How much does it cost to start a telehealth business?

The fixed fees with published prices come to about $3,600 in year one: a Delaware LLC ($110), one trademark class ($350) and LegitScript certification ($975 to apply, $2,150 a year). Monthly costs follow: about $260 for business insurance at Insureon's medians, any minimum your clinician network sets, and thimblehub's monthly fee. Each order then carries card fees, a clinician visit, the pharmacy fill and shipping, and labs when your medicines need them.

How much does a clinician visit cost a telehealth brand?

Each network sets its own price per visit. Wizlo's margin calculator uses $30 per async visit, with a $3,000 monthly minimum credited against visits, as illustrative figures. Most other networks quote on a call. Beluga, for example, prices async and live visits separately, tiered by monthly volume, with a one-time onboarding fee and a monthly platform fee. Ask every network for all of it in writing.

Do I have to pay for medical licenses?

With a clinician network, its clinicians hold the licenses, so you pay none of these fees. If you hire your own clinicians, the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact charges $700 plus each state's license fee, and each prescriber of controlled substances needs a DEA registration at $888 every 3 years. After December 31, 2026, a prescriber may need one in each state where patients are.

How much does LegitScript certification cost?

$975 to apply and $2,150 a year per website, plus $2,500 for expedited review, which starts within 2 business days. Google requires it for telemedicine ads and Meta for prescription drug ads, and each platform also runs its own approval.

What does thimblehub cost?

Setup, a monthly fee and a fee per order that drops as you grow, with no revenue share. That covers your checkout and intake, patient and admin portals and brand site, set up and run for you. We walk through your numbers on the call.

How fast can I launch?

As fast as 3 days after you sign. It takes longer if you still need a pharmacy or clinicians, are waiting on LegitScript certification, want website design revisions, are planning marketing with us, or need custom builds.

How much does it cost to start a telehealth brand in 2026?

Starting a telehealth brand in 2026 costs about $3,600 in fixed third-party fees with published prices: $110 to form a Delaware LLC, $350 for one trademark class, and LegitScript certification at $975 to apply plus $2,150 a year, which Google and Meta require before prescription ads. Monthly costs follow: about $260 for business insurance, any minimum your clinician network sets, and thimblehub's monthly fee. Each order then carries card fees, a clinician visit, the pharmacy fill and shipping, and labs when needed. thimblehub sets up and runs the whole brand side, fully managed, in place of a build team, and we walk through your numbers on the call.

Running a clinic that's adding telehealth? What telehealth costs a clinic is written for you.

Costs before your first patient

One-time and yearly costs
Cost	Published price	Who you pay
Company formation	$110 to form a Delaware LLC, then $400 a year. An LLC doing business in California also owes California's $800 annual tax.	The states you form and work in
Employer ID (EIN)	Free	IRS
Trademark	$350 per class, filed online	USPTO
Healthcare attorney	Set by the firm. Ask for a flat fee covering your structure, the states you'll serve and your marketing claims.	Your attorney
LegitScript certification	$975 to apply and $2,150 a year, per website. Expedited review is $2,500 more and starts within 2 business days.	LegitScript
Business insurance	About $45 a month for general liability, $88 for professional liability and $129 for cyber, from Insureon's small-business customer data	Your insurer
Your own clinicians, if you hire them	$700 to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, plus each state's license fee: $35 in Pennsylvania up to $895 in Texas. DEA registration for controlled substances: $888 per registration every 3 years. After December 31, 2026, a prescriber may need one in each state where patients are.	IMLC, state boards, DEA

From the Delaware Division of Corporations (fee schedule revised August 1, 2026), California FTB, IRS, USPTO, LegitScript, Insureon, IMLCC, 21 CFR 1301.13, DEA's state registration guidance and 90 FR 61301, listed under Sources. Checked October 12, 2026.

With a clinician network, its clinicians hold the medical licenses and any DEA registrations, so the last row drops off your budget. Clinician networks compared shows how networks differ.

Costs per order and per month

What each order and month carries
Cost	Published price	Who you pay
Card processing	Stripe: 2.9% + 30¢ per domestic card charge, 1.5% more for international cards, $15 per dispute received and $15 more to respond to one yourself, refunded if you win. That's $3.20 on a $100 charge.	Your processor
Clinician visit	Set per visit by your network. Wizlo's margin calculator uses $30 per async visit and a $3,000 monthly minimum as illustrative figures, and Qualiphy lists $27.99 for good faith exams and consultations. MDI, OpenLoop, Beluga, Wheel and SteadyMD showed no visit price on the pages we checked, so ask each for a quote.	Your clinician network
Medicine and fill	Set per fill by your pharmacy. Get a quote for each product and strength, with shipping included.	Your pharmacy
Shipping	USPS Priority Mail Small Flat Rate Box: $12.95 at commercial prices, $14.65 retail. Refrigerated medicines need cold-chain packing on top.	Your pharmacy or carrier
Labs	Set by your lab contract. For scale, Medicare's 2026 lab fee schedule pays $25.81 for total testosterone, $7.77 for a blood count, $9.71 for an A1c and $9.34 for the draw.	Your lab
Ads	Your budget. LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks put a health and fitness search click at $6.17 and a lead at $67.36.	Google, Meta and others
thimblehub	Setup, a monthly fee and a fee per order that drops as you grow. No revenue share. We walk through your numbers on the call.	thimblehub

From Stripe's US pricing page, each network's own site, USPS Notice 123 (effective October 4, 2026), the CMS 2026 Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule and LocaliQ's 2026 search benchmarks. Checked October 12, 2026.

Most networks we checked quote visit prices on a call. Beluga's pricing page lays out the parts to ask about: a fee per visit tiered by monthly volume, with async and live visits priced separately, a one-time onboarding fee credited to future visits, and a flat monthly platform fee. Ask each network for all four in writing, plus whether pharmacy and lab costs pass through at cost.

The medicine's price depends on what you sell and where it's filled. How to find a pharmacy for your telehealth brand covers quotes, terms and a backup pharmacy.

Add the lines up for one order: the card fee, the visit, the fill and shipping, any labs, and our fee per order. What's left of your price pays for ads and profit.

Prices as of October 12, 2026. Delaware's fee schedule was revised August 1, 2026, USPS prices took effect October 4, 2026, Insureon updated its medians between March and April 2026, and LocaliQ's benchmarks are dated June 1, 2026. Stripe's figures are its standard US rates. Check each source again before you budget.

How to size your ad budget

Prescription ads need LegitScript certification first: Google requires it for telemedicine ads and Meta for prescription drug ads, and each platform also runs its own approval. Then size the budget from three inputs: what a lead costs, how many leads become paying patients, and how many patients you want a month. LocaliQ's 2026 benchmarks give the first for search: $67.36 per health and fitness lead and $40.04 for physicians and surgeons. The second comes from your own checkout after launch.

Ad tracking comes set up with your thimblehub site, and we can run or manage campaigns as an added engagement. Patient acquisition cost by vertical and how Meta ads work for telehealth cover the rest.

What a managed launch replaces

Building checkout, intake, patient and admin portals and a brand site in house takes engineers and a designer, then the same people to run it. The median US software developer earned $135,980 in May 2025, and the median web developer or digital designer $99,520, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' count. thimblehub sets up and runs all of it for you, on your own payment processor, under a signed BAA, with a named owner on our team for every request. Your site runs on your domain, and on Scale your checkout and portals do too.

Who you pay, step by step

Company, trademark, attorney
You form the company, file your trademark and have a healthcare attorney check your structure. You pay the state, the USPTO and the firm.
Clinician network
You sign with a clinician network, or thimblehub introduces networks we work with, including MDI, OpenLoop, Beluga, Wizlo and Arora. You pay the network per visit.
Pharmacy
You contract a pharmacy or use your network's, or thimblehub introduces one. You pay per fill, with shipping.
Checkout, portals and site
thimblehub sets up and runs your checkout, intake, portals and site, and connects your network, pharmacy and labs. You pay setup, then a monthly fee and a fee per order.
Processor and LegitScript
You open your own payment processor account and apply to LegitScript. Card fees come out of each payment, and LegitScript bills you yearly.
A test order, together
You and thimblehub place a test order through intake, payment, clinician review and pharmacy before your first patient.

Test orderYour admin portalPaymentPaidClinical reviewApprovedPharmacyDispatched

With a network, pharmacy and processor in place, you can be live as fast as 3 days after you sign. How to start a telehealth company covers each step in full.

What one call to thimblehub gets you

Your brand site on your domain, and your checkout and intake and patient and admin portals, set up and run for you. On Scale, your checkout and portals run on your domain too.
Your clinician network and pharmacy connected, or introductions to ones we work with.
Lab testing set up: at-home kits, walk-in draws or mobile phlebotomy.
A site built to LegitScript's requirements, support through your certification review, and a signed BAA.
Your numbers walked through on the call: our fees, and the third-party costs on this page for what you plan to sell.

Patient payments land in your own processor account, and you own your brand, domain and patient records. See every network and pharmacy option on our integrations page.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to start a telehealth business?: The fixed fees with published prices come to about $3,600 in year one: a Delaware LLC ($110), one trademark class ($350) and LegitScript certification ($975 to apply, $2,150 a year). Monthly costs follow: about $260 for business insurance at Insureon's medians, any minimum your clinician network sets, and thimblehub's monthly fee. Each order then carries card fees, a clinician visit, the pharmacy fill and shipping, and labs when your medicines need them.
How much does a clinician visit cost a telehealth brand?: Each network sets its own price per visit. Wizlo's margin calculator uses $30 per async visit, with a $3,000 monthly minimum credited against visits, as illustrative figures. Most other networks quote on a call. Beluga, for example, prices async and live visits separately, tiered by monthly volume, with a one-time onboarding fee and a monthly platform fee. Ask every network for all of it in writing.
Do I have to pay for medical licenses?: With a clinician network, its clinicians hold the licenses, so you pay none of these fees. If you hire your own clinicians, the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact charges $700 plus each state's license fee, and each prescriber of controlled substances needs a DEA registration at $888 every 3 years. After December 31, 2026, a prescriber may need one in each state where patients are.
How much does LegitScript certification cost?: $975 to apply and $2,150 a year per website, plus $2,500 for expedited review, which starts within 2 business days. Google requires it for telemedicine ads and Meta for prescription drug ads, and each platform also runs its own approval.
What does thimblehub cost?: Setup, a monthly fee and a fee per order that drops as you grow, with no revenue share. That covers your checkout and intake, patient and admin portals and brand site, set up and run for you. We walk through your numbers on the call.
How fast can I launch?: As fast as 3 days after you sign. It takes longer if you still need a pharmacy or clinicians, are waiting on LegitScript certification, want website design revisions, are planning marketing with us, or need custom builds.

Questions, or a topic you'd like us to cover? Book a call or email hello@thimblehub.com.

How much does it cost to start a telehealth brand in 2026?

Costs before your first patient

Costs per order and per month

How to size your ad budget

What a managed launch replaces

Who you pay, step by step

Company, trademark, attorney

Clinician network

Pharmacy

Checkout, portals and site

Processor and LegitScript

A test order, together

What one call to thimblehub gets you

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Try it with your brand

Keep reading

Your telehealth, fully managed