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Healthcare · head to head

Included Health vs TheraNest

Included Health logo

Included Health

Healthcare

Care navigation and virtual care in one contract for self funded employers and health plans

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TheraNest logo

TheraNest

Healthcare

Mental health EHR and practice management priced per therapist

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Included Health owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.; TheraNest the Essentials plan includes no insurance claims at all, so any practice that bills a payer is effectively on the 59 USD tier or above and the advertised 29 USD entry price does not apply to it.
  • They diverge on capability: Included Health covers Care navigation, TheraNest covers Progress notes and treatment plans.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Included Health and TheraNest actually diverge.

Attributes where Included Health and TheraNest differ
AttributeIncluded HealthTheraNest
Starting priceOn request$29/month
Pricing modelquotePer user per month

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Included Health

  • Care navigation
  • Provider quality steerage
  • Expert medical opinion
  • Virtual primary care
  • Virtual behavioural health
  • Virtual urgent care
  • Benefits integration
  • Employer reporting

Only in TheraNest

  • Progress notes and treatment plans
  • Insurance claims
  • Client portal
  • Telehealth
  • Group and family sessions
  • Payroll and staff reporting

What people use each for

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

Included Health

  • A large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisionsnot TheraNest
  • An employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid fornot TheraNest
  • A self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programmenot TheraNest
  • An employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experiencenot TheraNest

TheraNest

  • A solo therapist who needs a HIPAA aligned note and scheduling system and does not bill insurance, where the 29 USD entry tier is genuinely sufficientnot Included Health
  • A group practice of six to twenty clinicians that wants per clinician productivity and payroll reporting without buying a separate practice management layernot Included Health
  • A practice moving off paper or a general purpose calendar that needs a client portal for intake forms and consent signaturesnot Included Health
  • A behavioural health organisation that bills a steady volume of insurance claims each month and can size the Advanced allowance against its actual claim countnot Included Health

Where each one falls short

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

Included Health

  • Owning both the navigation recommendations and the virtual care delivery creates a structural incentive to steer members to the vendor own clinicians, and an employer should require disclosure and measurement of how often that happens.
  • Pricing is per employee per month across the whole eligible population, so a plan with low navigation engagement pays for everyone to serve the minority who call.
  • Savings claims rest on avoided costs and changed referral decisions, which are counterfactual by nature, so performance guarantees need very careful definition or they measure activity rather than money.
  • The company is a merger of three organisations with different origins, and members and benefits teams still encounter seams between navigation, virtual primary care and behavioural health that the single brand implies are absent.
  • It sells primarily to large self funded employers, so mid market employers and fully insured plans find both the pricing and the implementation effort disproportionate to their size.

TheraNest

  • The Essentials plan includes no insurance claims at all, so any practice that bills a payer is effectively on the 59 USD tier or above and the advertised 29 USD entry price does not apply to it.
  • Telehealth is only in the Premier plan, so a practice that wants video sessions pays 89 USD per therapist per month even if it needs nothing else from that tier.
  • An annual AMA CPT licence fee is billed separately each December on top of subscription cost, which surprises practices that budgeted only the monthly figure.
  • Additional administrative users are chargeable, so a practice with front desk and billing staff who never see clients still pays 19 to 29 USD per head for people who generate no revenue.
  • The product sits inside a consolidated portfolio that has already renamed the parent company from Therapy Brands to Ensora Health, and product investment in a portfolio is directed by the owner rather than by this product line, so roadmap commitments are worth less than they would be from a single product vendor.

Pricing, plan by plan

Included Health

On request
  • Included Health$undefined/year
    • Per employee per month across the eligible population, quoted not published
    • Navigation and virtual care modules priced separately or bundled
    • Some components offered with performance guarantees tied to measured savings

TheraNest

$29/month
  • Essentials$29/month
    • Per therapist
    • Scheduling and client portal
    • HIPAA aligned notes and documentation
  • Advanced$59/month
    • Per therapist
    • 30 insurance claims per month included
    • Custom forms
  • Premier$89/month
    • Per therapist
    • Unlimited insurance claims
    • Billing automation

Which should you pick?

Choose Included Health if

  • You need care navigation.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want provider quality steerage.
Included Health review

Choose TheraNest if

  • You need progress notes and treatment plans.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want insurance claims.
TheraNest review

Questions people ask

Is Included Health or TheraNest better?
Neither clearly leads. Included Health starts at On request and TheraNest at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Included Health or TheraNest?
Included Health starts at On request and TheraNest at $29/month.
Does Included Health or TheraNest run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Included Health best used for?
Included Health is most often used for a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions, an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for, a self funded plan wanting expert second opinions before high cost elective surgery, where a changed recommendation pays for the programme, an employer replacing separate navigation and telehealth vendors with one contract and one member experience. Of those, a large self funded employer whose members cannot tell which specialist to see and who currently absorbs the cost of poor referral decisions and an employer that has bought several point solutions and needs one front door that routes members to the ones already paid for are not what TheraNest is typically brought in for.
What can Included Health do that TheraNest cannot?
Included Health covers Care navigation, Provider quality steerage, Expert medical opinion, Virtual primary care. TheraNest covers Progress notes and treatment plans, Insurance claims, Client portal, Telehealth.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Included Health: What exactly is Included Health?

The combination of Grand Rounds Health navigation, Doctor On Demand virtual care and the original Included Health concierge service, operating under one brand since late 2021.

TheraNest: Is TheraNest still sold under that name?

Yes. The company rebranded from Therapy Brands to Ensora Health and the product is now marketed as TheraNest by Ensora Health, but you still buy TheraNest.

Included Health: Who pays for it?

The self funded employer or the health plan pays a per employee per month fee. Virtual care visits may also carry member cost sharing depending on plan design.

TheraNest: Can I bill insurance on the cheapest plan?

No. Essentials includes no claims. Advanced includes 30 claims a month and Premier is unlimited.

Included Health: Is there a minimum size?

No published minimum, but it sells primarily to large self funded employers and the pricing and implementation effort do not suit small organisations.

TheraNest: Are there hidden costs?

Two. Additional admin users are charged per head, and an AMA CPT licence fee is billed annually in December per therapist.

Included Health: How does it recommend providers?

Through data driven quality analysis rather than a plain directory. Ask specifically how those recommendations are produced and how often they resolve to the company own virtual clinicians.

TheraNest: Does it support group practices?

Yes, with per clinician reporting and payroll figures, though every clinician and every admin is a paid seat.

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