The Best Online Therapy Services of 2019 Compared
| Avg Weekly Cost | Therapists | Features | Rating | Learn More | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
#1 Pick  | $65 average weekly cost | 5,000 |
| 9.6 | Visit BetterHelp |
#2  | Best for Couples Therapy $65 average weekly cost | 1,000 |
| 9.1 | Visit ReGain Counseling |
#3  | $45 average weekly cost | 1,000 |
| 8.9 | Visit Teen Counseling |
#4  | $99 average weekly cost | 3,000 |
| 8.5 | Visit Talkspace |
#5  | $99 average weekly cost | 1,000 |
| 8.4 | Visit Breakthrough |
What is Online Therapy?
Online therapy, the digital-age version of counseling services, is a more affordable, convenient and discrete method of receiving therapy. It began when a few pioneers saw a large opportunity in the mental health industry. They noticed that millions of people were living without access to professional mental health services. They also understood that in numerous industries, physical services were being replaced with digital alternatives that can save time for customers. These innovators decided to create online therapy platforms, which connect licensed therapists with people in need of professional counseling services.
The therapists on each platform have been pre-screened by that company to meet their requirements for years of experience, educational background, certification, licensing, specialties and more. Once these therapists join the platform, they are available to work with new customers that sign up. The customers can provide feedback on how satisfied they are with each therapist, allowing the online therapy providers to improve the quality of their services by coaching or removing therapists with low satisfaction scores.
Customers signing up with these therapy sites typically complete a brief questionnaire that evaluates their individual needs. This information is used to match them to therapists with relevant professional experience and backgrounds. The customers and therapists are then introduced online and begin communicating via messaging, live chat, phone calls, mobile app, or video conferencing. The exact communication options vary between the different services. Those companies listed by our editors as being among the best online therapy services tend to offer more communication options for maximum convenience. Aside from being more affordable and convenient than in-person therapy, another major benefit is that if the customer is dissatisfied with their therapist, they can be assigned a new one with a few days. Compared with the awkward and time-consuming, process of switching in-person therapists, this may just be the most underrated advantage of online therapy.
While the online therapy industry is still in its early years, as it currently stands, there are no shortage of online therapy providers available to people looking for professional help. There are nearly 100 services, each offering its own unique set of features and focusing on different specialties such as online marriage counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy. The number of providers is expected to grow as the demand increases over time, making it increasingly difficult for the average consumer to differentiate between the various options available to them. Therefore, we’ve have evaluated each of the leading online therapy services, outlining all the pertinent information one needs to make an informed decision when selecting the best online counseling provider for their individual needs.
Understanding our Online Therapy Reviews & Rankings
Therapy is not a quick-fix type of service. It typically involves a long-term process of gradually opening up to the therapist and working on oneself to confront emotions, change bad habits and eventually overcome complicated challenges. Naturally, outcomes vary widely, and thus success fluctuates significantly between different individuals. Understanding that when it comes to emotional well-being, the definition of success also varies greatly, our rankings were heavily impacted by overall customer success stories. This information was collected over hundreds of hours of research from thousands of online therapy reviews. In addition to the analysis of our researchers, we collect feedback from professional therapists and technologists that understand both therapeutic and technological aspects of the features provided by each online therapy service we review. This includes the individual benefits of each provider, in addition to the effectiveness and drawbacks. Additionally, these reviews take a deep dive into the various areas of what the service offers including the features, sign-up process, pricing, usability, counselor support, confidentiality/privacy, counselor qualifications, and each service's areas of strength and weakness. It’s important to note that our reviews and rankings are based on of our knowledge and experience of using each service. Success can vary from person to person and thus it’s imperative to find the service that’s tailored to best suit your specific needs.
Best Online Counseling Services Reviewed
- All therapists are licensed and experienced
- Therapy by phone, chat, video and message board
- Mobile App
- HIPAA compliant
Betterhelp has earned the top spot on our list of best online therapy services, and it’s easy to see why. Most services have one standout feature that sets them apart from their competition. Betterhelp has a handful.
From sign up to overall usability, the verdict is in – Betterhelp is in a league of its own. Both their desktop and mobile app platforms are designed to simplify your journey. It’s essentially structured similar to WhatsApp or Skype, enabling easy chat, phone or video communication. Likewise, the questions posed in the initial sign up stage are not overly intrusive, and they allow you to remain anonymous throughout the entire process, including after you’ve signed up for an account and during your therapy sessions.
Moreover, while success varies from person to person, both expert and user reviews regarding counselor effectiveness and customer success rates are overwhelmingly positive. The fact that Betterhelp works with over 3,500 licensed U.S. based therapists, with thousands of hours of hands-on experience covering virtually every area of mental health, certainly plays a role in this feat.
Overall, Betterhelp is one of two to three online therapy services to both impress our experts and remain extremely popular among more than 500,000 individuals who use their service.
Additional features: pricing (low monthly cost), security, confidentiality.
- Specializes in relationship counseling
- Therapy by phone, chat, video and message board
- All therapists are licensed and experienced
Regain is the premiere couples counseling website online. They are one of the only websites to have close to 1,000 licensed psychologists specifically trained to help resolve relationship issues.
What has attracted so many people to couples’ therapy online via Regain is the fact that they don’t push both members of the couple to sign up. Instead, they realize that most people will likely start therapy on their own, and only then have their partner join in on the therapy sessions. Current success rates, according to countless online reviews, are moderately to very high.
Furthermore, many people who require couples counseling are also experiencing some form of mental illness (e.g. depression). The therapists that work with Regain are fully licensed and trained in all of the areas of mental health, making Regain a one stop online therapy solution.
So, while Regain is known for its professional online marriage counseling, it’s also known for providing quality individual online therapy as well.
- Specializing in counseling teens
- All therapists are licensed and experienced
- Therapy by text, phone, chat and video
- HIPAA compliant
Teencounseling.com is a therapy platform specifically designed to cater to teenagers 13-19 years of age. The therapists on the site are all licensed and experienced with helping teens cope with the issues unique to adolescence.
Though parents can choose to be involved in initially discussing their child’s needs with the therapists, and continuously serve as the points of contact in case the teen is believed to be at risk, the sessions between the therapist and the teen are completely confidential.
- All therapists are licensed and background-checked
- Therapy by chat, video and audio message
- HIPAA compliant
- User friendly
Over the past few years, Talkspace is one of two brands that has essentially become synonymous with the words “online therapy”. A primary reason for this is because they have done an incredible job of marketing themselves as one of the go-to therapy services. From online to TV advertisements, no matter where you look for an online therapy solution, Talkspace is seemingly always there, challenging you to sign up and use their service.
However, marketing isn’t their only strength. It also helps that Talkspace has competitive pricing, a user-friendly platform and generally positive reviews from people who use their service.
And, while there are other therapy providers who are ranked higher on this list, Talkspace is the only brand aside from Betterhelp that can boast about providing stellar mental health help to a whopping one million people.
- Video and chat sessions
- Easy to use appointment scheduler
- HIPAA compliant
Breakthrough online therapy, which was bought out by a major telehealth company called MDLIVE, has earned a top spot on our list, with real world users agreeing to their prestige.
One of the core benefits of Breakthrough is their on-screen scheduling system, which is rated best in class by both experts and users alike. What’s particularly impressive is its seamless integration via their mobile apps (found on both iOS and Android).
Another reason why more than 30,000 individuals have signed up to Breakthrough is because of their health insurance acceptance. They are the only large online therapy service to accept major insurance plans. Though with Breakthrough, the initial ‘listing’ cost is similar to what in-office therapy costs, which can be up to $300/hour if not higher. Subtract insurance coverage and most people end up paying a fairly affordable rate per session.
And for good measure, Breakthrough requires all therapists operating on their platform to conduct a minimum of 5-15 sessions/month in order to stay up to date on providing therapy online.
The Main Benefits of Online Counseling
Many believe that online counseling should not replace in-office counseling. Rather, it should complement your traditional counseling sessions, as online counseling offers a range of benefits to users. Others however, including thousands of satisfied customers already using online counseling services, boast that that level of connection they are able to make with their therapists online make in-person counseling unnecessary. Some of the most common benefits associated with online counseling are:
- No Boundaries: With online counseling, there is no longer a need to seek out help within your city limits. You have the ability to connect with a psychologist that’s not in your area. Best of all, should you not click with your therapist, you have the option to change therapists.
- Efficiency: If you’re working full-time, chances are you have very little personal time set aside. With online counseling, you can receive help 24/7, or while you are on-the-go.
- Communication Channels: Gone are the days of having to set pre-arranged appointments and then receiving counseling in person. Online counseling enables you to open your counseling app and get help right away. This includes SMS/chat, video, and phone counseling options.
- Stigmas: Oftentimes people don’t set therapy appointments due to the stigma surrounding counseling. In fact, some people who do in fact set appointments won’t show up for their session due to this unfortunate stigmatization. With online counseling, that stigma is gone.
- Privacy/Confidentiality: Using online counseling provides users with complete privacy and confidentiality. For starters, therapists on the platforms are bound by strict local and federal laws, as is the case with their brick and mortar business. Your counseling sessions are protected by HIPAA. Furthermore, your chat sessions are also secured by various bank-grade encryption levels, which only you and your therapist can access. Lastly, should you still not feel comfortable with counseling, even online counseling, you have the ability to sign up using an alias and dummy e-mail account.
- Pricing: Did you know that it generally costs someone roughly $200 for one therapy session? Even if you are covered by premium insurance, the co-pay on each session can be as high as $50. If you’re going in to therapy once a week, that’s $200 per month on therapy. On the other hand, some of the best online counseling services provide users with incredible pricing, starting as low as $32 per week ($128 per month). Moreover, some online counseling services even work with major insurance companies, which further reduce your costs.
But is it Effective?
As is the case with any service or product, there have been people who question the effectiveness of online counseling. Such concerns include:
- The absence of verbal cues
- Effectiveness in treating clinical disorders
- Technological complications
- Regulatory concerns
Though many of these concerns are valid, they vary on a case to case basis. Some have suggested that human/face to face contact is the only way a therapist can truly identify the feelings and behavior of their client. This may be true in some instances over chat therapy, however video therapy eliminates this issue, which in turn eliminates many of the ‘limits of effectiveness’ claim as well. Moreover, people living in rural areas may have spotty Internet connection. There are also some who point to transmission and server problems, an issue we found very little evidence of in our research.
Overall, the best measure of effectiveness is hearing from the thousands of existing customers already using these services. Most of them post testimonials and reviews on their websites. While some leave negative reviews, the fact that so many have had positive experiences is very telling. It means that at least to some extent, this is working. It's just a matter of trying it out oneself to make an individual determination.
Which Online Therapy Service Should I Choose?
While we have ranked the best online therapy services, it’s important to understand that these rankings are very general and thus may not be best suited for you. As we’ve noted above, outcomes and people’s needs vary. Every online therapy service caters to a certain individual and thus it’s important to understand and consider what type of issues you are dealing with:
General Mental Health Issues
The majority of people looking for online therapy are dealing with general mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, bi-polar, grief, etc.
Relationships
The next most common type of therapy people look for is online marriage counseling. Though many of these people are also dealing with general mental health issues, their primary reason for looking into online therapy is to help heal their relationship.
Religion
Religion is a major part of many people’s lives. If you are religious and are specifically looking for online therapy with religion playing an integral role in your therapy sessions, you will need to take this into account when choosing a service.
LGBTQ
Being part of the LGBTQ community has its perks. One of them is the ability to receive online therapy specifically catered toward the LGBTQ community.
Conclusions on Online Counseling
Online therapy provides a wealth of benefits, including convenience, privacy, the elimination of stigmas, low cost, and many other positives. Because of this, it’s no surprise to see millions of people currently using online therapy as their go-to source of therapy. If you’re looking to make the switch to online therapy from in-office appointments, make sure your needs are clearly defined so you can make the best possible decision for yourself.