Tending the chair
Tending the chair
Therapy does not have to cost $150 a session. Below is every free and low-cost route we could verify in the US, Canada and the UK, with the price, who qualifies and the catch on each.
If you are in crisis, cost is not the question today. In the US and Canada, call or text 988. In the UK and Ireland, call Samaritans on 116 123. Both are free, any hour. More numbers on our crisis page.
The cheapest ways to get therapy, roughly from cheapest up: Medicaid, a community mental health clinic or a community health center if you qualify; free sessions through an employer EAP; a university training clinic; Open Path Collective at $40–70 a session; a sliding-scale fee from a private therapist; and group therapy. Online platforms cost about $60–120 a week if you pay yourself.
If you do only one thing today, call the SAMHSA National Helpline on 1-800-662-4357. It is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day in English and Spanish, and its job is to point you to state-funded and sliding-fee services near you. It gives referrals, not counselling.
Not sure where to start at all? Our step-by-step guide, can’t afford therapy? what to do, walks through the first call and what to say.
A 2024 study of therapy prices found that sessions paid in cash averaged $143.26, against $82.77 for sessions paid by Medicaid, and that about a third of therapists in private practice do not take insurance at all (Zhu et al., 2024).
SimplePractice, which runs scheduling and billing software for therapists, looked at 104.7 million session fees across 2023 and 2024 and found state averages running from $122 in Missouri to $227 in North Dakota.
So weekly therapy at full price can pass $500 a month. Against that, most of the options below are cheap. For the full breakdown by country, see how much therapy costs.
Checked 24 October 2026. Prices change; confirm before you book.
| Option | Price | Who qualifies | Wait | Same therapist? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicaid | Little or nothing; varies by state | Low income; rules set by your state | Finding a provider with space can take time | Usually | Zhu et al., 2024 |
| Community mental health clinic (CCBHC) | Cannot turn you away for inability to pay | Anyone | Varies by clinic | Usually | SAMHSA |
| Community health center (FQHC) | Sliding fee by income; full discount at or below the poverty line | Anyone; discounts by income | Varies by center | Usually | HRSA |
| Employer EAP | Free for a set number of sessions | Employees with an EAP benefit | Often short | For the free sessions | Your HR or benefits portal |
| University training clinic | Low fee; varies by clinic | Usually anyone nearby | Some keep waitlists | Until the trainee's placement ends | Your nearest university |
| Open Path Collective (US) | $40–70 individual, $30 student intern, plus $65 once | No insurance or poor coverage, cannot pay market rates | Depends on the therapist | Yes | Open Path |
| Sliding scale (private therapist) | Varies; you ask | Anyone who asks | Depends on the therapist | Yes | Our guide |
| Group therapy | Usually less than individual; varies | Anyone | Groups start on fixed dates | Same group leader | Clinics and training clinics |
| BetterHelp | $70–100 a week, billed every 4 weeks | Anyone | Varies | You can switch | BetterHelp FAQ |
| Talkspace | $69–109 a week out of pocket; many insured members pay $0 | Anyone; takes insurance | Varies | You can switch | Talkspace |
| Online-Therapy.com | $60, $90 or $120 a week | Anyone | Varies | Varies | Online-Therapy.com |
| NHS Talking Therapies (England) | Free | 18+ in England (16–17 in some areas) | Varies by area | For your course of treatment | NHS |
| Ontario Structured Psychotherapy | Free | 18+ in Ontario | Varies by region | For your course of treatment | HSN |
| Open Path Collective (Canada) | C$50–90 individual, C$40 student intern, plus C$89 once | Same as US | Depends on the therapist | Yes | Open Path |
These are the routes to try first if money is the main obstacle. Some depend on income or a job; one of them is open to anyone.
If your income is low, Medicaid is usually the cheapest route there is. It covers outpatient mental health care, and what you pay is usually little or nothing, though the rules vary by state. The common catch is finding a therapist who takes Medicaid and has space. Your state’s Medicaid plan keeps a provider list, and the community clinics below are a good place to start.
CCBHCs are community mental health clinics that must serve anyone, whether or not they can pay. As of July 2025 there were more than 500 of them across 46 states, Washington DC and Puerto Rico (SAMHSA). Ask about the fee when you call: by design, cost should not be the reason they turn you away.
Federally funded community health centers cannot deny anyone care because they cannot pay. They charge on a sliding fee scale tied to income. At or below the federal poverty guidelines you get a full discount (a small nominal fee may apply), and between 100% and 200% of the guidelines you pay a reduced share (HRSA). Ask whether yours offers counselling or therapy on site. You can find one at findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov.
If you have a job, check for an Employee Assistance Program before you pay anyone. An EAP usually gives a small number of free, short-term counselling sessions, commonly somewhere between three and eight per issue. Ask HR or look in your benefits portal. The catch is the limit: an EAP is built for a short stretch of help, so ask at the start what happens when the free sessions run out.
Universities that train psychologists, counsellors and social workers often run clinics where graduate students see clients under close supervision by licensed staff. Fees are usually well below market rates and vary by clinic. The trade-offs are honest ones: you will see someone early in their career, sessions may be recorded for supervision, and your therapist moves on when their placement ends. Search for your nearest university with “psychology training clinic” or “counseling clinic”.
The SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) is free, confidential and open 24 hours a day, every day, in English and Spanish. It is a referral line, not counselling. Tell them you have no insurance or very little money, and they will point you to state-funded programs and sliding-fee providers. You can also text your ZIP code to 435748, or search FindTreatment.gov yourself.
If you do not qualify for the free routes, these keep the price of a session well under the national average.
Open Path is a network of therapists who offer reduced rates to people who do not have insurance, or whose insurance covers mental health poorly, and who cannot afford market rates of roughly $80–200 a session. You pay a one-time $65 membership, then $40–70 a session for individual therapy, $40–80 for couples or family sessions, or $30 with a student intern. There are no recurring fees. It is one of the most useful single links on this page.
Many private therapists keep a few reduced-fee places they do not advertise. Asking is normal, it is not rude, and the worst answer is a polite no. Our guide to sliding scale therapy has the exact words to use by email and by phone.
Group therapy is led by a licensed clinician with several clients in the room at once, so it usually costs less per session than seeing someone on your own. For some people the group itself is part of what helps. Community clinics and training clinics often run groups; prices vary.
The cheapest therapist is usually one in your plan’s network. Medicare Part B also covers outpatient therapy with a licensed clinician. If your plan covers mental health badly, our guide to therapy without insurance covers superbills for out-of-network care and the written cost estimate you can ask for before you start.
The big platforms charge by the week. These are the prices each one listed on 24 October 2026 for people paying out of pocket.
| Platform | Price if you pay yourself | What the price covers | Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| BetterHelp | $70–100 a week, billed every 4 weeks | Sessions and messaging with a licensed therapist | Lists financial-aid discounts |
| Talkspace | $69 a week messaging; $99 video plus messaging; $109 with workshops | Depends on the plan you pick | Takes insurance; says most insured members pay $0 |
| Online-Therapy.com | $60, $90 or $120 a week | Messaging only, one 45-minute session a week, or two | Not listed |
Over four weeks, BetterHelp comes to $280–400 and Talkspace’s video plan to about $396. Weekly in-person sessions at the average cash price of $143.26 would come to about $573. So the platforms are cheaper than full-price weekly therapy, but dearer than Open Path, a training clinic, or a sliding-scale therapist you see every other week.
Three things to check before you sign up. Prices change and often vary by location, and first-month discounts are common (Online-Therapy.com shows lower introductory figures, and Talkspace’s own page lists different numbers in different places). Ask whether you keep the same therapist, and what happens if they leave the platform. And read the cancellation terms before the first billing date. We set the category against long-term peer support in Hearth vs. therapy apps.
Public coverage for therapy in Canada depends on your province, and most private therapy is paid out of pocket or through workplace benefits. The routes worth knowing:
One correction many lists still get wrong: Wellness Together Canada, the free federal mental health portal, shut down on 3 April 2024. If a guide still recommends it, it has not been updated.
In England, NHS Talking Therapies is free and you can refer yourself online, without going through your GP first. It is for adults 18 and over (16 and 17 in some areas), and in some areas you can refer yourself even if you are not registered with a GP. Waiting times vary by area.
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, start with your GP, who can refer you to local NHS psychological services. In a crisis anywhere in the UK or Ireland, Samaritans are on 116 123, free, any hour.
Usually, yes. A low fee says nothing about the quality of the person in the room. Training clinics are supervised by licensed staff, public services such as NHS Talking Therapies are built around established treatments, and plenty of experienced therapists keep reduced-fee places on purpose. The real trade-offs are waiting lists, a fixed number of sessions, and less choice about who you see.
What should make you walk away, whatever the price:
Sometimes the honest answer is that you do not need cheaper therapy. You need something other than therapy: company through a hard stretch rather than treatment for a condition. These options are not therapy and should never be sold as therapy, but they are free or cost less:
Hearth is one of these, and it is peer support, not therapy. You are matched by hand with one Keeper, a trained peer listener rather than a therapist, and you keep the same person. You meet in a Sit, a 35–60 minute video or audio call, every two weeks for $39 a month or every week for $99 a month, with an email thread in between. It is for the weight of a hard stretch of life: grief, family pressure, loneliness, a transition.
Hearth is the wrong choice, and you should use the options above, if:
For the full range of options that are not therapy, with the trade-off on each, see alternatives to therapy, compared.
If you qualify, free or near-free care through Medicaid, a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic or a federally funded community health center. If you have a job, free sessions through your employer's EAP. After that, a university training clinic, Open Path Collective ($40–70 a session after a $65 one-time fee), or asking a private therapist for a sliding-scale fee. The SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) can point you to local low-cost options for free.
Medicaid if you are eligible, a community health center if your income is at or below the federal poverty guidelines, and an employer EAP for a few sessions. In England, NHS Talking Therapies is free and you can refer yourself. In Ontario, Ontario Structured Psychotherapy is free. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics must see you whether or not you can pay. In a crisis, 988 (US and Canada) and Samaritans on 116 123 (UK and Ireland) are free, 24 hours a day.
Yes. Open Path is a network of therapists who see members at reduced rates: a one-time $65 membership, then $40–70 a session for individual therapy in the US, or $30 with a student intern, with no recurring fees. It is meant for people without insurance, or with poor mental health coverage, who cannot afford market rates. As with any therapist, check your therapist's licence yourself on your state board's website.
Usually cheaper than full-price weekly therapy, but not cheaper than the low-cost routes. BetterHelp lists $70 to $100 a week, billed every four weeks. A 2024 study put the average cash price of a therapy session at $143.26. Open Path, training clinics and sliding-scale therapists are often cheaper still, especially if you go every other week.
Often, if you compare it with full-price in-person therapy. The main platforms charge roughly $60 to $120 a week if you pay yourself, against an average cash price of about $143 for an in-person session. Low-cost in-person routes such as Open Path ($40–70) or a community clinic can be cheaper than any platform.
Often yes, or very close to free. Medicaid covers outpatient mental health care, and what you pay is usually little or nothing, though the rules vary by state. The harder part is finding a therapist who accepts Medicaid and has space. Community clinics and community health centers are a good place to start.
It depends on your employer's contract. A common range is three to eight free sessions per issue. Check your benefits portal or ask HR, and ask what happens when the free sessions run out.
The session price pays for more than the hour: notes, treatment planning, supervision and training, licensing, insurance and the cost of running a practice, and therapists cannot fill every hour of the day with clients. About a third of therapists in private practice do not take insurance at all, which pushes many people onto full cash prices.
It can be very good. Free and low-cost services are often run by licensed clinicians, or by trainees supervised by licensed staff. The usual trade-offs are waiting lists, a fixed number of sessions and less choice about who you see, not lower quality.