Key Takeaways
Rula and Grow Therapy offer many of the same services. They’re both teletherapy platforms that offer in-person and online therapy and psychiatric care in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
However, there are a few differences to be aware of. At Rula, 9% more patients show meaningful improvement from first to final visit vs Grow Therapy. For patients using insurance, Rula sessions are also slightly more affordable than at Grow Therapy.
Most people using Rula or Grow therapy can schedule their first session within a few days. But with Rula, appointments are available as soon as tomorrow.
If you’re looking for a therapist you can meet with online, you have more options than ever before. Large teletherapy companies like Rula and Grow Therapy can connect you with an in-network provider who you can meet with via a convenient online appointment in a matter of days.
These platforms are making it easier to access different forms of therapy and psychiatric care. But how do you know which one to choose? This typically depends on several factors, including your insurance, location, and personal preferences.
In the following guide, we’ll compare Rula and Grow Therapy to help you determine which one might be best for you.
Differences at a glance
Average cost per session
Rula: $15
Grow Therapy: $21
Practicing therapists
Modes of communication
Rula: Video software, in-person sessions, messaging through the portal
Grow Therapy: Video software, in-person sessions, messaging through the portal
Services offered
Rula: Individual, couples, family, child, and teen therapy, as well as psychiatric care (medication management)
Grow Therapy: Individual, couples, family, child, and teen therapy, as well as psychiatry (medication management)
Insurance acceptance
States covered
Rula: All 50 states, plus Washington, D.C
Grow Therapy: All 50 states, plus Washington, D.C
Number of specialties offered
Inclusivity and patient focus
Rula: 51% of providers in Rula's network are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), and providers in their network speak over 40 different languages.
Grow Therapy: 44% of providers in Grow Therapy’s network are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), and providers in their network speak over 35 different languages.
Access and flexibility
Rula: Rula helps thousands of people access affordable, quality mental healthcare every week, with online video appointments available as soon as tomorrow.
Grow Therapy: Most therapists on Grow Therapy are available for a first therapy session within a few days.
Rula at a glance
With a nationwide network of over 21,000 licensed and vetted providers, Rula is on a mission to increase access to high-quality mental healthcare. And, according to their data, they’re driving meaningful results for patients. At Rula, clinical outcomes are >10% better than other national groups, on average, and about 90% of patients experience a reduction in symptoms by the time they end care.
With Rula, you get access to a network of providers with experience in over 180 clinical specialties and modalities. This includes individual, couples, family, child, and teen therapy. And it also includes psychiatric care and medication management. Most people meet with their Rula providers remotely via Zoom. But depending on your location, you may be able to schedule in-person appointments as well.
Rula is committed to making care accessible, effective, and affordable and is in-network with 100+ insurance plans. Rula patients pay an average of $15 per session using insurance.*
Here’s a brief rundown of how to sign up:
To begin, Rula will verify your insurance coverage, and you will get a personalized estimate of your cost per session in seconds.
Then, you’ll provide your age, location, contact information, and the type of care you’re interested in.
Next, you can begin browsing through a list of personalized provider matches. You can filter by speciality, gender, availability, treatment approach, language, race, identity, and more.
Once you make a selection, you can schedule your first appointment for as soon as tomorrow.
*Actual cost may vary based on your insurance benefits and deductible. Rula will provide you with a personalized cost estimate prior to your first appointment.
Grow Therapy at a glance
Grow Therapy is a nationwide teletherapy platform that helps people find therapy and psychiatric care. Their goal is to make mental healthcare more accessible and affordable by helping individual therapists launch their private practices. Grow Therapy’s network includes over 17,000 providers with 80+ specialties. With Grow Therapy, you can meet with providers remotely or in person, depending on your location.
Like Rula, Grow Therapy also accepts insurance to help make care more affordable. They’re in-network with about 80 insurance plans, and patients pay an average of $21/session when they use their insurance. Grow Therapy provides therapy for individuals, couples, children, or teens as well as psychiatric care (medication management), if needed.
Here’s what the enrollment process looks like:
Enter your insurance information to see how much you'll pay and find providers who accept your insurance.
Indicate the state where you live, the kind of care you need (therapy vs. medication), and the types of issues you’re hoping to get support for.
Next, you’ll choose options for in-person or virtual support and indicate your age.
Then, you can select your provider preferences, including gender, race, ethnicity, religion, identity (i.e. LGBTQIA+), and language. You can also share your availability and the treatment modalities you’re interested in.
From there, you’ll receive a list of personalized matches. You can read each provider’s profile, make a selection, and then schedule your first appointment.
Clinical outcomes: Rula vs. Grow Therapy
Rula and Grow Therapy are committed to evidence-based care and measuring the impact of their services. Here are a few highlights about their clinical outcomes:
69% of Rula patients (compared with 63% of Grow Therapy patients) experienced a clinically meaningful improvement from their first to final visit.
93% of patients report feeling better about their symptoms after receiving care through Rula.
Rula patients typically report starting to feel better after just 3 sessions.
About 74% of Rula patients experienced a clinically meaningful improvement on the PHQ or GAD within 12 weeks. These assessments are used to measure anxiety and depression.
Since 2020, Grow Therapy has achieved impressive results for time-to-care (4 days), patient satisfaction (85 NPS), and a clinically-significant symptom reduction (about 50%) for moderate to severe patients.
Cost and insurance coverage
When it comes to covering the cost of care with Rula and Grow Therapy, you have a few different options. You can use an FSA or HSA, or self-pay on both platforms. And both companies also accept insurance, including some Medicare and Medicaid plans. Their websites allow you to verify your insurance coverage and get an estimated cost for care before your first appointment. When using insurance, patients pay an average of $15/session with Rula and $21/session with Grow Therapy.
Insurance accepted by therapists on Rula
Insurance accepted by providers on Grow Therapy
Aetna
All Savers
Anthem
AvMed
Bind
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Carefirst
Cigna
Evernorth
Florida Blue
Golden Rule
Highmark
Humana
HUSKY Health
Independence Blue Cross
Medicaid
Medicare
Optum
OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
Oscar
United Health/Optum
United Medical Resources
UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
UnitedHealthcare Student Resources
Health insurance can help make care more affordable. If you have questions about your plan’s mental health coverage, you can get in touch with your insurance company to find out more. You can reach them through your member portal or by calling the number on the back of your insurance card.
Mental health services offered
Rula
With Rula, you get a comprehensive suite of services delivered by licensed, vetted mental health professionals. These providers offer over 180 clinical specialties and must maintain their credentials while part of the Rula network, even if not actively treating clients. They include:
Marriage and family therapists (LMFTs)
Clinical social workers (LCSWs)
Clinical psychologists (LCPs)
Professional clinical counselors (LPCCs)
Psychiatric nurse practitioners (NPs, APRNs, or PMHNPs)
Psychiatrists
Psychologists (PsyDs)
Rula offers psychiatric care (including medication management) along with individual, couples, family, teen, and child therapy. Whether you’re living with anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), substance use disorder (SUD), schizophrenia, or another concern, Rula can help you find the right support for your needs. The exact therapies your provider uses will vary based on your individual goals and preferences.
Some of the modalities you can access via Rula include:
Most common approaches
Behavioral therapy
Insight-oriented
Relationship-based
Experiential therapy
Humanistic therapy
Grow
Some of the providers you might encounter at Grow Therapy are listed below. These medical and mental health professionals offer various therapies (i.e. individual, couples, child, teen, etc.) along with psychiatric care, including medication management, if needed.
Marriage and family therapists (LMFTs)
Clinical social workers (LCSWs)
Clinical psychologists (LCPs)
Psychiatrists
Doctors (PhDs)
Psychologists (PsyDs)
Nurse practitioners, advanced practice registered nurses, or psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (NPs, APRNs, or PHMNPs)
Psychiatrists (MDs or DOs)
Grow Therapy providers help people living with common mental health concerns like anxiety, depression, substance use disorders (SUDs), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and more. When you sign up, you and your provider(s) will work together to determine which modalities might be most helpful for you.
With Grow Therapy, you can choose from a wide range of supports, including:
Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP)
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
Adlerian
Attachment-based
Biofeedback
Brainspotting
Child parent psychotherapy
Cognitive behavioral (CBT)
Cognitive processing (CPT)
Collaborative management and assessment of suicidality (CAMS)
Couples counseling
Culturally sensitive therapy
Dialectical behavior (DBT)
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
Emotionally focused therapy (EFT)
Existential
Experiential therapy
Exposure and response prevention (ERP)
Faith based therapy
Family therapy
Forensic psychology
Gender-affirming therapy
Gestalt
Gottman method
Grief therapy
Group therapy
Humanistic
Integrative
Internal family systems (IFS)
Interpersonal
Jungian
Mind-body approach
Mindfulness-based therapy
Motivational interviewing
Multicultural
Narrative
Neurofeedback
Parent-child interaction (PCIT)
Person-centered (Rogerian)
Play therapy
Polyvagal therapy
Prolonged exposure therapy
Psychoanalytic
Psychobiological approach couples therapy
Psychodynamic
Racial trauma treatment
Rational emotive behavior therapy
Reality therapy
Relational
Schema therapy
Sex therapy
Somatic
Transpersonal
Trauma informed care
Trauma-focused CBT
Inclusivity and specialized care
The ongoing provider shortage, coupled with other systemic factors, has made it difficult for people across the country to access the mental health services they deserve. But historically, it’s been even harder for underserved groups (i.e. women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and BIPOC individuals) to access care due to bias and discrimination.
Both Rula and Grow Therapy recognize the importance of inclusive, culturally competent care and having access to providers who understand your background and identity. Rula’s provider network represents over 40 different languages and 51% of their provider network identifies as BIPOC. Grow Therapy’s network includes more than 12,000 providers from diverse backgrounds. About 44% of their providers identify as BIPOC, and they offer access to over 35 languages, including certified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters.
Provider access
Since they’re primarily teletherapy platforms, most sessions on Rula and Grow Therapy take place online. Both companies have a nationwide presence and utilize HIPAA-compliant video software for remote sessions. Rula uses Zoom, and Grow Therapy has their own secure video platform. Rula recommends downloading the Zoom app to your phone, tablet, or computer before your first session. But you will also have the option to join your session from your browser.
One of the benefits of Rula and Grow Therapy is that, depending on where you live, you might be able to schedule in-person sessions with your provider(s). Some people prefer strictly online appointments, and others prefer to meet face-to-face. Unlike some platforms, which only offer online care, Rula and Grow Therapy provide both.
Once you’re signed up with Rula or Grow Therapy, there are a few different ways to contact your providers between sessions. Both platforms allow you to message your provider via a patient portal. With Rula, you may have some other communication options, such as email or phone calls. But those are based on provider availability and preference.
Embracing flexibility
Whether with Rula, Grow Therapy, or another platform, doing therapy online provides added flexibility. Since they don’t have to commute to an office to deliver care, many providers can offer appointments outside the usual 9-5 window. This can make it easier to fit therapy or psychiatric services into your schedule.
Switching providers is also easier with teletherapy. It’s okay to want to try working with someone new, and Rula and Grow Therapy can help facilitate this process. Both platforms also recognize that sometimes patients need to cancel their appointments. When you sign up, be sure to familiarize yourself with the cancellation policies.
For example, Rula will apply a fee to your account if you miss an appointment (i.e., a “no-show”) or cancel an appointment within 24 hours of the appointment start time (i.e., a late cancellation). With Grow Therapy, late cancellations are cancellations made less than 24 hours before the appointment, and providers set their own cancellation fees.
Summary: Is Rula or Grow Therapy right for you?
Rula and Grow Therapy offer therapy and psychiatric services in all 50 states and Washington D.C. Both platforms take insurance, provide upfront cost estimates, and match you with providers who meet your criteria.
With Rula and Grow Therapy, you and your loved ones can access timely, effective care online or in-person (with eligible providers). So how do you know which one is right for you? Both of these companies can be great options. Rula demonstrates slightly better outcomes data and provides a lower cost per session, on average. However, if meeting with your providers face-to-face is important to you, you might be a better fit for Grow Therapy as they may have more options for in-person care.
Rula FAQs
Are Rula’s services effective?
Rula is committed to driving measurable results through personalized, evidence-based care. Their outcomes data demonstrate that 93% of patients report feeling better about their symptoms after receiving care through Rula.
How much will my Rula sessions cost?
People who use their insurance pay an average of $15/session with Rula. Actual cost may vary based on your insurance benefits and deductible. Rula will provide you with a personalized cost estimate prior to your first appointment.
Does Rula offer in-person care?
The majority of Rula providers meet with their patients using Zoom. But patients also have the option to meet with their providers in person in all 50 states and Washington D.C. The availability of in-person care is based on therapist availability and eligibility.
What do I do if I have more questions about Rula?
If you have questions about Rula’s services, you can contact us anytime by clicking here. Our team can help you get signed up, verify your insurance, troubleshoot any issues you’re having with the platform, and more.
Finding care
If you’re looking for effective, convenient mental healthcare, teletherapy is a great option. With platforms like Rula and Grow Therapy, you can get matched with a provider based on your location, insurance, and preferences, and you won’t wait weeks or months for an appointment.
Both nationwide platforms have thousands of providers who offer a wide range of specialties. You can use Rula or Grow Therapy for therapy, psychiatric care, or both, and there are options for both online services and in-person appointments.
Rula might be slightly more affordable, and their clinical outcomes are 10%+ better than other national groups, on average. But Grow Therapy also has some compelling outcomes data with regard to patient satisfaction and time to care. No matter the issues you’re facing, both platforms can help you find the right care for your needs.
