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HelpGuide’s staff surveyed real users and personally tested Talkspace to rate the platform on therapist and psychiatrist quality, affordability, privacy and security, user experience, and effectiveness.
HelpGuide’s staff surveyed real users and personally tested Talkspace to rate the platform on therapist and psychiatrist quality, affordability, privacy and security, user experience, and effectiveness.
We independently test and review all of the services we recommend. When you sign up through our links, we may earn a commission, which helps support our nonprofit mission.
Talkspace is one of the largest online therapy platforms in the United States (it is also available in countries such as Canada and the UK) and offers individual, teen, and couples therapy as well as online psychiatry. The platform accepts insurance from major providers such as Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, Optum, Regence, TRICARE, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, with an average copay of $15-30.
If you’re paying out-of-pocket, a Talkspace subscription starts at $69 per week for a messaging-only therapy plan, although we always recommend online therapy that includes live video sessions, which will cost you $99 per week. Psychiatry is notably more expensive on Talkspace when not using insurance, costing $299 for an initial appointment and then $175 for each follow-up session.
To thoroughly review the platform, we surveyed over 200 real Talkspace users in May and June, 2025 and one of our staff members conducted hands-on testing for one month. Our staff tester attended weekly online therapy sessions and had an initial consultation with a psychiatry provider. Our tester also messaged both providers, contacted customer service, and tried out all the extra features offered on the platform, such as live workshops and assessment and tracking tools.
Both the survey responses from real Talkspace users and HelpGuide’s own testing experiences were largely favorable for both online therapy and online psychiatry. Our staff tester particularly appreciated being able to check his insurance coverage and find out what his co-pay would be before having to create an account. He also noted the high quality of care provided for both therapy and psychiatry. This was reflected in our survey results: 87 percent of users said they were likely to recommend the platform to a friend for therapy, 91 percent for psychiatry. At the end of testing, our staff member felt the process to protect his personal information on Talkspace was effective, but could have been made easier.
Our sessions on Talkspace for both online therapy and online psychiatry were extremely positive. These results were largely mirrored in our surveys of Talkspace therapy and Talkspace psychiatry users. 88 percent of Talkspace therapy users and 86 percent of Talkspace psychiatry users were satisfied or very satisfied with their experiences on the platform.
Our staff tester felt that the first Talkspace therapist he matched with was an excellent fit. He said the therapist “seemed very understanding and empathetic,” and had a good sense of humor which helped put him at ease. 82 percent of the Talkspace users we surveyed also felt that their therapists were empathetic and understanding.
Our tester’s first session lasted for longer than the scheduled hour and went beyond the usual intake questions that he expected in an initial session. He described it as “very productive” and appreciated the therapist’s insights and observations. The therapist offered some helpful CBT techniques and asked our tester to practice them before the next session.
The subsequent sessions continued in an equally productive way. Each session felt quite loose and casual rather than structured and formal, which our tester appreciated. When he messaged his therapist between sessions with questions or updates, he received responses within a few hours.
Our tester would have been happy continuing therapy with his first provider, but as part of testing, he went through the process of changing therapists. Only 23 percent of the Talkspace users we surveyed tried to switch therapists and of those, the vast majority felt it was an easy process. Our tester felt the same. When switching, you can keep or revise the preferences you selected during the sign-up process(you can choose a different gender of therapist or one who specializes in a different condition, for example). Then you’re provided a list of new therapists to choose from (in our tester’s case, he was given five options).
86 percent of our survey respondents would use Talkspace again, and only two percent reported that they were less than satisfied with the quality of therapy. 77 percent felt they’d made real progress towards their personal goals. “I have better coping skills and less anxiety,” reported one Talkspace user. “I feel more aware of my feelings and how to help myself,” said another.
While our tester’s insurance check for online therapy took just moments to approve, it was a more complicated process when signing up for online psychiatry. Despite being covered for online psychiatry, Talkspace was unable to verify his insurance, even after he submitted his insurance card and ID. Rather than delay further, he chose to pay out of pocket instead.
As with therapy, our tester was quickly matched with a psychiatry provider (this time, within just two hours). His provider was a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) and her earliest appointment available was over a week away. This long wait for an appointment wasn’t reflected in our survey of Talkspace psychiatry users. 71 percent of respondents were able to make their first appointment within three days, 93 percent within six days. And it should be noted that when scheduling in-person psychiatry, wait times are often much longer.
Our tester was impressed by his psychiatric provider, describing her as empathetic and understanding, easy to talk to, and “reassuringly thorough” in her assessment. The initial appointment included a crisis screening as well as a detailed assessment of symptoms and our tester’s medical history. “I appreciated how cautious my provider was about prescribing medication unnecessarily,” he reported. The nurse practitioner thought his symptoms might be due to an underlying physical health issue, so she recommended he get blood work done to start with. Again, our tester found this reassuring: ruling out underlying causes rather than simply prescribing medication seemed a responsible first step.
While initial psychiatry appointments on Talkspace are scheduled for 60 minutes, our tester’s provider managed to cover everything in about half that time, without making him feel rushed in any way. At the end of the appointment, the nurse practitioner initially wanted to schedule a follow-up appointment in three weeks. However, once she realized he was paying out of pocket, she pushed that to four weeks to help him manage the expense—another thoughtful touch he appreciated.
Talkspace users we surveyed had similarly positive experiences with their providers and the quality of psychiatric care. 84 percent of psychiatry users reported making real progress towards their goals. “I felt heard and validated throughout my entire Talkspace experience,” said one of the users we surveyed.” Talkspace felt like a modern, flexible way to get psychiatric care,” said another.
Talkspace allows you to pay for mental health care with or without insurance. When paying out-of-pocket for therapy, both our testing and user feedback found that Talkspace delivered good value. The cost of out-of-pocket psychiatry, however, was on the higher end, although the users we surveyed still felt it was good value for the quality of care they received.
| Talkspace cost | Average competitor cost | Average in-person cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Therapy, out-of-pocket | $69 – 109 | $60-200+ | $100-200+ |
| Therapy, with Insurance | $15-30 average copay | $0-50 average copay | $0-50 average copay |
| Psychiatry, out-of-pocket | $299 initial appointment, $175 per follow-up | $95-299 initial appointment, $95-200 per follow up | $150-700+ for initial appointment, $150-400 per follow-up |
| Psychiatry, with Insurance | $15-30 average copay | $0-50 average copay | $0-50 average copay |
These aspects of Talkspace stood out the most for us:
Quick insurance check. Talkspace accepts most major insurance plans and allows you to check your insurance coverage and find out what your co-pay will be without having to create an account (most other platforms require you to create an account first). This alone makes it worth checking Talkspace when shopping around for online therapy using your health benefits.
Intuitive matching process. Being matched with a provider isn’t for everyone. Some users prefer to choose from a list of available therapists or psychiatrists, where they can research and compare providers’ qualifications and backgrounds. Others find that being matched can be a good way to get started quickly. As it is, both our staff tester and our survey respondents were overwhelmingly pleased with the providers they were initially matched with. Only 23 percent of Talkspace therapy users and 20 percent of Talkspace psychiatry users felt the need to switch providers. If your provider isn’t a good match, switching is simple—83 percent of therapy users and 90 percent of psychiatry users who switched thought it was an easy or very easy process. When switching, the platform generates a list of suitable providers for you to choose from.
High-quality care. Both our hands-on testing and our survey responses revealed widespread satisfaction with the level of care offered on Talkspace, as well as the wide selection of therapists and psychiatry providers. Our staff tester was impressed with the thoroughness and effectiveness of all his providers on the platform. Similarly, 92 percent of users rated the experiences with their therapists highly or very highly. 86 percent of psychiatry users on the platform reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the medication management and psychiatric care they received from Talkspace.
Based on our testing and user feedback, we feel Talkspace could improve in the following areas:
Self-pay cost of psychiatry. If you’re on a budget and paying out of pocket for psychiatric care, Talkspace may not be the ideal choice. Its self-pay costs for psychiatry and medication management services are at the high end of the platforms we reviewed. That said, most (85 percent) of the Talkspace psychiatry users we surveyed considered the platform to be a good or very good value.
The length of the questionnaires. Our hands-on testing and user feedback differed on this point. Our tester and 80 percent of the Talksspace users we surveyed completed the sign-up process in under 20 minutes. Still, 33 percent of our survey respondents felt the intake questionnaire was too long and 34 percent found some of the questions unclear. Our staff tester disagreed. He felt the detail of the questionnaires and crisis screeners was necessary for a reliable provider match. But if you’re someone easily frustrated by answering questions, a platform where you simply select a provider from a list may be a better fit.
Ease of deleting your personal information. In the U.S., your personal health information is protected under HIPAA and Talkspace clearly states on its website that it “will not share or disclose your personal information to anyone.” However, once you’ve finished treatment, you can ask for the platform to delete from its records all the information you’ve disclosed in questionnaires and to your providers. You can also request that your data is similarly deleted. To achieve this, our tester had to contact customer support and fill out various forms, a process that he felt could’ve been made simpler. Some other platforms require just a single email to achieve the same thing. That said, the majority of the users we surveyed (79 percent) felt confident or very confident that Talkspace would protect their personal information.
We selected Talkspace as one of our top picks for Best Online Therapy Platforms, Best Online Therapy Platforms that Take Insurance, Best Online Psychiatrist Platforms, and Best Online Couples Therapy Platforms. The platform has consistently received high marks from HelpGuide testers and survey respondents for both its therapy and psychiatry services.
If you’re using insurance to pay for online mental health care, Talkspace is worth considering for its wide selection of providers and overall quality of care. Talkspace’s out-of-pocket fees for therapy are also competitive. However, if you’re looking to self-pay for psychiatry, you may be able to find better value elsewhere.
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