Best Cerebral Alternatives for Online Psychiatry

With so many new online therapy platforms and alternatives popping up to provide niche care and increasing flexibility, choosing the right one can be overwhelming.

You want to ensure you don’t get boxed in with a therapy platform offering limited services or unpredictable pricing if you decide Cerebral’s online therapy isn’t your pick.

That’s why we rounded up some popular, highly rated online therapy options that overlap with Cerebral and provide unique value.

This list of alternatives to Cerebral can help you find a better fit without necessarily giving up access to licensed providers and entirely virtual appointments that you liked about this top-rated platform.

Top 5 Cerebral Alternatives of 2024

1. Best psychiatric service overall: Talkspace
2. Best for anxiety and depression: Brightside
3. Best for ADHD: Talkiatry
4. Best for general and mental health care: MDLive
5. Best for medication delivery: Sesame

Alternative #1: Talkspace Online Therapy

Like Cerebral, Talkspace offers a convenient way to connect with licensed therapists.

The platform stands out for offering three subscription plans that start with an affordable messaging-only option.

Talkspace is one of the best platforms for people seeking on-demand messaging with therapists without worrying about paying extra.

Talkspace providers can even prescribe medications, and the fact that Talkspace is an in-network provider for most major insurers nationwide is a bright spot.

However, a slow matching process and location-based pricing can make committing to a plan challenging, and it would be helpful if Talkspace could provide a cost estimate before users sign up.

Overview of Talkspace

Talkspace is an online counseling platform for clients ages 13 and up. Members can use virtual meetings and communicate via text, audio, and video.

Services offered include individual, couples, and teen therapy and psychiatry services.

Talkspace’s psychiatry network consists of licensed psychiatrists and nurse practitioners specializing in medication management.

Providers on the platform are certified and trained in assisting with a range of conditions including:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Parenting
• Eating disorder
• Anger management
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Trauma and grief
• Family conflict
• And more.

You can have confidence in a national network featuring thousands of licensed therapists across all 50 states with an average of nine years of professional experience each.

Last, Talkspace’s comprehensive app is excellent for scheduling live meetings, chatting with your therapist, and paying your subscription.

Details	Talkspace Online Therapy
Features	Offers individual, couples, and teen therapy. Psychiatry services are available. Providers from all 50 states.
Pricing	Location and plan-dependent pricing that ranges from $276 to $436 per month.
Insurance Accepted	Yes
Services Offered	Individual, couples, and teen counseling. Psychiatric support with medication management is also available.
Therapist Matching Details	Talkspace will match users with several therapists to allow them to choose a therapist from a list. While the platform claims matching can happen in 48 hours, the wait can be longer.
Therapists Licensed?	Yes.
Frequency and Duration of Sessions	Four 30-minute monthly sessions for all plans above the “Messaging” plan.
Communication Method	Text, audio, or video.
Payment Method	Credit or debit cards via the website or a mobile app.

Plans start at $49 per week. Cancel anytime.

Alternative #2: Brightside Health

Brightside is a fully digital therapy platform for people aged 18 and up. It earns our vote as an efficient platform for treating anxiety, depression, postpartum depression, and more.

Brightside’s high-tech platform also makes medication management more streamlined than the clunky processes offered on many other therapy platforms.

However, a higher price and lack of an Android-compatible app may dim Brightside’s glow.

Overview of Brightside

Brightside users can choose a talk-therapy plan, medication plan, or combination plans that combine talk therapy with medication management.

Brightside subscription plans are available in all 50 states. Regardless of your chosen plan, Brightside users can message their therapist anytime.

When signing up for Brightside, users complete a questionnaire that creates anxiety and depression scores that the platform’s providers use to help develop plans and track progress.

This score also allows new users to decide whether to sign up for talk therapy, a medication plan, or the hybrid option featuring both.

While Brightside is primarily known for treating anxiety and depression, providers can also specialize in:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Insomnia
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder
• Panic disorders
• Social anxiety
• Phobias
• Bipolar disorders
• And more.

Brightside’s data-based patient management and app are beautifully integrated into the therapy experience.

Details	Brightside Health Therapy
Features	For adults ages 18 and up. Treatment for mild to severe anxiety, depression, and more. Crisis care is available. Proactive progress tracking.
Pricing	$95 to $349 per month.
Insurance Accepted	Yes.
Service Offered	Talk therapy, medication management, and a combination of both.
Therapist Matching Details	Members are matched with providers based on specialty, state licensure, availability, and more.
Therapists Licensed?	Yes.
Frequency and Duration of Sessions	Four 45-minute therapy sessions per month.
Communication Method	Video and messaging.
Payment Method	Credit card

Plans start at $24 per week. Cancel anytime.

Alternative #3: Talkiatry

Talkiatry offers entirely virtual psychiatry services for adults, teens, and children as young as five.

We are fans of the individualized care plans that certified experts in mental health craft. This platform also stands out for its ADHD treatments.

While this platform has much to offer, it’s limited because only clients with in-network insurance can sign up.

In addition, Talkiatry is available in just 43 states.

Overview of Talkiatry

Many people use Talkiatry specifically for ADHD because it has a wealth of providers who have experience treating ADHD across children, teens, and adults.

Talkiatry also offers therapy for anxiety, bipolar, depression, OCD, insomnia, PTSD, and much more.

All new patients are asked to take an online assessment to ensure that the issue or condition they require treatment for is one that Talkiatry handles.

To sign up, you must have insurance from an in-network insurance plan. It’s simply not possible to sign up without this.

The good news is that Talkiatry works with most major insurance providers.

Talkiatry lacks an app and the high-tech experience some other online therapy platforms offer.

When messaging providers, Talkiatry users must communicate through the third-party Healow app.

Details	Talkiatry
Features	Services for adults, teens, and children as young as five. Mental health and substance abuse therapies are available.
Pricing	While Talkiatry doesn’t have set fees or subscriptions, it claims that most patients pay less than $25 per visit with insurance. Costs average between $325 and $414 for deductible plans before reaching the deduction limit.
Insurance Accepted	Exclusively.
Service Offered	Talk therapy and medication management.
Therapist Matching Details	Members can choose from a list of matched providers after signing up.
Therapists Licensed?	Yes.
Frequency and Duration of Sessions	30-minute sessions following a 60-minute “get to know you” consultation with a provider. While plans are individualized, most patients speak with their providers once a month.
Communication Method	Video and messaging.
Payment Method	Credit card.

Alternative #4: MDLive

While there is an even split between online therapy platforms that provide access to medical doctors and ones that don’t, even platforms with doctors can’t guarantee the speedy availability of these providers.

With MDLive, however, patients can easily connect with board-certified doctors and licensed therapists.

However, MDLive can take a little more work to sort through simply because it’s a full-service platform for all types of medical needs, including mental health and therapy services.

We also felt that the 15-minute psychiatry appointments were a bit short, however the platform does have 30-minute sessions which seems more appropriate.

The big surprise? If you have insurance, access to MDLive may already be built into your plan!

Overview of MDLive

MDLive offers a range of entirely virtual therapy and psychiatry services for people ages ten and up.

Unlike most online platforms, you’re free to choose your provider.

You can browse a directory of providers serving all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The turnaround time for speaking with a provider for the first time can be as little as just 24 hours. 

MDLive therapists and doctors offer talk therapy and medication treatment for anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD, and more. 

You’ll need to head to your local pharmacy to pick up anything prescribed to you through MDLive because this platform doesn’t coordinate prescription delivery.

Some people who use MDLive are going to love the flexibility. Others may find that the experience feels disjointed compared to something like Cerebral.

That’s because MDLive is more of a “connection point” for patients and doctors instead of an all-inclusive platform that helps to organize and manage every aspect of your care.

Every provider brings their own treatment approach and scheduling options to the experience.

The upside to this is that MDLive has many more doctors offering weekend appointments compared to other platforms.

While MDLive has a convenient app, you won’t be able to text your provider as part of your therapeutic treatment.

Details	MDLive
Features	Able to browse a directory of providers from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Offers primary care and other health services as well. Medication prescriptions are available.
Pricing	Ranges from $0 to $108 for talk therapy based on your insurance. Psychiatry services cost $0 to $284, depending on insurance.
Insurance Accepted	Yes
Service Offered	Talk therapy and medication management.
Therapist Matching Details	You pick your provider.
Therapists Licensed?	Yes.
Frequency and Duration of Sessions	While frequency is personalized, most therapy sessions last 45 to 60 minutes. Psychiatry sessions are 15 to 30 minutes.
Communication Method	Video
Payment Method	Credit and debit cards

Alternative #5: Sesame

Sesame Care offers virtual sessions with therapists and psychiatric providers for individuals and couples.

The big draw for many is that you can get $5 psychiatric medication with free shipping from SesameRx prescribers.

We also like that same-day support is available as long as a provider is available.

However, the fact that Sesame doesn’t take insurance can make therapy costlier than necessary for some people.

Limited provider availability in some states also takes some of the sweetness out of Sesame. Finally, the fact that couples need to attend virtual sessions from the same location seems a bit restrictive.

Overview of Sesame

Sesame allows you to pick your provider by browsing appointment availability based on specialty, symptom, medication, service, or life situation.

The “freedom” and flexibility that go along with Sesame are dampened a bit by the lack of uniformity. For example, you’ll be charged based on what each provider charges per session.

Many users pay anywhere from $100 to nearly $400 per session. Keep in mind that the pricier appointments represent charges from licensed psychiatric doctors.

One way to save is to sign up for the Sesame Plus program for $10.99 monthly to pay as little as $19 per appointment potentially. 

With the plan only guaranteeing you'll save around $20 per video appointment, it's tough to know if signing up is even worth it.

Sesame is one of the only online therapy platforms to offer medication delivery.

While Sesame provides access to psychiatric doctors capable of prescribing affordable medications that can be shipped to your home, the unpredictable pricing can make it hard to commit.

Moreover, this is a general medical platform instead of a dedicated mental health platform. This makes it feel clunky when figuring out how to access your needed care.

Details	Sesame
Features	Pick your provider based on location, specialty, symptoms, and more. Medication delivery services.
Pricing	Varies by the provider. You can sign up for a monthly $10.99 membership to save around $20 on each virtual appointment.
Insurance Accepted	No.
Service Offered	Psychiatry and medication management.
Therapist Matching Details	You pick your provider.
Therapists Licensed?	Yes.
Frequency and Duration of Sessions	Varies according to the provider.
Communication Method	Video.
Payment Method	VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

Summary

With Cerebral combining the best aspects of so many highly rated online therapy platforms into one package, it’s hard to believe that it will not be the best fit every time.

Believe us when we say that finding a platform offering therapy, psychiatric services, medication management, medication shipping, and predictable monthly subscriptions likely to be covered by insurance is quite a feat!

However, Cerebral does have the weakness of only providing care for people ages 18 and up. This can leave some families frustrated when looking for support for ADHD or depression for kids and teens.

Cerebral also forces you to sign up before you can begin browsing its providers.

While this is still a step above the many platforms that match you based on their criteria, it can make you feel like you need to commit before seeing if the available providers meet your needs.

We also know that navigating with the Cerebral app isn’t everyone’s favorite choice.

Ultimately, the five alternatives above can provide that “perfect fit” in cases where Cerebral isn’t the no-brainer choice it often appears to be.

How We Select Products

Product reviews, comparisons and write-ups are based on personal testing experience, customer review analysis and/or product research.

All product review information is liable to our product review process.

Affiliate Disclosure

To support the operation of this website, we are partnered with several online therapy providers as affiliates. If you purchase products or services through the links provided, we may receive commission at no extra cost to you.

For Emergencies

In the case of an emergency, online therapy is not suitable. If you are at risk of self-harm or require emergency mental health assistance, contact your country/states emergency or suicide hotline.

If you are in the US, your emergency line is: 911. US Suicide Hotline: 988.

For an international list of suicide hotline numbers, visit this link here.