Alma vs Headway vs Rula vs Grow Therapy: How They Compare for Therapists

The four platforms in short

As of October 2026. Alma, Headway, Rula, and Grow Therapy all handle credentialing and billing for therapists, and each charges for it in a different way. This is what each one publishes, with the page it comes from.

• Alma charges a membership of $125 a month, or $1,140 a year. Providers in its insurance program are "credentialed under Alma's Tax ID."
• Headway keeps "a small percentage of session payments" that varies by health plan and billing code, and is adding a $9.99 marketplace service fee on appointments with clients who find you through its marketplace.
• Rula does not publish a fee or a percentage. It says its rates are "set based on the current contracts we have with our payor partners," and its guideline does not let therapists move Rula-referred clients to a private practice.
• Grow Therapy says partnering involves "no fees or minimum visit requirements," and that your enrollment "won't transfer outside of Grow."

Whichever you choose, clients who find you directly are the easiest to keep. See where your site stands: get a free visibility snapshot.

Alma vs Headway vs Rula vs Grow Therapy: what each says to therapists

Where a platform does not publish something we could find, the table says so.

Alma vs Headway: a flat fee or a share of each session

Alma's cost is the same whether you see ten clients a week or forty. Headway's is not published as a number: it keeps a small percentage that "varies across health plans and billing codes," and the marketplace fee comes on top for clients Headway sends you. That means there is no honest break-even to quote here. What you can do is compare your own numbers. Headway shows your rates by carrier and CPT code in its provider portal (Settings, then Billing, then See rates), and Alma shows your rates inside the Alma Portal, where it asks members to keep them confidential.

Both credential you under their own contracts, so neither follows you when you leave. For what that means in practice, see what happens to your caseload when you leave.

Headway vs Rula: who the clients belong to

Both pay on a fixed cycle. Headway says it pays providers "on time every two weeks," whether or not it has been reimbursed by the insurer, and Rula's scheduled deposit day is every other Friday. Neither publishes a per-session rate.

The bigger difference is the clients. Headway says clients you bring are yours, and charges its fee only on clients it finds for you. Rula's practice guideline says therapists may not transfer Rula-referred clients to external platforms or their private practices, and lists actively soliciting them among prohibited practices that can lead to review and possible termination. If a client independently seeks you out afterwards, you may accept them if the decision is the client's own, it benefits them, and you did not solicit it. If a client asks you for a referral outside Rula, you must give at least three options.

Alma vs Grow Therapy: the membership against no stated fee

The clearest difference is cost: Alma charges a membership, and Grow says partnering involves no fees or minimum visit requirements. Both enroll you under their own contracts, Alma under its Tax ID and Grow through its group contracts, so neither carries over if you leave. Grow also now requires providers to opt in to a Grow-managed Psychology Today profile, which we cover in Grow Therapy now manages your Psychology Today profile. Neither Alma nor Grow publishes its insurance rates.

Headway's marketplace fee in short

Headway is adding a $9.99 marketplace service fee to every appointment with a new client who finds you through its marketplace, state by state from November 2026 and in every state by the end of 2026. It lasts for as long as you see that client, not only the first session. It does not apply to clients you add yourself, or who book through your direct link, wherever you have shared it. Which clients count, and what to do about it, is in our post on leaving Alma, Headway, or Grow Therapy.

Can you be on more than one platform?

Rula says yes: its guideline says therapists are free to work on multiple therapy platforms or private practices at the same time, as long as they do not redirect Rula's clients. We found no rule either way in Alma's or Headway's public help centers, so for those two your provider agreement is what counts. Read it before you add a second platform.

What about SonderMind?

SonderMind publishes less for therapists than the four above. Its credentialing FAQ, last updated in December 2023, so check that it is still current, says approved providers are "listed under our TaxID and group NPI information," that its credentialing "will not impact your individual contracts in any way," and that client matches sent to you directly from SonderMind must be billed through SonderMind. It does not say what SonderMind charges therapists or what happens when you leave. For those, SonderMind's provider team and your agreement are the source.

What happens when you leave

The details matter more than the logo: whether your clients can follow you, whether your insurance contracts stay, and how to export your notes. Alma, Headway, and Grow are covered in our post on leaving them. For Rula, its guidance is to talk to your Provider Success Associate first, and the client rule above applies: clients Rula referred cannot be moved to your own practice.

Our view: choose a platform for the clients you cannot reach yourself

A platform is worth its cost when it brings clients you would not reach otherwise and handles billing you would rather not. It is worth less when it is the only way new clients find you, because every platform above credentials you under its own contracts and has its own rules about the clients it sends.

The channels with your name on them stay yours whichever you choose: your own website, your Google Business Profile, and pages clear enough that AI tools like ChatGPT can cite them. They take weeks to months to start producing inquiries, so in our view the time to build them is while platform clients are still coming in, not after they stop.

Frequently asked questions about Alma, Headway, Rula, and Grow Therapy