Best Telehealth Services of 2026

PlushCare is the pick when you want a longitudinal primary-care relationship rather than a one-off urgent visit. Founded 2014 in San Francisco by Ryan McQuaid and James Wantuck MD; acquired by Accolade for $450M in 2021. PlushCare is the only telehealth pick in our lineup with the combination of in-network insurance, longitudinal primary care, and chronic-condition management on the entry tier.

The $16.99/mo membership unlocks unlimited messaging with your primary care doctor. Visits run roughly $30 with insurance (typical copay across the major in-network plans) or $129 cash. Lab orders and specialist referrals are included on the entry tier. Mental health is offered as an add-on rather than the headline service.

The catch: not 24x7 (bookings happen during provider hours rather than overnight), no urgent-care specialty bench beyond primary care, no GLP-1 weight-loss program, and matrices show $30 Visit-with-insurance as typical because the Membership and Visit tier names sit outside our standard tier-matcher (the realistic entry is $16.99 membership). Default to PlushCare when ongoing primary-care messaging matters; pay Teladoc when 24x7 urgent care is the use case.

Hims is the right pick when your job-to-be-done is condition-specific subscription medication rather than urgent care or primary care. Founded 2017 in San Francisco by Andrew Dudum, Hilary Coles, Joe Spector, and Jack Abraham; NYSE:HIMS public 2021 via SPAC; revenue $1.5B in 2024 with the GLP-1 compounded program driving 70%+ year-over-year growth.

Hair finasteride runs $22/mo, ED sildenafil $25/mo, Mental Health $85/mo, and Weight Loss compounded semaglutide $199/mo. Cash-pay subscriptions ship from Hims's own pharmacy with home delivery, no local-pharmacy prescription routing required. HSA and FSA cards are eligible across all subscription tiers. NYSE:HIMS public since 2021 with audited financials and SOC 2 compliance.

The catch: no urgent care, no primary care, no longitudinal therapy follow-up. The mental-health line provides brief medication-management visits, not the multi-session therapy or psychiatry depth Teladoc, Amwell, or Doctor On Demand offer. Cash-pay only means insurance does not apply. Default to Hims when condition-specific subscription medication is the use case; pay Teladoc or PlushCare when general-purpose visits are the need.

Ro is the men's-health alternative to Hims with a different angle on GLP-1 weight loss: rather than compounded semaglutide, Ro built the Body program around brand-name Wegovy and Ozempic with active insurance-navigation support. Founded 2017 as Roman by Zachariah Reitano, Saman Rahmanian, and Rob Schutz; rebranded to Ro in 2019 to expand beyond men's sexual health; private, $876M total funding through 2022 Series E at a $7B valuation.

Roman ED at $17/mo is the cheapest single-condition subscription in the catalog. Hair Loss runs $24/mo. Body GLP-1 at $145/mo includes active insurance-navigation support for the brand-name Wegovy and Ozempic path, with a compounded fallback when insurance does not approve. Cash-pay subscription with own pharmacy and home delivery; HSA/FSA eligible.

The catch: narrower product mix than Hims (no Mental Health line, fewer add-on conditions), no urgent or primary care, and the brand-name GLP-1 path requires active insurance-navigation work that compounded semaglutide on Hims skips. Default to Ro when you specifically want brand-name Wegovy or Ozempic with insurance support; pay Hims when you want a broader subscription mix or compounded GLP-1 at a lower headline price.

Teladoc is the consensus mainstream pick across Forbes Health, NerdWallet, U.S. News, and Healthline because it sits at the intersection of three things readers want: brand credibility (NYSE:TDOC since 2015), accreditation across URAC, NCQA, and Joint Commission, and breadth covering general medical, mental health, dermatology, primary care, and chronic-condition management. The Livongo acquisition in 2020 for $18.5B added the chronic-condition pivot.

Cash medical visits run $89 per occurrence, therapy at $99 per session, psychiatry at $299 initial with $129 follow-ups. Available in all 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico, 24/7 urgent care, with 80 million-plus members through employer and insurance partnerships. The realistic Teladoc buyer is an employee whose employer has a Teladoc contract, which typically means $0 copay for the same visit a cash buyer pays $89 for.

The catch: cash visits at $89 are pricier than Sesame Care at $30 walk-in for an equivalent urgent visit. If your employer covers Teladoc, use it; if you are paying cash, Sesame is meaningfully cheaper. Default to Teladoc when employer benefits or full accreditation matter; pay Sesame when transparent cash pricing is the wedge.

Sesame Care is the right pick when you do not have insurance, do not want to deal with insurance, or simply want to know exactly what a visit costs before you book it. Founded 2018 in New York by David Goldhill and Michael Botta; $90M total funding through 2022 Series B led by GV. Sesame is built around the cash-pay marketplace model: providers list their cash rates, you book directly, no insurance claims, no copay surprises.

Walk-in video visits run $30, the cheapest credible cash visit in the lineup. Therapy sessions at $65 are also among the cheapest. In-person primary-care visits at $60 connect you directly with a local doctor through the marketplace booking flow. HSA and FSA cards are accepted across all visit types.

The catch: no insurance billing (cash-pay only, with HSA/FSA the only pre-tax route), no 24/7 (provider availability varies), and a smaller provider network than enterprise-payer incumbents. Matrices show $60 In-person as typical because the Walk-in, Therapy, and In-person tier names sit outside our standard tier-matcher (the realistic entry is $30 walk-in). Default to Sesame when transparent cash pricing matters; pay Teladoc or Amwell when employer benefits apply.

Amwell is the second mainstream enterprise-payer incumbent and the right pick when you want Teladoc-grade accreditation but a different network or a different employer-benefits route. Founded 2006 in Boston as American Well by Dr Roy Schoenberg and Dr Ido Schoenberg; NYSE:AMWL public 2020 IPO; revenue $267M in 2023. URAC accredited like Teladoc, available 50 states, 24/7 urgent care.

Cash visits run $89 for urgent care, $109 for a 45-minute therapy session with master's-level licensed therapists, and $279 for an initial psychiatry visit (with $109 follow-ups including continuity-of-care guarantees). The Anthem, Cleveland Clinic, and Blue Cross enterprise partnerships drive the primary route: most Amwell visits are zero-copay through employer-sponsored plans rather than cash.

The catch: no primary-care relationship (urgent-care-first model, not longitudinal), no GLP-1 program, and matrices show $109 Therapy as typical because the Urgent care, Therapy, and Psychiatry tier names sit outside our standard tier-matcher (the realistic cash entry is $89 urgent care). Pay Teladoc when broader accreditation matters; default to Amwell when employer covers it or when you want master's-level therapy at $109 per session.

Doctor On Demand is the third enterprise-payer incumbent in our lineup and the right pick when you want Teladoc and Amwell-grade accreditation at a slightly cheaper cash visit price. Founded 2012 in San Francisco by Adam Jackson and Phil Marshall; merged with Grand Rounds in 2021 to form Included Health (Permira and Carlyle backed at a $13B valuation).

Medical visits run $75 cash, the cheapest urgent-care visit among enterprise incumbents. Therapy at $129 per session ships continuity-of-care guarantees with the same therapist across sessions. Psychiatry runs $299 initial with $129 follow-ups. URAC accredited like Teladoc and Amwell, available in 50 states with 24/7 urgent care.

The catch: no primary care (urgent-care-first model), no GLP-1 program, a smaller mental-health network than Teladoc despite the same psychiatry pricing, and matrices show $129 Therapy as typical because the Medical, Therapy, and Psychiatry tier names sit outside our standard tier-matcher (the realistic cash entry is $75 medical, the largest gap among enterprise incumbents in this guide). Default to Doctor On Demand when cheap urgent care with full accreditation is the wedge; pay Teladoc when brand recognition matters more.