Tending the chair
Two tiers. No hidden fees. No streaks. No upsells. Cancel any time in one click.
Cancel any time, in one click
Cancel any time, in one click
Anonymous volunteers, different person each time, variable training. Good for a one-off vent.
Where it falls short: No consistency. No relationship. No cultural fluency built in.
Always available, remembers what you say, never gets tired. Real comfort for some.
Where it falls short: Not a person. Doesn't sit with silence the way a human does. Won't notice the thing you didn't say.
Structured curriculum, cohort-based, time-bound. Useful for a specific transition.
Where it falls short: Ends. One facilitator, group format, no ongoing pairing past graduation.
Clinical care from a licensed professional. The right tool for diagnosis, treatment, deep clinical work.
Where it falls short: Often hard to find culturally fluent. Expensive without insurance. Not built for the slow weight between sessions.
One Keeper, the same person every Sit, paired by hand within 72 hours. Cultural context built in. Async Long Talk in between. The slow, paired, long-term shape of support — for less than the cost of a single therapy session.
| Feature | Hearthside | Hearth Deep |
|---|---|---|
| Matched Keeper | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sit cadence | Biweekly | Weekly |
| Long Talk (async thread) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Keeper response time | 24 hours | 4 hours |
| Friday reflections | ✓ | ✓ |
| Embers library | ✓ | ✓ |
| Circles per month | 1 included | 2 included |
| Anniversary rituals | – | ✓ |
| Bridge referral access | ✓ | Priority |
| Price | $39/mo or $390/yr | $99/mo or $990/yr |
Extra Sit $25
Add a Sit when the week calls for it.
Couples Sit $45
Bring a partner, sibling, or parent.
Single Circle $25
One Circle cohort, no membership needed.
Gift 1 month $39
One month of Hearthside, given to someone.
The majority of every membership fee goes directly to your Keeper — not to a platform cut, not to investor returns, not to marketing. Keepers are paid professionals. We don’t use the volunteer model, because burned-out, underpaid people cannot hold space for other people well.
Cultural fluency has a cost. Finding, training, and retaining Keepers who actually understand the diaspora South Asian experience — in Bengali, Urdu, Tamil, Punjabi — takes real investment. We think that cost is worth paying, and we think you deserve to know where your money goes.
The remainder covers infrastructure, Hearth’s Keeper training program, monthly peer supervision (every Keeper participates), platform costs, and the small team running the organization. We are not a venture-backed growth machine. We are building something we intend to still be here in ten years.
You're billed on the same date each month, starting the day you sign up. Annual plans are billed in full upfront at a discount. You'll get a receipt each time.
One click, no exit interview, no friction. Cancel from your account settings at any time. You keep access through the end of the billing period you've already paid for. This is FTC-compliant click-to-cancel — we don't make it hard.
Not currently. Hearth is peer support, not therapy, so it doesn't fall under standard mental health insurance codes. We're working on FSA/HSA compatibility — watch this space. If your employer has an EAP or wellness benefit, it may cover peer support; check with your HR team.
Yes, at any time. Upgrading to Hearth Deep takes effect immediately and you're billed the prorated difference. Downgrading to Hearthside takes effect at the start of your next billing cycle. Your Keeper stays the same either way.
Life happens. Reschedule a Sit up to 24 hours before it starts and there's no fee — just pick a new time that works for both of you. Inside the 24-hour window, we charge a $20 fee to cover your Keeper's time, since they've already held the slot. Emergencies are different — your Keeper has discretion to waive the fee, and they will. We're not going to police a death in the family.
If you no-show without rescheduling, the Sit counts as taken. Your Keeper will reach out through the Long Talk to check in. Three no-shows in a row triggers a gentle pause — we'll email to ask whether Hearth is still the right fit for this season of your life, with no judgement either way.
Yes. Gift options start at $39 for one month. The recipient gets a gentle onboarding email from us, not a surprise invoice. You choose when the gift is delivered. Visit the Gift page for details.
60% of what you pay goes directly to your Keeper. The rest covers platform, infrastructure, Keeper training, and supervision. We don't underpay our Keepers to offer a cheaper product — that model produces burned-out, poorly-trained people. Cultural fluency has a cost, and we think that cost is worth paying.