Alma vs Sessions Health (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Alma if

• Fits if you are a fully licensed therapist who wants to take insurance without doing the credentialing yourself
• Makes sense if you want billing and notes in the same membership as the insurance program

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you hold a limited license, as it is open only to fully licensed clinicians
• Skip it if you only take cash-pay clients, since every new member must join the insurance program
• Pricey if you are starting out: $1,140 billed per year, and no monthly price was readable
• Watch out: you must be credentialed with Aetna, Cigna or Optum under Alma's tax ID, and joining goes through an application and a call

Pick Sessions Health if

• Fits if you're an insurance-based therapist who files lots of claims and watches the per-claim fee
• Works for group practices with billers and admins, who cost nothing on Professional

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're staying free: 3 active clients, one practitioner and no administrator accounts
• Pricey if you want telehealth and AI notes, at $10 and $35 a month per practitioner on top of the plan
• Skip it if you want a phone app, as it runs only in the browser
• Watch out: claims are 19¢ to 25¢ each, eligibility checks 15¢, and cards 2.9% + 30¢ through Stripe
• Watch out: text reminders sent outside the US may cost extra, and telehealth calls hold 4 people at most

Alma

• Alma is open only to fully licensed clinicians, not those with limited licenses.
• All new members must join its insurance program and be credentialed with at least one of Aetna, Cigna or Optum under Alma's Tax ID.
• Joining goes through an application and a call; the monthly billing price was not readable, only the $1,140 annual figure.
• Alma says it takes no cut of cash-pay sessions.

Sessions Health

• The free plan stops at 3 active clients and has no administrator accounts.
• Telehealth ($10 a month) and AI Assist ($35 a month) are charged per practitioner, on top of the plan.
• Card payments run through Stripe at 2.9% + $0.30; text reminders sent outside the US may cost extra.
• It runs only in the browser; no mobile apps are listed.

Alma

Insurance program

Credentialing in 45 days or less, multi-state credentialing, automated eligibility checks, claims and weekly or bi-weekly payouts. Alma says it negotiates rates.

Billing tools

Claims, invoices and superbills, stored client payment methods with auto-pay, a client cost estimator and reimbursement tracking.

EHR and clinical tools

Over 1,000 pre-written interventions, goals and objectives, PHQ-9 and GAD-7 assessments, high-risk symptom alerts and AI-assisted progress notes.

Treatment planning

A library of Wiley treatment planner goals, objectives and interventions built to meet insurance requirements.

Continuing education

Live and on-demand courses for CE credit and monthly workshops, at no extra cost to members.

Community and support

An operations team for claims, a customer support team, clinical advisors and a members-only community of about 30,000 peers and referrers.

Sessions Health

Notes, forms and assessments

Custom forms, note templates, treatment plans and questionnaires from a template library, auto-scored assessments, and loading a new note from the previous one.

Insurance billing

Batch electronic claims from $0.25 down to $0.19 each by volume, ERAs, secondary claims, incident-to billing, real-time eligibility at $0.15 a report, and courtesy billing.

Scheduling and reminders

Two-way or one-way calendar sync, customizable email and text reminders, client time zones and online appointment requests.

Client portal

Paperless intake with e-signature, secure messaging, online scheduling and payments, with handling for minors, couples and conjoint clients.

Telehealth add-on

$10 a month per practitioner for browser video with up to 4 participants, a waiting room, screen sharing and chat; other video tools can be linked in reminders for free.

AI Assist

$35 a month per practitioner: AI notes from a session summary, an audio upload or a live scribe of telehealth and in-person sessions, plus pre-session and treatment summaries.

Alma

• Membership$95

  per month, billed annually at $1,140

  One membership with insurance program, EHR tools, CE courses and community; a monthly billing option exists but its price was not shown.

Sessions Health

• Freemium$0

  Up to 3 clients and 1 practitioner, with notes, scheduling, payments, insurance billing and the client portal; no administrator accounts.

• Professional$39

  per month, plus $29 per additional practitioner

  Unlimited clients, unlimited administrators at no cost, and every core feature. Telehealth, claims and AI Assist are add-ons.