The Best, Most Affordable Online Couples Therapy, According to a Therapist

• Who It’s Best For: Couples who need to access their sessions from different locations
• Accepts Insurance: No
• Costs: $70 to $100 per week, billed as a monthly subscription
• Types of Therapy Offered: Couples therapy, individual relationship counseling
• Session Formats: Live video, audio, messaging 
• Session Length: 30 to 45 minutes

I had six testers try out Regain’s couples therapy, and in every case, my testers liked that they could message their therapist anytime through the patient portal and generally received prompt and personalized messages. Regain also differs from other online couples therapy services by offering sessions both for couples and for individuals wanting relationship advice and support, a service my testers tried twice.

In addition, my testers especially appreciated that they and their partners could attend their sessions from different locations, making Regain even more convenient—and convenience like this can be the difference between being able to attend couples therapy and not.

Three of my testers were very pleased with the therapists they were assigned. They found their therapists to be friendly, warm, and approachable while still being professional—it was clear that these therapists were well-versed in couples counseling and helped my testers set goals and work through problems, which is what many couples seeking therapy together want or need to do.

The magic of online therapy lies in finding the right therapist for you and your partner. The good thing about Regain is how easy it is to switch therapists until you find such a person. My testers needed to switch therapists multiple times across all our testing, and the process couldn’t have been simpler. While the testers sometimes didn’t jive with the first person they met with, almost all the testers eventually found someone that suited their needs. To better help with the search, Regain allows you to filter for identities like gender, sexuality, and race.

My 100 surveyed Regain users were mostly happy with their experiences:

• 93% of users said it was easy or very easy to find therapists who fit the criteria they were looking for, vastly out-performing every other company
• 87% rated Regain as very good or excellent overall

“The therapist we ended up meeting with was professional, listened to us, and was able to meet our needs. She worked with us to create goals based on our experiences and provided us with worksheets and activities that fit in with those needs.”

— Regain tester who is herself a therapist and tried couples therapy with her husband

While shorter sessions may be easier to schedule, as a therapist myself, I caution against sessions that are too short, especially for couples. As with Talkspace, Regain sessions are short, usually only lasting 30 minutes (most other services offer sessions of 45 minutes to an hour or more). For at least one tester, this short session time meant that they were left mid-argument with no mediator and no way of working through the issue, at least until the next session rolled around. Note that you can add on more sessions, but that adds more cost too—$25 for an additional 30 minutes.

With Regain, even more than with other services, we’ve noticed in our testing that the individual quality of the therapists can vary widely. While several of our testers had great or at least good experiences, others haven’t been so lucky. One tester stopped after trying two therapists—the first one questioned why she was seeking therapy solo using a couples therapy service, even though individual relationship coaching is one of Regain’s stated offerings, while the second therapist she tried didn’t put much effort into the sessions at all. 

A therapist for a different couple testing the service made biased assumptions about the husband based on his perceived ethnicity and religion. Even after the couple tried to redirect the therapist by stating what they’d like to work on, she inferred issues that weren’t really there based on these assumptions. Not good. Overall, this is why it’s important that you can easily switch therapists—though we wish the quality of the Regain therapists were more even overall.

• Who It’s Best For: Couples who want access to a wide variety of resources to support their therapy sessions
• Accepts Insurance: No
• Costs: Couples therapy subscription is $120 per week ($96 per week for the first month)
• Types of Therapy Offered: Couples therapy, individual therapy
• Session Formats: Live video, audio, messaging
• Session Length: 45 minutes

What makes Online-Therapy.com my first choice? A combination of effective therapy and comprehensive support. I had two different people try Online-Therapy.com’s couples therapy services, and we were not disappointed. The main thing that stood out to me about my testers’ experiences was just how heard and understood their couples therapists made them and their partners feel. Engaging both clients and assessing the way they function as a unit as well as individually is fundamental to good couples therapy, and based on our experiences with this company, that’s exactly what you can expect from your Online-Therapy.com therapist.

Both therapists my testers worked with gave them and their partners space to explore their feelings, voice their concerns, and really hear each other—evidence of deft and skilled couples therapists. But the support didn’t stop there. With worksheets to complete together between sessions that strengthened the skills my testers were developing with their therapists and unlimited messaging with their therapists between sessions, Online-Therapy.com sets its couples up for success. 

In addition to testing Online-Therapy.com ourselves, I also surveyed 100 users of the company to better understand the quality of the services on offer. Survey responders include, but were not limited to, those using couples therapy services:

• 91% percent of users rated Online-Therapy.com as very good or excellent overall—among the highest ratings of all 55 companies reviewed
• 90% rated their therapist’s qualifications as very good or excellent

“My therapist was immediately impressive. She was punctual, calm, and made an effort to put both my partner and I at ease.”

—Online-Therapy.com tester looking for casual, welcoming couples therapy for herself and her husband

Online-Therapy.com's approach is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, a modality that involves identifying and changing negative or harmful thoughts and behaviors—it’s also a modality that involves a lot of “homework” to do between sessions. My testers’ therapists did not seem to incorporate much of CBT into their approaches, but they did assign work that sometimes felt overwhelming to my testers rather than helpful.

In addition, although most of our sessions went off without a hitch, in one case we could not access our session because of internet connection issues that our therapist was unable to resolve—though honestly we felt she did not try very hard to troubleshoot. This disappointed us because our previous sessions with her had been so good.

• Who It’s Best For: People looking for couples therapy that could be covered by their insurance plan
• Accepts Insurance: Yes, check to see if your insurance is accepted 
• Costs: $436 per month, billed as a monthly subscription
• Types of Therapy Offered: Couples therapy, individual therapy, teen therapy, psychiatry
• Session Formats: Live video, audio, messaging
• Session Length: 30 minutes

I’ve tested Talkspace all across the country eleven different times, including trying out its couples therapy three times, and what stood out each time was the kindness of our therapists. A successful couples therapist will be friendly but professional, putting both clients at ease and asking insightful questions, and that’s exactly what my testers and their partners experienced with their providers.

Clearly attuned to my testers’ needs, their Talkspace therapists helped them delve deeper into their thoughts and gave them actionable tools that they could take from their sessions to implement at home—which is ultimately one of the main goals of couples therapy.

While texting has become more common as an offering with online therapy services, sometimes it’s more of a throwaway or used for scheduling, rather than actual support. That's not the case with Talkspace. My testers felt good about their therapy session even when the session took place via text message rather than as a video session. Their therapist was able to establish a great rapport even without being able to see or hear my tester and her husband, and still provided useful suggestions and demonstrated insight into their relationship just through text. That’s a sign of a great therapist.

And the best part? Talkspace accepts a wide range of insurance plans, even for its couples therapy—which is very unusual for this kind of counseling, online or not.

The 100 Talkspace users I surveyed had similarly positive feelings about the company. Survey responders include, but were not limited to, those using couples therapy services:

• 69% of users were able to find a therapist who met all of their needs—one of the highest percentages across all 55 companies surveyed
• 89% rated their therapist’s qualifications as very good or excellent
• 92% rated the quality of the company overall as very good or excellent

“[Our therapist] quickly jumped into conflict resolution by asking how we typically handle disagreements around parenting. By the end of our session, we better understood each other and the tools we could use to defuse potentially heated situations. We also agreed on a few ground rules that we would follow if disagreements arose.”

— Talkspace tester trying couples therapy with her husband

As with other services, your experience depends quite heavily on the therapist you connect with. While overall we’ve had good experiences, one in particular gave us pause. After logging into the session late, my testers’ therapist appeared to actually be driving, and lost the video connection halfway through. Their second therapist (because, of course they switched) was a big improvement but much more traditional, and mainly listened without asking too many questions; and, despite being very kind, seemed new to therapy, and didn’t provide the kind of structured support my testers were looking for. 

My only other complaint? Sessions are just 30 minutes. When two people need attention and a safe place to share, 30 minutes is not long enough to give both people ample time to speak and connect.

• Who It’s Best For: People looking for a wide range of types of relationship counseling, including couples therapy, premarital counseling, dating coaching, and divorce/breakup counseling
• Accepts Insurance: No
• Costs: $75 to $170 per session depending on length of sessions and therapist qualifications/experience
• Types of Therapy Offered: Couples therapy, marriage counseling, relationship coaching, premarital counseling, dating coaching, parent coaching, divorce counseling/breakup recovery, individual therapy, life coaching
• Session Formats: Video, phone, in-person sessions in Colorado
• Session Length: At least 45 minutes 

Growing Self offers a particular focus on couples therapy and a wide range of relationship coaching services, including dating coaching, breakup counseling, and everything in between. From being able to choose your own therapist (with bios easily available on the website) to having a free consultation to confirm your choice is the right one, Growing Self’s personalized services stood out to me and my testers—and the tester duo who tried Growing Self’s couples therapy had a stellar experience. This kind of effort to make sure you and your partner find the right therapist the first time can potentially save you hours of hard work—and disappointment. 

From the very first session, my tester and her partner felt that their therapist worked hard to make them feel seen and understood as a couple. She delved into both their pasts right away, making it clear that a deep dive was going to help them pave their way to a better future—and considering how difficult it can be to talk about more intense issues, especially with your partner, the care and compassion my testers received from their Growing Self therapist was invaluable.

They also especially appreciated the time the therapist took to really understand both members of the couple, which assured them that their therapist was doing everything in her power to get the most thorough and accurate information about both my tester and her partner. 

The 100 users of Growing Self I surveyed had similarly positive experiences. Survey responders include, but were not limited to, those using couples therapy services:

• 93% rated their therapist’s qualifications as very good or excellent—one of the highest scores across all 55 online therapy companies we reviewed
• 96% of users reported that Growing Self is better or much better than other therapy services they’d used in the past

“I’ve personally seen eight therapists throughout my life and, as a couple, we’ve been to two therapists together. This was the first time I felt welcomed as a unit, as a couple.”

— Growing Self tester who had a great experience with her husband

Growing Self’s online therapy services are only available in Colorado (where it also offers in-person services), Washington, Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, Arkansas, Texas, Florida, and New York—this is because those are the only states in which the small team of Growing Self couples counselors (14 in all) are licensed to practice. However, its relationship coaching services—which are focused more on practicing skills and goal-setting than mental health treatment and are not regulated by licensure—are available anywhere across the US and internationally.

Also, Growing Self’s session rates vary widely. A therapy session can cost anywhere from $75 to $170 or more depending on the length of the session (standard sessions are 45 minutes, but you can choose to have a longer session that will be prorated accordingly) and on the therapist’s qualifications and experience. Considering the company does not accept insurance, the higher costs might be prohibitive to some.

• Who It’s Best For: Couples looking for sex therapy
• Accepts Insurance: No
• Costs: $200-$450 per session depending on therapist's education and credentials
• Types of Therapy Offered: Couples therapy, sex therapy, coaching, individual therapy
• Session Formats: Video sessions, in-person sessions in some locations
• Session Length: 50 minutes

It’s fair to say that sex is an important part of most romantic relationships, and this is where Modern Intimacy stands out against other couples counseling services—it offers online sex therapy. I had one tester try this type of therapy with her husband, and to say they were pleasantly surprised at the quality of their care would be an understatement.

Sex therapy focuses on intimacy issues, both physical and emotional, that might be affecting a couple’s sex life, and helps the couple explore and work through those issues in order to develop a healthier sexual relationship that works for both parties. One of the main purposes of sex therapy—and one of Modern Intimacy’s specialties—is to help couples connect (or reconnect), and that’s precisely what my tester and her husband were looking for: to bolster and maintain their emotional and physical closeness. Even by their second session, they found it much easier to talk about their sex life because the focus was on their connection. 

My tester especially appreciated that their therapist was very good at helping them be honest about what wasn’t working in their relationship without leaving them in the middle of a conflict at the end of the session—other couples therapy services we’ve tested consistently abandoned us in the middle of a fight, making the time between sessions fraught with tension. Not so at Modern Intimacy. In fact, my tester noted that the tone at home changed for the better after they were able to discuss the things they needed to improve about their relationship, such as how to better communicate in moments of anger or frustration. When you get tangible results like this from your couples therapy, it’s time to sit up and pay attention.

“While sex therapy may seem daunting, unorthodox, or even embarrassing to many (it did to me at first), I can say that my perspective has now changed. The entire process felt very seamless and easy, never awkward or shameful.”

— Modern Intimacy tester trying sex therapy for the first time with her husband

Unfortunately, Modern Intimacy’s therapy services are only available in 13 states—considering the quality of its services, I wish its reach was greater. However, the good news is that its coaching services are available anywhere worldwide (and are slightly cheaper than its therapy services).

In addition, the company does not accept insurance, and its out-of-pocket prices are extremely high, ranging from $200 to $450 per couples therapy session.