Octave Reviews 105

I love how easy it was to find a provider. I appreciated that every therapist describes how they approach therapy. Super intuitive platform.

Great therapist! Easy to connect, follow up, reschedule and even cancel when necessary.

Ease of scheduling and the quality of the practitioner.

I have the best therapist. Thank you Dr Kurt

Octave is either wildly incompetent or maliciously deceitful. They have not submitted any claims to my insurance, despite initially confirming in-network coverage, and refuse to acknowledge that they have overcharged me by hundreds of dollars. It has been months of filing tickets with customer service, and the only result so far has been them marking the issue as “resolved” every time despite taking no action to fix the issue. I’d urge anyone considering care with them to instead find a provider who will not manipulate and mislead you, as they have done to me.

Didn't vet my insurance before meeting with me. Unable to clearly explain why they rejected me.

This company mislead me that my insurance would be covered. They claim they sent me information before my appointment that they could not take my insurance. I never received that message. I had no way to know. They should not be advertising that they take most of the insurances they do. It's predatory.

I was charged $200 for an intake that my insurance would not cover and they would not budge. It's a predatory scam.

I’m mirroring what others have posted on various review sites. I was under the impression that insurance was covering my sessions until I was hit with a bill for hundreds of dollars. They did offer a payment plan but no reduction in what is owed.

You cannot trust the billing portal as it will inform you that you are caught up on payments when clearly you aren’t. This business seems very shady and I would avoid it considering there’s other platforms with better customer care.

I was unaware that Octave did not accept my insurance until months after I began therapy with them. I relied on their billing portal, which still — to this day — reads: “No outstanding payments. You’re all set!” I copy-pasted that directly from my portal.

Here’s the problem: Octave does not verify insurance in real time. Instead, they delay verification for months, hoping to either collect a lump sum from your insurance company later or bill the patient directly. In my case, I was told in an email:

“During a verification of benefits, it was found that your new insurance is out-of-network with Octave, therefore, your sessions starting in July were turned to self-pay charges. A statement was sent to you on 09/17/25.”

That means nothing was verified from July through mid-September. Meanwhile, my portal continued to show “You’re all set.” Because of this misleading system, I now owe over $1,400 for therapy I reasonably believed was covered. When I requested a reduction in my payment plan due to their misleading billing portal, I was denied.

This is a highly unethical practice. The fact that Octave’s billing UI is designed to reassure users while they quietly rack up out-of-network charges is alarming. Octave markets itself as an empathetic mental health service, but its business practices feel more like a tech company exploiting patients who are seeking care.

Do yourself a favor: don’t just take my word for it. Read other reviews here and elsewhere. You’ll see many warnings about the same shady billing practices.

This company itself is a scam. They do not communicate properly and charge whatever amount they want without informing you. When you try contacting them they do not respond.

My therapist was great but unfortunately the company ruined it for me.

This company is a scam! They raised the price to TWENTY TIMES my insurance co-pay and the initial quote, then raised it more. I got 3 different communications with 4 different prices ranges. I've been emailing them and no one replies. They want to charge over $300 for an initial consultation after a quote of $15, when the therapist says they charge $160 and provides a free initial consultation. Confirming they are in network when they are actually out of network is unethical.

This company is FRAUDLENT. They will CHARGE you for sessions you didn't even have, then not reimburse you and continue charging you. They also keep your payment card permanently so you can't delete it. Lastly, their insurance team is incompetent, telling you 10 different things on how much a session will cost you. This is a FRAUDULENT business and should be immediately sued and shut down!

Octave makes therapy SO easy. I got really lucky with a wonderful therapist match straight away, but what's equally helpful is their easy online portal to control appointments, their efficient customer service team for billing help, and the overall ease of use. I recommend them to everybody!

Dr. Aiuto is biased. He told my son to just give up when he needed assistance. Avoid this therapist or you will fear for your child’s life. It has been scary and expensive to clean up this man’s mess.

Octave is kind of annoying to work with

The good: Somewhat easy to book, consistency, if you find a therapist that works, my insurance hasn't been a huge problem

The bad: Finding a good therapist that meets your needs is really tough, and they make it basically impossible to speak with more than 1 therapist to see how it is. The first session is always just a set of generic questions (no get to know you). There are no ways to judge whether a therapist is actually decent. Also, the client portal is awful for management, and the management of insurance is also awful.

I've had a nightmarish time trying to find a therapist in-network, so when I researched Octave, their pitch about having strong relationships with insurance and that most people can use their insurance with them was extremely appealing. I saw my insurance provider on the list of accepted plans, I went through all the intake forms, found someone that was a good match, had my first session, then got hit with a "Based on the information you provided, Octave is out-of-network with your insurance plan, or you have elected to pay out-of-pocket for services."

So now I have to start all over again, and I'm out $205. Hope they choke on every cent.

Edit: Since Octave responded with their cut and paste "Insurance is hard" spiel that I saw on some other reviews, let me be open here about what I want. I want Octave to stop their advertising around: 1) "We have strong relationships with insurance," and 2) "Most people can use their insurance." Obviously not, and that's selection bias anyway. They do this, then I raise my review to 3 stars. Otherwise, Octave can kick rocks.

Great experience and speedy service. If you're anything like me, in a dark place and looking for something fast or someone to speak to fast, this may work for you.. thankfully they took my insurance. Consistency is important for me. So the fact that they book you out two months in advance to keep appointments set for you works for me.It may not work for others.. the only thing I question is i've been with my therapist for over 2 months now and have noticed she just lets me talk and talk and talk and vent, she doesn't really challenge me, she doesn't really dive down deeper into reasoning for things.. but maybe she's just letting me get it all out first? Overall still helping and I'm in a better place than I was before

Easy to manage and access therapy. Couldn't recommend more!

False advertising!

The site first said it accepted my health insurance. Then when I went to book my consultation, they told me I was out of network. The next prompt quoted me $35-$125/session. The confirmation email of my first session bumped that up to $225?!?! What a bait and switch! This is not affordable therapy.

I was looking for an online therapy provider covered by my insurance, Aetna. I found Octave; however, their billing and scheduling practices do not work for me.
I thought I could book a first session with a therapist to see if it was a good match. DO NOT DO IT! The system will immediately book 2 months' worth of weekly sessions at the same time on the same day. You have to email if you want to cancel each session or you will be charged $100. I foudn a work around and immediately canceled all my appoitnemtns and asked to have my account deleted, let's see if they delete it. I really hope they do I do not want these guys to have my card or my insurance details for them to "accidentally" charge me for a canceled session.