A vetted, high-quality provider network. Lyra's clinical bar for therapists and coaches is genuinely high, and outcomes for members who engage are strong.
Lyra treats the people who raise a hand. October moves the whole organisation.
Lyra Health is a strong clinical benefit — a curated provider network for the employees who seek therapy or coaching. October Health is the layer above it: clinically effective care the whole workforce actually uses, the org-wide intelligence that tells leaders what to do next, and the embedded experts who execute the change. A benefit waits to be used. October drives measurable outcomes across every team.
Whole-organisation systemCare · intelligence · executionLyra Health
Modern point-EAPsIndependent comparisonIt's still a single bolt-on benefit, priced per engagement and built around the minority who self-refer. There's no whole-org intelligence layer and no embedded team driving change beyond the individual.
Software plus embedded experts across the entire organisation — 65% utilisation, prioritised insight on what to act on, and people who execute the change. Care and org-change in one measurable system.
What your people
actually get.
Comparing with Lyra’s clinical care? October brings 20+ hours of daily live sessions, a weekly workforce pulse and monthly action planning into the same employee experience. Here is what that gives your team.
Offered See detailsAvailability and session allowances depend on your package and location, for both providers.
Swipe across the table to compare both providers.
| Feature or service | OctoberWhat you get — and why it matters | Lyra Health |
|---|---|---|
| For employeesEveryday tools, personal insight and access to support. | ||
| On-demand content | Build skills people use at workShort courses on focus, leadership and resilience, plus articles, audiobooks and session recordings. Why it mattersGive employees practical steps they can apply the same day. | Self-care exercises and digital resources |
| Wellbeing assessments | A personal picture that keeps updatingQuarterly ThriveMeter, clinical screening and monthly personal wellbeing insights. Why it mattersEmployees can follow their progress; HR sees aggregate trends without individual answers. | Care assessments and progress measures |
| Live group sessions | 20+ hours of live sessions every dayExpert-led, anonymous audio sessions, with recordings and podcasts to revisit. Why it mattersPeople on different shifts can join, listen or ask a question without going on camera. | Confirm group-session format and schedule |
| One-to-one counselling | Keep your EAP. Make it easier to reach.Connect your existing EAP inside October, or use October’s virtual or in-person EAP services. Why it mattersGive employees one entry point for everyday support and professional care. | Therapists and specialist clinical care |
| Coaching and personal support | Support between appointmentsAsh AI coaching with goal check-ins, practical courses and private Clara AI voice support. Why it mattersEmployees can work on goals in the moment; clinical needs route to human care. Clara allowances vary by plan. | Mental health coaching |
| For HR teamsTools to understand needs, support managers and engage people. | ||
| Manager development | Turn 360 feedback into a development pathwayLeadership 360 assessments, personalised pathways, coaching content and reassessment. Why it mattersGive each leader a clear next step and a way to measure their development. | Manager coaching and workplace resources |
| Workforce surveys and pulse | A weekly pulse. A quarterly baseline.Weekly check-ins, quarterly ThriveMeter and company surveys in the employee app. Why it mattersTrack how teams are doing between formal reviews and follow up after interventions. | Confirm custom workforce survey options |
| HR dashboard and insights | See where to focus and what to doTeam, tenure and location trends, industry benchmarks and AI-drafted action plans. Why it mattersHR gets proposed interventions and owners, reviewed monthly with a customer success manager. | Lyra Connect programme and workforce insights |
| Employee engagement support | A company hub with a monthly programmeCompany-branded hub, private expert sessions, challenges and a monthly planning cadence. Why it mattersHR has a place to reach employees and support to keep the programme active. | Mental health strategy and employer resources |
| For the businessEvidence to guide investment and support to act on it. | ||
| Measurement and action plans | Connect each action to a follow-up measureAction plans with named owners, baseline measures and follow-up, reviewed monthly. Why it mattersLeaders can see what was done and whether wellbeing measures moved afterwards. | Programme impact and clinical outcomes |
| Hands-on organisational support | Experts who help carry out the planOctober Advisory can scope and deliver the interventions identified through workforce insights. Why it mattersAdd implementation capacity when your HR team needs help delivering change. Separately scoped. | Confirm scope of organisational consulting |
Based on public provider descriptions reviewed 9 September 2026. “Confirm” means the scope is not established by the linked sources.
US enterprises that want a premium, standalone clinical network and already have the people-ops layer to act on the data themselves.
Leaders who want care AND org-wide change in one system — high utilisation, prioritised insight, and experts who drive measurable outcomes across every team.
See October in contextQuestions,
answered.
Is October Health an alternative to Lyra Health?
Yes. Both deliver clinically effective mental-health support. The difference is scope: Lyra is a provider network for employees who seek care, while October pairs that care with org-wide intelligence and embedded experts who drive measurable change across the entire workforce — typically at far higher utilisation.
How does utilisation compare?
Lyra reports stronger engagement than legacy EAPs, but it remains a benefit the minority who self-refer reach for. October sees around 65% utilisation — roughly 10× a traditional EAP — because the platform is designed for everyday use across every team, not just for people in crisis.
Does October replace clinical care?
No — October provides clinically effective care (sessions, coaching and an AI companion) and adds the organisational layer Lyra doesn't: prioritised insight for leaders and embedded experts who execute change. You get individual care and measurable org-wide outcomes in one system.
What about pricing?
Lyra typically charges a per-employee access fee plus a cost per engagement, which can be hard to forecast at scale. October uses predictable platform pricing and gives you a costed ROI up front, so finance can model the return before you commit.
We operate outside the US — does that matter?
It can. Lyra's network is strongest in the US. October runs globally, with clinically effective care, embedded experts and measurable outcomes across multinational and emerging-market workforces.
Start with your organisation
Compare October with Lyra Health.
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