Life as a provider

How much do online therapists make?

Whether you’re considering becoming a therapist or are already in practice, you may be curious about the average salary of online therapists.

June 26, 2026

By the Headway Editorial Team • Clinically reviewed by Caitlin Pugh, LCSW

5 min read

By the Headway Editorial Team • Clinically reviewed by Caitlin Pugh, LCSW

Perhaps you're a new clinician weighing your options, an established therapist benchmarking your rates, or a group practice owner planning for growth. You’re curious about working as an “online” therapist, or as a provider practicing virtually, and want to know how much you might make.

Understanding what online therapists actually earn is a practical starting point. There are real variables at play, and the numbers below reflect that range. While therapists providing telehealth appointments work across many settings, this article focuses on income for providers who accept insurance.

Key insights

Online therapists earn roughly $70,000 to $95,000 per year, with hourly rates ranging from $33 to $46 depending on license type, location, and caseload.

Earnings also vary based on years of experience, geographic location, caseload size, and practice setting.

Headway helps providers earn more by negotiating competitive insurance rates directly and lowering administrative costs.

How much do online therapists make?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is usually a standard data set for understanding salary. However, this dataset does not include specific data for “online therapists,” so the data here comes from an average of searches across multiple major job posting sites: ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, and Indeed.

Average annual salary: $70,000–$95,000 per year, with a central estimate around $79,000 per year for full‑time work.
Average hourly rates: $33–$46 per hour for many U.S. online therapists, with higher rates in specialized or platform‑supported roles. The central estimate is around $38/hour for full‑time work.
Per session rates: $50–$80 per session for most online therapists, with some roles paying below or above that depending on license, region, and platform.

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What influences how much online therapists make?

There are multiple factors that determine the actual amount you can make as an online therapist.

Location: There can be differences in private pay rates for urban versus rural areas. Different states have different payout rates that are determined by the contracts with insurance companies. Locations with higher cost of living typically have higher pay rates. States you are licensed in will be the biggest determining factor.
Experience: If you are early in your career, you’ll likely earn less. This is usually seen during the associate period before full licensure. Once fully licensed, earnings typically increase meaningfully.
License type: Typically this differentiation is between master’s level clinicians (LPC, LCSW, and LMFT) versus Psychologists (PsyD and PhD). Psychologists typically earn higher rates than master's-level clinicians, a difference driven by degree level and scope of practice, not clinical competence. No matter what type of master’s level clinician you are, pay tends to be comparable across master's-level licenses, with more variation driven by setting and specialty than license initials alone.
Specialization: Specializations or certifications can increase earning potential, as can providing therapy in multiple languages. In general, specializations can justify higher private-pay rates.
Size of caseload: In private practice, your income is directly tied to caseload size. If rates were $100 per session and you have 40 client sessions per month, you will make $4,000 for the month. If you have 100 sessions, you would make $10,000 that month before taxes. It’s especially helpful to calculate the income you can expect from an ongoing therapeutic relationship with a client.
The practice you work for: If you work for an organization or a clinic, you will likely be paid a set salary and have expected productivity requirements. If you work for a group practice, you will either get a salary, or more likely a percentage split for each session you conduct (i.e. 60% of the rate for you and 40% for the practice). If you have your own private practice, you keep 100% of collected fees before accounting for expenses like rent, software, and taxes.

Online therapy platform pay vs. insurance-based practice income

There are different options when it comes to being an online therapist. You can work with therapy platforms that pay a flat fee or platforms that help your practice to accept insurance.

How much can therapists make through online therapy platforms?

Platforms such as BetterHelp can provide referrals but don’t always accept insurance plans. These platforms have a set fee they pay per session. They can often be lower than the amount made through an online practice that accepts insurance. Data from Indeed shows that an average hourly pay for BetterHelp is around $30, though individual rates vary and may reflect part-time or contractor arrangements.

How much can therapists make through an insurance-accepting online practice such as Headway?

Platforms such as Headway that help your online practice accept insurance tend to offer higher rates. Headway offers competitive rates for the field that vary by state. Headway achieves this by negotiating directly with insurance companies on your behalf. These higher rates, multiplied across many sessions, add up to higher pay.

Headway’s negotiated rates and reduced admin burden with effective billing tools can help insurance‑based therapists move toward the higher end of typical earnings. Payouts are made to you twice per month.

Explore how much providers make by license or location

Salary data is most useful when you have something to compare it to. Here's a look at what providers earn across different license types, plus state-by-state breakdowns for even more context.

How much therapists make by license types

License type is one of the main drivers of earning potential. Take a look at what different types of providers earn on average.

How much therapists make by state

Your location is another significant factor driving how much you can earn as a private practice therapist. To learn more about salaries in different states, you can explore these in-depth Headway resources.

How Headway helps you build a profitable practice

If you're looking to build or grow your own practice, Headway is designed to make that transition manageable. Headway handles the insurance credentialing process on your behalf so you can start seeing clients sooner.

Once you're up and running, Headway's built-in billing, documentation, and administrative tools reduce the overhead that eats into your take-home pay. There are no monthly fees, and payouts land in your account twice per month on a reliable schedule. Your practice is structured so that more of what you bill actually reaches you without the administrative weight of managing it alone.

Talk to a practice consultant

This content is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical, legal, financial, or professional advice. All decisions should be made at the discretion of the individual or organization, in consultation with qualified clinical, legal, or other appropriate professionals.

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