Headway vs Alma vs Grow vs Rula vs Your Own Insurance Contracts

The side-by-side

Every platform statement below comes from that platform's own pages: Headway, Alma and Grow checked on 2026-10-03, Rula on 2026-10-05, and Headway's marketplace fee on 2026-10-11. Headway's fee is listed because Headway publishes it. For the others, check each platform's current terms.

How much do Headway, Alma, Grow and Rula pay therapists?

None of them publishes a pay rate on its public site, as of 2026-10-05. Each one says pay depends on your license, your state and the insurer. Here is what each says, and where you see your own rate.

Rula: what to know before you join

SonderMind works on a similar model: it lists you under its tax ID and group NPI, and says this does not affect your individual contracts.

• Rula credentials you under its group contracts, even if you already hold your own contract with that insurer.
• Rula says therapists "are hired as 1099 contractors."
• Rula verifies benefits, sends claims and collects copays, coinsurance and deductibles.
• Rula bills only the insurers it has contracts with. You can see other clients through your own practice.
• If you leave, Rula's Support Team moves your clients to another Rula provider.
• Rula says therapists "may not transfer Rula-referred clients" to their own practice. A client may follow you if the move is the client's own idea and you did not ask.
• Rula accepts LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and licensed psychologists.

When a platform is the better choice

• You are just starting out and want insured clients quickly
• You want no billing or credentialing work at all
• The platform's rates for your insurers are as good as, or better than, direct contracts in your state

When your own contracts make more sense

Rates can change on either path. Behavioral Health Business reported that Aetna lowered rates for therapists contracted through Alma, effective July 15, 2026. Insurers can also change fee schedules on direct contracts, so read each contract's terms.

• Your caseload is full and platform rates have dropped
• You want to grow into a group practice with your own clinicians
• You want your insurance relationships to belong to your practice
• Direct rates in your state beat the platform after billing costs

Questions to ask before you choose

• Whose contract am I billing under, mine or the platform's?
• If I leave, what happens to my in-network status and my clients?
• Who decides my rate, and how will I hear about rate changes?
• Can I see clients from the same insurer both on the platform and on my own?
• Who handles denials, appeals and unpaid claims, and how will I see their status?
• What notice do I have to give, and are there any client terms in the agreement?

If Medicare is part of your plan

Since January 1, 2024, licensed marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors can enroll in Medicare and bill on their own. Enrollment is done online in PECOS. Medicare pays them 75% of what it pays a clinical psychologist.

Licensed clinical psychologists can enroll too, and Medicare pays them the full fee schedule rate when they accept assignment. If Medicare clients matter to your practice, ask each platform whether it supports them before you decide.

How to decide with real numbers

Compare what the platform pays you per session with what each insurer offers you directly, then subtract billing, credentialing and software costs. Our guide to leaving a platform walks through the math with a worked example and a 90-day plan.