Panel Comparison Calculator | The Therapist CPA

At your caseload, the best net outcome is

Direct credentialing

Worth $0 more per year than the next option.

Start with a platform, or enter your own numbers

Headway ~$100

SonderMind ~$88

Rula ~$80

Grow ~$95

Alma $125/mo

Compare all three

These are midpoints of publicly reported provider ranges as of 2026. Real rates swing widely by state, license, and payer, so overwrite them with your actual numbers.

Your numbers

Insurance sessions per weekTHE BIG ONE

18
928 sessions a year

Your direct contracted rate

$130
per session, paid to you

Rate-set platform payout

$100
per session, all you get

Headway, SonderMind, Rula, and Grow all work this way. Reported 2026 provider ranges run roughly $70 to $130 for a 60-minute session, with some states well above that.

Membership platform monthly fee

$125
per month

Alma currently runs about $125 a month for a solo clinician and passes through the full reimbursement.

Membership platform's contracted rate

$130
per session, before the fee

Starts equal to your direct rate on purpose. Membership platforms credential you under their own group contracts, which can land above or below what you would negotiate alone, so set them apart only if you know your actual numbers differ.

Your cost to bill it yourself

6%
of collections

Behavioral health billing services commonly run 4 to 8 percent of collections. Set this to 0 only if you truly bill everything yourself, and remember that is your time, not free.

First-year cost of credentialing directly

$1,500
one time, year one only

Credentialing services typically run about $200 to $500 per panel, so four panels lands near $800 to $2,000. Doing it yourself costs nothing but your hours. The bigger cost is the 60 to 120 day wait before you can bill, which only really hurts if you do not already have a caseload.

BEST NET

Direct contracts

You hold the panel. You bill. You keep the whole contracted rate.

net per year

Gross collections$0

Billing cost$0

First-year setup$0

Year one net$0

Net per session$0

BEST NET

Rate-set platform

(Headway, SonderMind, Rula, Grow) No monthly fee. A set amount lands per session and you never see the spread.

net per year

Paid to you$0

Billing cost$0

Net per session$0

BEST NET

Membership platform

(Alma) Flat monthly fee. The full reimbursement passes through to you.

net per year

Gross collections$0

Membership$0

Net per session$0

Side by side, net annual income

Direct

Rate-set

Membership

What the math does not capture. Platform panel spots belong to the platform, not to you. If you leave, you re-credential on your own, which commonly takes 60 to 120 days and creates a revenue gap. Platforms also negotiate at scale, so in some states with some payers their rate beats what a solo clinician can get directly. And direct credentialing costs real time before it pays anything. Run your own numbers before you decide.

The lesson. Rate-set platforms pay a fixed amount per session, so growing your caseload never improves your rate. A flat membership fee spreads thinner the busier you get, which makes it efficient at volume. Direct contracts are the only option where you own the panel and can negotiate the rate itself upward over time, which is the advantage that compounds. Speed matters most when you are starting. Ownership matters most when you are established.