Zencare Review 2024: Cost, Pros & Cons, & Is It Right for Your Practice?

Zencare Review – Key Takeaways

• Zencare is a comprehensive directory and platform for managing marketing for your therapy private practice. It also offers built-in features like EHR, telehealth, and practice management.
• All Zencare memberships include a photo and video shoot to help your profile look more professional. However, these photos and videos cannot be posted to other directories.
• Zencare has highly involved customer service that helps support you from beginning to end.
• Zencare has high upfront and ongoing costs compared to other directories and services but offers more features.

What Is Zencare?

Zencare is a full-service marketing and practice management software suite for therapy practices. The platform helps therapists market their services to in-person and online markets via their directory, and includes optional features for practice management and electronic health records (EHR). Zencare costs range from $59 – $98 monthly, depending on the features selected, plus a one-time $130 setup fee.

Zencare has two main components: marketing and practice management. It’s important to note that practice management features incur an extra fee of either $19 or $39 monthly. For the sake of simplicity, we will be looking at Zencare as a whole and some descriptions will assume you have or will purchase the add-ons.

Key features of Zencare include:

Full-Service Private Practice Marketing

Zencare’s primary and original offering is its large therapist directory and network. The system is designed to improve the marketing for private practice therapists and promote their services to a wide audience, through several strategies. According to Zencare, one strategy is to promote heavily to Millenial clientele, while focusing on visually stunning and professional profiles. Additionally, detailed filtering systems in the search tool help clients to find the therapist that is an ideal fit for them.¹

Unique among directories, Zencare also provides its members with a professional photo and video shoot to ensure the images and video on each provider’s profile are of high quality. Zencare also optimizes your profile using SEO best practices, to ensure your profile is visible in search engines.

Communicating with Clients

Unlike some other competitors, including Psychology Today, all communication with clients is handled within the Zencare suite, assuming you elect to purchase the add-ons we discuss below. The platform allows clients to message providers directly via a messaging system built into the software. For remote sessions, Zencare also includes a telehealth platform that can be easily accessed via the Zencare dashboard by both clients and therapists.

When a client decides to reach out to you via your profile, Zencare will collect some introductory information from them and send it to you via their initial message. From the Zencare dashboard, you’ll be able to assign clinical measures to your clients and any electronic forms you’ve created.

Unlike what we saw in our review of Psychology Today, Zencare sets itself apart by providing clients with a comprehensive and personalized experience. Since all of your Zencare clients are self-contained within the system, this improves your clients’ overall experience and prevents them from needing to navigate multiple systems. However, if you do not elect to purchase Zencare’s EHR features, the clients will be routed through whatever EHR system you use. The best mental health EHRs make it easy to manage your client caseloads, no matter the source of the referral.

Additional Add-On Features

Optionally, you can choose to purchase practice management and EHR features bundled with your base membership. Features we discussed above, including secure messaging, clinical measures, and telehealth are only available with the optional add-on packages. If you do not already have an EHR platform, these features add a great deal of value to Zencare.

Telehealth, Scheduling, Documentation, and Billing (additional $19 monthly)

Zencare offers additional practice management features for an additional fee. The Practice Management Pro plan costs $19 monthly on top of the base membership, and includes a number of useful features including a telehealth platform and comprehensive scheduling system.

The built-in telehealth system is no-frills, but it covers the basics and allows you to easily conduct HIPAA-compliant remote sessions at a relatively low cost. The Pro plan also unlocks the calendar and scheduling system for booking client appointments and managing appointment reminders.

This plan also grants you the ability to access client intake and consent forms for streamlining your intake process, as well as integrated client billing and payment processing.

Insurance & Claims Management, Collaborative Video Sessions, Secure Messaging, & Clinical Measures (additional $39 monthly)

For an additional $39 monthly, Zencare will add tools for processing insurance claims, eligibility checks, and tracking insurance claims. The system is also able to generate superbills and manage out-of-network billing. Also included with the Premium plan are secure client messaging, pre-generated clinical measures, and the ability to have collaborative video sessions.

The Premium plan supersedes the Pro plan, so electing to purchase the higher-priced plan means you will not have to pay for the lower-priced plan as well.

How Much Does Zencare Cost?

Zencare costs range from $59 – $98 monthly, depending on additional features selected, and require a $130 upfront sign-up fee. Zencare does not offer any free trials. The base Zencare membership includes a 50-minute photo/video shoot and a listing in the Zencare directory. Premium add-ons include access to a telehealth platform, online scheduling, a client portal, and additional practice management features.

Features available with the base ($59 monthly) Zencare membership include:

• Full, professional profile listing in the Zencare directory
• 50-minute professional photo/video shoot
• Search engine optimization
• A featured interview article on the Zencare blog
• Marketing guidelines and tips
• Discounts on other private practice tools and services

Zencare Premium Add-Ons

Is Zencare Worth it for Therapists?

Whether or not Zencare is worth it for therapists depends heavily on your geographic area and whether you are in-network or out-of-network. Zencare states that in-network practitioners in their established geographic areas receive an average of 65 referrals annually. Meanwhile, similar out-of-network providers receive an average of 13 referrals annually.

Zencare offers prospective members a simple Zencare subscription return on investment calculator to help them determine what sort of revenue Zencare might be able to generate for their practice. While interesting, it is worth taking this tool’s response with a grain of salt, as it is ultimately a marketing tool intended to work in Zencare’s favor.

Who Is Zencare Right For?

Zencare is a great choice for practitioners who are looking to market their services to a predominantly millennial audience, those who need optional EHR features, and therapists looking for detailed, personalized customer service.

Practitioners Looking to Market to Millennials

Zencare emphasizes that it heavily markets its website and services to a millennial, tech-savvy market. If you are looking to expand your practice into that demographic and are interested in working more extensively in remote services, Zencare may be a good choice for you.

Those Who Need Optional EHR Features

Not many directories offer robust EHR features. If you don’t have an EHR platform already or are looking for a change, Zencare’s optional EHR features are very well-implemented and integrate seamlessly into the Zencare directory.

Therapists Looking for Detailed, Personalized Customer Service

Zencare places a pretty strong emphasis on customer service. For instance, the entire onboarding process is completed on a case-by-case basis, and tailored to the individual practitioner. If you would like this level of concierge service in creating and managing your directory profile, then Zencare is a great choice.

Who May Want an Alternative to Zencare?

While Zencare is a great choice for many, some folks may be better off with other options – for instance, practitioners on a tight budget and those looking for a more general, easier-to-implement directory may be better off with other options.

Practitioners on a Tight Budget

Zencare is relatively expensive compared to its competition, both monthly and upfront. If you’re on a tight budget, then there are other options that may suit you better.

For a completely free directory listing, TherapyDen is a great choice. Learn more in our comprehensive TherapyDen review.

Those Looking for a More Niche Directory

While it’s useful to market yourself on some of the large directories and platforms, it’s also worth considering smaller, more niche directories. An example of this is Inclusive Therapists, which is focused on marketing social justice-oriented therapists.

For more details, read our review of Inclusive Therapists.

Those Looking for a More General, Easier-to-Implement Directory

Getting started with Zencare can be a fairly lengthy and involved process. If you’re looking for something with easy sign-up that can be implemented self-service in an afternoon or less, there are definitely better options out there.Psychology Today and GoodTherapy both have fairly simple and self-service sign-up processes. Read our review of Psychology Today and our GoodTherapy review for more details.

Zencare Vs. Psychology Today

Zencare and Psychology Today are quite different. While both offer a listing on a national directory of therapists, Zencare is a far more bespoke service that custom-tailors its therapist profiles with unique features and professional photography. Psychology Today only offers a telehealth platform and has no other EHR features available.

Psychology Today is much more in the do-it-yourself spirit than Zencare, with its onboarding process and profile writing being left totally up to you. However, Psychology Today is far less expensive with a monthly cost of $29 and nothing due upfront. Psychology Today is also more well-known than Zencare, is one of the largest directories available, and markets to a more general audience.

To learn more about how it differs from Zencare, read our review of Psychology Today.

Zencare Vs. Zocdoc

Zocdoc is a national directory of not only mental healthcare professionals but also doctors of every specialty. It markets services to a far more general audience than Zencare and doesn’t offer the same in-depth services as Zencare such as professional photos, or EHR features.

Zocdoc has a different pricing model than Zencare. Instead of a monthly fee, you are required to pay a fee per client referral you gain. In our testing, we found that the typical fee was $70 per new client session generated by Zocdoc, but this may differ depending on your location and specialty. There is no cost due upfront with Zocdoc.

To learn more about Zocdoc’s features and how they differ from Zencare, read our comprehensive Zocdoc review.

Zencare Review – Our Final Verdict

Overall, Zencare is a high-quality platform that can offer your practice a lot of value. While it is more costly both upfront and ongoing compared to other options, it has some of the best and most comprehensive features and customer service offered by any directory.

You should consider signing up for Zencare if you:

• Looking to improve your marketing, especially to a younger, tech-savvy market
• Need additional EHR features that integrate with your directory profile
• Are looking for more intensive customer support

You should consider looking for an alternative to Zencare if you:

• Want to join a more niche directory
• Are on a tight budget
• Are looking for a more general, easier-to-implement directory profile

How to Get Started with Zencare

Getting started with Zencare is easy and guided by staff every step of the way, but can be somewhat time-consuming. To begin, navigate to the Zencare sign-up page and click “Start Today.” You will be directed to a page where you will select a time to meet with a Zencare staff member to go over the details of the platform and how it might work for you.

After your introductory call, Zencare staff will guide you through the process of scheduling your photo shoot and getting your profile up and running. According to the representative I spoke with, a profile will be ready to publish within a couple of days.The photography session usually has a 1-2 week delay, however, existing photos can be used as placeholders.

History of Zencare

Zencare was founded by Yuri Tomikawa in 2015 in response to her struggles using other therapist directories. Yuri believed that other directories did not allow for nuanced searches and often hosted inaccurate or outdated information.

Zencare is unique in providing therapists with professional photography and videography services to ensure each listing is visually stunning and professional, as well as a search and matching system that is cutting-edge and effective.²

FAQs for Zencare

Is Zencare Free to Use?

No, Zencare is not free to use. The platform costs $59 monthly, with a $130 one-time setup fee. Additional features such as practice management tools incur extra fees. Zencare does not offer any free trials.

Do You Have to be Licensed to Use Zencare?

Yes. According to the Zencare representative I interviewed, Zencare requires all of its providers to be licensed, and while it allows licensed providers to list themselves for coaching services, it does not allow full-time life coaches or other professionals divested from licensure to use the platform. Pre-licensed professionals are allowed to use the platform given they have appropriate supervision.

Does Zencare Offer a Free Trial?

No. Zencare does not offer a free trial.

What Does Zencare Vetted Mean?

The Zencare Vetted badge is applied to the profiles of providers who have passed a qualification process involving licensure verification, background checks, and a clinical standards quiz. Zencare continually reviews client feedback to determine whether the Vetted badge is still appropriate for any given provider.³

Who is the Founder of Zencare?

The founder of Zencare is Yuri Tomikawa. Like many therapist directory founders, she started the platform after having a difficult time finding a good therapist match for herself.⁴

How Many People Use Zencare?

Zencare states that over 5,000 clients actively use Zencare to find therapy each month. Additionally, the company notes that the majority of its clientele falls into the Millennial age bracket.¹