Grow Therapy Competitors: 9 Alternatives by Situation

• Consider Rula if you left Grow because your bill did not match the estimate. Rula provides a cost estimate before your first visit, charges no platform fees, and has a flat self-pay therapy rate of $150.
• Consider Talkiatry if you want a psychiatrist rather than a nurse practitioner. All Talkiatry clinicians are MDs or DOs. Most insured patients pay about $30 per visit, and Talkiatry covers the first appointment if its network check was wrong.
• Brightside charges a flat $95 per month for psychiatry without submitting insurance claims. BetterHelp offers therapy for $70 to $100 per week. Talkspace accepts TRICARE, which Grow does not yet; both accept Original Medicare, with Grow\’s coverage varying by state.

People leave Grow Therapy for several reasons. A bill may not match the cost estimate, a provider may charge a no-show fee of up to $200, or a prescriber may stop answering portal messages. Some people cannot start because Grow’s plan checker does not list their insurance. Grow does not accept TRICARE yet, and its Medicaid coverage is live only in some states or DC.

We checked the nine alternatives below on each company’s website on September 5, 2026. We earn money from five of these services. The other four are included because they may be the right choice for some readers.

ChoosingTherapy.com may earn a commission from the companies whose services are linked on this page.

Which Grow Therapy alternative fits your situation?

• Rula: Provides a cost estimate before your first visit, charges no platform fees, and has a flat $150 self-pay therapy rate. Insured patients pay an average of $15. Check Rula’s estimate.
• Talkiatry: Uses psychiatrists exclusively, accepts major insurance plans, and charges most patients about $30 per visit. Its in-network guarantee covers your first appointment if its insurance verification was wrong. Check your insurance with Talkiatry.
• Brightside: Charges $95 per month for psychiatry, $299 for therapy, or $349 for both. Plans include unlimited messaging. Brightside accepts Medicare and some Medicaid plans. See Brightside’s plans.
• BetterHelp: Charges $70 to $100 per week for therapy with unlimited messaging. Matching usually takes hours or days, and BetterHelp accepts at least 125 insurance plans. Start BetterHelp’s questionnaire.
• Talkspace: Offers therapy and psychiatry through one app. It accepts TRICARE, Original Medicare, Cigna, Aetna, and BCBS. Self-pay therapy starts at $69 per week. Check Talkspace coverage.
• Headway: Checks your benefits and charges you at the time of service. It has 80,000 providers and only accepts insurance.
• Alma: Offers free consultation calls, sliding-scale self-pay options, and an average insured cost of $20.
• Open Path Collective: Charges $40 to $70 per session for people without insurance or adequate mental health coverage.
• Psychology Today: Provides a free directory of independent clinicians without adding its own booking or billing system.

How do Grow Therapy competitors compare?

Information was verified on each company’s pricing, insurance, and FAQ pages on September 5, 2026. Grow’s Medicaid count of 10 states comes from a review of its plan checker.

Why choose Rula?

Rula is the closest alternative to Grow. Both are insurance-focused marketplaces that offer therapy and psychiatry in all 50 states. Rula confirms your estimated cost before the first appointment. It also says it charges no platform fees or monthly subscription. If your plan has a $20 copay, Rula says that is the most you will pay. Its patients typically pay $15 per session.

Rula publishes flat self-pay prices instead of letting each provider set a different rate. Individual therapy costs $150 per session, couples therapy costs $165, a psychiatry intake costs $225, and follow-ups cost $175.

Rula accepts Aetna, Anthem, most Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, Cigna, Optum, Oscar, and UnitedHealthcare. Kaiser is accepted by referral. Rula’s FAQ limits Medicare Advantage coverage to named plans in California and Georgia, although one of its blog posts says it accepts Medicare nationwide. Check the FAQ’s plan list before booking.

Rula has a 4.5 Trustpilot score based on 4,997 reviews, compared with Grow’s 4.7. One-star reviews mention provider no-shows and slow refunds. Kaiser members give mixed comparisons. Some praise the therapist Rula found for them, while others prefer their experience with Grow.

Rula only offers in-person appointments to Kaiser Southern California and Anthem California members. Get a cost estimate from Rula. Our Rula review explains the full process.

Why choose Talkiatry?

Talkiatry focuses on psychiatry, and every clinician is a medical doctor. By comparison, all 30 first-page medication management providers we reviewed on Grow across three states were nurse practitioners on September 5, 2026.

Talkiatry says most patients pay about $30 per visit. That figure includes copays, deductibles, and coinsurance. It also verifies that it is in network before your first appointment. If Talkiatry makes a mistake during that check, it covers the full cost of the first visit.

Talkiatry does not accept Medicaid. Therapy is only available to people already seeing a Talkiatry psychiatrist. Whether its doctors prescribe controlled substances depends on state law.

Canceling less than 48 hours before an appointment costs $100, and insurance does not cover the fee. Talkiatry says appointments are available within a week and sometimes within 48 hours.

Talkiatry has a 2.5 Trustpilot score based on 970 reviews. One-star reviews account for 66% of the total, and many describe bills that arrived after the appointment. Talkiatry’s website also displays a notice about a vendor security incident involving some patients’ health information.

Check your insurance with Talkiatry. Our Talkiatry review covers its billing history.

Why choose Brightside?

Brightside offers monthly subscriptions instead of billing separately for each visit. Its psychiatry plan costs $95 per month plus your pharmacy copay. Therapy costs $299 per month for four video appointments and unlimited messaging. A combined therapy and psychiatry plan costs $349.

Cigna members receive full coverage through insurance. Members with other participating plans may pay a small fee. Brightside also accepts Medicare and some Medicaid plans. It says 92% of patients begin treatment within five days.

Brightside has a crisis care program for adults at elevated risk of suicide. It does not prescribe benzodiazepines or Z-drugs. Stimulants are only available to insured members in Arizona, Oregon, and Washington.

The service does not treat psychosis, some cases of bipolar I disorder, or unstable eating disorders. No-show fees can reach $200. Brightside has a 4.0 Trustpilot score based on 1,505 reviews.

See Brightside’s plans. Our Brightside review explains who it may suit.

Why choose BetterHelp?

BetterHelp provides therapy through a subscription but does not offer psychiatry. Its advice pages list a self-pay cost of $70 to $100 per week. Eligible members using one of more than 125 accepted insurance plans pay an average copay of $23.

Matching can take a few hours or a few days. Members receive messaging, live chat, phone, and video sessions and can cancel at any time. Therapists are independent, and BetterHelp says it does not oversee them professionally.

Some Trustpilot reviewers criticize the subscription and insurance billing. A September 2026 reviewer believed the monthly billing model relied on members forgetting to cancel. An August 2026 reviewer said the original insurance estimates were four times lower than the eventual charges and that billing took months.

BetterHelp has a 3.9 Trustpilot score based on 9,660 reviews. Start with BetterHelp if you want a fixed weekly price and fast matching.

Why choose Talkspace?

Talkspace accepts TRICARE, which Grow does not yet; both accept Original Medicare, and Grow\’s coverage varies by state. Its coverage page also lists Cigna, Aetna, Optum, Anthem, BCBS, Carelon, and Oscar. Talkspace says most insured members have a $0 copay.

Original Medicare is covered in certain states. Medicare Advantage is not. Self-pay messaging therapy starts at $69 per week. A $99 plan includes messaging and four 30-minute video appointments each month. A $109 plan adds workshops. Psychiatry costs $299 for the initial evaluation and $175 per follow-up.

Talkspace does not prescribe controlled substances, including stimulants and benzodiazepines. Therapists respond within one or two days, five days per week.

Talkspace has a 4.4 Trustpilot score based on 2,379 reviews. Some complaints describe automatic charges and other billing problems. Check Talkspace coverage if you have TRICARE or Medicare.

Why choose Headway?

Headway lists 80,000 therapists and psychiatric providers. It checks your benefits and charges you at the time of service. You do not have to wait three to four weeks for an explanation of benefits, as you may with Grow.

Headway only accepts insurance, and new clients cannot pay cash. Some Medicare and Medicaid plans are accepted. Headway warns that medication management appointments may cost more than its estimate.

Therapists report that Headway pays more per session than other platforms. We do not earn money from Headway.

Why choose Alma?

Alma is a directory of clinicians who accept insurance. Its free cost estimator supports Aetna, Cigna, Optum, Oscar, Oxford, and UnitedHealthcare plans. The average insured session costs $20.

Many Alma therapists offer a free consultation before you commit. Out-of-network providers may use a sliding scale. Alma does not publish a platform-wide self-pay rate. It is part of Spring Health.

Alma is included for comparison. We do not have a partner link or earn money from the service.

Why choose Open Path Collective?

Open Path is a nonprofit for people who do not have insurance or whose coverage does not provide adequate mental health benefits. Membership costs $65 once. Individual therapy then costs $40 to $70 per session with a vetted therapist. Sessions with student interns cost $30.

Open Path offers the lowest self-pay therapy rate on this list, below Grow’s typical $75 minimum. It does not offer psychiatry or bill insurance. We do not earn money from Open Path.

Why use Psychology Today?

Psychology Today provides a free directory covering every state. You can filter providers by location, concern, therapy type, specialty, and insurance. The directory does not handle booking or billing, so you must verify coverage yourself.

Therapists often recommend Psychology Today to people comparing Grow, BetterHelp, and Talkiatry because it allows them to search for an independent clinician directly. Talkiatry’s own help center directs declined patients to Zocdoc and Psychology Today.

We do not earn money from Psychology Today.

Is Grow Therapy still right for some people?

Grow may still be a good fit for three groups.

People with Medicaid coverage through Grow: Grow accepts Medicaid plans in 10 states. Members of those plans pay an average of $0 and can book a prescriber as well as a therapist. Talkiatry does not accept Medicaid, while Headway does not accept new self-pay clients. Neither service fully replaces Grow for these readers.

People who want many profiles to compare: Grow lets users browse profiles, sort by star ratings, and switch therapists without starting over. Some users report staying with the same Grow therapist for many sessions after finding a good match. Others say changing providers is easy when the first one is not right.

People who want therapy and medication through one account: Grow offers both services under one login. Insured sessions cost an average of $21, and Grow does not charge a subscription fee.

Before booking, call your insurer and ask whether Grow Therapy is in network as a facility. Grow bills through a group NPI. You should also confirm the provider’s cancellation policy before the first appointment. If a prescriber does not answer a portal message within 48 hours, Grow’s help center says to contact Support.

Open Grow Therapy’s plan checker before deciding, or read our Grow Therapy review.