Online therapy, or teletherapy, works much like in-person treatment, except that visits are conducted via video, call, or text. You’ll find many of the same options online that you’d find in an office—providers who offer individual therapy and relationship counseling, generalists or specialists, and a variety of therapy techniques. Yet, with so many options, finding the best online therapy services can quickly get overwhelming.
Not all online counseling is the same. Whether you need help with anxiety, ADHD, an eating disorder, or any number of other issues, there is an online therapy platform that’s best for your needs. We’ve done the research for you—we looked at 55 online therapy companies, surveying 105 users of each, plus 25 directories, surveying 180 users, and tested each service. This helped ensure that each platform we recommend will provide quality treatment that specifically addresses your concerns.
Best Online Therapy Services of 2024
- Best Overall: Talkspace
- Best For Cancer Patients: Doctor on Demand
- Best For Anxiety: Brightside Health
- Best For Eating Disorders: Eating Recovery Center
- Best For Depression: E-Therapy Cafe
- Best For OCD: NOCD
- Best for Substance Use: Thriveworks
- Best For Psychiatry: Talkiatry
- Best Directory: Open Path Collective
- Best for Chronic Pain: Teladoc
Talkspace
Key Specs
- Cost: $276 – $436 per month without insurance
- Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, Teen, Couples
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
Talkspace has an extensive network of therapists and psychiatrists with diverse specialties and treatment approaches. It accepts insurance and offers flexible plans.
Doctor on Demand
Key Specs
- Cost: $179 for an hour therapy session without insurance
- Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, Children
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
Doctor on Demand has therapists for all mental health needs and accepts insurance.
Brightside Health
Key Specs
- Cost: From $95/month
- Types of Therapy Offered: Individual therapy, psychiatry/medication management
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
Brightside’s therapists and psychiatrists specialize in anxiety and can help you reduce symptoms quickly with a combination of live video sessions, unlimited messaging, skill-building lessons to help you reframe thoughts, and progress tracking.
Eating Recovery Center
Key Specs
- Cost: Depends on insurance or self-pay agreement
- Types of Therapy Offered: Inpatient, Residential, Partial Hospitalization, On-site Intensive Outpatient, and Virtual
- Outpatient/Recovery at Home
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
Eating Recovery Center is designed specifically for adults and teens who struggle with eating disorders. It offers treatment at varying levels, including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient, to support those in different stages of recovery.
E-Therapy Cafe
Key Specs
- Cost: $45 – $55 per session
- Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, Relationships, Marriage, Trauma-Focused, Veterans, Emotional Support Animals Therapy
- Accepts Insurance: No
Why You Should Try It
This user-friendly, approachable platform offers pay-as-you-go therapy and features relatable therapists who specialize in depression and issues that may relate to depression such as trauma, low self-worth, and combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
NOCD
Key Specs
- Cost: Depends on insurance
- Types of Therapy Offered: Exposure-Response Prevention for OCD
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
NOCD is the only platform designed specifically for people with OCD, including its many subtypes. Its therapists receive ongoing specialized training and mentorship in treating OCD.
Thriveworks
Key Specs
- Cost: Varies according to therapist
- Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, Couples, Children’s Therapy, Addiction Counseling, Medication Management and
- Psychiatry, Group Counseling
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
With a nationwide network of therapists, in-person options, and same- or next-day appointments available, those suffering from addiction issues can start therapy quickly and easily.
Talkiatry
Key Specs
- Cost: Varies according to provider
- Types of Therapy Offered: Psychiatry and Medication Management
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
Talkiatry is a highly-rated psychiatry service with excellent clinicians who take the time to understand you.
Open Path Collective
Key Specs
- Cost: $40 to $80 per session, plus a one-time membership fee of $65
- Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, Couples, Group
- Insurance Accepted? No
Why You Should Try It
Open Path Collective is an online therapy directory that offers an extensive network of therapists with diverse specialties and treatment approaches. It’s cost-effective, convenient, and easy to switch therapists.
Teladoc
Key Specs
- Cost: $99 per session, $209 for initial psychiatry, and $109 for follow-ups
- Types of Therapy Offered: Individual, Couples, Psychiatry
- Insurance Accepted? Yes
Why You Should Try It
Teladoc is a highly rated service with providers capable of providing mental healthcare to those with chronic pain.
Final Verdict
Overall, Talkspace is the best online therapy service because it offers flexibility with plans, provides psychiatry in addition to psychotherapy, and has a large pool of clinicians to choose from. User satisfaction for Talkspace is higher than for BetterHelp, its leading competitor. It also takes insurance and offers multiple pricing tiers.
If you don’t have insurance or are on a budget, Open Path Collective may be your best bet. All therapists on the directory have the same pricing model, so you’ll never have to filter through therapists you can’t afford. Therapy seekers who need psychiatric services and medication management will find excellent options at Talkiatry, which features caring clinicians that truly take their time with you. Those with chronic pain may find relief from one of the highly-rated Teladoc’s chronic pain mental health specialists.
Other Companies We Considered
There were a number of great services that didn’t make the list. Amwell, for example, was scored positively by 88% of users surveyed — still good, but not as high as competitors BetterHelp and Talkspace. Cerebral, a company that has come under fire for unethical prescriptions of controlled substances such as stimulants for ADHD, lost to DoneFirst in terms of patient satisfaction and was not selected.
How Does Online Therapy Work?
Online therapy services provide treatment for therapy-seekers through clinicians who work for the service. This is different from directories listing therapists that provide virtual services. An online therapy service typically handles the logistics of treatment and has its own policies and procedures around session frequency, length, payment, and insurance. A directory simply connects therapy-seekers with therapists.
Most online therapy services will offer sessions via video, phone, text, or a combination of all three. Some may allow for messaging in between sessions. You’ll find many similarities between in-person therapy services and online therapy services, such as types of specialties, therapist expertise, and conditions treated.
What to Consider When Choosing an Online Therapy Service?
Communication Options: You should consider how you like to communicate, whether it’s through video, phone, or chat, and see if a therapy service can accommodate that.
Types of Therapy Offered: You should consider if you need or may need psychiatry services and medication, a couples counselor, a group counselor, or sessions for your children, as not all companies can provide them.
Insurance: Check with your insurance company to see what type of mental health coverage is available, if any, and whether a company can accept it.
Medication Management: If you take medication, you’ll want to find an online therapy service that provides it and that has a positive reputation for its psychiatric services. Some services, like Brightside and DoneFirst, can ship medication directly to your house.
Therapist Qualifications: You should vet therapists for qualifications like you would for in-person therapy services. Consider each clinician’s experience, treatment methods, and specialties.
Who Is Online Therapy For?
Online therapy is a great option for those looking to take charge of their mental health. People suffering from anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, and a history of abuse can all benefit from it, depending on the severity of the symptoms. If symptoms are severe or if you’re suffering from complex conditions like schizophrenia, psychosis, or a personality disorder, you should seek treatment from a qualified professional in person.
If you’re having trouble functioning or are a threat to yourself or others, you should seek out in-person treatment and/or emergency services if needed.
Is Online Therapy Effective?
There is plenty of evidence to support online therapy’s efficacy. In some cases, it can even be preferable, such as when there are no qualified therapists in an area (known as a therapy desert) or when it’s not possible to travel to an office due to disability or scheduling issues.
The accessibility and affordability of online therapy are beneficial to many and can help mitigate the effects of living in a therapy desert. Having the ability to choose from a greater number of providers means that you can get help quickly, without having to wait. You’ll also have a larger pool of clinicians to choose from, which can make finding the right fit easier.7
A 2019 study found that multi-modal digital psychotherapy may be an effective treatment for adult depression.8
A 2018 study in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders found that online cognitive behavioral therapy was equally as effective as an in-person treatment for major depression, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.9
A 2020 study found that internet-delivered therapy may be a viable alternative to in-person cognitive behavioral therapy.10
Common Therapy Techniques in Online Therapy Techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and trauma-focused therapy can all be done online. Some techniques, like body-based psychotherapies, are best done in person as they rely on body language, body reading, and movement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Do Online Therapy Services Cost?
Online Therapy services can cost anywhere from $30 to $300 per session, much like in-person therapy. The cost will depend on the service used, the therapist, the insurance, or all three. Many online therapy services offer financial aid or sliding scale services, while others will not. It may also depend on the plan, which could include text only, video and text, or another combination.
What Diagnoses Does Online Therapy Typically Not Treat?
Complex or severe disorders will typically need in-person treatment. This could include severe forms of OCD, complex PTSD, agoraphobia, schizophrenia, psychosis, and personality disorders like borderline personality disorder (BPD). If a person’s symptoms interfere with their ability to function, or they are suicidal, online therapy cannot provide the quality or quantity of care required. Not all therapists are able to treat complex disorders, and those that are may not be able to respond in a timely manner to crisis situations.
Does Insurance Cover Online Therapy?
Some insurance providers cover online therapy, though not all online services will accept it. Check with your insurance provider to find out the specifics of your plan. Since 2020, providers such as Medicaid began removing restrictions around telemedicine. As online therapy continues to grow in popularity, it’s likely that coverage will continue or possibly expand for online therapy.
Can Online Therapists Prescribe Medication?
Only psychiatrists can prescribe medication. If you need psychiatric and medication management services, seek out a service that explicitly offers it. Good options include Talkiatry, Brightside, Talkspace, and DoneFirst.
Methodology
To assess the best online therapy services, we looked at 55 different companies including Amwell, Ginger, Circle Medical, Wellnite, and Growing Self, all of which didn’t make the list. We made selections based on overall patient satisfaction, how happy patients were with their therapists, the ease with which they could connect to therapists, and affordability.
We also looked at the services themselves — whether they offered psychiatry services or not, what formats were offered, what specialties they had, and what types of therapy were available — as well as insurance options and prices.