Talkspace is usually the better pick if you want to use insurance or might need medication, because it is in network with many major plans (including traditional Medicare and TRICARE) and has psychiatrists who can prescribe. BetterHelp is usually the better pick if you are paying out of pocket and want the widest choice of therapists, with one simple subscription, financial aid for some people, and insurance that it has only recently started taking, in some states and plans. Both give you a licensed therapist matched by a questionnaire, and the therapist you get will matter far more than the logo on the app. If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 now.
It’s late. You have both sign-up pages open in two tabs, and you’ve been toggling between them for forty minutes. You want to stop researching and start talking to someone. If you have an insurance card, get it out now and put it into both coverage checkers before you decide anything else.
I’m Figs O’Sullivan, a licensed marriage and family therapist. I spent seventeen years as a couples therapist in San Francisco, and I built Figlet, a coaching tool that is not therapy, so keep my bias in mind. I checked every price and policy below on October 26, 2026. They change often, so confirm on each site before you pay.
Is BetterHelp or Talkspace better?
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Talkspace suits you if you have insurance, if you might need medication, or if you are a teen or a couple who wants everything under one roof. Its coverage page lists Cigna, Optum, Carelon, Aetna, TRICARE, traditional Medicare, Regence and Anthem among the plans it works with, and it says it does not take Medicaid. It has been owned by Universal Health Services since August 2026.
BetterHelp suits you if you are paying cash, want to start fast, and want the biggest pool of therapists to choose from. It is owned by Teladoc and was cash only for years. It now says it is in network with more than 125 plans, naming Cigna, Aetna, Optum, UnitedHealthcare and Anthem, but coverage depends on your state, your exact plan and which therapists are available, and it does not take Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE.
How do they compare side by side?
| BetterHelp | Talkspace | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-pay price | About $70 to $100 a week, billed weekly or every four weeks | About $69 a week (messaging), $99 (live sessions plus messaging), $109 (adds workshops) |
| Insurance | Some plans in some states; no Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE | Many major plans, traditional Medicare and TRICARE; no Medicaid |
| Financial aid | Yes, for some people | No sliding scale; often covered through employers and EAPs |
| Live sessions | One a week, 30 or 45 minutes, by video, phone or live chat | Four 30-minute live sessions a month on the live plan |
| Messaging | Unlimited, any time | Unlimited; therapists typically reply five days a week |
| Medication | No psychiatry, no prescriptions | Psychiatry for adults: $299 first evaluation; no controlled substances |
| Couples | Through its sister site ReGain | Couples plan from $436 a month |
| Teens | Through its sister site Teen Counseling (13 to 19) | Teen therapy for 13 to 17 on the main platform |
| Switching therapists | Free, any time | Free, any time |
Is Talkspace cheaper than BetterHelp?
Without insurance, they land in almost the same place. BetterHelp’s own pricing page says about $70 to $100 a week, depending on where you live, your preferences and therapist availability. Talkspace’s self-pay plans run $69 to $109 a week, and an extra live session on any plan is $65. Talkspace’s psychiatry is billed separately: $299 for the first evaluation, with follow-ups around $175 according to the comparison sites I checked.
If neither of these fits your budget or what you need, I put together a list of BetterHelp alternatives sorted by need, from insurance to couples work.
With insurance, the math changes. Talkspace says many members pay a small copay, sometimes nothing. BetterHelp says its eligible insured members pay about $23 a session on average. Your plan decides your real number. BetterHelp also offers financial aid if money is tight, which Talkspace doesn’t. If cost is what is stopping you, my guide to free online therapy maps what is actually free and what only claims to be.
Insurance needs a diagnosis, which stays in your medical record. I explain how to check your plan in one phone call in online therapy that takes insurance.
How does matching work, and can I switch?
Both ask you a questionnaire and match you, usually within a few hours to a couple of days. Talkspace has you chat with a matching agent and then choose from a short list. BetterHelp’s algorithm makes the match, and you can also browse. On both, you can switch therapists at no extra cost.
Use that. The platform is a delivery system. What you are buying is a person. When I started as a couples therapist, about 40% of my couples didn’t come back after the first session. A friend told me everyone comes back for a second. That humbled me enough to learn.
You should leave the first session feeling a little more met than when you walked in. Underneath every close relationship are two questions, and a therapist is a relationship. Are you there for me? Am I enough? Ask the first one of your new therapist, quietly. If after a handful of sessions you still feel like a stranger in the room, ask for someone else. You are allowed to be picky about who gets to see you.
Messaging or live sessions: which actually helps?
Messaging is good for saying the thing you can’t yet say out loud. Live sessions are where most of the work happens, because another nervous system is in the room with yours. On BetterHelp, a live session every week is part of the subscription. On Talkspace, live sessions come with the $99 and $109 plans; the $69 plan is messaging only.
If you have been alone with this for a long time, choose live. In 58,221 completed relationship assessments at Empathi, 33% of people named alone as their deepest feeling when love isn’t working. On the savanna, being cut off from your people meant death, and the circuitry is still installed. A face that stays with you while you say it answers that alarm better than a text thread.
Can Talkspace prescribe medication? Can BetterHelp?
Talkspace can, for adults, through psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners, by live video. It won’t prescribe controlled substances. BetterHelp doesn’t offer psychiatry or prescriptions at all. If you think you might need medication for depression or anxiety, that alone usually makes Talkspace the better fit.
Some things belong with a licensed clinician first, not a coach and not an app, including the coaching I built: clinical depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, ADHD, addiction, trauma, and any thoughts of not wanting to be here.
Messaging therapy is not built for emergencies; your therapist may not see your message for hours. If you are thinking about suicide or you are not safe right now, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US, free and open 24/7. And if someone at home is hitting you, threatening you, blocking the door, controlling your money or your phone, or following you, that is not something to work on in an app. Get help today. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.
What about couples and teens?
Talkspace has a couples plan on the main platform, from $436 a month with up to four live sessions plus messaging. BetterHelp sends couples to its sister site, ReGain. Either way, the therapist’s training in couples work matters more than the platform. I compared the real options in online couples therapy. If you both live in California, you can also see a licensed couples therapist at my practice through Empathi online couples therapy in California.
For teens, Talkspace sees 13 to 17 year olds at the same prices as adults. BetterHelp sends teens to Teen Counseling, which covers 13 to 19.
Is BetterHelp legit? What about privacy?
Yes, the therapists are licensed, and so are Talkspace’s. But you should know the history. In 2023 the Federal Trade Commission finalized an order requiring BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million, after charging that it shared people’s email addresses, IP addresses and health questionnaire answers with Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo and Pinterest for advertising, after promising to keep that data private. The money went to partial refunds, and the order bans BetterHelp from sharing health data for advertising. BetterHelp disputed the framing and did not admit wrongdoing.
I found no FTC action against Talkspace, though a 2024 proposed class action alleged its website sent visitor data to TikTok. That is an allegation, not a finding.
Why does it feel so hard to press “start”?
I asked myself whether I needed help for about ten years, with less excuse than most. My mother is a therapist. My father is a therapist. My sister is a therapist. I was the black sheep, off being a stockbroker, making money quickly to outrun a childhood with an alcoholic father and a heartbroken mother. A whole family who could have named my anxiety and my shame, and I didn’t ask. I didn’t go because I hit some dramatic bottom. I went because I got sick and tired of myself.
Shame is a body event before it is a thought. The chest goes cold, the throat tightens, and you feel small and exposed. Researching for another hour is one way shame keeps you from being seen. When you tell yourself “my problems aren’t bad enough,” that is exactly how shame hides.
If what is hurting is a pattern in your life or your relationship, rather than something with a clinical name, or you want help tonight while you wait for a match, I built Figlet for that. It is coaching, not therapy, and not a replacement for either platform. Coaching is how we go from where you are now to where you want to go, and we only address the past when it shows up in the present. You can start Figlet Life Coaching, and your first ten messages are free. If the pain is your relationship, there is Figlet relationship coaching, which works even if your partner won’t come.
What else could I try instead?
If your plan has an in-network therapist near you, an ordinary local therapist by video may cost you only a copay, with no subscription. Your employer’s Employee Assistance Program may cover a few free, confidential sessions. Open Path Collective offers sliding scale sessions with licensed therapists if you are uninsured or underinsured. The wider field is in the best online therapy. And 988 is there tonight, whatever you choose.
What should I write in the intake box tonight?
Most people write the story of the other person: what he did, what my boss keeps doing, why my mother is impossible. That is the Story of Other, and it gets you a therapist who listens to a case. Write your Experience of Self instead. Name the pattern and the moment it happens, in two sentences, word for word like this:
“What keeps happening is ______, and it happens most when ______. In that moment I feel ______ in my body, and then I ______.”
That gives any good therapist something real to work with. Then press start. The other tab can close.
Where to go from here
Pick the one that fits your wallet and your needs, then judge the person, not the platform. If you want help tonight while you wait for your match, I built Figlet for that. It is a coaching tool, not therapy. You tell it what happened, it shows you the pattern you are caught in, and it gives you one line to say. Start Figlet Life Coaching free tonight.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, BetterHelp or Talkspace?
Talkspace is usually better if you have insurance or might need medication, since it is in network with many major plans and offers psychiatry. BetterHelp is usually better if you are paying cash and want the widest choice of therapists.
Is Talkspace cheaper than BetterHelp?
Without insurance they cost about the same: Talkspace is $69 to $109 a week and BetterHelp about $70 to $100. With insurance, Talkspace is often cheaper because more plans cover it. BetterHelp offers financial aid to some people; Talkspace does not.
Does BetterHelp or Talkspace take insurance?
Both now take some insurance. Talkspace works with many major plans plus traditional Medicare and TRICARE, but not Medicaid. BetterHelp says it is in network with 125+ plans, but availability varies by state and plan, and it doesn’t take Medicare, Medicaid or TRICARE.
Can Talkspace prescribe medication?
Yes, for adults 18 and over, through its psychiatric providers by video. It does not prescribe controlled substances. BetterHelp does not prescribe.
Is BetterHelp legit?
Yes, its therapists are licensed. In 2023 it agreed to pay $7.8 million under an FTC order over sharing health data for advertising, and it is now barred from doing that. It disputed the framing.
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Resentment quietly building between you?
Figlet is relationship coaching built on 17 years of couples therapy. Talk through what is happening the moment it matters, get a clear next step, and stop circling the same fight. Private, judgment free, ready whenever you are.
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Figs O'Sullivan
Founder · EFT couples therapist
“What I would tell you at 10pm, if I could.”
