and the United Kingdom) sign up for therapy at BetterHelp to see if its services suited people with a wide range of needs, different mental health conditions, racial backgrounds, gender identities or sexual orientations, and family dynamics. 

The company says it will match you with a therapist within 48 hours, but we generally found the matching process to take less than a day. We were also impressed with the quality of the matches, despite initial concerns that we could not choose the therapist ourselves. Each therapist was licensed in the state we were testing from, had expertise in our area of concern (like anxiety, depression, trauma, parenting concerns, or something else), and had a range of different qualifications and credentials, ranging from psychotherapists and marriage and family therapists to clinical social workers and licensed professional counselors.

It was easy to schedule weekly sessions with our therapists through the BetterHelp app, and most had a variety of session times available, making it easy to fit in over a lunch break at work or later in the evening. We also appreciated the ability to communicate with a therapist in various ways: You get one weekly 30- to 45-minute live session with your therapist (via audio call, live chat, or video call) and unlimited asynchronous messaging between sessions.

The quality of replies we received did vary by therapist, with some therapists defaulting to scripted or rehearsed responses rather than responses personalized to our messages. In addition, we sometimes had technical issues during our sessions, with occasional lagged video and audio cutting out.

Our testing revealed BetterHelp is most appropriate for people experiencing mild or moderate mental health conditions or concerns, such as mild anxiety, depression, or parenting and relationship issues, rather than more serious mental illnesses. It only offers one type of therapy—individual talk therapy, not couples or group—doesn’t offer psychiatry and may not be a fit for conditions like severe depression, eating disorders, and psychosis. It is also not for anyone in crisis. If you need medications as part of your treatment, BetterHelp will have to refer you elsewhere. 

BetterHelp only offers one therapy subscription that includes:

• Four live video sessions per month via phone call, video, or online chat
• Unlimited asynchronous text, audio, and video messages between sessions
• An online journal that your therapist has access to 

The price of this plan varies from $60 to $90 per week, though you are billed monthly upfront (which means you’ll pay between $240 to $360 once a month before attending therapy). This range in prices is because the company engages in surge pricing, which means you will pay a different amount depending on where you live, your therapy needs, your financial situation, and the demand for mental health care at the time you sign up. 

You will likely have to pay this subscription fee out-of-pocket because unlike some of the other companies on our list, BetterHelp does not accept health insurance. 

When we surveyed 105 current and former BetterHelp users, most had a generally favorable impression of the services they received. 

Most users (86%, to be precise) rated the company good, very good, or excellent overall, and roughly the same amount (87%) rated their therapist’s qualifications the same way. In addition, three-quarters of our surveyed users said all or most of their needs were met by their BetterHelp therapist, and just a little more than that said they were likely or very likely to recommend the company to others. 

Of those that had tried another therapy service, 84% rated the services they received at BetterHelp better than those they’d received in the past.

We asked five people (with and without their partners) to sign up and test ReGain for us so we could thoroughly understand how the service worked if you signed up alone or with your partner. We wanted to see if there were any significant differences in the quality of care if you signed up in different states, like New York vs. South Dakota. But overall, like with its sister site BetterHelp, we were impressed with the accessibility, convenience, and flexibility ReGain offers. We could schedule sessions at almost any time of day, including evenings and weekends, and could communicate with our therapists via video, audio, or live chat, so no matter how busy we were, we could find a time and type of therapy that worked for us.

Each time we signed up, we were paired with a trained therapist with that specialized expertise in relationship therapy and the areas of concern we’d raised in our intake questionnaire.

While we were testing, the company also added a new feature allowing two people to access the same room or join therapy sessions from different devices from anywhere in the country, making ReGain exceptionally accommodating, especially if you’re in a long-distance relationship.

The therapists we worked with were professional, listened to us, and could meet our needs, whether those were suggestions about improving communication or parenting advice. Some also shared worksheets to review in between sessions.  

A few things to know about signing up for ReGain: If you sign up with a partner, you can access a shared messaging room with your therapist, meaning you can both see and read anything one of you says to your therapist. We found being able to read our partner’s responses somewhat uncomfortable—it felt like we were introducing problems into our therapy that we couldn’t immediately address, so the issues would simmer until we had our therapist back as a mediator. This negatively impacted how useful we found the asynchronous messaging.

While you can plan additional weekly sessions as needed, you cannot schedule them at the same time back-to-back for an extended session to discuss a particularly challenging issue. Those sessions also cost an additional $25 per session on top of your subscription price, which can make the cost add up quickly. Also, while you can sign up individually, we don’t recommend it. When we tried the service alone, we found it harder to find a therapist we connected with—and one even questioned why we should do individual relationship counseling if our partner wasn’t willing to attend. As a result, the service might be better suited to couples experiencing milder relationship troubles, like improving communication or working on their parenting skills—not more serious issues, such as whether or not they should end a relationship.

There is only one type of subscription plan at ReGain, which includes:

• Unlimited asynchronous joint messaging with your therapist
• One 30- to 45-minute live video session per week

This plan's cost ranges from $240 to $360 per month, depending on your location and therapist preference due to the surge pricing policy of its parent company, BetterHelp. A scholarship option is available if you apply and are willing to share details about your financial situation.

The results of our survey of 105 new and former ReGain users were generally positive. Most (88%) of the users we surveyed said the qualifications of the therapist they were matched with were good, very good, or excellent, and more than three-quarters rated ReGain as good, very good, or excellent overall. 

In addition, four out of every five survey respondents said their therapist met most or all of their needs, while almost three out of four respondents said they were likely or very likely to recommend ReGain to a friend.

To thoroughly test Talkspace and all its different services, we had ten people from a variety of different backgrounds, professions (including some therapists), and locations (from New York to South Dakota) sign up for its multiple subscription options to get a better sense of how well the company serves a variety of needs. Overall, we were impressed with the company’s comprehensive options and quality of care.

The matching process was fast, too: After we filled out an intake questionnaire, we received our match in less than 24 hours (and when signing up using the app, we got to pick between three therapist options). If we didn’t have a connection with the therapist we were matched with, we could easily switch with the click of a button, which would then show us three more therapists to choose from. 

We also like that Talkspace offers several different methods of communication (including live chat, asynchronous messaging, phone calls, or live video sessions) and a range of other subscription plans for individual and teen therapy. For example, the cheapest plan includes just asynchronous messaging with your therapist, which allows you to message them whenever you want and receive at least one response five days a week, Monday to Friday.

While text therapy has been shown to be effective in some studies, particularly for milder mental health conditions, we found the quality of responses we got back from our therapists varied wildly. Sometimes the answers were thoughtful and personalized; at other times, they were robotic and superficial. The live chat option worked particularly well for teen therapy since it allows for written communication without the lag of waiting a long time for a response, making the exchange feel more like a conversation, only over a teen-friendly platform. Talkspace could also be a suitable communication method for someone with social anxiety. 

If you sign up for individual therapy but decide that couples therapy makes more sense for you, you can change it anytime in your patient portal. You can also add additional psychiatry services to any plan, and your Talkspace psychiatrists will then be able to work with other Talkspace providers to give you the care you need, including prescribing you medication such as antidepressants.

Talkspace is also HIPAA-compliant, meaning it complies with the federal law protecting personal health information—though keep in mind that this does not mean that the company is exempt from the general privacy concerns that plague the online therapy world.

In addition, we were disappointed to find that Talkspace’s live video or audio sessions are only 30 minutes long, which is shorter than the other online therapy companies we tested (and most in-person therapy too).

We found the 30-minute sessions especially short for couples therapy, where covering a lot of ground in that little time can be difficult. 

If you sign up for individual or teen therapy, you can choose between three therapy subscription plans, which range in price from $69 to $109 a week (though you’re billed monthly and upfront). The plan options include messaging only; video and live messaging therapy; or video, messaging, and workshop therapy (though in our experience, the workshops were not worth the extra cost due to the limited topic options and times available). 

There is only one couples therapy plan, which costs $109 a week (billed monthly) and includes one live video session a week and messaging therapy. 

Psychiatry services are considered add-on services and are billed per session, not as a subscription. Your intake session will cost $249 and include a full psychiatric evaluation. Follow-ups then cost $125.

Of the 105 new and past Talkspace users we surveyed, nine out of 10 users rated their overall experience at Talkspace as excellent, very good, or good. Not only that, but a whopping 97% of those that had tried another online therapy service said Talkspace was much better, better, or a little better than others they’d tried in the past.

Three out of four users also said they’d return to Talkspace if they ever needed to find a new therapist, while 82% said they would recommend Talkspace to a friend or someone like them.

Over six months of reviewing online mental health companies, we’ve found that many online psychiatry services generally offer impersonal care and rushed sessions—but that was not the case with Talkiatry during our testing.

We found the psychiatrist warm and approachable from the first meeting. The appointment began on time, and our psychiatrist was very welcoming. Thanks to the longer session time, we felt we had the time to discuss our treatment history and give the psychiatrist the time to develop a personalized treatment plan. We left with all our questions answered and knew what to expect moving forward. And keeping with the practice of extended sessions, Talkiatry’s follow-up psychiatry sessions last 30 minutes—twice as long as its competitors.

The service is also very convenient. Scheduling follow-ups is easy: You click the date and time you'd like to have your appointment in the patient portal, or you can schedule in session through your therapist if you prefer. If a medication is prescribed, it is sent directly to a local pharmacy near you—and if for some reason that pharmacy can't fill it, your provider will move it over to another pharmacy for you quickly. If you don't like your psychiatrist, switching is easy too. The psychiatrist we met brought up switching during our first session straightforwardly, telling us we could make a change—no hard feelings—at any time, which removed any awkwardness right from the start.

This is a big deal considering that, in the U.S., only a little over half (55%) of psychiatrists accept insurance, compared to 89% of other board-certified doctors and specialists—which means it can be tough to find affordable psychiatric care, even online. That said, if you do not have insurance, this is not the company for you because it only accepts patients with insurance.

There are a few more things to be aware of. While Talkiatry therapists provide talk therapy, you can only access those therapy services with a referral from your Talkiatry psychiatrist—and there is a waiting list to see those providers. So if you think you need therapy but are uncertain whether you need medication, Talkiatry is likely not the service for you.

Additionally, there are certain conditions the company’s psychiatrists do not treat, including eating disorders, substance use disorders, and schizophrenia. In addition, Talkiatry is only available in 43 states; it does not cover Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. We also found that if you begin the sign-up process but do not pick a provider or schedule your first session, the company will email and call you as a follow-up. However, it will only attempt to contact you once; you do not need to worry about repeated calls or emails if you do not respond to the first one.

Talkiatry isn’t a subscription service. Instead, you pay per session with your psychiatrist plus the cost of any prescribed medication. The price you pay per session will depend on your insurance.

The 105 Talkiatry users we surveyed had overwhelmingly positive reports of their time with the company. Nearly all (95%) of users said the services they received at Talkiatry were good, very good, or excellent, and more than two-thirds felt their psychiatrist met most or all of their needs. Users also told us that Talkiatry’s reasonable cost (thanks to insurance) was one of the top three reasons they chose to use the company and 81% were satisfied or very satisfied with the selection of psychiatrists Talkiatry offered. Nine out of 10 said their psychiatrist’s qualifications were good, very good, or excellent.  

In regards to what their specific psychiatrist did particularly well, 85% said their provider had a good, very good, or excellent bedside manner, and 58% said they felt their provider really listened to them. Seventy percent of users said they’d come back to Talkiatry if they needed a similar service again, and nearly 90% would recommend Talkiatry to a friend, making it a no-brainer for us in terms of psychiatric care.

We had two people try out Brightside’s services from different parts of the country (North Carolina and New York) so that we could get a sense of the company’s quality of care—and we were impressed. By specializing entirely in treating depression and anxiety disorders (including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety) through talk therapy and (if appropriate) medication, the company has streamlined its service to be effective, reliable, and affordable regardless of where you live. We were also particularly impressed with its self-care services—a bonus to its therapy and medication management plans—that include self-paced audio lessons and exercises you can try between therapy sessions. 

This evidence-backed therapy approach is frequently used to treat depression and anxiety because it can be very effective. The method involves working with your therapist to recognize negative thought patterns and learning new ways of thinking or reacting to triggering experiences, like feeling wrong or rejected. It’s also a technique that has been shown to be very effective virtually—which is why it works so well for Brightside. Our live sessions were 45 minutes and held over video calls at convenient times, including evenings and weekends. Thanks to the messaging feature, we could message our therapist anytime through our portal. Some therapists also sent us worksheets and other CBT materials to read through that same messaging portal, which we appreciated, since it helped us feel supported during our therapy journey.

After completing that process (and providing our payment information), we could use the self-care resources immediately as we awaited our therapist match. Like with BetterHelp, we could not pick our therapist, but we were able to provide a list of dates and times for our first appointment before our match was made. The thorough intake did help make the matching process work well for us the first time, though the second time, we did request a switch to a new provider—which turned out to be a bit of a hassle. We had to email the customer service team, which followed up 24 business hours later, asking what we were looking for in our new therapist (such as gender and area of expertise). We were then assigned a new therapist. Based on our experiences, if you are looking for structured, solution-focused support, especially for anxiety and depression, we highly recommend Brightside.

Brightside has three subscription plans, all of which can be offset if you have an in-network insurance provider. 

• Medication only: $95 per month, plus your pharmacy copay or $15 for medication; includes an initial 15-minute video consultation with a psychiatrist, ongoing provider care and monitoring, and self-care tools to use at your own pace
• Therapy only: $299 per month; includes unlimited messaging and, after an initial 45-minute session, one 30-minute therapy session per week (additional video sessions can be purchased for $59 per session)
• Therapy + medication: $349 per month; includes everything in the other two plans
  

The 105 users of Brightside we surveyed had similarly positive experiences with the company. Nearly all (90%) of users gave the company an overall rating of good to excellent, and three-quarters said they were likely or very likely to recommend Brightside to a friend. In addition, four out of five reported that their therapist’s qualifications were good, very good, or excellent, and the majority (62%) said they would use the service again if they were starting over with the process of searching for a therapist.

We asked four people to sign up for E-Therapy Cafe to see if its affordable price (and smaller size) affects its ability to provide a variety of accessible, quality mental health services across different states it serves, including Colorado, California, and Michigan. But despite having some concerns (based solely on its outdated website and boutique size), we were overwhelmingly surprised with how well this company delivers on its promises. Yes, its sessions are only 30 minutes long—short for individual therapy and especially for couples therapy—but the company has the lowest out-of-pocket subscription therapy prices of all the companies we reviewed. It delivers on its mission statement of helping people “get unstuck.”

Its therapists are well qualified and include a range of specializations and credentials, such as licensed therapists, social workers, and certified life coaches. Bear in mind that the company isn’t always clear about what these credentials mean. For example, we found that the website uses the terms “therapist,” “counselor,” and “coach” interchangeably, but coaches—while they can be helpful for more minor issues—are not held to the same licensure standards and laws as licensed therapists. Our coaching sessions focused mainly on goal-setting, decision-making, and behavioral changes—rather than delving deeper into historical and emotional issues—were as helpful as the sessions with licensed therapists. The company does not offer psychiatry, so you must look elsewhere if your treatment plan requires medication.

Throughout our testing, we had multiple ways to access sessions at E-Therapy Cafe: We could choose between live video sessions, live audio sessions, real-time chat, and e-journaling, which was a format unique to this company and involved writing a 700-word entry to our therapist, which they would then read and respond to in their own time with a letter back to us. However, we don’t recommend the e-journal format; the word count puts pressure to write something longer to make the most of your “session” (since every entry is billed the same as a virtual therapy session), which is a pressure that text-based therapy at other companies doesn’t have. We missed the real-time responses and personal connection of a live conversation with a therapist.

We worked with three therapists, with one of our testers switching halfway through. Though one therapist was five minutes late to our first appointment, she gave us the full half hour, going beyond our scheduled time, and our second sessions with each therapist involved a deeper dive into the issues we came to therapy to discuss. We appreciated that we could schedule at many different hours, timing our sessions after work, with one as late as 9 p.m. We enjoyed the service so much that we considered using it after the testing period ended.

E-Therapy Cafe allows you to pay per session ($50 for your first trial session, then $55 for each session afterward) or sign up for one of its two subscription plans:

• E-Therapy Four: Four sessions per month with your therapist; costs $196 a month
• E-Therapy Eight: Eight sessions per month for $360
  

Subscription plans and pay-as-you-go rates apply to individual and couples therapy and coaching sessions. Each plan includes a set number of sessions with your therapist as determined by the one you opt in to as well as an online chat service located within a private portal. These sessions with your therapist can be a 30-minute live video, an e-journal entry with a 700-word maximum, or a 30-minute instant chat. Sessions can be stacked and expire within 30 days of purchasing them.

While E-Therapy Cafe’s team of therapists is smaller than its competitors, most of the 105 users we surveyed (80%) said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the selection of therapists available. In addition, nearly every user rated the company as good, very good, or excellent, and 90% said they found the therapists’ qualifications to be top-notch (despite the confusion surrounding coaches versus licensed therapists). More than three-quarters of users reported that they’d try E-Therapy Cafe again if they needed to go searching for a new therapist, and most (89%) of those that had tried online therapy somewhere else thought the services they received from E-Therapy Cafe were better.

We asked four people to sign up and test Thriveworks’s therapy services to understand its different therapy offerings (including therapy for adults, kids, and families) and level of care across various states (including Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Kansas). Overall, we were impressed.

You can choose your therapist at Thriveworks during sign-up from a list of providers in your state, and we liked this flexibility. In this way, the site operates like a directory: You can filter through the list by location, conditions the providers can treat, insurance plans accepted, and type of therapy offered. However, we were a little disappointed that the therapist bios were short, and there wasn’t any filter to search for therapists that were LGBTQ+ friendly or had experience treating people with disabilities—both factors that were important to us in our testing.  

The therapists also treat many different mental health conditions, including anxiety, addiction, relationship distress, depression, and trauma, which means it’s relatively easy to find the kind of care you need. And throughout our testing, we found the therapists to be warm, skilled, and qualified, making us feel like we were seeking care at a cozy private practice, not a giant national company. 

Therapy at Thriveworks starts with an intake session, which means you meet with your therapist and review your medical and mental health history to develop a treatment plan—and we were especially impressed with our therapists’ thoroughness during this intake. Rather than just asking open-ended questions (like “What are you looking to get out of therapy?”), the therapists asked specific, detailed questions so we could get to know each other quickly.

The biggest drawback to Thriveworks is that there are differences in what services are offered depending on where you live. For example, while we wanted to test virtual therapy for kids in Kentucky, we could not because no providers were available—and the closest brick-and-mortar location was too far of a commute. We are encouraged by the fact that Thriveworks is actively working on improving its nationwide therapy offerings. While we were testing its services, it did not yet offer therapy in all 50 states (only 43). For example, New York had no locations in December of 2022, but it has since opened a location in Buffalo as of May 2023. However, that location is still not useful for someone who lives in New York City, for example, and wants to try in-person or hybrid therapy since Buffalo is over a six-hour drive away. 

Plans and pricing with Thriveworks aren't as straightforward as other online therapy companies. Pricing depends on the provider you choose and the treatment you receive. If you’re paying out of pocket, you can expect prices to start at $99 per session. But Thriveworks also accepts a wide range of insurance plans, such as Blue Cross, Anthem, Optum, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and more. If your insurance is accepted, you’ll likely only be responsible for your copay. 

Of the 105 users we surveyed that had used Thriveworks for their therapy needs, nearly half said that morning, evening, and weekend availability was important to them when choosing an online therapy service—and nine out of 10 rated the company as good, very good, or excellent overall and four out of five said they would recommend Thriveworks to a friend or someone like them. 

In the end, more than three-quarters of survey respondents (78%) said they found a provider who met most or all of their needs at Thriveworks.

We had four people sign up and test LifeStance Health’s individual adult therapy, couples counseling, and family therapy services in four states: Florida, Illinois, Oregon, and New York, respectively (four of the 34 states LifeStance serves). 

Immediately, we were impressed with the range of services provided; the fact that this one company could offer insurance-covered, quality mental health services to people of any age, anywhere, with the option of either online or in-person impressed us greatly.

It was clear from sign-up that the service takes its mission statement, “there’s no one face to mental health conditions,” seriously. It is there to develop a unique treatment plan, no matter what you’re dealing with. 

Initially, we were concerned that in the attempt to “do it all,” the care we’d receive at LifeStance Health would feel impersonal, but that was not the case. The therapists we met with for individual therapy were compassionate and attentive, making us feel heard. In couples therapy, we appreciated how well both therapists we worked with were able to guide the conversation with insightful questions so both partners could feel heard, involved, and understood.

We also appreciated that we could choose our therapist, too, and there were plenty to choose from during sign-up (as many as 700 when we signed up for couples therapy, for example).

However, we encountered some issues when trying to sign up for family therapy because there wasn’t a therapist available in our state to take new patients. Despite calling customer service and speaking with the director of operations, we were never able to schedule a family therapy session—we opted for individual sessions instead—so it’s important to note that the number of types of therapy and specializations does vary across the 34 states LifeStance serves. 

Still, this did not overshadow the fact that this company is an excellent choice for someone seeking online therapy from a specialized therapist for various conditions, including depression, anxiety, and postpartum anxiety or depression. You can schedule appointments with a psychiatrist and in-person sessions if your diagnosis requires it (as may be the case with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder). It’s also a great choice for family therapy if your state offers it. 

LifeStance Health is not a subscription service, meaning you pay per therapy session you book. How much you pay for those sessions then varies based on what therapist you work with, what kind of care you need, and whether you have health insurance.

You can check whether your health insurance is accepted directly on the website, and if your plan is in-network, you will likely pay a copay. If you’re paying out-of-pocket, sessions range from $75 to $300 per-session for individual talk therapy (for adults, kids, or teens), couples therapy, or family therapy. 

Psychiatric consultations range from $200 to $300 per session; follow-ups cost between $150 to $250.

Of the 105 users of LifeStance we surveyed, almost nine out of ten rated the company’s services as good, very good, or excellent overall, and an overwhelming majority (90%) felt the same about the qualifications of their therapists. 

Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents could use their insurance to pay for therapy, and 22% indicated that having access to in-person sessions was important to them in their search for mental health care. All in all, 73% of users found a therapist at LifeStance who met most or all of their needs. Seventeen percent of users sought psychiatry services through LifeStance, and nearly 9 out of 10 rated its psychiatry services as good, very good, or excellent.

We had three people from Missouri, California, and Texas sign up for and test online therapy services at Teladoc, and overall, we had a great experience. Not only could we use our insurance to pay for therapy—a rarity in both the online and in-person therapy worlds—but we were pleased with the number of insurance plans accepted.

For example, if your therapist accepts your insurance plan, you might only be responsible for a $20 copay, which is only 20% of the usual full price of $99 per session at Teladoc. We also appreciated that, unlike Talkiatry or other competitors, it wasn’t just a therapy company for the insured. At around $99 per session, Teladoc is still more affordable out-of-pocket than the average therapy session in the US.

We also didn’t feel like we were skimping on quality for affordability at Teladoc because the quality of care we received was outstanding. We found Teladoc’s team of accredited psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and social workers to be highly qualified and available to support numerous mental health needs, including anxiety, depression, grief, work-related stress, and trauma. We found our therapists to be friendly and compassionate, though one seemed a bit clinical in the first intake session, where they appeared to be reading from a list of questions, which stunted the natural flow of conversation a bit. However, this therapist warmed up over time so that, in the end, we found all the therapists to be attentive, caring, and good listeners. 

This made us feel confident that, should we require a different kind of care, Teladoc could still help us because the company makes it easy to switch or add on services (including medical services) whenever you want. 

Admittedly, Teladoc doesn’t have a super thorough intake process. When we signed up for therapy, we just had to fill out a short online form that consisted of sharing our demographic information, then picking a reason for why we were seeking therapy (and there were only six reasons to choose from—COVID-19 concerns, anxiety/depression, drug/alcohol addiction, family/relationship issues, stress, or other) and answering five quick questions. Then we were shown a list of therapists that might be a match, but you can also pick whoever you want based on their availability. Being able to choose our therapist was something we liked: we didn’t feel saddled with someone an algorithm chose for us. We also appreciated that once you do pick a therapist and begin seeing them regularly, you can message them between sessions through your patient portal. 

Teladoc doesn’t have a subscription therapy plan. Instead, once you’ve selected your therapist, you pay per session or psychiatry visit. However, the price is the same out-of-pocket no matter who your therapist is: $99 per session.

Psychiatry session prices are set too. You’ll pay $299 for your initial psychiatry consultation, then $119 per follow-up visit. However, if your insurance plan is accepted—which is highly likely, since Teladoc accepts over 60 plans—you’ll pay less out-of-pocket than either of these prices. 

Of all the 80 companies we evaluated, Teladoc scored the highest in user satisfaction: a whopping 97% rated the company as good, very good, or excellent overall.

In addition, more than four out of five users said they used their insurance to pay for services, with more than three out of five rating the company as affordable or very affordable. Eighty percent of users could find a therapist who met most or all of their needs, and an impressive 94% thought the therapist qualifications at Teladoc were excellent, very good, or good.

We asked three parents and their kids to sign up and test Little Otter’s therapy for kids and parents coaching services from Pennsylvania and New York to understand how well it served kids, parents, and families in different places. And across the board, we were pleased with the care we received. Admittedly, Little Otter’s services are not cheap (for example, psychiatry sessions are $250 each). Still, the uniqueness of the company’s specialization and its family-focused approach stood out so much that we feel like this service is worth the price because whether your child is showing signs of depression, is dealing with bullying at school, or is having attention issues, Little Otter can help you get your child the therapy or psychiatric help they need online. Plus, since it also treats babies from birth, it’s also a resource where you can get help to sleep train your baby or learn how to deal with toddler temper tantrums. No other company we evaluated offers this kind of help.

In testing the company, we found that once you sign up for Little Otter, you and your child have a “welcome session” with a “care lead.” The care lead is a clinician coordinating all the care you and your family will get through Little Otter. During this session, you’ll explain why you’re seeking therapy for your family. In this session, your care lead will assign a therapist, whom you will meet (with your child) in the following session, and you’ll finalize your treatment plan. After that, sessions will be scheduled individually for your child (and you or your family, if that’s what you need).

We were impressed with the qualifications of Little Otter’s care team; it’s made up of licensed therapists, child psychiatrists, and board-certified behavior analysts as parent specialists, all trained in the most up-to-date clinical practices for early childhood development so they can identify, diagnose, and address mental health conditions like ADHD, depression, anxiety disorders, and other common mental health conditions that affect children. If medication is needed, the company’s psychiatrists can prescribe it, and you can pick it up at your local pharmacy. 

We found that the therapists were good at developing a rapport with the kids that participated in our testing. Sessions were 45 minutes long, which is a reasonable amount of time to build trust, and joining the first session made us feel more confident in letting the children attend subsequent sessions on their own—even though our child testers were as young as 10 years old. The parenting coaching service was also beneficial. The coaches were well-trained and thoughtful, giving us insightful tips and advice for changing our behavior to better support our children and be the parents we were striving to be. 

Therapy sessions are $200 each, and psychiatry sessions cost even more. And unless you have the one insurance plan it accepts (Kaiser Permanente), you’ll have to pay for each session out-of-pocket. The two intake sessions also cost $90 each—which is pretty expensive compared to the per-session rates.

Little Otter isn’t a subscription service. Instead, you pay per session:

• $90 for a 30-minute welcome session with your care lead, the clinician coordinating your Little Otter care team
• $200 for a 45-minute session with your assigned therapist
• $500 for a 75-minute general psychiatric evaluation
• $250 for a 30-minute psychiatric follow-up or medication management visit
  

There are bundles available to help reduce the cost, though: 

• Assessment bundle: $540 for a 90-minute assessment session plus one 45-minute therapy session
• 12-session bundle: $2,040 for 12 45-minute therapy sessions
  

We surveyed 105 parents who had used or were still using Little Otter for their children's or families’ mental health needs. Over half said their therapists’ qualifications were much better than other online therapy companies. Seventy percent said their provider met most or all of their needs. 

In addition, three out of four users rated Little Otter as good, very good, or excellent overall, and more than three out of five users felt the same about the company’s value for the money.

We tested the National Queer and Trans Therapist of Color Network (NQTTCN) across 18 ZIP codes to get a sense of how easy or difficult it was to find a therapist that might match the different therapy needs someone might have, such as finding a Black therapist or a therapist who will write a letter of support for hormone replacement therapy. Unfortunately, NQTTCN did not have therapists available in seven of those ZIP codes because it doesn’t serve all 50 states, only 36. However, despite this, we were very impressed with the service. 

All we had to do to search for a therapist was indicate our location (by city, ZIP code, or state) and select filters like languages spoken, whether they’re accepting new clients or providing telehealth, and if they offer a sliding scale or low fee.

Because the company is a directory, each provider we found brought their unique expertise, experience, and preferred therapeutic modalities. We could read about these in their detailed bios when we clicked on them from our search results. Bios list areas of expertise, therapeutic approaches, and information about the provider, like gender identity, race or ethnicity, pronouns, and professional credentials. Across the board, we found a range of specialties, including identity issues, trauma, relationship conflict, and sexual wellness, across different states.

Unfortunately, NQTTCN does not list psychiatrists, so if you think you need medication as part of your treatment, you will need to look elsewhere. It’s also important to note that the number of therapists does vary by state: you’ll have more options in California (which has 27 therapists listed) than in Idaho (which has only one).

Since NQTTCN is not a therapy service, like many other companies on this list, but a directory service, each therapist on the site runs their practice and sets their rates. This means that the cost per session varies widely, though, in our testing, we found therapists with rates as low as $60 per session and as high as $200 per session listed in their bios. 

We found some therapists that accept health insurance, though, so you may be able to use your plan to reduce your out-of-pocket cost. Others don't accept insurance but do offer sliding scale rates.

For therapy seekers struggling to afford mental health care, NQTTCN also offers a Mental Health Fund that covers the cost of its therapists’ services. You can apply for the fund on the website.

When we surveyed 180 people who had used NQTTCN to find their former or current therapist, more than four of five said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the selection of therapists in the directory, and the same number said they were pleased with their therapist’s qualifications. Three-quarters of users would recommend NQTTCN to a friend or someone like them, and 77% would use NQTTCN again if they needed to find another therapist.

Overall, 84% rated the directory as good or very good overall, and a whopping 99% of users found a therapist who met most or all of their needs.

We tested Therapy for Black Girls across 18 ZIP codes to get a sense of how easy or difficult it was to find a therapist that might match 37 different therapy needs someone might have, such as wanting to work with a Black, female-identifying therapist or a therapist that has experience with issues that arise with transracial adoptions. We were pleased to discover we could find therapists in all the ZIP codes we tested since the site also serves all 50 states and parts of Canada.  

We could also look for therapists that offered individual therapy, couples therapy, and therapy for kids and teens, as well as psychiatrists—and you had the option of looking for therapists that saw clients in person or online. We also found it easy to find Christian counseling—which isn’t always easy to find at other directories or companies—as well as therapists that met more specific needs, like therapists that specialized in multi-racial adoption issues, adoption trauma, or racism trauma. Filtering therapist options by specialty was easy in our testing—you choose from a drop-down list to the left of available therapists after inputting your location.

We did have some problems that are worth noting: We could not choose more than one specialty at a time, so if we were looking for a therapist that met a variety of criteria (say, one who had experience in trauma, ADHD, depression, and race-related stress), we ran into errors. Instead, we had to search by choosing one specialty at a time, then read the provider’s bios to see if they had the other experience we were looking for. We also found that when a therapist didn’t use the exact keywords that the search filters did, they would sometimes be excluded from search results. For example, suppose a therapist said she had experience treating postpartum concerns. In that case, she might not have come up if we filtered results by the “parenting” filter if she didn’t include that specific keyword in her bio.

For example, it has a podcast centered around the experiences of Black women and a blog with mental health-related content, such as navigating survivor’s guilt and letting go of “survivor mode.” It also offers a “Sister Circle” that provides “a cozy corner of the internet for Black women to BE.” We appreciate how this circle gives Black women access to a community that can provide support, foster conversations about identity-related topics, offer Q&A sessions with Therapy for Black Girls professionals and provide members-only events.

Since Therapy for Black Girls is not a therapy company but a directory, each therapist listed on the site runs their practice and sets their rates. This means that the cost per session varies widely.

In our testing, we did find it difficult to find those rates, though. While you can see whether a therapist is or is not accepting new clients clearly on the directory site, you have to dig deeper (like clicking through to the provider’s personal practice website) to find rates because most bios do not list prices or scheduling information. 

That said, we found therapists with rates that ranged from a $20 consultation to $450 an hour, with a range of prices in between (usually falling between $150 and $250). Many therapists do accept insurance, and some offer lower-cost sliding scale fees. 

We surveyed 180 therapy users that had used Therapy for Black Girls to find their current or former therapist. Of those, 84% said that the qualifications of the therapists in this directory were good or very good, and the same number said they were likely or very likely to recommend it to a friend. Eighty-three percent said they would use Therapy for Black Girls again if they needed another therapist. The directory also performed well overall, with more than nine out of 10 users rating the service as good or very good.

More impressive, though, is that 98% said that the therapist they found on Therapy for Black Girls met most or all of their needs.

We tested Open Path Collective across 18 ZIP codes to get a sense of how easy or difficult it was to find a therapist that might match 37 different therapy needs someone might have—such as anger management, anxiety attacks, polyamory, or postpartum depression and anxiety—to see if it delivered on its promise to offer high-quality and affordable mental health care to middle- and low-income level therapy seekers. We’re pleased to say that it did.  

For $30, we could have a therapy session with a pre-licensed therapist (a student therapist currently obtaining their master’s degree under the clinical supervision of a licensed therapist), and for $40 to $70, we could see a therapist with more professional experience; in addition, we found couples counseling never to be more than $80 per session. In testing, we found that you can browse the Open Path Collective for free, as you can with any therapist directory. But to book a session with your chosen therapist for the sliding scale rate, you must pay a one-time fee of $65 for a lifetime membership. Each therapist bio features two prominent buttons—”Join Open Path” and “Email Therapist.” From there, you can get signed up and get the ball rolling with your chosen provider.

For example, we were able to find competent therapists across all 18 ZIP codes we tested (the company serves all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, as well as 13 territories in Canada) that met various needs online and in person. For example, we were able to find appropriate therapists that could provide affirming care for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and their loved ones, therapists who could speak ASL, Christian therapists, Black therapists, and therapists that treat kids and teens of any age. We were also able to find therapists with more specific or niche specializations, such as therapists with experience treating religious trauma. 

In addition, these sliding scale rates are out-of-pocket: if you want to use your health insurance to pay for your therapy, this is not the service for you. Additionally, the number of therapists available varies wildly depending on your location—for example, there are over a thousand therapists listed in Texas, whereas Wyoming has only four. You also cannot find psychiatrists here. The most affordable therapists are pre-licensed student therapists who are supervised by licensed clinicians.

As noted above, using Open Path Collective’s directory to find a therapist with sliding scale rates requires a one-time fee of $65. Then, once you’re signed up, you can use it as often as you want to find and schedule an appointment with one of the providers listed.

Rates per session vary by the therapist but range from $30 (for a pre-licensed therapist) to $70 for a more experienced therapist. Couples therapy tends to cost $80 per session. 

We surveyed 180 therapy users who had used Open Path Collective to find their current or former therapist, and, across the board, users told us that they loved this directory: Nine out of 10 rated the company as good or very good, while an impressive 97% said they were able to find a therapist who met most or all of their needs. 

In addition, 84% said they would recommend Open Path to a friend or someone like them, and four out of five said they are still seeing the therapist they found on Open Path today.