The Best Online Therapy Platforms Of 2023

What are the Best Online Therapy Platforms?

BetterHelp

BetterHelp is one of the largest online therapy platforms in existence. The company stands out with a network of nearly 30,000 professional therapists located across the United States in all 50 states. The next biggest competitor only has about 10,000 therapists. This makes it fairly easy to find one that specializes in the specific type of mental health care that you want.

BetterHelp offers everything you might want in an online therapy service. It lets you communicate with therapists via messaging, live chats, phone calls, and video calls. The service also gives you the ability to message your provider whenever you want. However, you should keep in mind that online counselors will usually only reply to your messages during normal business hours.

Learn more in our BetterHelp review.

** BetterHelp Bottom Line **

BetterHelp is one of the best doctor-on-demand companies in the industry. It’s perfect for treating anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The only real downside with BetterHelp is that it doesn’t offer prescriptions.

TalkSpace

TalkSpace stands out by offering its users several different online therapy plans to choose from. This makes it easier to find a pricing structure that aligns with your budget. Additionally, TalkSpace accepts various types of insurance while many of its competitors don’t. If your insurance covers TalkSpace, your out-of-pocket costs for the service could be very low.

TalkSpace also has a very strong mobile app. It includes a number of helpful features that will help you get more out of your therapy sessions. For example, it has a progress tracking tool that is a great way to stay on top of your mental health journey. Additionally, all of TalkSpace’s therapists are fully licensed and have experience treating patients in person.

Read this TalkSpace review for more in-depth coverage.

** TalkSpace Bottom Line **

TalkSpace is another titan of the online therapy industry that’s worth attention. It stands out with multiple plan options, a strong mobile app, and its acceptance of insurance.

Regain.us

Regain.us stands out from the competition through its focus on online couples counseling. The internet therapy provider partners with counselors across the country who specialize in providing this type of support. It’s perfect for couples who need help with intimacy issues, overcoming adultery, improving communication, and various other types of conflict.

You can also use Regain.us to get help with general mental health issues, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression. However, given the company’s focus on couples counseling, your therapist may only discuss those issues with you in the context of how they’ve been impacting your relationship.

This Regain.us review provides more detail.

** Regain.us Bottom Line **

Regain.us may be the best online therapy service for you if you’re looking for couples counseling. The company specializes in providing this type of support and lets you and your partner work with a therapist via messaging and live video sessions.

BrightSide

BrightSide stands out through its focus on psychiatric care. There are many companies that offer online therapy services. But BrightSide is one of the few that can prescribe you psychiatric medications online. This makes it a good solution for people who need psychiatric medication but who don’t want to have to repeatedly visit a doctor’s office in person.

BrightSide offers a medication + therapy plan and a therapy-only plan for users to choose from. The company also lets you purchase a-la-carte video calls with a therapist for $59 each. This gives users a good amount of control over the exact services that they receive from BrightSide and how much they pay for them. However, BrightSide doesn’t currently have a mobile app for its users. This may be a problem for people who would like to connect with a therapist while on the go.

Check out our BrightSide review if you'd like more information.

** BrightSide Bottom Line **

BrightSide is a good choice for people who would like to receive psychiatric medication without having to visit the doctor’s office. The company offers users several plans to choose from, which makes it easy to find one that works for you. However, the lack of a mobile app is a significant drawback.

Cerebral

Cerebral is another online therapy service that can prescribe you psychiatric medications online. The company gives you considerable control over how you structure your plan. You can sign up to just receive medication and care counseling, therapy alone, or therapy and medication counseling. The costs of these services range from $85 to $325 per month, with therapy + medication counseling costing the highest.

Cerebral also accepts insurance. So you may be able to pay a very low out-of-pocket amount for the service, depending on who your provider is. BrightSide is Cerebral’s closest competitor, as the two companies provide nearly identical offerings. However, Cerebral has a mobile app while BrightSide does not.

Our Cerebral review provides an in-depth look at this online therapy service.

** Cerebral Bottom Line **

Cerebral can provide you with both therapy and psychiatric medications online. The company offers several plans to choose from and stands out from its closest competitor BrightSide with its mobile offerings.

Teen Counseling

Teen Counseling stands out with its focus on providing mental health services to teenagers. The company specializes in addressing the mental health needs of people who are aged 13 to 19. They partner with therapists across the nation who have in-depth experience with providing this type of mental health care. Additionally, Teen Counseling lets teens communicate with their therapists without allowing their parents to see what they’re talking about. This is good news for teens who are uncomfortable with discussing their mental health problems around their parents.

Check out this Teen Counseling review for more info.

** Teen Counseling Bottom Line **

Teen Counseling is one of the only major online therapy providers that specialize in addressing the mental health needs of teenagers.

Pride Counseling

Pride Counseling stands out with its focus on addressing the mental health needs of the LGTBQ community. The company partners with therapists who understand how to approach the unique mental health challenges that LGTBQ individuals may face.

The platform also makes it easy to interact with therapists in whatever way the patient prefers. Counselors are available via live chats, messages, phone calls, and video calls.

If you're interested, visit our Pride Counseling review to get a more in-depth look.

** Pride Counseling Bottom Line **

Pride Counseling is a top option for members of the LGTBQ community who are searching for the right online counseling provider. The company partners with therapists across the country who specialize in providing mental health support to LGTBQ individuals.

Faithful Counseling

BetterHelp has become the parent company of Faithful Counseling and will still match you to a therapist who is right for you based on your preferences. Faithful Counseling is an online therapy platform that provides mental health counseling services from a Biblical perspective. The service connects its users with licensed Christian therapists from across the country. That makes it a good solution for people who ascribe to the Christian faith and are looking to get help with their mental health issues within the context of their religious beliefs. 

Users of Faith Counseling are also free to interact with their therapists in whatever ways they prefer. They can do so by exchanging messages, conducting live video chats, or having phone calls with their counselors. However, most insurance providers won’t offer any coverage for the services that Faithful Counseling offers so you should expect to pay out-of-pocket for them.

This Faithful Counseling review provides everything you need to know before signing up. 

** Faith Counseling Bottom Line **

Faith Counseling may be the right choice for members of the Christian faith who are looking for online therapy. The platform’s therapists combine Christian teachings with traditional therapy to provide a unique type of mental health support.

What is Online Therapy?

Online therapy is a growing industry that lets people connect with licensed mental health professionals from the comfort of home or on-the-go. Most sites allow their users to speak with a therapist via messaging, video calls, live chats, and phone calls. This gives the people who use online therapy considerable flexibility in choosing exactly how they wish to interact with a therapist.

Online therapy can be a great alternative to traditional face-to-face therapy sessions. All of the major platforms use licensed practitioners who have the same qualifications that you would expect to find when visiting a therapist’s office in person. There are even some sites that will provide users with a prescription for psychiatric medication online.

Does Online Therapy Actually Work?

There have been many studies conducted on the efficacy of online therapy. The majority of them have found that it can be as effective as traditional therapy in many situations. For example, people who are struggling with low-level anxiety, depression, and insomnia often find online therapy very rewarding.

However, this type of care isn’t the best option for everyone. It’s not a good solution for people who are struggling with severe mental health issues and psychosis. Additionally, many online therapy platforms don’t accept insurance. This can make them tough to pay for.

It’s also worth mentioning that your experience with online therapy can vary tremendously depending on the counselor that you get matched with. There are plenty of negative reviews about online therapists who aren’t responsive and who offer cookie-cutter advice that doesn’t adequately address the unique needs of the patient they’re seeing.

That being said, most online therapy platforms will let you change to a new therapist if you’re not happy with your existing one. So it is possible to address some of these concerns while still getting to enjoy the convenience of connecting with a therapist online.

How Does Online Therapy Compare to Traditional Therapy?

Online therapy can be just as effective as traditional therapy, depending on your situation and your therapist match. It’s best for people with low-level mental health issues but is generally not a solution for those experiencing more serious issues.

Online therapy is much more convenient than traditional therapy. It gives you the freedom to connect with licensed, highly qualified professional therapists from anywhere in the world as long as you have a decent internet connection. The professional counselors that you can connect with through online therapy platforms have the same qualifications that in-person therapists have.

Your privacy will also be about the same whether you choose traditional or online therapy. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) extends to online counseling. So you don’t have to worry about your confidential information being shared with any third parties. In terms of cost, online therapy is often significantly cheaper than traditional therapy on an hourly basis.

But many of the best online therapy platforms don’t accept insurance. So your out-of-pocket costs may actually be higher if you choose to use one of these services.

How Much Does Online Therapy Cost?

Most online therapy platforms charge between $60 and $90 per week and bill users monthly. So you should expect to pay between $240 and $360 per month for your online therapy plan. Generally, this includes one 30-minute live session per week and messaging with your counselor. However, counselors vary greatly in how often they respond to messages. Some will only do so once per day, or even just once every few days.

Some therapy platforms accept insurance and that can reduce your costs greatly. Depending on the platform you choose, you’ll likely also have some control over what your therapy plan includes. You may be able to customize the care that you receive to keep it in line with your budget.

Important Online Therapy Features

Mobile App

Many online therapy platforms have mobile apps. These give you the freedom to connect with your counselor when you don’t have a computer on hand. They also sometimes feature helpful care management features, such as progress tracking. Mobile apps can be important if that’s where you expect to interact with your therapist the most. But they may not matter to you at all if you’re planning on using your computer to talk with your counselor instead.

Types of Online Therapy Sessions Available

Most online therapy companies provide users with the same methods of communication. Live video calls are a key feature of every provider. Most of them also offer the opportunity to connect with a therapist via phone calls, live chats, and messages. You'll want to make sure that your plan includes live video calls so that you get to enjoy the full benefits of talk therapy. Messages and live chats are good ways to get answers to specific mental health questions as they arise. But they're a poor substitute for actually speaking with a licensed counselor in a face-to-face setting.

Session Limits

It’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for any types of limits that an online therapy platform may place upon your sessions. They sometimes will only allow you to message your counselor every so often. Or you might have a maximum number of video sessions that you’re allowed to use each month. Limitations like these can help you figure out whether a platform is right for you or not. If you know that you want to interact with your counselor consistently, you want to make sure that the platform isn’t going to prevent you from doing that before signing up for a subscription with them.

Licensed Therapists

There are lots of different licenses that therapists can have. These indicate the specific type of mental health counseling that the provider excels at. For example, if you wanted to receive couples counseling, it would be a good idea to seek out a licensed marriage and family counselor (LMFT). Online therapy programs vary in the types of licensed therapists that they partner with. It can be a good idea to investigate which types of therapists each platform that you’re considering will connect you with. Doing so will clue you into whether that platform is the right place to get the type of specialized care that you want.

Patient Anonymity

When you go to see a therapist, you discuss some of your most intimate thoughts and feelings. That's why privacy and anonymity are potentially important factors to consider when choosing your online therapy platform. You want to make sure that your data and what you're discussing aren't being shared with any third parties. Patient anonymity offers you a tremendous amount of privacy. It protects your identity from even your therapist. If that's something that you would value, then make sure to focus your online therapy search on companies that offer patient anonymity.

Therapist Response Times

Response time refers to the amount of time that it takes for an online therapist to get back to you after you’ve messaged them. This can vary greatly from platform to platform and even provider to provider. Many online therapy services advertise unlimited messaging, but that won’t mean much if your counselor doesn’t get back to you within a reasonable time frame. That’s why it’s a good idea to spend some time researching the response rates of various platforms. Try to find one with a guaranteed response window or a timeframe you're comfortable with.

Therapy Specializations

You may receive better care if you work with a therapist who specializes in the type of mental health concern that you want to address. For example, if you’re struggling with anxiety or depression then you’ll want to work with a counselor who specializes in treating those problems. Online therapy platforms differ in the types of therapists that they can connect you with. It’s worth doing some research to figure out whether the platform that you’re considering can connect you with a counselor who specializes in the type of care that you need.