For a therapist, yes: Grow Therapy is a real company that credentials clinicians under its insurance contracts, bills payers and pays per session. Headway and Alma work the same way. The question worth your time is what each one costs you, what it keeps, and what you can take with you if you leave.
This guide is for licensed therapists deciding how to fill a caseload. Fees and policies below come from each platform's own pages, and the Good Faith Estimate rule from CMS, all checked 15 September 2026. They change, so confirm before you sign anything.
Is Grow Therapy legit for therapists?
On its provider page, Grow says you join as an independent 1099 contractor, with an active, unrestricted license and your own malpractice insurance. It handles credentialing, billing and claims, including denied claims, and pays per session every week.
- Credentialing. Grow says credentialing takes 5–7 days on average for a first payor. Its enrollment FAQ adds that some payors can take longer than six months, and that you're added to Grow's group contracts.
- Rates. Grow's payout FAQ says your payout is the contracted rate on your rate sheet. Its payor rates article says rates vary by payor, state, CPT code, license type and credentialing date.
- Clients. Grow says it features you in its directory, surfaces your profile to insurance and employer-based clients, and markets your practice with other directory partners.
- Cash pay. You set your own cash-pay rate. Grow's cash-pay policy deducts a 5% processing fee, and you're paid for the session only if the client pays.
We found no membership fee for providers on Grow's provider page or help center.
How each platform gets paid
This is the difference that matters most, because it shapes the rest.
- Headway charges no membership fees. It explains that when it secures above-market rates from a health plan, it pays providers and keeps a varying percentage of session payments. Its rates and agreements article says it doesn't always earn money on sessions when a plan offers lower rates, and that it pays providers every two weeks whether or not the insurer has paid it. On private-pay sessions billed through Headway, its private pay article says payouts account for 2.95% of your session rate, with no fee when the client pays by bank account (checked 15 September 2026).
- Alma charges a membership fee instead. Its provider page shows annual membership at $1,140, offered at $600 for the first year ($50 a month), with monthly billing also offered (checked 15 September 2026). Alma says it takes no cut of your cash-pay sessions.
- Grow publishes no membership fee. It pays your contracted insurance rate and takes the cash-pay processing fee covered above.
None of the three publishes a rate table. Grow says rates vary by payor, state, session type and license type; Headway says by market, service and plan; and Alma's membership policies call its rates confidential. Ask each for a quote for your license and state, in writing.
Grow Therapy vs Headway vs Alma at a glance
| Feature | Grow Therapy | Headway | Alma |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee to you | No membership fee published; 5% processing fee on cash-pay sessions | No membership fees; 2.95% of your session rate on private-pay sessions billed through Headway (none if the client pays by bank account) | Annual membership $1,140, offered at $600 for the first year ($50 a month); monthly billing also offered |
| Credentialing | Handled, under Grow's group contracts | Handled, free | Handled, under Alma's Tax ID |
| Claims and billing | Handled, including denied claims | Automated claims | Claims through Alma's portal; Alma invoices clients for copays |
| Pay schedule | Weekly | Every two weeks | Weekly or every two weeks |
| Insurance rates | Vary by payor, state, session type and license | Vary by market, service and plan | Confidential |
| Cash-pay clients | You set the rate | You set the rate; bill through Headway or elsewhere | Cash-pay income stays with you |
| Finding clients | Directory and partner marketing | Directory and client matching | Directory and consultation requests |
| If you leave | Enrollment doesn't transfer; while you're on Grow, its referrals are managed and billed through Grow. Grow doesn't say what happens to them after you leave | Clients you brought are yours; Headway-sourced clients stay | A policy written for group practices keeps Alma-sourced referrals in its network; ask Alma whether it applies to you |
Grow Therapy vs Headway: which is better?
On paper, these two are the closest. Neither publishes a membership fee, and both credential you, bill insurers, say they protect your pay from clawbacks, and run an EHR with telehealth and a client directory (Headway's provider page).
Both say they pay you even when an insurer hasn't paid them. Grow's payout FAQ says insurance claims take about 14–21 days from invoice to payout. The table above covers credentialing, pay schedules and private-pay fees.
In practice, the deciding factor is usually which payers each platform has in your state, and the rate it quotes you.
Headway vs Alma
Here the business models really differ.
- Fee. Headway charges no membership and earns from the insurance rates it negotiates. Alma charges a flat membership whatever your caseload, and its insurance rates are confidential. Neither publishes what you net per session, so compare written quotes after fees.
- Credentialing. Alma's FAQ says new members must join its insurance program with at least one of Aetna, Cigna or Optum, and be credentialed under Alma's Tax ID, even if you're already credentialed with that payer yourself.
- Out-of-network. Headway's help center says it does not work with out-of-network benefits, but its private pay article says private-pay clients can submit their invoices to their insurer to use them, unless they have in-network coverage they chose not to use. Alma's insurance page lists superbills among its billing tools.
- Cancelling. Alma's provider terms say memberships renew automatically at its then-current fee unless you opt out, and cancelling doesn't bring a prorated refund for the current period.
Alma vs Grow Therapy
These two split on what you pay for, and on which sessions carry a cost.
- Cash pay. Grow charges its fee on every cash-pay session; Alma's membership costs the same whether you see cash-pay clients or not. Work out both on your own expected caseload.
- Insurance payouts. Grow's payout FAQ says it guarantees insurance payouts even when it can't collect, and that the guarantee doesn't cover cash-pay sessions or no-shows.
What happens to your clients if you leave
Read this before you join, not when you want out.
- Headway. Its account help article says clients you bring are yours to take with you. Clients who found you through Headway's search are expected to keep being seen on Headway, and it asks providers not to build a caseload from its referrals and move it off the platform. It also recommends downloading your notes before you leave.
- Grow. Your enrollment under its group contracts doesn't transfer. Grow's client referrals article requires clients who came through its directory, member referrals or marketing to be managed and billed through Grow. It doesn't say what happens to them after you leave, so ask before you join.
- Alma. Its membership policies say consultation requests and referrals sourced through Alma should stay in the Alma network, in a section written for group practices. Ask Alma whether the same applies to you.
Also remember that unless you hold your own contract with a client's plan, their sessions with you after you leave won't be in-network. Plan those conversations with care.
When an insurance platform is the right choice
For plenty of therapists, joining one is the sensible move:
- You're newly licensed or newly independent, and need a caseload before you can afford to build demand yourself.
- Most people in your area pay for therapy through insurance.
- You don't want to handle credentialing, claims or denials.
- You want a set pay schedule while you work out your niche.
Before you pick one, list the payers most people in your area use. Then ask each platform which of those it can credential you with in your state, and how long each usually takes. Grow says timelines depend on your state and the networks involved.
There's nothing second-rate about an insurance caseload. The questions are whether it's the practice you want in five years, and whether you're building anything of your own alongside it.
Where private pay fits, and what it takes
With private pay, you set the fee, there are no claims, and nobody else's contract decides what happens when you move. In exchange, you take on the job the platform's directory was doing: getting found.
That means building a few things you own:
- A niche and a published fee. Say who you help and what a session costs. If you see uninsured or self-pay clients, CMS says providers usually must give them a good faith estimate of costs when a client asks for one or books at least 3 business days ahead.
- A website that takes bookings. One page per service you want more of, and a way to book a consultation at night. Ask for contact details and a time, never health details.
- A Google Business Profile, if you see clients in person, and pages that can rank for searches where you see them. Google's eligibility rules require in-person contact with clients, so a telehealth-only practice doesn't qualify. Our SEO guide for therapists covers the order.
- Follow-up on every inquiry. Reply to every inquiry, and follow up if it doesn't turn into a booking.
- Superbills for clients who want to claim out-of-network reimbursement.
You start without a directory sending you inquiries. Search visibility builds over months, and ads cost money from the first week. The full sequence is in our guide to marketing for therapists.
Running a platform and private pay together
You don't have to choose once. One option is to keep an insurance platform for a base caseload, build private-pay demand alongside it, and shift the mix over time. All three platforms let you see cash-pay clients on them.
If you do this:
- Know which clients the platform counts as its referrals, and follow its rules for them.
- Keep your own website and booking link separate from any platform profile, so private-pay inquiries come straight to you.
- Record where every new private-pay client found you.
- Decide what you'll do with platform openings as private pay grows, before you need to.
Private pay is the work we do. See how we approach private practice marketing as a therapist marketing agency, run first on the two clinical platforms our founders own, or start with the 30-day Proof Pilot.
Sources
- Grow Therapy — Providers, checked 15 September 2026
- Grow Therapy Provider Help Center — Enrollment and Credentialing FAQ, checked 15 September 2026
- Grow Therapy Provider Help Center — View your payor rates, checked 15 September 2026
- Grow Therapy Provider Help Center — Payout & Earnings FAQ, checked 15 September 2026
- Grow Therapy Provider Help Center — Payment policy for cash-pay appointments, checked 15 September 2026
- Grow Therapy Provider Help Center — Manage your client referrals, checked 15 September 2026
- Grow Therapy Provider Help Center — Your Grow Therapy practice and revenue cycle management, checked 15 September 2026
- Headway — Your practice, powered by Headway, checked 15 September 2026
- Headway — Inside look: how we work with insurance plans for you, checked 15 September 2026
- Headway Help — Rates and agreements, checked 15 September 2026
- Headway Help — Private pay and bill elsewhere, checked 15 September 2026
- Headway Help — Managing your account, checked 15 September 2026
- Headway Help — Using insurance on Headway, checked 15 September 2026
- Alma — Membership benefits for mental health providers, checked 15 September 2026
- Alma — Insurance program for therapists, checked 15 September 2026
- Alma — Frequently asked questions, checked 15 September 2026
- Alma Support — Membership Overview, checked 15 September 2026
- Alma Support — Provider Terms of Use, checked 15 September 2026
- CMS — Know your medical bill rights when not using insurance (No Surprises Act), checked 15 September 2026