6 Best Online Psychiatrist Services for Mental Health Support in 2024

• Monthly plans with therapy, psychiatry, or both.
• Message your providers anytime.
• Self-paced lessons.
• Anxiety and depression symptom tracker.
• Accepts insurance, including Medicare and certain Medicaid plans.

• Psychiatry: $95 per month.
• Therapy: $299 per month.
• Psychiatry + therapy: $349 per month.

Brightside Health (Brightside) is a comprehensive mental health care platform offering monthly subscription plans for online psychiatry and therapy sessions. It has an easy-to-use app with valuable features such as self-paced lessons, a symptom tracker, and a messaging system to keep in touch with your provider.

Insights from our testers

Most psychiatry platforms simply connect you with a provider for virtual sessions. Brightside stands out as one of the few platforms offering additional helpful features and learning resources. Brightside users have access to self-guided mental health resources called Self-Care Lessons based on the Unified Protocol, an approach that has been shown in studies to be effective for a wide range of mental health concerns, including agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Additionally, Brightside shares helpful data and research around its methodology and results.

Our tester had good things to say about the Brightside app, which made it easy to manage their appointments and see their progress. Brightside’s symptom tracker assesses users’ anxiety and depression symptoms every two weeks, a helpful tool to keep track of long-term progress.

We liked that the platform integrates therapy and psychiatry in approaching mental health care. Brightside’s Psychiatry + Therapy plan gives you four monthly sessions with a licensed therapist in addition to your initial psychiatric video evaluation and ongoing care. You can message your psychiatry clinician at any time or schedule follow-up visits as-needed to discuss your prescription. Our tester found that the messaging feature between users and providers made switching between providers seamless, which can be a plus in coordinating your care between a psychiatrist and a therapist.

After spending hours comparing it to other online psychiatry platforms, we found Brightside to be the best. Not only does Brightside offer both therapy and psychiatry, but it also includes valuable services and features. A Brightside subscription for psychiatry is relatively affordable, starting at $95 monthly. Finally, we liked that Brightside accepts insurance (including Medicare Part B, some Medicare Advantage plans, and certain Medicaid plans), one of the biggest factors that can help make psychiatric care more affordable.

To learn more, read our Brightside review.

Brightside clinicians can prescribe certain common antidepressant and anxiety medications, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Brightside lists all of the medications its clinicians can prescribe on their website.

Providers on Brightside cannot prescribe controlled substances, including benzodiazepines for anxiety, like Xanax, Klonopin, and Ativan, or stimulants for ADHD, like Adderall or Ritalin. If it is determined that these types of medications should be part of your treatment, it may be best to see a psychiatrist in person for an evaluation, especially because some of these drugs require lab work and ongoing monitoring.

Brightside provides care for people 18 and older in all 50 states. The platform states that it’s not a good fit for people who struggle with:

• Ongoing, high-risk self-harm.
• Schizophrenia or symptoms of psychosis.
• Bipolar disorder I or acute mania.
• Severe substance abuse.
• Medically unstable eating disorders.
• Kidney or liver disease, seizures, or cardiac arrhythmias.

Again, Brightside clinicians do not prescribe controlled substances.

• Pay-per-session online psychiatry sessions.
• Keep track of your short-term and long-term goals.
• Check coverage before signing up.
• Accepts insurance.

• Initial evaluation: $299.
• Follow-up visits: $175 per session.
• Initial evaluation and one follow-up visit bundle: $435.
• Initial evaluation and three follow-up visits bundle: $725.
• Three follow-up visits bundle: $475 ($158.33 per session).
• Six follow-up visits bundle: $890 ($148.33 per session).
• Nine follow-up visits bundle: $1,260 ($140 per session).

Talkspace’s pay-per-session online psychiatry sessions and in-network providers can make psychiatric care more affordable. Talkspace accepts major insurance plans, and users can easily check their coverage before signing up.

Insights from our testers

Similar to Brightside, Talkspace also offers online therapy and psychiatry. One key difference we liked about Talkspace is that online psychiatry sessions can be booked as needed rather than bundled into a monthly subscription. We found the ability to personalize appointment frequency was important since the timing of follow-up appointments can vary by individual.

Talkspace providers are in-network with major insurance plans such as Cigna, Optum, and Aetna, and the platform allows you to check your coverage without signing up for an account.

We recommend checking your coverage for online psychiatry on Talkspace separately, even if you already use your insurance for its online therapy, as these are sometimes covered differently by insurance plans.

If you’re not using insurance to pay for psychiatry on Talkspace, you can pay for sessions in a bundle, which can reduce the cost of each session from $175 to $140 per session.

On the Talkspace platform, you can expect to have a separate chat room with your psychiatry provider. Unlike Brightside, your chat with your psychiatry provider cannot be shared with your therapist.

Talkspace provides online psychiatry for people 18 and older in all 50 states. The platform states that it supports individuals with common mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, OCD, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ADHD, insomnia, and panic disorder. It does not provide a list of conditions that its providers don’t support.

Talkspace clinicians can prescribe common SSRI and SNRI medications, as well as drugs like Wellbutrin, Buspar, Trazodone, Abilify, Strattera, and “any medication that is not a controlled substance and is deemed medically appropriate by your Talkspace provider,” according to their website.

While Talkspace states that it can support individuals with ADHD, Talkspace psychiatry providers do not prescribe controlled substances, such as stimulant medications (e.g. Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, Vyvanse) and sedatives (e.g. Xanax, Valium, Klonopin). Stimulant medications are often the first-line treatment for ADHD, so know that Talkspace psychiatry may not be able to offer you all the treatment options for your condition.

• Pay-per-session online psychiatry sessions.
• Same-day appointments available.
• Easy sign-up process.
• Medication delivery available.

• Session rates vary by provider and location.

Sesame Care (Sesame) has an easy-to-use platform for booking psychiatry sessions. You can easily browse provider profiles, see their availability, and compare visit fees. Provider availability varies by location, but some have same-day and next-day appointments. Sesame doesn’t take insurance, but it does offer the option for medication delivery, and many common psychiatric medications are on its “$5 meds” list.

Insights from our testers

Researchers have found the median wait time for an online psychiatry appointment was 43 days (and for in-person appointments, the wait time was even longer—67 days). Sesame has a simple provider search that shows providers’ earliest availability, and when we tested the platform, it had same-day appointments with psychiatry providers in our state.

In January of 2024, we searched for online psychiatry appointments in Texas, the state with the worst access to mental health care, according to Mental Health America. We were happy to find that out of 38 Sesame providers in Texas, more than half (53 percent) had same-day availability. We also found the cost per session can vary by provider and location. Appointment costs ranged from $42–$385. The upfront information on Sesame’s platform can help you get online psychiatric care quickly and you will know exactly what you will pay without going through insurance verification or committing to a monthly subscription.

Although getting started with Sesame is easy, you may not have a lot of choices in providers, depending on the state you live in. We only found one psychiatry provider available in Alabama, a state with the second-poorest access to mental health care. The provider did have an appointment within 48 hours of our search, but we would have liked to see more choices.

We liked that Sesame was an option for affordable medication management as well. Sesame providers have the option to send your prescription through SesameRx, which is the platform’s medication delivery service. We learned that SesameRx offers certain generic medications for $5 per 30-day supply, plus a $5.99 shipping and processing fee. Users may find their medication more affordable through Sesame than some prescription medication co-pays.

Sesame provider availability can vary by state, and the scope of practice for each online psychiatry provider on Sesame varies as well. Users browsing Sesame provider profiles can check for any patient age restrictions under the Service Details section. According to the platform’s customer service, if your condition or concern is outside the scope of a Sesame provider, the provider will decline your appointment request, and the platform will refund your visit fee.

Online psychiatry providers on Sesame do not prescribe controlled substances or narcotic medications.

• Message your providers anytime.
• Consultation costs included with medication costs.
• Medication delivery available.
• Pay-per-session therapy sessions available.

• Three-month supply: $147 billed every three months ($49 per month).
• Six-month supply: $234 billed every six months ($39 per month).
• 12-month supply: $348 billed every 12 months ($29 per month).
• Therapy sessions: $99 per session.

Hims and Hers are telehealth platforms for men’s and women’s health. If you don’t have insurance coverage for psychiatry sessions or prescription medications, Hims or Hers can be an affordable therapy option for certain medications since their medication costs include consultations. The platforms currently only offer eight mental health prescription medications. You can message your psychiatry providers anytime on the platform, but if you’re starting a new medication or have a more complex health history, you might benefit more from a full psychiatric evaluation in person before using a site like this for your care.

Insights from our testers

Telehealth platforms like Hims and Hers can be a convenient option for certain people who already receive medication therapy as part of their mental health care. Hims and Hers can only prescribe a limited number of mental health medications, including several common antianxiety and antidepressant prescriptions. They offer a medication delivery service, or you can have the prescription sent to a pharmacy near you. Hims and Hers may not be appropriate if you need treatment for more complex mental health conditions, like bipolar disorder or treatment-resistant depression, or if you need medication that they do not prescribe.

After signing up for an account, Hims and Hers ask you to complete a mental health assessment for a provider to review. In states that require it, you’ll have a live call (video or phone) with a psychiatry provider.

Even though consultations are free, we didn’t like entering our payment information and committing to a medication subscription without knowing which medication or dosage was most appropriate for our case, if at all. However, the platform states that it won’t charge you unless you’re prescribed medication. Subscriptions come in three-, six-, or 12-month supplies; delivery is free.

Unfortunately, Hims and Hers don’t provide one-month supplies and they might not be the right choice if you have never been prescribed medication for your mental health before. When starting a new medication, you might want to start at a low dose and slowly increase the amount over time to see how the medication affects you, and a three-month supply could be more than you need.

The mental health medications they can prescribe and deliver are limited to the following:

• Bupropion XL (generic Wellbutrin XL).
• Buspirone (generic Buspar).
• Citalopram (generic Celexa).
• Duloxetine (generic Cymbalta).
• Escitalopram (generic Lexapro).
• Fluoxetine (generic Prozac).
• Sertraline (generic Zoloft).
• Venlafaxine (generic Effexor).

Ryan Sultán, psychiatrist and assistant professor at Columbia University, shares that online platforms that prescribe medications based on health assessments can be suitable and convenient for straightforward cases with clear symptoms. However, in complex cases involving severe mental disorders, comorbid conditions, or unclear diagnoses, patients benefit from a more thorough psychiatric intake. “In-person assessments allow for a more nuanced understanding of the patient’s condition, essential for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning,” he says.

So, if you’re looking for a more comprehensive workup, access to a wider variety of medications, or are new to medication therapy, it may be better to seek an in-person consultation with a psychiatry provider.

Psychiatrists like Dr. Sultán may use medication as one tool among many, not a standalone solution. We like that Hims and Hers also offer online therapy sessions ($99 each) to support medication therapy. There’s no subscription for these sessions, but you can purchase them as you need or in a bundle of four sessions.

You must be 18 years old to get online psychiatry services on Hims/Hers.

The platform has providers in all 50 states, however, what the providers treat and the treatments offered on Hims/Hers may be limited. Providers on Hims/Hers treat depression and anxiety disorders, and they do not treat other mental health conditions such as:

• PTSD
• Eating disorders
• OCD
• Bipolar disorder

• Pay-per-session online psychiatry sessions.
• See provider appointment availability, insurance coverage, and patient reviews.
• Same-day appointments available.
• Search for providers using 13 category filters.

• Session rates vary by provider and location.

Zocdoc is a provider directory with features to help you find a provider to suit your unique needs. You can filter virtual psychiatry providers by insurance plan, patient age, and therapist identity. Unlike platforms that do the matching, you can choose your provider on Zocdoc based on the information from their profiles. There, you can see provider biographies, training, and availability.

Insights from our testers

Of all the sites we reviewed for psychiatry online, Zocdoc is the best for finding providers that meet specific criteria. You can refine your search for an online psychiatry consultation by 13 different filters, including availability, provider identity, languages spoken, and different treatment approaches.

Like Sesame, we also found some providers on Zocdoc offering same-day virtual psychiatric appointments. Unlike Sesame, however, we found there were typically more providers available on Zocdoc. For example, compared to the 38 psychiatry providers in Texas on Sesame, Zocdoc lists 513 providers, most of whom also take insurance.

Additionally, you can filter providers by their treatment approaches. For example, we could find those who specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a treatment approach that encourages change in unhelpful thinking or behavior patterns.

Finally, the provider profiles on Zocdoc make it easy for users to see patient reviews, which is helpful if you want to know how the provider delivers care. Ratings are divided into overall rating, wait time, and bedside manner, and patients can include comments about their experience.

The medications available from prescribers on Zocdoc vary by each individual provider, based on their location and practice. Users can check their online psychiatry provider’s profiles to understand the population (“Clientele seen” section) and conditions (“Focus areas” section) they treat.

Users can also search for providers on Zocdoc offering in-person psychiatry visits.

• Pay-per-session online psychiatry sessions.
• Treats individuals 10 and older.
• Accepts insurance.
• Does not prescribe medications for ADHD.
• Cannot provide care for more complex conditions like autism spectrum disorder or substance use disorder.

• Initial evaluation: $284.
• Follow-up visits: $108 per session.

MDLive is a no-frills telehealth platform that offers online care for urgent care, primary care, dermatology, and mental health. Parents can book online psychiatry appointments for adolescents 10 and older. Child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAP) are available on the platform, and we even found providers with same-day availability.

Insights from our testers

Our tester found booking an online psychiatry visit on MDLive was easy. We found providers available after hours, ready to meet the same day. Although out-of-pocket costs per online psychiatry session can be higher than average on MDLive, your visit can be more affordable if you use insurance coverage. You’ll need to sign up for an account and input your insurance information to determine if your MDLive psychiatry visits will be covered by insurance.

MDLive also stands out because it offers treatment for children 10 and older. Parents looking for mental health care for their adolescent or teen (10–17 years old) can create a profile on the platform and book an appointment with a child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) specialist. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, CAPs specialize in diagnosing and treating disorders affecting children, adolescents, and their families.

CAPs can diagnose and treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but MDLive providers do not prescribe stimulant medications for the treatment of ADHD. MDLive also states that it does not provide care for adolescents with moderate to severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who have active psychosis, or who are struggling with substance use.

MDLive is a telehealth platform and isn’t specialized to support only mental health. Although we found the platform easy to navigate and sign up for, it didn’t have extra features or resources supporting mental wellness.

MDLive provides online psychiatry for people 10 and older and in all 50 states. It states that its mental health providers can provide care for conditions such as:

• Addictions.
• Aging and caregiver support.
• Anxiety.
• Bipolar disorder.
• Depression.
• Grief and loss.
• LGBTQ+ support.
• Life changes.
• OCD.
• Panic disorders.
• Parenting support.
• Phobias.
• Relationship issues.
• Stress management
• Trauma and PTSD.

In addition to people with ASD, who experience psychosis, or who are struggling with substance use, MDLive does not provide care for:

• Emergency or crisis situations (suicidal or homicidal thinking, self-harm, or risk of harm to others).
• Any condition or combination of mental health conditions that prohibit the ability to perform normal day-to-day activities.

MDLive online psychiatry providers do not prescribe:

• Stimulants to treat people with ADHD.
• Other controlled substances such as benzodiazepines, used to treat anxiety, and phentermine, used for weight loss.
• Lifestyle medications such as sildenafil (Viagra) for erectile dysfunction.
• Medications intended for intramuscular injections.
• Sleep medications.
• Medications that require regular lab work and monitoring when lab work is not present for review during the appointments.
• Medications that have the potential for abuse, such as pseudoephedrine and some muscle relaxants.
• Medical marijuana.
• Antiviral molnupiravir and other medications used to treat COVID-19, except for Paxlovid.