We're introducing a $9.99 marketplace service fee on every appointment with a new client who finds you through our marketplace, which is where prospective clients search for care on Headway. The fee supports our work to connect clients in need with the care they need most. That includes marketplace improvements, marketing, health system partnerships, support, and more.
This will be introduced on a state by state basis on October 8, 2026, and reach every state by the end of 2026. It isn't a change to your contracted rate, and there's no impact on what clients pay for care.
Below, you'll find when the fee starts and how it works.
When the fee starts in your state
The fee corresponds to each provider's primary practice state:
- Virginia, Washington, Georgia, Ohio, and Illinois: the fee starts October 8, 2026 for clients who booked after that date
- All other states: the fee starts later in 2026, and we'll let you know before it takes effect for you. If your primary practice state isn't listed above yet, you'll see a banner in your Headway account at least 7 days before the fee starts for you.
Until the fee starts in your state, your sessions and pay work exactly as they do today.
Once the fee starts, it applies to Headway marketplace clients who book with you on or after your state’s start date. It's never applied retroactively.
What the fee supports
The fee supports our work to connect clients in need with the care they need most and related services. That includes marketplace improvements, marketing, health system partnerships, support, and more.
It's $9.99 per appointment and the same amount for every health plan. It's charged only on sessions with marketplace clients, so if you have no marketplace client sessions, there's no fee.
Sessions that include the fee
After your start date, the fee applies to every appointment with a client who finds you through Headway's marketplace, meaning they searched on Headway and booked with you from your Headway profile. The fee applies for as long as you see that client, not just their first session. It applies to both insurance and private pay sessions.
Sessions without the fee
- Any session before the fee starts in your state
- Clients you bring yourself, including clients you add in your provider portal
- Clients who book with you through your direct link (you can find this in your Profile settings), wherever you've shared it (for example, your Psychology Today profile, website, or email signature)
- Clients who found you on Headway before this change, including their sessions after your start date
- Sessions that don't take place, whether the client cancels, you cancel, or the client doesn't show. Any cancellation fee you charge is still paid in full to you.
How a client's source is set
A client's source depends on which link they used when they first booked with you, and it stays the same for all your sessions with them after that. The booking happens inside Headway either way, so the fee reflects how the client found you, not which system processed the booking.
Client source is set separately for each provider. If a client who already sees another provider on Headway finds you on the marketplace, they're a marketplace client for your sessions only.
Your direct link is in your Profile settings. Sharing it is the best way to make sure clients you bring yourself are recognized as your own clients.
Clients you add directly and referrals from health systems are also exempt from the marketplace fee.
Seeing the fee in your account
Once the fee starts in your state, it's deducted from your regular payout, one fee per session with a marketplace client. There's no separate bill.
To check any session:
- Your Payments tab shows the fee on upcoming and past payments
- Each client's page shows how they found you, with any session fees under Pricing
Choosing whether to appear on the marketplace
Appearing on the marketplace is your choice, and you can change it before or after the fee starts in your state. Your current new-client setting carries over: if you take new clients on Headway today, your appearance is on.
To turn your appearance on or off:
- In Sigmund, go to Settings
- Open New Clients Settings
- Turn your appearance on the marketplace on or off
When your appearance is off, you're hidden from client search on Headway, so there are no new marketplace clients or new fees. Your direct link keeps working.
Turning off your appearance doesn't remove the fee for clients you already see. It only stops new marketplace clients from finding you. Clients who booked with through the Headway marketplace on or after your start date stay marketplace clients, and their sessions still include the fee.
Nothing about the fee changes which providers clients can see or choose. Clients always choose their own provider.
How the fee works in a group practice
The fee applies one provider and one client at a time.
- State: the fee follows each provider's primary practice state. Until every state is live at the end of 2026, a multi-state practice will see it for some providers and not others.
- Settings: the practice admin manages marketplace settings for everyone in the practice. If you're a provider in a group practice, you can ask your admin to change your appearance.
- Supervised and transferred clients: the supervising provider's intake and each session after a transfer include the fee. Each appointment is charged once, so a supervisor and supervisee are never both charged for the same session.
- Payments report: the practice payments report has a column showing when the marketplace fee was deducted. To download it, log into the provider portal as an admin, go to the Payments tab, select a payment cycle, and click the download link.