I Tried BetterHelp and Talkspace — Here’s the Pros and Cons of Each

Read on to find out how my experience went at both companies — and which one I preferred.

Signing up for both platforms is easy. Both websites are intuitive, simple to use, and provide guidance every step of the way.

The most significant difference between the two is how much lengthier BetterHelp’s intake questionnaire is than Talkspace’s. Completing the process for BetterHelp took me about 30 minutes, whereas the intake at Talkspace barely took me 10 minutes.

Both platforms asked similar questions about my gender identity, mental health history, why I was seeking therapy, and my preferences for a provider, including if I preferred someone who was a member of the LGBTQ community or a certain religious tradition. Both platforms also wanted to know whether I had been experiencing any suicidal ideation or desire to hurt myself or others, which would have made the service unsuitable. In those cases, reaching out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or going to your nearest emergency room is recommended.

However, after these questions, BetterHelp’s questionnaire went on to include more detailed questions that Talkspace did not ask, such as questions about my family history, financial status, employment, and whether I was struggling with aspects of my identity.

Typically, both BetterHelp and Talkspace funnel you through the therapist-matching process: using an algorithm to match you with a therapist based on your intake questionnaire responses. But you can also request a specific therapist if you veer off the standard sign-up page. At BetterHelp, you’ll need to approach the sign-up process via the therapist directory in order to choose your own therapist. The same is true at Talkspace: peruse the therapist directory for providers licensed in your state and request to book an appointment.

At both places, the companies say the matching process can take 48 hours, but I found it happens way faster: I was matched with my Talkspace therapist within just 10 minutes, and within a day and a half at BetterHelp. I personally liked being matched with a therapist: I find it overwhelming to wade through a long list of therapist bios to try to figure out who can help me. It also helped me avoid the long back-and-forth of having to confirm my chosen therapist was actually taking on new clients; this is not a guarantee on online therapy directories like Headway or Alma.

Of course, it also helped that my therapist matches seemed to be decent fits at both BetterHelp and Talkspace. My BetterHelp match was a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT specializing in anxiety and depression, and my (first) Talkspace match was a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). Had I been unhappy with my matches, both platforms do make it pretty easy to request a switch, which is reassuring — and at Talkspace, I ended up actually doing that after my first session, but more on that below.

Overall, my experience with both platforms was positive, but there were some significant differences.

Talkspace

For example, after explaining the stress I experienced as a mother of three, including having a child with autism, my therapist suggested mindfulness strategies and support groups. These can be great resources but didn’t feel particularly targeted to me and my specific challenges. Because I didn’t feel a strong connection with my first therapist match at Talkspace, I ended up switching therapists, which was easy to do through my patient portal.

My second therapist utilized the messaging tool a lot more before our first session. We messaged for several days before scheduling a session, which allowed us to get to know each other more.

I opened up about my mental health history and what I wanted to work on in therapy, including dealing with the stress of parenting and improving my self-esteem. My therapist responded quickly (within 24 hours, often much sooner) and provided enough detail and context to address my questions. Messaging with my therapist felt more like instant messaging than emailing, and it was easy to scroll through our conversation online or on my phone. When we did meet for a video session, I felt our time was more productive because we had discussed so much ahead of time over messaging.

I also discussed my concerns with the length of the sessions with my therapist, who recognized this could be a challenge. She offered to conduct two in a row with me for a full hour of therapy. However, my subscription with Talkspace only included four sessions a month, so I decided to stick with the regular schedule and continue with a half-hour session a week.

BetterHelp

At BetterHelp, my sessions were 45 minutes long. An extra 15 minutes may not seem like much, but it can make a big difference, especially when you’re just getting to know your therapist. Having been in and out of therapy for years, I also was more accustomed to 45- to 50-minute sessions, so BetterHelp’s longer sessions really appealed to me. It allowed me time and space to think without feeling like I needed to talk rapidly to get my point across.

I also felt more connected to my BetterHelp therapist, who was warm and validating. She dug deeper into why I struggle with my self-esteem and how my perfectionism is a manifestation of my anxiety. Her guidance and insights felt more personal than the advice I received from my Talkspace therapists and helped me start to dismantle some of the negative thought patterns I’ve struggled with for years. While it took some time to get to know her and feel comfortable, I didn’t feel the need to ever switch, which made me wonder if BetterHelp’s longer questionnaire had been more effective at matching me to begin with.

In addition to individual therapy, Talkspace also offers couples therapy, teen therapy, and psychiatry services. However, it’s important to note that psychiatrists on the platform can’t prescribe controlled substances, such as drugs like Adderall used to treat ADHD or Xanax used to treat anxiety.

Talkspace also offers workshops on various mental health topics, like ways to manage stress or get better sleep. These workshops operate in a similar way to online classes or webinars in which users sign up beforehand and then join the video workshop session from their Talkspace user portal.

BetterHelp focuses exclusively on individual counseling on its main platform. If you express interest in psychiatry, teen therapy, or couples therapy during your intake, you’ll be redirected to its sister sites UpLift, Teen Counseling, or ReGain, respectively.

A Note About Teen Therapy

We did have another tester, Olivia Campbell, test Teen Counseling with her teenage son since it is owned and operated by BetterHelp, and she noted that it was very clear that BetterHelp operates Teen Counseling much in the same way as its main platform. Both websites have a near-identical layout and design, aside from a different color scheme and some images, and the subscription prices (which include 4 weekly sessions) at Teen Counseling are the same as BetterHelp’s adult therapy plans.

However, at Teen Counseling, both the parent and caregiver get a separate messaging channel with the therapist from the teen. This allows the teen to message their therapist without the caregiver seeing it, but also offers the caregiver a way to communicate with their child’s therapist if needed.

This is different at Talkspace, however. The same tester, Olivia, tried Talkspace’s teen therapy services, too, and she says that if you sign up for teen therapy services, the caregiver doesn’t get a separate channel because Talkspace assumes that the person who signs up for this service is the teen, not the caregiver for that child. As a result, there is only one user portal, and anyone, teen or caregiver, who logs in can see the full messaging history.

This could be helpful if a teen wants to sign up for therapy without a parent knowing (if they have the money or their insurance information), but many states require caregiver consent for minors to receive treatment. And because many caregivers do sign their teens up for care, she thinks that BetterHelp’s separate caregiver and teen channels are a nice feature at Teen Counseling to ensure teens are more comfortable opening up to their therapist without fear of a parent snooping on what they write.

Both Talkspace and Teen Counseling offer four weekly video or audio therapy sessions and asynchronous messaging, but Teen Counseling stood out to her because it offers live chat therapy sessions. Some teens, including her son, can be more comfortable over chat than a video call.

Rescheduling, pausing, or canceling services was easy to do with both Talkspace and BetterHelp. From my user portal, I could pull up a session I needed to reschedule and pick a new time with my provider. However, for both platforms, this must be done more than 24 hours before the session, or you may be charged the full cost of the session.

Both platforms also allowed me to easily cancel my services in the user portal. I was first asked if I would like to pause my subscription, but I was able to quickly bypass that screen and continue to cancel my subscription.

Overall, my experience with both BetterHelp and Talkspace was positive, and I would recommend either platform to those interested in trying online therapy. Both platforms were easy to use, and both delivered on their promise to provide accessible virtual care without a long wait time. And I personally had productive sessions with both BetterHelp and Talkspace therapists.

That said, I felt that BetterHelp’s more thorough intake process provided a better therapist match for me than Talkspace. I also preferred BetterHelp’s 45-minute sessions over Talkspace’s 30-minute sessions. Thirty minutes is hardly enough time to dive into any issue with any depth, which is why it might not be suited for people experiencing more moderate to severe depression — even if it offers psychiatric medication as an add-on. While all the therapists I interacted with on both platforms were kind and affirming, I got the most out of my sessions with BetterHelp and felt more connected with my therapist there. So if I had to pick just one, I might be more inclined to stick with BetterHelp.

Everyday Health Group is testing more than 65 different online therapy companies, and we value providing insight into services and products that can enhance your quality of life. We test each company the same way: by doing reporting to vet the company and its business practices, by interviewing and speaking with a dozen different licensed therapists, by surveying real online therapy users, and by testing each service with professional journalists and/or therapists. We’ve also surveyed thousands of therapy users and consulted with multiple licensed therapists and psychiatrists as part of our research. Read more about our Online Therapy Testing Methodology.

I’m a health and wellness writer with over 10 years of combined experience in health writing and health care advocacy. As part of my review, I tested and reported on:

• The sign-up and intake process
• Therapist qualifications
• The platform itself and if I experienced any technical issues
• Switching therapists
• The cancellation process