Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

Healthgrades vs Talkspace

Healthgrades logo

Healthgrades

Healthcare

Provider search and ratings platform for patients

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Talkspace logo

Talkspace

Healthcare

Consumer online therapy and psychiatry app billed by subscription or insurance copay

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Healthgrades has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Healthgrades healthgrades is free for consumers and monetizes through a separate B2B arm (b2b.healthgrades.com) selling 'Claim your profile' provider listings, health-system quality solutions, and life-sciences advertiser placements, none of which publish public pricing, per the vendor's own site structure.; Talkspace without insurance, self-pay plans can run into the hundreds of dollars a month, materially more than many people expect from an app-based service.
  • They diverge on capability: Healthgrades covers Provider Search, Talkspace covers Messaging therapy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Healthgrades and Talkspace actually diverge.

Attributes where Healthgrades and Talkspace differ
AttributeHealthgradesTalkspace
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumSubscription or insurance copay
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, MobileiOS, Android, Web
Founded1998Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Healthgrades

  • Provider Search
  • Reviews and Ratings
  • Appointment Booking
  • Provider Profiles
  • Insurance Verification
  • Practice management systems
  • HIPAA
  • Cloud deployment

Only in Talkspace

  • Messaging therapy
  • Live sessions
  • Psychiatry
  • Insurance billing
  • Therapist matching and switching
  • Teen therapy

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Healthgrades

  • Patient Carenot Talkspace
  • Medical Recordsnot Talkspace
  • Practice Managementnot Talkspace
  • Telehealthnot Talkspace

Talkspace

  • Someone wanting to start therapy without waiting weeks for an in-person appointmentnot Healthgrades
  • A person whose insurance is in-network with Talkspace, getting therapy at a standard copaynot Healthgrades
  • Someone who prefers asynchronous messaging therapy over scheduled live sessionsnot Healthgrades
  • A patient needing psychiatric medication management alongside or instead of talk therapynot Healthgrades

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Healthgrades

  • Healthgrades is free for consumers and monetizes through a separate B2B arm (b2b.healthgrades.com) selling 'Claim your profile' provider listings, health-system quality solutions, and life-sciences advertiser placements, none of which publish public pricing, per the vendor's own site structure.

Talkspace

  • Without insurance, self-pay plans can run into the hundreds of dollars a month, materially more than many people expect from an app-based service.
  • Psychiatry is billed as a separate service from therapy, so a user wanting both medication management and talk therapy pays two distinct charges.
  • Message-based therapy is not equivalent to weekly live sessions for every clinical need, and some conditions are better served by in-person or live-only care.
  • Therapist continuity is not guaranteed; a matched provider can leave the platform, requiring the user to rematch and rebuild rapport with someone new.
  • Cancelling a subscription plan requires navigating Talkspace's account settings or support, and complaints about difficulty cancelling or unexpected renewal charges have been documented by users.

Pricing, plan by plan

Healthgrades

Free
  • PatientFree
    • Find doctors
    • Read reviews
    • Book appointments

Talkspace

On request
  • Messaging Therapy (self-pay)$undefined/week
    • Roughly 69 USD a week billed monthly, messaging only
    • Live session add-ons cost extra
  • Messaging Plus Sessions (self-pay)$undefined/week
    • Roughly 99 to 129 USD a week billed monthly, includes live sessions
  • Insurance plan$undefined/session
    • Cost set by the user's own insurance plan, not Talkspace, when in-network
  • Psychiatry$undefined/visit
    • Initial evaluation priced separately, commonly a few hundred dollars
    • Lower cost follow-up visits

Which should you pick?

Choose Healthgrades if

  • You need provider search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want reviews and ratings.
Healthgrades review

Choose Talkspace if

  • You need messaging therapy.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want live sessions.
Talkspace review

Questions people ask

Is Healthgrades or Talkspace better?
Neither clearly leads. Healthgrades starts at Free and Talkspace at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Healthgrades or Talkspace?
Healthgrades has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Healthgrades and On request for Talkspace.
Does Healthgrades or Talkspace run on more platforms?
Healthgrades runs on Web, Mobile. Talkspace runs on iOS, Android, Web.
Can I use Healthgrades for free?
Yes. Healthgrades has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Talkspace starts at On request.
What is Healthgrades best used for?
Healthgrades is most often used for patient care, medical records, practice management, telehealth. Of those, patient care and medical records are not what Talkspace is typically brought in for.
What can Healthgrades do that Talkspace cannot?
Healthgrades covers Provider Search, Reviews and Ratings, Appointment Booking, Provider Profiles. Talkspace covers Messaging therapy, Live sessions, Psychiatry, Insurance billing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Talkspace: Does insurance make Talkspace cheaper?

Yes, if in-network with your plan, you generally pay your plan's standard copay rather than Talkspace's self-pay list price.

Talkspace: Is psychiatry included in a therapy plan?

No, psychiatry for medication management is billed separately from therapy subscription plans.

Talkspace: Can I choose my own therapist?

You are matched initially based on an intake questionnaire, but you can request a different therapist if the match is not a good fit.

Share

Related pages

More on Healthgrades

More on Talkspace

Keep looking

Other head to heads