If you’re experiencing mental health symptoms that are disrupting one or more areas of your life, deciding on which online therapy platform to use can be exhausting, discouraging, and tedious. On top of the barriers to mental health care, like cost, shame, and stigma, there’s a shortage of mental health providers—60 percent of psychologists report they don’t have openings for new patients. Amid this shortage, online therapy can provide more people with access to mental health support.
We review online therapy providers to help ease the stress and discomfort that can come from searching for mental health support when you aren’t feeling your best. MDLIVE is one of the platforms we chose for review. It’s a virtual telehealth platform that provides mental health care, including online therapy and online psychiatry, in addition to primary care and dermatology. We signed up ourselves to test this online therapy platform and find out whether it is one we can recommend. Learn more about what we discovered.
What’s the difference between psychiatry and therapy?
Psychiatry is mental health care delivered by a medical provider such as a board-certified, licensed psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Psychiatry providers have a different scope of treatment options for their patients than therapists. Psychiatrists specialize in treating mental health through prescribing medication and therapists specialize in treating mental health through talk therapy.
Unlike therapists, psychiatry providers can provide medical services and prescribe psychiatric medications. However, both therapists and psychiatry providers can offer psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, though not all psychiatrists provide therapy. Therapists tend to have more extensive training in talk therapy, or psychotherapy, than psychiatrists.
In a mental health emergency:
Online therapists may not be the most appropriate resource to help in a mental health crisis. If you or someone you know is a danger to themselves or others around them, it’s an emergency that can’t wait for an online therapist’s response.
Don’t wait. You can find help immediately by:
- Visiting urgent care
- Calling or texting 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- Chatting online at 988lifeline.org
- Calling the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 or texting your zip code to 435748
- Calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or chatting online
- Calling The Trevor Project at 1-888-488-7386 or texting START to 678-678 to talk with trained professionals who understand the challenges faced by LGBTQ youth
All the above options will connect you with trained professionals who can provide crisis support. You can find even more resources, including international options, on our helpline directory page.
Key takeaways
If you learn five things about MDLIVE from our review, here’s what you need to know:
- MDLIVE provides a choice of mental health care through both therapy and psychiatry.
- Appointments can often be made quickly.
- Clients choose their own provider.
- Therapy costs $108 per session, and psychiatry costs $284 for the initial session and $108 for subsequent sessions.
- Session lengths are 45–60 minutes for therapy and 15–30 minutes for psychiatry.
Our testing experience
The Handbook Team has researched more than 70 online therapy platforms, directories, and networks. Based on our research, we sign up for the top platforms to test for ourselves. We also conduct surveys and run focus groups to find out what matters most to people seeking mental health care.
This research data provides insights about why people choose online therapy versus in-person therapy. For example, the top drivers for our survey participants were a lack of travel time, flexibility in scheduling, and the comfort of being at home. Focus groups provide us with the opportunity to hear firsthand what matters to real people when it comes to choosing and paying for a mental health care provider.
From our focus group:
“In the comfort of my home, I can be vulnerable. I feel like if I was to go into an office, it would feel kind of fake for me. Like I have to be aware of my surroundings, I have to develop this relationship. There’s so much pressure. But because it’s been online, I felt like there’s this new layer to myself where I’ve just felt more humble, more honest with myself.”
How we tested MDLIVE
Fill out the intake assessment.
Subscribe as a new user and invite their teen to join the platform.
Get matched with a therapist.
Go through steps to change therapists.
Schedule and attend four weeks of appointments.
Contact customer support with questions.
Explore other platform features, including digital journals and worksheets.
Review billing policies and cancel subscription.
Our tester explores the MDLIVE platform and attends online therapy sessions for four weeks. They use both the desktop platform and the mobile app. Our tester is instructed to try the platform through the lens of a real user, paying attention to how easy or difficult it is to find a therapist they could talk to. They log their experience in a diary and share their findings when testing is concluded. We use these findings and our research to write this MDLIVE review.
MDLIVE Review
Our final verdict
MDLIVE provides therapeutic and psychiatric care that is accessible and relatively affordable. Its prices are comparable to in-person care at $108 per session, and it provides online therapy that accepts insurance, so you might end up paying less. We like that MDLIVE charges per session, so if you need to take a break from therapy, you don’t have to cancel or pause a subscription plan.
Our tester had a mixed experience with their therapist, saying they felt their therapist wasn’t the best at communicating or staying organized. At the end of their initial session they scheduled the next appointment, but the therapist didn’t add the appointment to the app-based calendar or confirm the appointment via text. The appointment was set for 15 minutes later than the time they had originally scheduled it for, and the meeting invite didn’t go out to the tester until the originally scheduled time of their appointment.
From our tester
“Already trying to balance work responsibilities and personal responsibilities is hard, so this threw me off and left us with 45 minutes in total to discuss when it should be a full hour. I want to get the most out of my sessions and didn’t feel like this was a good way to do that.”
However, our tester’s therapist also provided beneficial guidance and insight. So, while they were not the best at communicating, they did provide valuable support to our tester.
Keep in mind that this is only one client’s experience with one MDLIVE therapist. There are numerous therapists to choose from, and if you have any issues with your chosen therapist, whether it’s scheduling or a mismatch in personalities, you can switch at any time.
One additional drawback to MDLIVE is that the platform does not offer messaging with your therapist between sessions like some other online therapy platforms.
What other users are saying
MDLIVE is beneficial for people who are seeking fast access to mental health care. You can schedule an appointment as soon as the next day.
The survey we conducted in October 2023 of 600 online therapy users validates how quick it is to secure an appointment through MDLIVE. About 57 percent of respondents who have used MDLIVE reported that it took less than a week to connect with a provider for their first appointment.
The survey also asked about the longevity of the provider/patient relationships. One third of the survey respondents said they worked with their provider for seven to 12 months. It is encouraging to know that most people receive quality therapists that they can feel comfortable working with for a long time.
Handbook Tip #1
We recommend using the MDLive website over the mobile app. We often experience technical glitches with signing in to the mobile app and have to restart it. To avoid the hassle, use the website, which is easier to use, more comprehensive, and has more information.
Compare MDLIVE with other online therapy platforms
| Cost for individual therapy* | $108 per session | $260–$400 per month | $276–$436 per month | $200–$440 per month | $299 per month |
| Insurance | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Services | Therapy and psychiatry | Therapy | Therapy and psychiatry | Therapy | Therapy and psychiatry |
| Can prescribe a controlled substance?** | Yes | No | No | No | No |
*Cost may vary based on your location, insurance, and therapist availability.
**Depending on the state where you currently reside. Certain states require an in-person visit with your doctor before they can prescribe controlled substances. You can learn more about your state’s online prescribing laws through the Center for Connected Health Policy.
How MDLIVE works
Signing up
In our experience, it’s quicker to sign up for MDLIVE than it is for some other online therapy platforms, which can be both a benefit and a drawback. Sign up is faster in part because its intake questionnaire is less thorough than many other online therapy platforms’ questionnaires. Usually, online therapy platforms will ask questions that help to screen for severe mental health conditions that might make them ineligible for virtual care; conditions that would be better treated by an in-person therapist or physician. We’re disappointed that MDLIVE doesn’t do this.
MDLIVE states on its website that it is not able to provide care for certain people who would benefit more from emergency or in-person care, but we found there were no warnings or emergency resources suggested for those people during the sign-up process.
MDLIVE will not provide care for people who are:
– In emergency or crisis situations.
– Seeking a prescription for a stimulant medication.
– In active psychosis and experiencing delusions or hallucinations.
– In active medical detox from substance use.
– Diagnosed with moderate to severe autism spectrum disorders.
– Under the age of 10.
MDLIVE cost and payment options
We appreciate that MDLIVE charges per session, rather than on a monthly basis like most online therapy platforms. That way, if you need to take a break from sessions, you won’t have to worry about canceling or pausing a subscription plan.
Without insurance, the pricing is as follows:
- Therapy: $108 per session.
- Psychiatry: $284 for the initial session, $108 for follow-up sessions.
Insurance options
MDLIVE accepts many major insurance plans, like Aetna, Cigna, and Humana, but to find out if your plan is accepted, you’ll have to create an account and enter your insurance information. We would have preferred to see a list of accepted insurance plans on its website so we could find out whether our plan was accepted before creating an account.
If your insurance covers online therapy, you will be responsible for any deductibles A set amount of money the insured must pay for a medical claim before their insurance company will help pay. , copays A fixed cost the insured pays as their share of a covered medical expense. and coinsurance A percentage of a covered medical expense the insured pays after meeting their deductible. outlined in your policy. You may have to pay the full amount for your sessions until you meet your deductible.
Bottom line
MDLIVE is a good affordable virtual therapy and psychiatry option for people who would like to choose their own therapist, are looking for next-day appointments and would rather pay per session rather than monthly. Unlike other online therapy platforms, MDLIVE doesn’t offer messaging with your therapist.
Frequently asked questions
MDLIVE is best for people who are looking for therapeutic support for mental health symptoms that are not severe and don’t require medical or emergency intervention. If you have moderate to severe symptoms, you should seek in-person care or emergency support.
Without insurance, MDLIVE costs $108 for therapy sessions and follow-up psychiatry appointments, and $284 for the initial psychiatry appointment. If you have insurance, you may pay less than that.
Yes, MDLIVE accepts most major insurance plans, including Aetna, Humana, Cigna, and more.
MDLIVE can prescribe many common anxiety and depression medications like antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, and mood stabilizers. Its providers cannot prescribe DEA-controlled medications (like stimulants and benzodiazepines), sleep medications, or medical marijuana.
MDLIVE only offers live therapy sessions, while other online platforms typically offer messaging with your therapist in addition to live sessions. MDLIVE also charges per session rather than monthly, which is how online therapy platforms with unlimited messaging tend to bill.
- Stringer, H. (2024, January 1) Mental health care is in high demand. Psychologists are leveraging tech and peers to meet the need. Monitor on Psychology, 55(1), 60. Link