Headway vs Alma for therapists
Choosing where to practice? What Headway's and Alma's own pages tell clinicians, side by side: how you work with each, what each charges you and keeps, what each says about pay, credentialing and malpractice, each fact linked to the page that says it.
With both Headway and Alma, you keep your own practice and the platform bills insurance for you. Headway is free to join, but charges $9.99 per marketplace-client session from Nov 2026, and keeps 2.95% of private-pay sessions. Alma charges $125 a month, or $1,140 a year, and keeps nothing from private-pay sessions. Neither publishes what it pays per session. Headway credentials you with insurers and says it takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months to be approved; Alma credentials you with insurers and says it takes up to 45 days. Neither provides malpractice insurance: you carry your own policy with either.
Headway vs Alma: the short version
One line each. Open a platform for every fact it states.
| Platform | How you work with it | Contractor or employee | Cost to you | Pay it publishes | Insurance credentialing | Licenses | Open clinical roles today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Headway | Own practice, it bills | Your own practice | Free to join; $9.99 per marketplace-client session from Nov 2026 | No figure published | Credentials you | LCSW, LPC/LMHC, LMFT, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, PMHNP | 8 |
| Alma | Own practice, it bills | Your own practice | $125 a month, or $1,140 a year | No figure published | Credentials you (up to 45 days) | LCSW, LPC/LMHC, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, PMHNP | No public job board found |
Headway vs Alma, fact by fact
Each platform in its own words, from its pages for providers, its provider help center and its own job postings. Where a platform's pages are silent, we say so.
How you work with it
Contractor or employee
Cost to you
Private-pay sessions
Pay
When you are paid
Insurance credentialing
Clients
Schedule and caseload
Malpractice insurance
In person
What it provides
Requirements
Where
Licenses
Alma
Clinical social workers, Licensed counselors, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Psychiatric nurse practitioners Not pre-licensed or associate clinicians.The rate neither page prints
Headway and Alma print no per-session rate: what you are paid depends on your license, your state and the client's insurer. Medicare's schedule is public, so it is the reference point to ask against.
| Session | LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCs | Psychiatric NPs, PAs | Psychologists, psychiatrists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90837 (60 minutes) | $125.25 | $141.95 | $167.00 |
| 90834 (45 minutes) | $85.43 | $96.82 | $113.90 |
Computed from CMS's fee schedule files and the shares in CMS's mental health booklet. Medicare adjusts every amount for where you practice, and commercial insurers set their own rates. Medicare rates in your state
Headway vs Alma for therapists: questions, answered
- Headway vs Alma for therapists: what is the difference?
- With both Headway and Alma, you keep your own practice and the platform bills insurance for you. Headway is free to join, but charges $9.99 per marketplace-client session from Nov 2026, and keeps 2.95% of private-pay sessions. Alma charges $125 a month, or $1,140 a year, and keeps nothing from private-pay sessions. Neither publishes what it pays per session. Headway credentials you with insurers and says it takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months to be approved; Alma credentials you with insurers and says it takes up to 45 days. Neither provides malpractice insurance: you carry your own policy with either.
- Who pays more, Headway or Alma?
- Headway: Headway prints no rate schedule publicly. Alma: Alma does not publish what it pays or reimburses per session. Ask each for the rate for your license, state and insurers, in writing, before you sign. For reference, Medicare's 2026 national amount for a 60-minute session (90837) is $125.25 for an LCSW, LMFT or LPC, $141.95 for a psychiatric nurse practitioner and $167.00 for a psychologist or psychiatrist, before the adjustment for where you practice.
- Is Headway or Alma cheaper for therapists?
- Headway: Joining is free, but Headway's help center announces a $9.99 service fee on every appointment with a new client who found you through its marketplace (its matching, its ads, its booking team, a connected health plan or health system, or its AI integrations such as ChatGPT), starting state by state in November 2026 and in every state by the end of 2026. The fee applies to insurance and private-pay sessions for as long as you see that client, and is deducted from your payout; clients you add yourself, clients who book through your direct link, and clients who reach your profile on their first visit from a search engine (not an ad) carry none. Headway's payout for a private-pay session deducts 2.95% of your session rate for payment processing and its cost of supporting the session. There is no fee when the client pays by bank account. Alma: Alma charges clinicians a monthly membership fee, printed on its blog as $125/month or $1,140 annually. Alma's pricing blocks offer annual billing at 25% off and say fees are subject to state sales tax, and a separate promotional landing page shows a first-year special. New members are told they get complimentary months while onboarding. Alma's FAQ says it takes no cut of your fee from visits with cash-pay clients: the income from cash-pay clients stays with you, and it charges only the membership fee.
- How does credentialing work at Headway and Alma?
- Headway: Headway credentials you itself with insurers through its own payer agreements; credentialing you completed on your own with a carrier is not honored through Headway. Headway's help center puts the wait for approval at anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months, and up to 8 weeks more for insurers to add you to their systems before you are paid. Alma: Alma collects your materials, submits them to payers and credentials you under Alma's Tax ID, even if you are already credentialed on your own. Credentialing can take up to 45 days after Alma receives the completed onboarding form.
- How often do Headway and Alma pay therapists?
- Headway: Paid twice a month, on the 15th and the last day of the month. Alma: Alma says members can choose a weekly or bi-weekly payout schedule, and its insurance page lists a weekly payout schedule.
- Are Headway and Alma therapists contractors or employees?
- Headway: You keep your own practice; Headway's pages describe providers keeping their practice in one place on Headway and do not describe them as its employees. Alma: Alma says the practice stays yours.
- Do Headway or Alma provide malpractice insurance?
- Headway: Every provider must buy their own professional liability insurance; minimum limits vary by state and license type. Headway does not require being named an additional insured. Alma: Members must carry their own professional liability insurance, $1 million per claim and $3 million aggregate, covering the license they practice under.
- Can pre-licensed or associate clinicians join Headway or Alma?
- Alma does not accept pre-licensed or associate clinicians. Headway's pages do not say.
- Can you see clients in person through Headway or Alma?
- Headway: You can see clients in person at an office location you list on Headway, as well as by telehealth. In-person visits in a client's home are not supported. Alma: Alma lists rates for both teletherapy and in-person visits, and can add your physical office as a credentialed location.
Know when Headway or Alma changes its pay or terms
We re-check what every platform pays, charges and requires each month. When one changes, you get one short email saying what changed and where.
Paid AI-training work for clinicians
AI companies hire licensed clinicians as remote contractors to write and grade mental-health material for their models: 8 roles open today, at $45 to $155 an hour as posted.
Building your own practice instead?
The Practice Academy, from Practice of the Practice, is a paid membership with courses, coaching and a community for therapists starting or growing a private practice. Referral link: OnlineTherapy.me earns a fee from Practice of the Practice if you join through it. It never changes what these pages report about any platform.
Spending evenings on notes?
Blueprint is AI software for therapists that drafts progress notes, treatment plans and client letters, and handles claims and eligibility; it runs alongside the EHR you already use or as its own all-in-one EHR. Referral link: OnlineTherapy.me earns a fee from Blueprint if you join through it. It never changes what these pages report about any platform.