Thriveworks vs BetterHelp: Vastly Different User Experiences

It’s a new day for mental health now that therapy can happen anywhere.

With so many options for virtual therapy, it can be hard to decide if you want to go “all in” with virtual therapy or keep a toe in the water of standard in-person treatment.

That’s what makes the choice between BetterHelp and Thriveworks so challenging.

While BetterHelp is an online-only therapy platform, Thriveworks is a hybrid platform offering access to both online and in-person sessions.

Then there’s also the matter of subscription versus pay-as-you-go therapy: BetterHelp is a little like Netflix for mental health due to its four week billing subscription to access therapy sessions and related resources.

In contrast, Thriveworks uses traditional per-session billing and insurance.

Overall Best: BetterHelp wins our vote as the better online therapy provider due to its great app, sparkling reviews, and innovative subscription model, making budgeting for therapy easy.

To get started with BetterHelp, click here to fill in their brief questionnaire.

Discussing Psychology readers get 15% off their first month with BetterHelp.

Thriveworks vs BetterHelp: How do they compare?

The main difference between Thriveworks and BetterHelp, is that Thriveworks operates on a pay-as-you-go basis and offers in-person therapy, while BetterHelp bills on a subscription basis with all therapy facilitated online.

Features	BetterHelp	Thriveworks
Price	From $65 to $90 per week.	Out-of-pocket: Approximately $160 to $200 per session. With insurance: starts at $10 per session, but depends greatly on coverage and therapy required.
Online reviews	Close to 5 out of 5 stars on most platforms, across thousands of reviews.	Averaging 4.5 out of 5 across more than 10,000+ Google reviews. Third-party rating platform reviews sit in the 3 star range.
Is insurance accepted?	No.	Yes.
Services provided	Individual therapy to help address a wide range of mental, emotional and relationship challenges. Group webinars are also available.	Individual, family, and couples therapy and psychiatric support.
Communication channels	Video, calls, and live chat	Video or in-person sessions
Payment Method	Credit/bank card or PayPal	Credit/bank card
Link to the provider website	Click here to visit BetterHelp	Click here to visit Thriveworks

BetterHelp Online Therapy

As the world’s largest virtual therapy service, BetterHelp has helped to pave the way to making 100% online therapy accessible.

More than 3 million members have already used the platform to connect with licensed and accredited professionals.

BetterHelp stands out because it does an incredible job of transferring the in-person therapy experience to the digital world.

Online therapy prices starting at $65 per week. Cancel anytime.

Thriveworks Therapy

While Thriveworks follows a similar model to BetterHelp, the notable difference is that Thriveworks offers a choice of virtual and in-person appointments.

Members can choose from more than 380 offices around the country. However, in-person visits with therapists are only available in some states.

Thriveworks vs BetterHelp: Costs

Budgeting with BetterHelp is easier because users are billed with a subscription model that locks in a set number of sessions for each billing period.

The cost of BetterHelp works out to be between $260 and $360, billed on a four-week billing cycle.

When you feel like it’s time to end your therapy experience on the platform, you can simply cancel and you won’t be opted into the next billing cycle.

While Thriveworks tells users the cost per session depends on their payment method, insurance plan, location, and other factors, the platform provides pricing guideposts to set expectations.

With insurance, the cost per session can be as low as $10. When paying without insurance, a first session can cost $200.

Users seeking psychiatry sessions might pay $300 or more per session.

One helpful feature is that Thriveworks allows users to see each therapist’s self-pay rate by looking at the provider profile within the booking platform.

Therapy Details

Details	BetterHelp	Thriveworks
Can you choose therapists	Members can choose their therapist after the initial match	Yes
Therapists licensed?	Yes	Yes
Time taken to match with a therapist	Can be matched within 48 hours	Can be instant
Frequency and duration of Sessions	Sessions are 30 or 45 minutes	Typically 50-minute or 60-minute sessions with personalized frequency

Matching with your therapist

Thriveworks claims that people who sign up can generally expect to be able to book same-week sessions with a therapist. However, some users might get an instant match with a next-day appointment.

It’s important to remember that Thriveworks allows users to review and choose their providers. However, users can also defer to the guidance offered by a Thriveworks scheduling specialist when they want a provider with specific qualifications or certifications.

With BetterHelp you can match with your therapist in about two days. You can generally expect to wait longer when seeking out a therapist with a specialty.

Therapist qualifications

Of course, many people are curious about the types of professionals waiting on the other side of that first appointment.

Let’s start with BetterHelp’s vetting and verification process.

All BetterHelp therapists must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Licensed, trained, experienced, and accredited psychologists (PhD/PsyD).
• Licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT)
• Licensed clinical social workers (LCSW / LICSW).
• Licensed professional counselors (LPC).

Every therapist you could encounter on the platform will have either a master’s degree or a doctorate in their field. All have been qualified and certified by their state’s professional board.

BetterHelp also requires all therapists operating on its platform to possess at least three years and 1,000 hours of first-hand experience in their fields.

BetterHelp verifies each provider’s credentials and licensure. The platform also requires each candidate to complete a case study exam that is reviewed and graded by a licensed clinician.

There’s even a video interview. According to BetterHelp, only 25% of applicants are welcome to work on the platform. Finally, each provider’s complete licensing information is evident to BetterHelp members.

This thorough vetting process is why BetterHelp is so confident about its ability to match members with providers instead of simply providing a registry allowing members to choose independently.

Thiveworks is less transparent about how it vets its providers. However, the platform states it only hires the top 4% of counselors and psychiatrists.

Online therapy prices starting at $65 per week. Cancel anytime.

Services Provided

Both BetterHelp and Thriveworks offer robust therapy and counseling resources.

One big differentiator is that Thriveworks can provide psychiatry services and medication prescriptions. BetterHelp can only offer therapy.

What does this look like for a user trying to choose between the two?

Thriveworks can give access to health professionals who may be able to provide a diagnosis or assist with the management of conditions like:

• Autism
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Bipolar Disorder
• Major Depression
• Schizophrenia
• Or another psychiatric condition

With BetterHelp, the focus is on improving mental health using psychotherapy techniques, which can include:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
• EMDR Therapy
• Trauma Therapy
• Psychotherapy
• Exposure Therapy
• Much more

You can essentially talk about any topic under the sun with a BetterHelp therapist. Topics covered include:

• Depression
• Anxiety/stress
• Grief
• Stress
• Anger management
• Eating disorders
• Sleep disorders
• Workplace stress
• Interpersonal relationships
• Self-esteem
• Dissociation

Thriveworks may use some of the following therapies:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
• Christian Counseling
• Eye movement desensitization & reprocessing (EMDR)
• Play therapy
• Family systems
• Emotionally-focused therapy
• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
• Much more

Some of the top topics and concerns that Thriveworks therapists specialize in can include:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Relationships
• ADHD
• Trauma/PTSD
• Grief/loss
• Addiction
• Eating disorders
• Anger
• Bipolar disorder
• Coping skills
• Stress
• Life transitions
• Postpartum/pregnancy
• Sexual abuse/issues
• Self-esteem
• Sleep/insomnia

For people looking for faith-based counseling through the BetterHelp platform, the company owns a companion site called Faithful Counseling.

Please note: To support the operation of this website, we are an affiliate with Faithful Counseling. If you purchase products or services through the links provided, we may receive commission at no extra cost to you.

The platform was launched as a means to deliver professional mental health therapy from a biblical perspective using licensed therapists.

Resources to Support Therapy

BetterHelp

BetterHelp offers many resources that members can explore between sessions.

First, BetterHelp simply has one of the best apps out there.

Here’s a glance at the features:

• Live chat, phone or video sessions during booked times that launch easily.
• A top-notch journaling feature to record your thoughts.
• Ability to message your therapist at anytime.

Therapists on the app might also share their worksheets, video content, and other resources with patients.

Thriveworks

Thriveworks offers a free mental health app called Therapy Buddy.

This clean, simple app provides critical features to enhance your therapy experience.

While it doesn’t have much content, the app links directly to Thriveworks’s info-rich blog. You can also directly reach Thriveworks’s contact form and phone line through the app.

The app’s most impressive feature is its ability to record your session with password protection.

You can also write notes for each session, create a homework assignment, or list things to discuss at your upcoming session.

You can even set alerts to be reminded of your next session.

BetterHelp vs Thriveworks: Reviews

BetterHelp is the darling of the Apple App Store.

With a 4.8-star rating from over 100,000 reviews, the platform earns praise for offering such an easy, supportive system. BetterHelp’s score in the Google Play Store is 4.6 stars. It also managed to pull in 4.5 stars on Trustpilot.

BetterHelp has also been ranked among the best online mental health providers by Forbes, Healthline, and many more publications.

Thrivework’s Therapy Buddy app has a 3.3 rating in the Google Play Store which is underwhelming. Its 2-star rating on Trustpilot is also concerning.

It's important to note that it takes more work to accurately compare the two platforms based on reviews alone because BetterHelp has many more reviews across many different sites than Thriveworks. 

Also, Thriveworks has a very interesting blog post on the challenges facing counsellors in the online review space.

The article does a great job of summarizing why online reviews for mental health professionals can be plagued with negative biases leading to inaccurate brand representations.

Lastly, the Thriveworks website does claim the provider averages a 4.5 rating across more than 10,000 Google reviews, which is very impressive.

Communication Channels

Thriveworks can’t compete with the BetterHelp app.

This all-in-one app offers video, messaging, and live calls. You genuinely feel like you are plugged into your therapy experience.

The Thriveworks Thrive Buddy app is meant to be more of a supplement to your counseling sessions. While it’s nice that it works as a companion for in-person and virtual appointments, it’s not a vehicle for facilitating sessions.

Thriveworks users need to collaborate with their therapists to pick a method for video or calls if they aren’t meeting in person.

Account Setup: BetterHelp vs Thriveworks

Both Thriveworks and BetterHelp make setting up your account reasonably easy.

The big difference is that Thriveworks lets you browse participating therapists in your local area before signing up for your account or providing any payment information.

With BetterHelp, you have to sign up to the paid version of the platform before you’re shown which therapist you’re connected with.

Both platforms require you to opt for a preferred payment method, while only Thriveworks will ask about your insurance information.

BetterHelp’s enrollment process is slightly more intensive because it involves completing a questionnaire which can help match you with a therapist. You’ll also need to provide your credit card or PayPal information just to enroll.

Final Verdict

It’s impossible to deny that BetterHelp is the better fit in most cases.

The reviews alone make it clear that BetterHelp is a platform that has its act together compared to Thriveworks. You get the sense that Thriveworks is still working out the kinks.

BetterHelp makes getting started with therapy easy. Moreover, the subscription-based model allows you to enjoy therapy without anxiety over surprise costs.

You can budget month after month without worrying that your frequency or quality of care will diminish.

To get started with BetterHelp, you can click here to fill in a brief questionnaire.

Online therapy prices starting at $65 per week. Cancel anytime.

It’s worth noting that Thriveworks might be the better option if you want psychiatric services and medication management.

In addition, Thriveworks is the better option if you are devoted to the idea of being able to visit with a therapist in-person.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will either provider offer a free trial?

No – BetterHelp and Thriveworks clarify that no free trials are available, like most online therapy platforms.

However, with BetterHelp, you can claim a 15% discount off your first month by clicking here.

Are refunds available?

BetterHelp may consider refunds for customers who are unhappy with the service they’ve received.

The cancellation policy at Thriveworks is quite lenient—you have 48 hours to cancel your session, otherwise you’ll be billed approximately $135. Contacting customer service at (855) 204-2767 appears to be the best way to open a dispute.

For each provider, what are the cancellation terms?

BetterHelp lets members cancel their subscriptions through their online accounts in just a few steps. With Thriveworks, there’s no need to cancel subscriptions.

Do both providers have global coverage?

You can sign up for BetterHelp from anywhere. While most therapists are based in the United States, the platform accepts members internationally. Thriveworks provides in-person and online care across the United States.

Which insurances are accepted by each provider?

BetterHelp uses a subscription model that does not take insurance.

Thriveworks accepts insurance plans from Blue Cross, Anthem, Optum, United, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and many others. Select Thriveworks providers accept Medicaid.

Does each platform have dedicated customer support?

BetterHelp and Thriveworks provide customer support to help with everything from finding a provider to working out technical issues.

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.

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.