PlushCare is a virtual primary care and mental health service that charges two things: a per-visit fee and a membership. Most confusion about what it costs comes from people quoting one of those numbers and forgetting the other. Accolade bought PlushCare in 2021, and Transcarent acquired Accolade and its affiliated entities, PlushCare included, effective April 8, 2025, so the brand now sits inside Transcarent.
This guide covers the self-pay side, since that is where the numbers are fixed and published. Every PlushCare figure below was read from plushcare.com on September 5, 2026. Telehealth pricing changes often, so confirm the current number at booking before you enter a card.
What Does PlushCare Cost Without Insurance?
| Service | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor visit, self-pay | $129 | $129 | $129 |
| Doctor visit, in-network insurance | $0 | $30 | Your copay or deductible |
| Therapy session, self-pay | $169 | $169 | $169 |
| Membership, annual plan | $149/yr | $149/yr | $149/yr |
| Membership, monthly plan | $19.99/mo | $19.99/mo | $19.99/mo |
| Late cancellation, reschedule or no-show | $75 | $75 | $75 |
| Medication and labs | Not included | Not included | Not included |
PlushCare states the self-pay visit price three separate ways on its own site, and all three agree: its membership page says “Initial visits are $129,” its urgent care page says an online urgent care visit is $129 for patients without in-network insurance, and its How It Works FAQ says the price for a doctor visit for new members not paying with insurance is $129. It also mentions discounts for veterans and active-duty service members paying without insurance, without publishing the amount.
Therapy is a separate price list. PlushCare charges $169 per therapy session, says those sessions are FSA and HSA eligible, and notes on the same page that its therapists do not prescribe medication. If you need both counseling and a prescription, that is a $169 session and a $129 visit, not one charge. Our therapy cost guide covers what counseling runs elsewhere without insurance.
One caution on the membership figure. The page titled “Affordable telehealth appointments starting at $19/month” prices the plan at $19.99 a month in its own body copy, and the How It Works FAQ gives two plans: $149 a year billed annually, or $19.99 a month billed monthly, with the same benefits and a 30-day free trial before the first charge. The annual plan works out to $12.42 a month, which is the cheapest way to hold the membership if you expect to use it more than once.
What Drives the Price
The membership is separate from the visit, and always has been. The $129 does not include the membership, and the membership does not include any visits. That is the arithmetic most reviews get wrong. A single visit taken inside the 30-day free trial costs $129. Two visits a year on the annual plan costs $407. Two visits a year on the monthly plan costs about $498.
PlushCare’s own pages disagree on whether the membership is mandatory. Its How It Works FAQ says access to the service is paid through the monthly or annual membership fee and is only valid if you stay an active member. Its Terms of Use say, in capital letters, that payment of the membership fee is not a requirement to receive medical services at PlushCare, and describe the fee as covering non-medical features such as navigation support, digital tools and lifestyle offerings. Both statements were live on September 5, 2026. If the fee matters to your budget, ask the care team which one governs your account.
What the membership actually buys. Per the membership and How It Works pages: same-day appointments seven days a week, unlimited in-app messaging with a care team, a prescription discount card advertised at up to 80 percent off, discounts on lab tests, and free memberships for family members. Those are conveniences and discounts, not covered services.
What is never included. Medication and lab work are billed separately, and PlushCare says so in the fine print under its own price table. A prescription written on a PlushCare visit is filled at a normal pharmacy at a normal cash price, so the visit fee buys the prescription, not the drug.
Missed appointments are expensive. Cancelling or rescheduling within two hours of the appointment start time triggers a $75 fee, and so does a no-show. In those cases PlushCare says you are charged the $75 instead of the quoted appointment price, which means a missed $129 visit still costs more than half of what showing up would have.
Controlled substances are off the table. PlushCare says its doctors can refill or initiate most medications except controlled substances. If you are looking to fill an ADHD stimulant, a benzodiazepine or an opioid, this is not the channel, and that limitation is shared by most consumer telehealth platforms.
Cash Price vs. Insurance
PlushCare is in network with many commercial plans, and it says most patients with in-network insurance pay $30 or less per visit, though your actual number depends on your deductible. If you have coverage, run the visit through it, because $30 beats $129 in nearly every case.
If you are uninsured, the comparison worth making is against the alternatives rather than against a copay. In CMS’s 2024 Medicare claims data, the national average submitted charge for a standard established-patient office visit (CPT 99213) was $189.25 in an office setting, against a Medicare allowed amount of $85.37. A more involved visit (99214) averaged a $276.45 submitted charge against $119.71 allowed, and a new-patient visit (99203) averaged $267.25 against $105.33. PlushCare’s flat $129 sits below every one of those billed charges and above every one of the negotiated ones, which is the honest way to read it: better than getting billed at full chargemaster rates, worse than what an insurer pays.
Retail clinics are the closer comparison, and they are surprisingly hard to price. MinuteClinic publishes an out-of-pocket price list, but it only covers services it will not bill to insurance: camp and sports physicals at $82, a DOT physical at $150 with a $39 follow-up, travel consultations at $107 to $126, and a typhoid vaccine at $245. It publishes no cash price at all for a sore throat or a urinary tract infection, which means a walk-in visit is a quote you get at the counter. See our MinuteClinic and urgent care guides for what those run in practice.
The real limit on a virtual visit is scope, not price. PlushCare can evaluate a UTI, a sinus infection, a rash or a COVID exposure and send a prescription. It cannot take an X-ray, put in stitches, or lay hands on an injury. If your problem might need imaging or a procedure, a $129 virtual visit can turn into a $129 visit plus an urgent care bill. Our urgent care vs. ER cost guide covers where each tier makes sense.
How to Pay Less
Use the 30-day free trial deliberately. The membership is free for the first 30 days. If you need one visit for one problem, book inside the trial, pay the $129, and cancel before the first membership charge posts. PlushCare’s terms allow cancellation at any time by email.
Pick the annual plan only if you will actually use it. $149 a year is $12.42 a month against $19.99, which pays for itself if you keep the membership more than about seven and a half months. If you are unsure, start monthly.
Compare against a one-time self-pay visit. Some clinics and direct-pay practices charge a flat fee with no membership layer at all. Our self-pay doctor visit guide has current cash rates, and direct primary care covers the membership model in more depth.
Do not pay retail for the prescription that comes out of the visit. The visit fee is the prescription, not the drug. Price the drug separately with a discount card before you fill it. Our GoodRx vs. SingleCare guide compares the two biggest cards, and the fair price checker will tell you whether a quoted price is in range.
Check whether a free or sliding-scale clinic covers the same problem. Federally qualified health centers and free clinics charge on a sliding scale based on income, which can beat $129 outright for people with low or no income. Our guide to free and sliding-scale clinics explains how to find one and what to bring.
Do not miss the appointment. A $75 no-show fee on a $129 visit is one of the worst dollar-per-value charges in consumer telehealth. Cancel more than two hours out and it is free.
The Bottom Line
PlushCare’s self-pay math is simple once you stop looking for a bundled price. It is $129 for a doctor visit, $169 for a therapy session, and $12.42 to $19.99 a month to keep the door open, with drugs and labs billed on top. For one acute problem inside the free trial, it is a $129 charge and nothing else, which compares well with the $189 average billed charge for a comparable in-person office visit in CMS’s 2024 data.
Where it gets expensive is as a standing arrangement. Two visits and a full year of monthly membership is close to $500 for care that cannot include an X-ray or a procedure. If you want ongoing access rather than a one-off script, price it against Teladoc, a condition-specific subscription like Hers, and a local direct-pay practice before you settle. Telehealth prices move quickly, so re-check the number at booking.