SonderMind vs Headway: Online Therapy Comparison 2023

With telehealth being relatively new and experimental, it can be challenging for a person to commit to a subscription before actually trying it out.

What if you don’t have to subscribe?

SonderMind and Headway are two platforms people approach to connect with online therapy resources that don’t require a subscription commitment.

Neither service requires a monthly fee or commitment to open an account.

After putting both providers under the magnifying glass, we found quite a range of impressive perks and features.

However, both platforms share the same downfall: very poor customer reviews across platforms such as Trustpilot, with each provider averaging less than 2 out of 5 star ratings.

Our Top Pick: BetterHelp is our recommended top online therapy provider for 2023.

• Prices starting at $65/week

• Can be matched within 48 hours with a licensed therapist.

• Video, live chat and audio calls with your therapist.

• One of the top-rated therapy platforms averaging 4.8 out of 5 across thousands of user reviews.

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

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

SonderMind vs. Headway: How Do They Differ?

SonderMind is a full-service therapy platform and app that matches you with an in-house therapist based on your symptoms, demographics and preferences.

Headway, on the other hand, is a directory with a variety of filters that help search for specific third-party therapists based on the requirements selected.

Both platforms accept insurance. However only Headway lists insurance as a mandatory condition of signing up.

Further differences are detailed below.

Features	SonderMind	Headway
Cost	SonderMind sessions average $50 to $180 for users going through insurance. Without insurance, the average cost is approximately $85 per session.	While costs vary based on your insurance and treatment approach, average prices per session range from $20 to $50.
Services provided	Individual, couples, and family online talk therapy and psychiatric services.	This directory service connects clients with mental health professionals who accept insurance for virtual and in-person sessions.
Reviews	SonderMind averages just 1.7 stars on Trustpilot.	Headway averages just 1.8 stars on Trustpilot.
Insurance accepted?	Yes.	Yes. Only insured individuals can use this service.
Ways to contact therapist	In-app audio, video, and messaging for users opting not to use in-person therapy.	Online sessions are conducted via third-party video apps for users opting not to use in-person therapy.
Phone app?	Yes	No
Payment Method	Credit card or Apple Pay.	Bank account or credit card.
Link to provider website	Click here to access SonderMind.	Click here to access Headway.

SonderMind Therapy

SonderMind is a hybrid online therapy platform connecting individuals with licensed mental health professionals online and in person.

While the platform accepts insurance, having insurance to use services is optional.

SonderMind was founded in 2014, making it one of the oldest names in the virtual therapy space, along with the likes of Open Path Collective, BetterHelp and Amwell Therapy.

Once you complete a short questionnaire, SonderMind matches you with a licensed mental healthcare professional based on location, availability, specialty, treatment approach, and insurance.

Headway Therapy

Founded in 2018, Headway’s approach to connecting therapists and clients means it acts more like a directory service than an online therapy platform.

The benefit of connecting with a therapist via Headway is that the platform has already-vetted professionals who accept insurance.

Headway’s CEO has stated that many therapists on the platform don’t accept insurance anywhere else.

Headway also claims to help users save up to 75% on sessions booked through the platform. While therapy appointments booked through Headway may incur costs, this platform is free.

Ultimately, it can be tough to say if Headway offers any benefit over just asking your insurance company for a referral.

BetterHelp is our top pick for online therapy providers in 2023.

The platform has over 30,000 licensed therapists and is a top-rated therapy provider averaging 4.8 out of 5 across thousands of user reviews.

Prices starting at $65/week. To get started with BetterHelp online therapy, click here to fill in their brief questionnaire.

SonderMind vs. Headway: Pricing

Unlike most online therapy platforms, SonderMind and Headway don’t charge monthly user fees.

However, both providers do have a few distinct differences from a pricing and billing perspective, which we’ve outlined below.

SonderMind

When using insurance with SonderMind, each claim is submitted to the insurance plan listed on your account. An invoice is then sent based on the responsibility determined by your insurance plan.

SonderMind also states that it offers affordable rates for users without insurance.

According to its website, SonderMind places the average cost per hour to see a licensed therapist at $85 without insurance.

The platform allows users to enter their insurance details before booking appointments to get a price estimate.

Users must adhere to SonderMind's 24-hour cancellation policy to avoid being billed at the self-pay rate for missed appointments not covered by insurance.

Headway

Headway places the average cost per therapy session at $20 to $50.

The platform allows users to enter their insurance details before booking appointments to get an estimated quote on the expected cost.

Location, session length, your insurance plan, and your therapist’s training all go into the formula for determining your session rate.

While Headway doesn't publicly post its cancellation policy, the fine print on the client registration form states that a charge of $75 will be applied to your account for all appointments missed or canceled with less than 24 business hours of notice.

Overall best for price

Both SonderMind and Headway are tied at $0 for monthly fees.

While that’s great news for someone who wants to avoid getting caught up in a subscription, competing online therapy platforms that charge monthly fees are rated much better than SonderMind and Headway.

Overall, comparing pricing on these options is hard because payment will come down to location, insurance, and the provider you match.

However, unlike Headway, SonderMind does cater to uninsured people by providing special rates that average $85 per session.

For this reason, we'd place SonderMind above Headway when it comes to affordability as it can be cost-effective for both insured and uninsured people.

Services

SonderMind

SonderMind is the full-service pick of the two.

The platform has completed more than 1.5 million sessions with help from more than 2,500 active therapists since launching in 2014.

SonderMind users have an all-in-one platform for booking, messaging, and conducting sessions.

In some ways, this all-in-one strategy makes SonderMind similar to BetterHelp, Talkspace, and other popular online therapy providers.

Using a mix of counseling and psychiatric support, SonderMind users can enter into targeted medicated and non-medicated treatment plans for a wide variety of conditions and concerns that may include:

• General mental health support
• Bipolar disorder
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Trauma processing
• Stress
• Fear of public speaking
• Social anxiety
• Much more

While SonderMind has a vast network of providers, in-person therapy is currently only offered to clients in the following 16 states:

• Arizona
• Colorado
• District of Columbia
• Georgia
• Indiana
• Kentucky
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• Ohio
• Texas
• Vermont
• Virginia

Online therapy resources are open to users in all states.

Headway

Headway outdoes SonderMind based strictly on network size by offering access to more than 20,000 licensed practitioners, including psychiatrists, counselors, social workers, and psychiatric nurse practitioners.

However, the list of states where Headway is available for in-person sessions is just as thin as SonderMind’s list.

Here’s where Headway therapists operate:

• Ohio
• Washington
• Virginia
• Texas
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• North Carolina
• New York
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Maryland
• Colorado
• California
• Florida
• Massachusetts
• District of Columbia

Like SonderMind providers, Headway has providers that can offer psychiatric treatment that includes medications.

Users can connect to providers specializing in the treatment of, among others:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Trauma
• Family issues
• Marital problems
• Stress
• Grief
• Women’s issues
• Relationships difficulties
• Anger management
• PTSD
• Bipolar disorder.

Headway and SonderMind offer access to couples, marriage, and family counselors.

SonderMind vs. Headway: Matching With Your Therapist

Details	SonderMind	Headway
Medication management?	Yes.	Yes.
Mental health professionals licensed?	Yes.	Yes.
Able to choose therapist?	Yes, you can choose from matched therapists.	Yes, choose from a wide range of professionals.
Frequency and duration of therapy sessions?	Choose the number of sessions you’d like per week. Each therapy session is between 30–60 minutes long.	Tailored to private therapist and client preferences.
How long until you’re matched with your therapist?	Matched within 1-3 days.	Matched within 2-6 days.
Able to change therapists?	Yes	Yes

After completing some initial forms providing information that helps the SonderMind team to match users with therapists, a match is generally made within 24 to 72 hours.

A first session is usually booked within a week.

Headway’s approach creates a little more hands-on experience for the user. Once you’ve shared information about your location and insurance plan, Headway lists practitioners fitting your criteria.

The difference between Headway’s approach and simply looking online for a therapist on your own is that the platform uses high-tech filters to selectively match you with providers likely to be compatible with your needs.

You don’t have to independently explore their qualifications, specialties, or insurance acceptance.

BetterHelp is our top pick for online therapy providers in 2023.

The platform has over 30,000 licensed therapists and is a top-rated therapy provider averaging 4.8 out of 5 across thousands of user reviews.

Prices starting at $65/week. To get started with BetterHelp online therapy, click here to fill in their brief questionnaire.

Setup, Communication, and Resources

Getting started with both plans can be very simple as long as you take the time to answer all the registration form questions accurately and honestly.

The most significant difference with communication is that SonderMind will sometimes provide you with support on billing disputes.

For instance, you can open a case if your bill is $400 more than the Good Faith Estimate provided to you when you set up an appointment.

Because Headway acts as a middle person between users and their insurance companies, the platform is much more selective when supporting billing disputes.

On the plus side, Headway does have quite a rich knowledge base of informational articles to assist with customer support.

The provider itself however does not host therapy appointments.

When not meeting with therapists in person, users will need to choose from one of these three third-party apps for online meetings:

• Doxy.me
• Zoom
• Google Workspace

While users may like the freedom of Headway’s self-search directory that allows access to provider information without a gatekeeper, they may not like the fact that there’s no app where they can manage everything in one place.

SonderMind’s app resources and features can be described as underwhelming.

While it’s nice that users can conduct their appointments using the app’s video or audio features, the user lacks resources that support them through their therapy journey.

That means no personal journals, goal charts and personalized worksheets.

While SonderMind has a help center, its reach is minimal. We’ll discuss that more when covering SonderMind and Headway user reviews.

Headway and SonderMind Reviews

Here’s where things get dicey for both platforms.

SonderMind

SonderMind manages to average just 1.7 stars on Trustpilot. When doing a deep dive into the reviews, it’s clear that the dissatisfaction’s focus is billing and customer service.

Users do appear to be pleased with the therapists they’ve worked with on the whole.

However, they do mention regretting the day they ever provided their payment information to the app, which is very concerning.

One reviewer described SonderMind as "a browser video chat and a payment processor." 

Overall, complaints seem focused on being billed several times for the same appointments.

Users also have a hard time getting reimbursed after billing errors are spotted. Many users also report that it’s impossible to get ahold of customer services to resolve issues.

While reviews of the SonderMind app itself aren’t quite as harsh, many people find the technology incredibly basic.

The consensus is that the services provided don’t offer anything they couldn’t achieve by simply chatting with a therapist over Zoom.

Headway

Accumulating just 1.8 stars on Trustpilot, Headway isn’t a much stronger contender than SonderMind regarding customer experience.

The big differentiator is that poor reviews of Headway concern dissatisfaction over provider interactions and frustrating billing practices.

Several Headway users reported that they found out they were on the hook for the cost of therapy sessions after being assured by Headway that their insurance would cover the cost of the sessions.

Headway also earns harsh criticism due to its lack of customer support. Many users found it impossible to reach customer service representatives.

Final Verdict

Both Headway and SonderMind have their advantages and disadvantages.

The platform that is right for you will depend on your specific needs.

We hope this in-depth review provides you with the information you need to make an informed decision.

BetterHelp is our top pick for online therapy providers in 2023.

The platform has over 30,000 licensed therapists and is a top-rated therapy platform averaging 4.8 out of 5 across thousands of user reviews.

Prices starting at $65/week. To get started with BetterHelp online therapy, click here to fill in their brief questionnaire.

Frequently Asked Questions

What insurance does SonderMind accept?

SonderMind currently accepts insurance plans offered through the following carriers:

• Aetna
• Anthem
• Ascension Personalized Care
• Blue Cross Blue Shield
• CareFirst
• Signa
• Friday
• Kaiser Permanente
• Medical Mutual
• Medicare
• Optum
• Oscar
• United Healthcare

What insurance does Headway accept?

Headway is in the process of expanding its insurance partners. The platform currently accepts plans through:

• Aetna
• Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
• United
• Cigna
• Oscar
• Oxford Insurance.

Can you cancel your accounts with SonderMind and Headway?

Both options allow you to close your account at any time. Because you aren’t paying a membership fee, you don’t have to worry about being billed.

However, you will still be responsible for any therapy fees incurred while your account was active.

If you want to disable your SonderMind account, you cannot do it through the app. SonderMind requires you to contact customer support to confirm your identity when canceling.

What customer support is offered?

Very little, it seems. While both offer customer care centers open during weekday business hours, users find contacting a representative challenging.

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.