Start a Private Practice or Work for a Nutrition Tech Company? (My 2026 Update)

Nutrition tech companies have changed the game for dietitians—whether we like it or not.

They’ve made it easier to get clients, more normal to accept insurance, and more accessible to practice virtually. But they’ve also created new questions about pay, autonomy, and what it actually means to build a career in this field.

I wrote about this in 2025, and it quickly became my most popular post. So here’s the 2026 update—what still holds true, what’s shifted, and what I want dietitians to think more critically about right now. You’ll see my 2026 updates throughout this post!

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As a dietitian, you have a variety of career paths available to you. Every single option will come with pros and cons, opportunities and challenges.

One of the most popular questions I’ve gotten over the past year is “What do you think about “insert tech company here”? (like Fay, Berry Street, Nourish, FoodSmart, etc.” While each of these companies operates slightly differently, the idea of working for a nutrition tech company has become a hot topic among dietitians.

For the purpose of this post, I’ll group these companies together to simplify the discussion, but I want to highlight that each company will have nuance in the way they operate.

As a general explanation, these companies are typically “start-ups”, funded by investors. Because they have capital to invest, they are able to spend more money to invest in marketing, hiring, and operations. They typically have a leadership team to help direct the company and hire dietitians to provide services to clients. These companies have insurance contracts with some of the largest payors and can usually negotiate for better pay more powerfully than a small private practice.

Job details, including pay and benefits, are readily available on each of their company websites, and you can find out by asking dietitians who have worked there.

• Some nutrition tech companies hire dietitians as contractors, and some hire dietitians as employees.
• Some have minimum job requirements for full-time and part-time positions, and some have incredible flexibility with no minimum commitment.
• At the time of this post, most of these tech companies pay hourly, ranging from $25/hour to $45/hour as an employee and sometimes as high as $50/hour to $75/hour as a contractor. *A 2026 update is that some companies now pay even more for self-sourced clients. The highest I’ve heard at the time of this update is $85/hour.
• Employee benefits could range from health insurance, dental, vision, 401K, and paid time off. Some companies provide a bonus structure for bringing in your own clients.
• A 2026 update is that companies are changing how they pay dietitians with little notice. I’ve heard of a particular company now strongly recommending that dietitians offer a free initial session (paid at $0). Another company decreased pay to just $35 for the initial session.
• Another 2026 update is that some companies are sometimes basing raises on metrics. TBH, I still don’t fully understand the equations I’ve seen, but it’s supposed to be a rating based on retention, specifically how often clients return for follow-up sessions.

​Nutrition tech companies have changed the field of private practice. Each of these companies helped to normalize the concept of meeting with a dietitian online, making virtual counseling more accessible and common. These companies have also influenced accepting insurance as standard practice, coming with pros and cons, of course. These companies have created greater competition for private practices, especially increased challenges for group private practices.

When dietitians are looking to help clients with nutrition counseling, starting a private practice used to be “the answer”. But now with many opportunities to practice nutrition counseling at one of these companies, you might be at a crossroads. If you’re a group practice owner, you might also be thinking about contracting with one of these companies to avoid the headache and hassle of insurance.

I want to break down all the pros and cons for you in this post. Deciding which path to take depends on your goals, priorities, and vision for your career.

Option 1: Starting Your Own Private Practice

Running your own private practice gives you the freedom to build a business around your values, services, and ideal clients. You will have autonomy and flexibility in the work you do, the clients you see, and how you build your brand.

Pros of Private Practice

1. Full Control
   • Your private practice is yours, and yours alone– you are a business owner with all of the benefits, building a business that can be an asset for your life.
   • You decide your niche, your ideal client, services offered, and pricing.
   • You have freedom to set your own schedule and when you will work.
2. Unlimited Earning Potential
   • Your income is directly tied to your business growth.
   • You have the ability to scale your business and leverage your expertise.
   • Raise your rates if/when you want.
3. Creative Freedom
   • Build a brand that reflects your personality and professional philosophy, with your unique messaging
   • Experiment with marketing channels and projects that excite you.
4. Build Client Relationships
   • You work closely with clients on their journey to health.
   • You likely have better client outcomes because your clients are in your niche, and are willingly working with you in private practice.
5. *A 2026 update: Expand Beyond 1:1 Private Practice. When it’s your own business, you have the choice to offer a group, program, or other services outside of 1:1 support. You could hire other dietitians to see clients in a group private practice. You could do consulting work. You have a lot of options to pivot in your own business that you simply do not have working for a tech company.

Cons of Private Practice

1. Entrepreneurship Isn’t Easy
   • Your private practice is yours– you are a business owner with all of the risk!
   • Building a business takes time, effort, and resilience.
   • A 2026 update: it still isn’t easy. I don’t think starting a private practice will ever be “easy” because it’s simply hard work. (But so is changing your health, and we still show up and support our clients because it’s worth it.)
2. You’ll Wear Different Hats
   • You’re in charge of counseling clients, marketing, admin, customer service, billing, setting up systems and operations, filing taxes, and more.
   • Some things will be easy, and others will be very difficult. This depends on your natural strengths, skills, and personality type.
3. Financial Risk
   • No guaranteed income, there isn’t a reliable “paycheck” coming to you.
   • You’ll need to manage expenses like office space, software, marketing, and paying taxes.
4. You’ll Have To Overcome Challenges
   • If you decide to accept insurance, the process can be overwhelming, and dealing with customer service can be frustrating.
   • The market will shift and evolve, and your business will have to evolve to keep up.
   • It can feel like you’re never “off”, because you are in charge of every aspect of your business.

Option 2: Working for a Nutrition Tech Company

Working for a nutrition tech company can give you the experience of “private practice”, seeing clients for nutrition counseling without running a business.

Pros of Working for a Nutrition Tech Company

1. A Paycheck
   • Most of the companies claim to do their best to give you the client hours that you want.
   • You can make money in nutrition counseling, doing what you love to do, without the pressure of running a business.
2. No Insurance Headaches
   • Most companies handle insurance, billing, and administrative tasks.
   • You can focus solely on providing client care.
   • *An update for 2026 is that a LOT of dietitians who take insurance have a lot of headaches doing so. As insurance frustrations have increased, the benefit of not having to deal with insurance directly has also increased.
3. Structured Work Environment
   • You will likely have set hours and job responsibilities that create predictability for work/life balance.
   • You will work with other dietitians, and might even have opportunities to ask (and answer!) counseling questions.
   • A big perk in 2026 is that these companies have included AI software that will write notes for you using your session data.
4. Less Risk
   • It’s always easier to leave a “job” vs. leaving your own business.
5. A 2026 update: The market has shifted. Clients are starting to name these companies as the “go-to” in the market space. You’re likely seeing the influencer market adapt to these companies and recommend them. Time will tell if it becomes even more “normal” to be a part of these companies supporting clients in nutrition counseling.

Cons of Working for a Nutrition Tech Company

1. Lower Pay
   • Many nutrition tech companies offer relatively low hourly rates or annual salaries, especially compared to the potential income in private practice.
   • You may feel undervalued and resentful, especially if the company’s values do not match your own when it comes to profit.
   • A 2026 update is that many of the companies have decreased initial assessment pay.
2. Lack of Autonomy
   • You’ll follow company policies and procedures, which may limit creativity or flexibility.
   • Your schedule and client interactions may be dictated by the company.
3. It’s A Job
   • Unlike private practice, you’re working for someone else’s business.
   • There’s less room for growth unless you want to work more hours.
   • When you leave the company, you are not allowed to take your clients with you.
4. *An important update for 2026 is that it seems as though the companies are tightening up budgets in all areas of operations. A lot of these companies cannot provide consistent referrals due to overhiring. This has been a major issue for dietitians who work for these companies. It’s expected that dietitians will bring self-sourced clients to the platform when hired.
5. *Another important update for 2026 is that these companies are affecting the group practice space in a big way. Because they offer more money than what most group private practice owners can afford, group practices are having a harder time hiring dietitians for their practice. (I work with many group practice owners who are still thriving, but anyone honest will tell you it’s been harder for the past few years.)
6. Probably the biggest potential “con” of all is that tech companies have access to and control all of their client data, probably worth 8 or 9 figures at this point. Are they creating an AI dietitian for clients using client data, therefore no longer needing human dietitians? Are they going to sell client data that will end up harming clients? Are they going to merge with even bigger corporations? I don’t pretend to know, and my guess is that the leaders of the tech companies might not know what they are going to do in the future. But when it’s not your own business, you don’t have control of what happens next.

How to Decide: Private Practice or Tech Company?

Here are some questions to help you decide:

• Are you ready to handle the challenges of running a business, or would you rather focus on client care?
• Is entrepreneurship exciting or overwhelming to you?
• Do you want a long-term career where you call the shots, or do you prefer the predictability of working for someone else?
• In 2026, if companies are starting to favor dietitians who bring their own clients to the platform… does it make more sense for you to just run your own business with those clients?

​Whatever you decide, remember that your career can evolve.

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