Headway edited the terms of its $9.99 marketplace fee on October 16, two weeks after announcing it. The fee now reaches more clients than the original version described.

What the fee is

Headway will deduct $9.99 from your payout for every session with a client it connects you with, for as long as you keep seeing that client. It applies to insurance and private pay sessions. The rollout starts November 2026, state by state, reaching every state by the end of the year. Headway says you will get at least 7 days of notice by email and an in-product banner.

Against the Headway payouts reported on the site, the fee is 8.4% of a 90837 (median $119.00, 129 reports) and 12.5% of a 90834 (median $80.00, 29 reports). Ten marketplace clients seen weekly for 45 weeks comes to $4,495.50 a year. Your contracted rate does not change, so the whole amount comes out of take-home pay.

What changed on October 16

The original wording covered a client who "searched on Headway and booked with you from your Headway profile." The current wording covers "every appointment with a new client Headway connects you with," and lists five routes: marketplace matching, a Headway ad, Headway's booking team, a connected partner including health plans and health systems, and "Headway's AI integrations, like ChatGPT."

Health-system referrals were exempt on October 8. They are not exempt now.

The exemption for clients who found you before the change was replaced. It now turns on whether you had already started seeing the client before the fee began in your primary practice state.

One exemption was added: clients who reach your profile on their first visit from a search engine, or by searching your name on Headway.

Two things worth doing before it starts in your state

1. Put your direct Headway booking link on your Psychology Today profile, your website and your email signature. Headway exempts clients who book through it.

2. Decide about marketplace appearance now, in New Clients Settings. Turning it off stops new marketplace clients from finding you. Clients who booked through the marketplace on or after your start date stay marketplace clients, and their sessions keep the fee for as long as you see them. Waiting costs money.

The full terms, Headway's October 1 email to providers, what therapists said, and Headway's response: https://therapistrates.org/news/headway-marketplace-fee/

What the fee costs at three caseload shapes, and the opt-out decision: https://therapistrates.org/news/headway-marketplace-opt-out/

A petition asking Headway to replace the recurring charge with a one-time referral fee had 1,753 verified signatures on October 20.

Also on the site

Aetna's rate cut for therapists billing through Alma: https://therapistrates.org/news/aetna-alma-rate-cut/

Illinois sets a floor for in-network therapy pay starting 2027: https://therapistrates.org/news/illinois-therapy-rate-floor/

Every number above is only as good as the reports behind it. If you have been paid recently by a platform or an insurer, adding the rate takes about a minute and stays anonymous: https://therapistrates.org/submit/

therapistrates.org