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7 Cups Online Therapy Review

Medically Reviewed and Edited by 
Olga Kyrychenko, Psychologist

7 Cups is a unique online therapy site, which is run by volunteers and include a completly free version. This is the only place where you can receive both free and paid therapy

The downside is that no live sessions are available on the 7Cups platform – which reduces the effectiveness of treatment by a lot. Still, if you are looking for the most affordable therapy solution online – this site might be the best  place to start.

This 7 Cups Review will help you figure out whether or not 7Cups is worth your time. Getting the cheapest possible treatment is always appealing, but it should never be your sole consideration. In this review I’ll do my best to explain what i like and don’t like about this site – so you can decide on your own whether it’s worth using or not.

Should I use 7 Cups? ​

Is 7Cups Legit?

7 Cups is a private company operating out of San Mateo, CA. The founder and CEO, Glen Moriarty, is a licensed psychologist turned entrepreneur. His mission is to bring affordable and accessible therapy to every person around the world. The company currently only has 40 employees at their main offices, but is growing at a rapid pace.

7Cups is fully licensed and certified to deal with mental health related issues in the U.S. It is HIPPA compliant and follows the General Data Protection Act. If the numbers the company provides are to be believed, 2 million subscribed users and more than 300,000 volunteers worldwide – this actually makes 7Cups one of the largest online therapy providers in the world (2nd only to BetterHelp who has 3 million users although it is tough to compare a fully commercial company with the 7Cups freemium model).

In case you are curious, the name 7 Cups of tea comes from a famous Chinese poem written around 800 AD by Lu Tong.

7 Cups in Numbers For 2023

Year Founded2013
U.S Based CompanyYes
Number of Licensed TherapistsUnknown
Accepts Insurance?No
HIPAA CompliantYes
Therapy ModesText Only
Available TreatmentsPrivate and Group Counseling
Average PriceFree or $150 a Month
Sign Up TimeLess Than a Minute
Response Time24/7
Mobile AppYes
Websitewww.7cups.com
Customer Reviews92% positive
Our Editorial Rating3 Stars
Current PromotionNone

Top 3 7Cups Alternatives​​

While 7 Cups has a lot of clear upsides, there are also some clear disadvantages to using their services. Specifically, its casual nature might not benefit clients who are looking for a more intense and focused from of therapy. Below you can find the best alternative therapy sites as of now:

BetterHelp - Best Therapy Site

$ 60-90 Per Week
  • More than 33,000 Therapists
  • Our Top Rated Therapy Site
  • Great Platform & Easy To Use
  • Financial Aid Programs
Best

Talkspace - Best With Insurance

$ 65-99 Per Week
  • 2nd Largest Therapy Provider
  • Combine Talk Therapy & Psychiatric Care
  • Best With Insurance
  • $80 Off First Month

Calmerry - Best Affordable Therapy

$ 42-68 Per Week
  • Matched in 24 hours or less
  • Excellent Customer Service
  • Affordable Online Therapy Site
  • 30% off First Month

7Cups Rating Breakdown

Overall Rating

Overall Rating - 3 Stars

The best thing about 7Cups is the price. Also, I have found most of the listeners to be very attentive, friendly and kind. That said, we simply can’t give a score higher than this to a therapy site with such limited treatment options.

Price

Price - 5 Stars

If you are looking for someone to listen to you who will let you pour your heart out, here you can do that for free with one of 7Cup’s trained volunteers. You can replace the free volunteer with a licensed therapist and only pay $150 a month. Yes, the therapist will only engage you in chat, but it’s still almost 50% cheaper than the same package over at Talkspace.

Treatment Options

Treatment Options - 2 Stars

The trained volunteers are really great and do their best to provide support, but they are not professional therapists. Even if you opt for the paid version, there’s only so much help you can get by chatting with a psychologist a few times a day.

App and Software

App and Software - 2.5 Stars

7 Cups have a mobile app but it is not very good and has some bugs which make it hard to use. The software on the other hand, runs smoothly and is easy to use. That said, it is all somewhat outdated and lacking in features when compared to other online therapy sites we review.

Customer Service

Customer Service - 4 Stars

Customer support is very good. The site is huge and gets a ton of traffic, so sometimes replies are a bit slow – but still, you can reach them by phone or mail and they are always super friendly and helpful.

Safety and Privacy

Safety and Privacy - 5 Stars

7Cups has been featured on mainstream media, is hipaa compliant and follows strict data safety regulations. You can remain completely anonymous while signing up, as well as when you are chatting with the volunteers. It is as safe as it gets.

How 7Cups Therapy Works

Signing up to 7Cups is really easy and quick. If you only go for the free version, it literally only took me 5 seconds to complete. All i had to do was fill in your email address and choose a password – no other information is required. You can then click the ‘Live Chat with a Listener’ button and get started immediately.

If you click that button, you’ll be redirected to a chat room with Noni – the platform’s automated bot. Noni will ask you a few questions to understand your specific situation, and then proceed to recommend the most suitable available volunteer to help you out. Alternatively, you can click the ‘Browse Listeners’ button to view all profiles and pick one yourself.

I really liked having the option to choose my listener on your own. Being able to view their profiles first, read a bit more about each and see how other users rated them, really improves the chance of finding a good match that can actually help you out. In fact, I liked it so much that I never even bothered with the bot any longer.

If you choose to upgrade to the paid version, you’ll have to provide quite a lot of personal details first. 7Cups wants to know your full name, phone number and complete address. You will then also be asked to provide your payment information as well.

Once payment is complete and you have chosen your preferred therapist, a designated private chat room will be opened for the two of you. You can leave messages over there, and your therapist will read them and reply at least twice a day. Therapists usually reply 5 days a week, but i have found that many of them are much more responsive than the bare minimum guaranteed, which was definitely a pleasant surprise.

7 Cups Unique Features

Another big difference between 7 Cups and other therapy sites is the social aspect they try to incorporate into the platform. You get badges and perks for making progress on your journey (which normally means just using the site often) and you can also view other profiles and see what they managed to accomplish during their time on 7Cups.

While the badge system is cute, I don’t feel it offers enough substance and value. After all, you didn’t come to a therapy site to compete for milestone achievements with other users right? That said, other social features such as the group chats and the Q&A section can be very useful – they let you interact directly with other people who deal with the same issues you are, which can be very comforting and helpful.

7 Cups Pricing