Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Which Is Better?

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Plans & Pricing

BetterHelp has a single plan for individual therapy, but its pricing differs depending on where you live and the demand for therapy in your area (otherwise known as surge pricing). While BetterHelp stated its average for individual therapy is $68/week, cost could be higher or lower depending on your location. 

Talkspace’s individual plans break down like this:

• The Messaging Therapy plan: $69/week for unlimited messaging and guaranteed responses from the therapist five days a week
• The Live Therapy plan: Starts at $99/week for four live therapy sessions per month in the form of live chat, phone, or video call
• The Live + Messaging Therapy plan: Starts at $129/week for messaging and four live sessions 

Talkspace’s single plan for couples therapy, called Couples Therapy + 4 Live Sessions, starts at $109/week. The plan includes unlimited messaging and four live therapy sessions a month. 

Both companies bill monthly, but when looking at their fees take notice that they are listed as cost per week. 

While there are similarities to the workings of both companies’ plans, such as live therapy sessions via chat, audio call, or video call, session lengths vary slightly. BetterHelp’s sessions run about 30 to 45 minutes, while Talkspace’s sessions tend to last 45 minutes. 

The companies scored exactly the same in terms of how our surveyed users felt about their pricing, with 58% percent stating that Talkspace and BetterHelp offered affordable or very affordable plans. 

When it came to how users rated the value of the services for the money they paid, Talkspace came up on top with 75% of users declaring it excellent, very good, or good. BetterHelp wasn’t too far behind, though, at 73%. 

Insurance

If insurance is important to you, Talkspace accepts insurance but BetterHelp does not. However, BetterHelp gives financial aid to people who are in need and/or part of certain groups, such as students, veterans, and low-income households. 

Canceling Service

Canceling service with either company is an easy process. Once you cancel, your subscription ends the following month, so if you cancel mid-month, for instance, you still pay for that month (and can use the service until the month ends). 

However, before finishing the cancellation process, BetterHelp asks a few questions, such as: 

• Are you sure you want to cancel?
• Have you discussed canceling with your therapist?
•  If you don't mind sharing, why are you ending therapy? 

When you click the cancel button on Talkspace’s website, you’re initially offered a $150 credit to stay on the app. If you decline that offer, you’re asked if you want to pause the subscription for up to 30 days. Then, you’re asked if you'd like to change providers or if you want to switch to a “maintenance plan” for $199 where the provider responds to your messages one day per week. Finally, you're asked to explain why you're ending your subscription with some choices from a drop-down menu.

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Website & Account Setup 

Getting started with both Talkspace and Betterhelp is pretty simple and standard; the sign-up process is rather intuitive on both websites. Of those who were surveyed, 39% said signing up with Talkspace was very easy and 33% said that getting started with BetterHelp was very easy. 

Talkspace

With 12 differently phrased sign-up buttons on Talkspace’s home page (from “get started” to specific types of therapy you might be looking for like “individual” and “couples”), it’s hard to miss where to start. Once you hit one of these buttons, the first question asks what service you are in need of. Then, you’re prompted to reveal why you're looking for help by selecting from a variety of options such as “I'm feeling anxious or panicky,” “I'm feeling down or depressed,” and “Something else.” After that, you’re asked to answer additional questions related to your sleeping habits, physical health, gender, birth date, and residence. From there, you’ll be matched with a therapist. This could happen as quickly as in a few minutes or it could take a few days. 

One of our reviewers who tested Talkspace noted that “Talkspace states you will be matched with a therapist within 48 hours. For me, it took less than an hour for Talkspace to match me, which impressed me.”

However, before you’re matched, you’ll need to complete the sign-up process. After you submit your information to be matched, you have to enter payment information and choose a plan. If you want to use your insurance, have your member ID on hand. Then, you’ll create an account, receive a verification email, and enter information about your psychiatric and medical history. Once all of that is done, you’ll end up at your personalized Talkspace dashboard where it will show that you’re waiting to be matched with a therapist. If you’re looking for couples therapy, you don’t have to wait to be matched; Talkspace will send you a list of therapists to select from. You can also view introductory videos on the dashboard. 

Take note, if you start filling out information and close out your browser window, it won’t save, and you’ll have to go back and start over. 

In our survey, 82% of users reported that it was easy or very easy to use Talkspace’s website. 

BetterHelp

Although signing up with BetterHelp is also easy, you have to answer more questions during its intake process than you do on Talkspace. And as with Talkspace, your answers are not saved, so it’s worth carving out about 30 minutes to get through everything.

One of our reviewers who tested the company said, “The sign-up process for BetterHelp is actually pretty long: it took me about twenty to thirty minutes to complete, so make sure you set aside time to complete it because if you stop mid-sign-up and exit your browser, it will not save your answers and you’ll have to start all over again.”

To start, you’re asked questions about your gender, age, religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, and relationship status. Then you’re asked questions related to symptoms you’re experiencing, such as whether or not you feel hopeless, have trouble concentrating, and more, as well as what you want out of therapy. More questions are targeted toward what you want from a therapist, such as for them to listen, give advice, and help establish goals, as well as if you have a preference on their gender; sexual orientation; religion; and racial, ethnic, and cultural identity. 

From there, you pick a plan you want and provide payment information. That said, you don’t know how much the plan costs until the end of the sign-up process. Even though there's an open list of therapist profiles that you can peruse, BetterHelp matches you with a therapist one or two days after you finish the sign-up process. 

Of the users we surveyed, 73% said BetterHelp’s website was easy or very easy to navigate. Thirty-nine percent said the sign-up process at Talkspace was very easy, while 33% said the sign-up process at BetterHelp was very easy, so they’re about on par with each other in this regard.

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Mobile App 

You can download a free Talkspace or BetterHelp mobile app for either iOS or Android phones. Once you log in, you are able to use the private portal on both platforms. 

You can download both Talkspace and BetterHelp’s apps on your mobile or tablet devices via the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.

In fact, the private portal is what pops up first when you open the BetterHelp app. The app isn’t organized in a way that’s easy to navigate but it does include the following tabs: 

• Session
• Journal
•  Schedule
•  Groupinars
•  More 

The Talkspace app is easier to navigate because you can see most of its prompts on the screen at once. In fact, 56% of users surveyed said Talkspace’s app was easier to use than its competitors, while 31% of BetterHelp users felt the same way. 

The Talkspace app has information organized with the following tabs: 

• Rooms
• Helpful tips
• Tools, which include a list of upcoming live sessions, a symptom tracker, coping exercises, and more

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Session Platforms

Private portals are part of both Talkspace and BetterHelp’s platforms and are available on each company’s mobile app and website. 

Through the portal, users get asynchronous text messaging with their therapist and can message their therapist anytime; however, the response time depends on the plan they choose. In most plans, the therapist responds five days a week. 

One of our reviewers noted that the messaging in Talkspace seemed task-oriented: “My second therapist was focused on administrative tasks and scheduling while text messaging back and forth.”

Another reviewer of BetterHelp said, “In my experience, therapists messaged back within a few hours during the day. If I sent a message over the weekend or at night, it took longer to respond—though I did receive a therapist response at two a.m. on a Saturday.”

The portal also acts as a source for scheduling live sessions with a therapist, whether it's via live chat, audio, or video call. You’ll get a confirmation for the scheduled session from your therapist through the portal. Take note that BetterHelp lets you schedule sessions from week to week with your therapist prompting you to schedule the next appointment at the end of your current appointment. Meanwhile, Talkspace allows you to schedule four therapy sessions at one time, so you can plan a little further ahead. Twenty-nine percent of survey respondents noted that Talkspace had more flexible session times than its competitors. 

In terms of unique features offered during live sessions, both Talkspace and BetterHelp have live texting, which means users can see what a therapist is typing in real time. 

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Types of Therapy  

BetterHelp offers individual therapy directly from its site and couples and teen therapy through its partner companies Teen Counseling and ReGain. Additionally, faith-based therapy is provided through Faithful Counseling and those in the LGBTQ+ community can receive therapy from Pride Counseling, which is owned by BetterHelp.

BetterHelp does not, however, have psychiatric providers and therefore does not prescribe medication or offer medication management to its users. 

Talkspace stands out here since it does offer psychiatry services and medication management in addition to individual, teen, and couples therapy.  

To receive psychiatry services from Talkspace, choose the button “Psychiatry” on the Talkspace home page to sign up. The first session, which includes a psychiatric evaluation, will cost $249. After that, you’ll pay $125 for each session. The cost of any prescribed medication is separate and will vary depending on the type of medication you receive and your insurance coverage.

Talkspace offers psychiatric services as a separate program from its therapy services. Of the survey respondents who received psychiatric services from Talkspace, 51% were prescribed medication from a psychiatrist, 22% received it from an primary care doctor, and for 17% of users, a psychiatric nurse practitioner was the prescriber. 

Ninety percent of users said the medication and psychiatry services provided by Talkspace were excellent, very good, or good. Talkspace prescribers are able to prescribe all medications online, except for controlled substances, such asXanax, Valium, or Ritalin. Twenty-nine percent of surveyed users indicated that they were prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), 22% said they were prescribed an atypical antidepressant, and 17% said they received sleep medications. Talkspace providers will send in orders for prescriptions to the pharmacy of your choice. 

Some types of therapy approaches provided by both companies’ therapists include: 

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
•  Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT)
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
• Somatic therapies
• Trauma-focused therapy

 Others that BetterHelp mentions in the intake questionnaire include: 

• Internal family systems (IFS) therapy
• The Gottman method
• Anger management therapy
• Collaborative couple therapy
• Hypnotherapy
• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
• Premarital counseling
• Schema therapy 

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Counselor Qualifications 

Both Talkspace and BetterHelp require that their therapists be licensed in the state they work in and that they have acquired a certain number of clinical hours (over 3,000 for Talkspace and 1,500 for BetterHelp). Of the nearly 3,000 providers working for Talkspace, some are full-time providers and some are independent contractors. In the company questionnaire we sent to BetterHelp, the company indicated that it has a network of over 27,000 therapists, all independent contractors. Additionally, BetterHelp only hires therapists with master's-level education related to therapy. 

The majority of users surveyed for both Talkspace and BetterHelp were happy with the qualifications of therapists. For instance, 72% of BetterHelp users and 69% of Talkspace users said their therapist’s qualifications were excellent or very good. 

Interestingly, though, when it came to how important a therapist’s qualifications were in terms of searching for a therapist, only 12% of Talkspace users and 20% of BetterHelp users said it was important to them. A therapist’s ability to offer multiple communication options like texting, phone, and video was the highest priority for Talkspace users (27%,) and 32% of BetterHelp users stated that finding a therapist with a similar identity and cultural background was a factor.

Despite the qualifications that Talkspace requires, it can come down to how you connect with the therapist. One of our reviewers of Talkspace said, “I felt like my therapist was distracted during live sessions, especially phone sessions. It appeared she could not remember what I mentioned in previous sessions.”

Our BetterHelp reviewer noted a similar experience. “[During] video calls my therapist often looked off-screen. I assume they were taking notes, but it added an impersonal element to the session.”

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Customer Experience 

Both companies make it easy to reach customer service by displaying contact numbers and forms for customer support in their app and website portals. 

Talkspace scored a little higher for customer service among our survey respondents—74% said its customer service was excellent, very good, or good, compared to 67% among BetterHelp users. 

Since finding the right therapist is what both platforms are all about, both make it easy to switch without having to tell your current therapist.

BetterHelp’s switching process is particularly simple—after you click on your name in the portal, there is a dropdown menu with an option to “Change therapist.”

However, switching therapists on Talkspace took a little more effort, according to our reviewer, who said, “[The] process of figuring out how to actually switch isn’t easy. I had to sift through the website and eventually Googled the answer before I actually figured out how to go about doing it.”

Eighty-three percent of Talkspace users said they were satisfied or very satisfied overall with Talkspace’s services and 77% of users said the same about BetterHelp. However, a telling sign that most users of both companies were satisfied with the service they received is that a high percentage (82% percent for Talkspace; 77% of BetterHelp) said they would recommend the company to a friend. This is on par with the average for the 53 other telehealth companies we surveyed (Talkspace is somewhat above average).

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Resources

In addition to offering therapy, Talkspace and BetterHelp also provide resources to their users, including blogs packed with educational and informational articles about mental well-being. 

On the Talkspace blog, there are feature stories, such as “How long does grief last?” and “How to heal from abandonment issues.” There are also articles related to different conditions like anxiety, depression, OCD, and more. Additionally, there are articles on different types of therapy and what to expect during therapy. There are also news stories about what’s trending in mental wellness. 

Talkspace even has a mental jealth library that defines terms, explains symptoms, and more. The site includes free mental health tests that evaluate the risk for anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other conditions, and live, hour-long Zoom workshops. These cover a variety of topics, from resentment to body image concerns. 

BetterHelp also has a robust blog under the “Advice” tab on the landing page with insightful articles and stories about mental health. You'll find titles such as “Identifying the Physical Symptoms of Depression and What to Do About Them” and “How to Manage Social Anxiety Disorder: 5 Tips to Consider.” There are also articles that explain how to differentiate therapies like the difference between behavior therapy and psychoanalysis. 

Like Talkspace, BetterHelp holds live online workshops (called "groupinars") on various topics related to mental health and wellness. Some titles offered include “Recovering from Race-Based Traumatic Stress” and “The Gut/Brain Axis: Digesting the Connection Between Food and Mood.” However, BetterHelp allows you to watch a recording of the workshop for a week afterward if you miss the live version. Talkspace webinars are not recorded and have to be watched in real time.

Surveyed users seemed happy with the resources both companies offer, as 77% of Talkspace users said its resources were excellent, very good, or good, and 71% said the same about BetterHelp resources.

Talkspace vs. BetterHelp: Privacy Concerns & Negative News

Talkspace indicates on its website that it is required by law to: 

• Maintain the privacy and security of your medical information
• Assure that you are notified if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your medical information
• Follow the duties and practices described in its privacy policy and provide you with a copy
• Not sell your information without your authorization 

It also states that, under HIPAA, Talkspace can use or shares users’ medical information without their written authorization for treatment, or health care operations, such as to review provider performance and to bill for services from health insurance plans. The company lists other ways it is allowed to share medical information under HIPAA, such as to business associates, to conduct research, and to comply with the law, just to name a few. 

BetterHelp lays out its privacy policy on its website, too. It goes into detail on how data is collected and used, and the rights of users related to their data. Because of the controversy around the company selling users’ data, it includes the below disclaimer: 

“We aren’t paid by anyone for any data. However, in California, the laws define ‘sale’ broadly to include the sharing of personal information in exchange for anything of value. If you opt-in to our use of targeting cookies and web beacons, this use may be considered a 'sale' of personal information under that specific California law. For specific information on your data rights as a resident of California, see the additional notice for California residents.” 

BetterHelp also explains that if users opt in to targeting cookies and web beacons, “your IP address, Third-Party identifier (if applicable), Checkout Flow Data (if applicable) and/or some Visitor Data (such as you 'viewing a page'), excluding activity when you’re logged in and have started therapy, may be shared for advertising purposes. As a result, you may see ads for our services on some Third-Party websites.” 

However, it states that the company does not share any data or information that a user shares with their therapist with any Third-Party advertisers.

Despite their privacy policies, both companies have been the subject of negative news in the privacy realm.

BetterHelp is currently being held responsible for profiting from selling users' personal information, an invasion of privacy. In March 2023, a press release from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), stated that it fined BetterHelp $7.8 million for sharing users’ personal health data with third parties, including Facebook and Snapchat, despite promising to keep such data private. The FTC also issued a proposed order banning BetterHelp from sharing consumers’ health data, including sensitive information about mental health challenges, for advertising.

Talkspace has also received negative attention, though not for the same privacy concerns. After its January 2021 reverse merger with Hudson Executive Investment Corporation, Talkspace faced class action securities lawsuits, which alleged that the company and several of its current and former officers and directors made false and misleading statements concerning multiple aspects of the company's business, as well as the due diligence conducted by Hudson in connection with the merger. The lawsuit is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Delaware Chancery Court.

Final Verdict

While both companies offer comparable therapy options, Talkspace came out on top in our review. The fact that Talkspace accepts insurance and BetterHelp does not is one of the main reasons, since insurance vastly increases therapy accessibility. Additionally, Talkspace provides individual, teen, and couples therapy whereas BetterHelp only offers individual therapy (and then connects you to partner sites for others). The company’s practice of surge pricing was also a knock against it.

The option to receive psychiatric care and medication management from Talkspace is a major plus, even if it requires a separate plan from its more traditional talk and messaging therapy plans. 

However, BetterHelp did top Talkspace in some areas, such as base cost for its out-of-pocket subscription plan, which is a little less expensive than comparable services at Talkspace without insurance. Additionally, BetterHelp offers financial aid, something Talkspace does not. Two other perks of BetterHelp are the option to see bios of therapists before signing up and that the company requires its therapists to have master's-level education, something Talkspace doesn’t require. 

In the end, those we surveyed seemed to agree with our top choice as 97% percent of Talkspace users said the company was much better, better, or a little better than its competitors, while 85% of BetterHelp users said the same.

Methodology

Verywell gathered information from questionnaires that were answered by representatives of Talkspace and BetterHelp, as well as survey responses from 105 users of each company. Based on qualitative and quantitative data about Talkspace and BetterHelp, we evaluated and compared their offerings. Additional research was done by navigating the websites of both companies.

Specific areas that were taken into consider included each company’s website usability, sign-up process, ease of connecting with a therapist, qualifications of therapists, ability to change therapists, variety of therapy offered, quality of care, ways to communicate with therapists, how long sessions run, types of subscriptions available, privacy protections, cost and value for money, if insurance is accepted, user satisfaction, how likely users are to recommend the company, and the company’s reputation.