Wellnite Review

In the United States, 40 million adults live with an anxiety disorder, while an estimated 19.4 million adults have had at least one major depressive episode. It’s also not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to live with depression, or vice versa. Yet, most Americans with depression do not receive treatment. Anxiety disorders, too, are often under-diagnosed and under-treated.

In response to this, Elisa Swan and Paulo González founded Wellnite, a company that offers affordable therapy, same-day doctor consultations, and medication management for people living with anxiety, depression, and other conditions that can be treated and managed with non-controlled substances. Currently, the company offers these services to people in over 40 states—and hopes to soon serve people nationwide as it continues to grow. 

Read on to find out how Wellnite stacks up against its competition.

First Impressions and Signup Process

When you arrive on Wellnite’s homepage, you’re greeted by the reassuring words, “Your mental health is our priority,” along with a brief description of the services that the company offers. There is also a cheery blue button inviting you to start the sign-up process.

Scrolling down the page, you’ll find a flow chart of how Wellnite’s services work, as well as its prices and a summary of what’s included in its two subscription plans (more on those below). You’ll also see a scrolling box that displays bios of some of the therapists, doctors, and mental health coaches who work for the company. 

The bios are part of an animated carousel that automatically scrolls from slide to slide pretty quickly and consistently (which is annoying because it moves faster than you have time to read), but if you click on the corner arrows, the box will pause briefly to give you more time. These bios are just a small sample of the company’s larger staff—and they likely have been carefully selected, so it’s difficult to tell if they’re truly representative of who you might work with. There are no other staff bios listed on the site before signing up, which is unfortunate since most users would like to be able to read about who they could work with before buying a subscription plan. (However, you’ll get to see more bios if you do sign up.)

Below those sample bios, you’ll find testimonials from satisfied users, a link to research the company conducted to evaluate the impact of its services, media links, and further information about the company’s mission. Overall, the site is well designed and easy to navigate, thanks to a simple top menu. 

The Wellnite site has detailed information about the medication you could be prescribed as part of a treatment plan, a comprehensive FAQs page, and a well-written blog. There is also an option to sign up for the community newsletter for additional helpful resources. 

This is an above-average rating, compared to the other companies we reviewed, which is likely because the sign-up process is much simpler than at other companies since it only treats two mental health disorders: anxiety and depression. You do not fill out a detailed intake form during sign-up—that is reserved for your first meeting with your provider. Instead, to register, just select your desired plan, share your contact information, and create a user login and password. When you confirm your email address, you will get a short questionnaire, though. 

A big perk of Wellnite is that you get to select your therapist, doctor, or mental health coach from a directory of bios once you’ve subscribed. There is no algorithm to choose for you. 

Once you decide, the company shared with us that your therapist should reach out to you within 24 hours, though some of the users surveyed said it took a little longer. 

Cost

Of all the companies we reviewed, Wellnite has some of the most affordable prices on the market—even if you choose a plan with weekly therapy sessions. Seventy-four percent of clients surveyed reported that the cost for services was either very good or excellent. 

What Subscription Plans Does It Offer?

Wellnite offers two subscription plans: 

• The Serotonin Plan: This costs about $75 per month and gives you access to four chat-based mental health coaching sessions per month, one doctor consultation every month, and a 30-day supply of one prescription, if needed.
• The Mindfulness Plan: This runs around $195 per month and gives you everything the Serotonin plan does, plus two video-call sessions with a licensed therapist. 

According to the questionnaire we sent the company, you also can purchase additional therapy sessions with a therapist for an extra fee—but it did not disclose how much that fee was.

Is There a Free Trial?

Wellnite does not offer a free trial.

Does Wellnite Accept Insurance?

The company currently offers reimbursements with PPO plans only. The company’s mission is to provide affordable therapy for less than the cost of the average insurance copay for the types of services it offers. 

Can You Change or Cancel Your Subscription?

You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your subscription at any time by messaging customer support through your member portal. 

It’s worth noting, however, that if you cancel your subscription mid-month, you cannot be reimbursed for any time you haven’t used in that month. 

If you need to cancel your appointment, just make sure to do so ahead of the session. You will be charged a $15 fee if you do not show up to an appointment. 

Are There Discounts Available?

Wellnite does not offer any discounts or financial aid. 

Ease of Use

Sessions are very easy to schedule at Wellnite: You schedule all your appointments, whether they’re with your therapist or medical provider, through your client portal, which is also where you’ll sign on for your sessions, too. Eighty-three percent of the users we surveyed thought the platform was either very good or excellent in terms of user-friendliness.

If you do not like the therapist or medical provider you meet with, you can request a switch if you email or message the care team. While this switching process takes a little longer than at companies where you can do so at the click of a button, 79% of the users we surveyed found the process easy or very easy.

Therapists' Qualifications and Quality of Care

Provider qualifications were an important reason to choose Wellnite for 88% of the users we surveyed, and, after trying the services, 84% said their provider’s qualifications were very good or excellent. 

The staff includes licensed therapists, medical doctors, and psychiatrists, all specializing in the treatment of anxiety and depression and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT—more on that below). Wellnite told us that all therapists have a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling or a related field, a valid counseling license, and at least 3,000 hours of experience. 

Wellnite also has trained listeners, or mental health coaches, who are available for chat sessions. 

Wellnite didn’t share how many doctors, therapists, and mental health therapists are part of its network, but it currently works with enough providers to serve users in over 40 states. The website doesn’t list what states those are, however, and it didn’t give us clarification, either. 

Types of Therapy Offered

As mentioned, Wellnite focuses on treating anxiety and depression through a combination of talk therapy, chat therapy, and—if needed—medication management. It says it focuses on these conditions because they can be treated primarily with psychotherapy and medication management that does not require controlled substances or in-person psychiatric visits.

If you sign up for talk therapy, your therapist will likely utilize CBT to help address your symptoms. They might also encourage mindfulness, meditation, or work with you to manage your stress. Wellnite told us that some therapists also utilize guidebooks, worksheets, and journaling while working with their clients.

The company also focuses on other mild conditions that can be treated with psychotherapy and do not require controlled substances or in-person psychiatric visits.

Finally, since the time of writing this review, Wellnite extended its offerings to include couples and teens therapy. However, our client survey data—and thus this review—did not evaluate these services.

Privacy Policies

All doctors, nurses, therapists, and the support team at Wellnite are HIPAA trained to keep your personal health information safe. The company has also built HIPAA compliance into its software tools and servers. 

That said, the company doesn’t go into great detail on its website about how it ensures that private data isn’t collected or misused, which might make some users uncomfortable. 

The company does disclose its website information and data collection policy, though, and you have the option of choosing any options according to your level of comfort and desired navigation experience.

It’s important to know that you cannot be anonymous while using Wellnite’s services. You will need to disclose your legal name, address, phone number, and other identifying information during sign-up. 

If during your treatment, your therapist decides you need more help than they can offer, a different type of therapy, or medications that they cannot provide, the company will refer you to a local resource that is a better fit. 

Client Overall Satisfaction

Of the users we surveyed, 76% said Wellnite’s services were either very good or excellent, while 73% said the value for money spent was very good or excellent.

For such a young company, Wellnite appears to have loyal subscribers:

• Twenty-two percent of those we polled have been clients for three to six months.
• Thirty percent have been clients for six to 12 months.
• Twenty-five percent have been clients for one to two years.

Eighty-nine percent of users told us they were likely or very likely to be working with a coach or therapist from Wellnite a year from now.

Is Wellnite Right For You?

Wellnite isn’t for everyone: It provides services for people with particular mental health issues and therapy needs. You might benefit from a Wellnite subscription if you live with a moderate anxiety disorder or depression, especially if you need a prescription for a medication to help you manage your symptoms. 

You might also find Wellnite useful if you are on a strict budget. With a plan that costs as little as $75 a month and another one that costs $195, there’s no question that this company offers one of the most affordable, yet comprehensive, options on the market, especially for people who either don’t have insurance or don’t have comprehensive insurance plans. 

Wellnite is best for someone who doesn’t mind seeing a variety of providers (i.e. a doctor and a therapist) or communicating with their provider through chat and/or live video call. For example, if you’re a college student and don’t mind the mix of chat and video live chats, you’ll like what Wellnite offers. 

That said, based on what the subscriptions include, Wellnite is not for those who need weekly talk therapy sessions with a licensed therapist, wants to try a variety of therapy types beyond CBT, or would benefit from more frequent, in-depth therapy. Wellnite is not suitable for people with a variety of mental health disorders, such as bipolar disorder, ADHD, PTSD, severe panic disorder, eating disorders, or active substance abuse disorder.

Wellnite is not designed to be an emergency service. People struggling with suicidal thoughts, who are in crisis, or need inpatient care are not suitable for this service. People with psychotic disorders or a history of psychosis are also not a good fit.

Final Verdict

If you live with anxiety or depression, like millions of Americans do, you could likely benefit from Wellnite’s services, especially if you find the cost of traditional therapy or psychiatry too high. It offers quality care, easy prescription delivery, and some of the best prices on the market. 

However, if you want more talk therapy sessions than once a week, you might be better served by another company. 

Methodology

Our methodology for evaluating online therapy companies is comprehensive and data-driven. To fairly and accurately review the best online therapy programs, we sent questionnaires to 33 companies and surveyed 100 current users of each. This allowed us to directly compare services offered by gathering qualitative and quantitative data about each company and its users’ experiences.

Specifically, we evaluated each company on website usability, sign-up process, subscription offerings, client privacy protections, and how easy it is to change therapists. We then looked at therapist qualifications, the types of therapy offered, quality of care, client-therapist communication options, session length, and the therapist assignment process. Finally, we looked at cost, value for money, whether the companies take insurance, overall user satisfaction, and the likelihood clients would recommend them.