Online therapy platforms, like Grow Therapy and Talkspace, are removing some of the barriers that prevent people from seeking mental health treatment by enabling them to confidentially search for therapists and other licensed mental health care providers. People have the option to attend their therapy sessions from the privacy of their own home, and both Grow Therapy and Talkspace partner with insurance companies to make therapy more accessible.
However, there are some key differences in how the two online therapy services operate. If you’re interested in telehealth therapy options, it’s a good idea to do a comparison between these online therapy companies so that you can make an informed decision about which platform is best for you. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Let’s take a deep dive into the Grow Therapy vs. Talkspace features.
Key takeaways
- Grow Therapy and Talkspace both offer telehealth therapy options but Grow Therapy also offers in-person care, making it a more flexible choice.
- Talkspace operates on a subscription-based pricing model, while Grow Therapy charges per session, with insurance often covering a significant portion of the cost.
- Both platforms provide access to licensed mental health professionals, including psychiatrists who can diagnose conditions and prescribe medication.
Grow Therapy vs. Talkspace at a glance
| Grow Therapy | Talkspace | |
| Pay-per-session model | ✔ | X Monthly subscription |
| Accepts Medicare and Medicaid | ✔ | X Medicare only |
| Offers child therapy | ✔ | X |
| Specialties offered | ✔ 135 specialties, including counseling for couples, children, and teens | ✔ 20+ specialists offered, including ADHD counseling, eating disorders care, and PTSD therapy |
| In-person therapy options | ✔ Virtual or in-person | X Virtual only |
| Therapy tools | ✔ Progress tracking tools, therapy toolkit, self-guided resources | ✔ In-app assessments and progress tracking |
What is Grow Therapy?
With 25,000 vetted healthcare providers in its network, Grow Therapy can quickly connect you with licensed therapists and other online therapy providers who are covered by your insurance plan. Grow Therapy’s online therapy platform includes the flexibility for virtual sessions, as well as a way to engage in messaging with your provider. While some people are eager to embrace virtual therapy, others prefer the more traditional in-person approach. Grow Therapy allows clients to choose what works best for them.
How to find a therapist through Grow Therapy
Getting started with Grow Therapy is simple and personalized to each client’s individual needs. From filtering provider options by specialty to booking a first session, Grow makes mental health accessible for all.
- Select virtual or in-person care: Start by identifying whether you’d like to receive virtual or in-person therapy. Then, you’ll input your location, your insurance provider or payment preference, and the reason you are seeking care.
- Select a care provider: Next, you’ll be shown a list of licensed mental health professionals who match your needs. You can find different types of therapy, including individual therapy, couples counseling, and family therapy. You can also filter for a provider’s racial, ethnic, religious, or cultural identity, since many clients seek therapists with lived experience or backgrounds that align with their own. Also, you can filter by treatment methods, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or motivational interviewing.
- Book your first session: Once you find the provider who works best for you and your schedule, you’ll be prompted to fill out your profile information, including your insurance, billing info, and address, to book your first session. The booking page includes an eligibility check to ensure the provider you’ve selected accepts your insurance plan. However, you may choose other payment options if you are not covered by insurance.
What is Talkspace?
Like Grow Therapy, Talkspace is designed to connect individuals seeking therapy with a mental health care provider. Compared to Grow Therapy’s 25,000+ providers, Talkspace has 5,000+ licensed clinicians, including therapists and psychiatric providers. The Talkspace user experience has other important differences from Grow Therapy that you’ll need to consider.
How to find a therapist through Talkspace
- Choose the type of care you’re looking for: Before entering any information, you’ll be prompted to choose the type of care you seek: individual therapy, couples therapy, teen counseling, or prescription mental health support. Each of these different types of care can have slightly different processes as you begin your matching assessment. For individual therapy, you will first input your insurance information to determine whether you are covered. You can also choose to pay out-of-pocket.
- Share therapist preferences: The assessment will then ask you a series of questions about why you are specifically seeking care, what the state of your current health is, and what your preferences are for a licensed mental health provider, such as their gender and language.
- Get matched with a therapist: Once you’ve finished creating your profile, you will be matched with a licensed therapist and can begin communicating with them through live sessions and messaging on the Talkspace platform, which you can access through their website or app. You also have the opportunity to rematch if the therapist provided does not meet your needs.
Comparison of costs between Grow Therapy and Talkspace
When choosing an online therapist, questions about paying for therapy and insurance coverage can be one of the most important factors to consider.
Grow Therapy pricing model
Grow Therapy is not a subscription model, so you’ll either pay through your insurance or pay out-of-pocket. The price per session varies based on your insurance coverage. Grow Therapy costs an average $21 per session with insurance. Your individual cost will vary depending on your plan’s deductible, copay, and provider network. Without insurance, Grow Therapy costs between $70 to $175 per session, depending on your provider and provider location.
Talkspace pricing model
Talkspace takes insurance, but for those paying out of pocket, it offers a subscription-based platform with plans that are billed automatically monthly, quarterly, or biannually. Discounts are available if you choose quarterly or biannual billing. Plan options are $69/week, $99/week, or $109/week for therapy, depending on which features (messaging, video, and workshops) users want access to. Psychiatry sessions range from $299 for initial evaluations, $175 for follow-up sessions, and bundled pricing as well.
Paying for Talkspace or Grow Therapy with health insurance
With Talkspace, some employers cover their services through an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP). If you are fortunate enough to have this as a benefit with an EAP, your therapy cost could be free. However, if you are seeking therapy through insurance coverage, there is a good chance you will pay a copay, which averages $15, depending on your specific coverage. Talkspace accepts several different types of health insurance plans, including Aetna, Cigna, Optum, Carelon, Medicare, TRICARE, Anthem, and Regence.
Grow Therapy accepts a wide range of insurance companies with practitioners in all 50 states. Grow Therapy accepts over 100 different types of insurance. Accepted insurance plans vary by state, but can include:
- Aetna
- Ahead
- All Savers
- Ambetter
- AmeriHealth Administrators
- AmeriHealth New Jersey
- AmeriHealth Pennsylvania
- Anthem
- AvMed
- Blue Cross
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Shield
- Blue Shield (MHSA)
- Buckeye Health Plan
- Carefirst
- Cigna
- EAP: Cigna
- EAP: Evernorth
- EAP: Health Advocate
- EAP: United Health/Optum
- Evernorth
- Florida Blue
- Golden Rule
- Harvard Pilgrim
- HealthAdvocate
- Highmark
- Humana
- Humana Medicare
- Humana Dual (Medicare & Medicaid)
- Husky Health
- Independence Administrators
- Independence Blue Cross
- Magellan
- Managed Health Services
- Medicaid
- Medicaid – Superior HealthPlan
- Medicare
- Optum
- OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
- Oscar
- Oxford
- Point32
- Superior HealthPlan (Managed Medicaid)
- Surest (formerly Bind)
- Tufts Health
- United Healthcare/Optum
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
- UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
- UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
- UnitedHealthcare Student Resources
- Wellcare Medicare
Grow Therapy vs. Talkspace: Accessibility and convenience
For individuals choosing to seek out mental health services through online therapy platforms, accessibility and convenience can be the primary motivators. Therefore, it’s important that companies like Grow Therapy and Talkspace deliver on that promise.
Benefits of Grow Therapy
Grow Therapy hasn’t just streamlined the process of choosing a therapist; it’s also helping individuals get the care that they need faster.
Here are some benefits of getting care through Grow Therapy:
- Once you have identified a therapist whom you feel comfortable working with, the platform allows you to see their availability instantly and book within two days or less for many providers.
- The client portal gives individuals the opportunity to contact their therapists if they need to rebook, discuss “homework,” or even cancel sessions.
- For those who can get exasperated working with their insurance providers, Grow Therapy also handles billing and navigating insurance claims for you.
Benefits of Talkspace
Talkspace has leaned heavily into the virtual aspect of teletherapy and created a service that allows clients to engage in their mental health care from anywhere in a variety of modalities.
Some benefits of Talkspace include:
- Individuals have the option of using either a web browser or their app to securely connect with their therapist through text-based messaging, audio messages, video-based therapy, and live chat.
- With live chat therapy, clients can book a session and easily engage in real-time conversation with their therapists through the messaging feature in the platform, similar to text therapy.
- When you are ready to hop back on camera, you can choose to return to live video sessions in your subsequent appointments.
Unique features and innovations
Sometimes therapy alone can’t address every mental health challenge. In those cases, medication management can be an essential part of a client’s treatment plan.
Access to psychiatric care
One of the unique features of Grow Therapy and Talkspace is that they both include psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners within their network of providers. These professionals are licensed to diagnose mental health disorders and prescribe medication if necessary.
Comprehensive care
Grow Therapy and Talkspace give you access to both talk therapists and psychiatrists, which means that you have a full spectrum of treatment options available to you, all in one convenient place. Some clients will opt to just engage in talk therapy or psychiatric care. But clients can simultaneously engage in therapy and psychiatry services, if that works best for their needs.
Mental health tests
If you’re wondering whether it is time to seek professional help, both Grow Therapy and Talkspace offer resources. Grow Therapy has free online screeners for anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Talkspace also has online mental health screening tests that can help you determine if therapy or psychiatry is something you should start looking into.
Ways therapy may help
When considering whether virtual therapy is right for you, it’s also important to reflect on the general benefits of therapy.
These benefits include:
- Improving your mental health and addressing specific conditions like depression.
- Offering a safe space to openly discuss and explore your feelings, anxieties, and concerns without fear of judgment.
- Building healthy romantic and family relationships and sorting through conflict constructively.
- Preparing you for major life changes like living alone for the first time or switching careers.
- Allowing you to build a sense of self-awareness that enables you to identify harmful behaviors, understand their root causes, and make better choices in the future.
Is online therapy as effective as in-person therapy?
Different modalities will work differently depending on the individual. However, for many people, virtual therapy will be just as effective as in-person sessions. According to research comparing teletherapy and in-person therapy, online therapy can have the same post-treatment benefits, long-term benefits, and consistency with client follow-through as in-person therapy, all of which are important indicators of treatment success.
Other benefits of online therapy with Grow Therapy or Talkspace
Virtual therapy can also be especially helpful for individuals who might otherwise be unable to attend in-person sessions.
Convenience and accessibility
More than 137 million people in the United States live in a location that is designated as a Health Workforce Shortage Area for mental health. Traveling hours to meet a therapist in person may not be practical for people living in areas that are more rural or remote. Moreover, many individuals may also have limited mobility due to physical health challenges or age. Virtual options can ensure that they’re not shut out of therapy simply because of where they live or who they are.
Benefits for marginalized groups
Finding a therapist who you feel can understand your specific experiences can be difficult for members of some communities. Many clients may feel more comfortable and connected to individuals who share characteristics like race or gender, or who have expertise treating certain populations like the LGBTQ+ community. Online therapy platforms like Grow Therapy can facilitate the process of identifying a professional who meets your criteria, so that you don’t have to worry about feeling unseen or unheard in your therapy sessions.
Making the right choice for you
Regardless of whether you are turning to online therapy for depression, anxiety symptoms, grief, addiction, or any other challenge that you are encountering, taking this first step is a sign of strength. You have already overcome a major hurdle, and it’s important to acknowledge that.
Online therapy platforms like Grow Therapy and Talkspace are ready to make the next step in your mental health care journey easier. Through these platforms, you can conveniently find a therapist with the qualifications to help you manage the mental and behavioral health conditions that may be weighing you down.
Questions to ask yourself
Your mental health outcomes can depend on finding the service that works best for you. As you consider which online platform to try, try asking questions like:
- What level of support do you want—therapy, medication management, or both?
- How important is it for you to filter by provider specialty, cultural background, or therapeutic approach?
- Does the platform make it easy to see which clinicians are in-network with your insurance?
- How quickly do you want to get matched or schedule an appointment?
If Grow Therapy is the right choice for you, start your journey and join the thousands of people who are prioritizing their mental health. Book your first appointment through us today.
Frequently asked questions
Grow Therapy has a large network of licensed providers, including clinical social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, and psychiatrists who specialize in a wide variety of treatments. Through the platform, the client has more control in choosing the mental health care practitioner that is the best fit for them. If their initial choice does not meet their needs, they can switch to a different therapist to ensure they have the best experience possible. Grow Therapy has over 25,000 vetted providers for you to choose from, and a 4.7 rating on Trustpilot.
high-quality care. There are many Grow Therapy success stories, as well as many Talkspace success stories. Ultimately, individuals need to assess the factors that they value the most and find the platform that meets their needs.
Grow Therapy and Talkspace are two separate companies that both help to connect individuals to therapists through online platforms. However, each company has specific services that are unique to each platform.
Talkspace and Grow Therapy are both platforms that offer convenient, accessible therapy by licensed therapists. The best choice for you depends on your needs. Grow Therapy allows you to choose your therapist and emphasizes live therapy sessions, both virtual and in-person. Talkspace matches you with a therapist and only offers virtual therapy options.
Grow Therapy offers therapy in all 50 states from a large pool of experienced, licensed therapists and psychiatrists. Therapists who work at Grow Therapy are extensively interviewed and vetted. Grow Therapy accepts most major health insurance plans and is BBB Accredited.