StretchDollar vs. Thatch: how they compare

StretchDollar and Thatch both help small businesses offer an ICHRA (now also called a CHOICE arrangement): a monthly, tax-free allowance employees use toward their own individual health plans. They work in quite different ways, though. This article compares the two on what usually matters most to small employers and their brokers: cost, how money moves, contracts, broker relationships and support.

Thatch details come from Thatch's public website, pricing page, help center and agreements as of October 2026. Check thatch.com for their current terms.

At a glance

	StretchDollar	Thatch
Built for	Employers with 1–50 W-2 employees	Any size; separate custom pricing for 50+
Monthly price	$100 platform fee + $25 per enrolled employee	$50 compliance fee + $45 per enrolled employee (1–49 eligible); custom for 50+ with a minimum of 10 enrolled
Setup or cancellation fees	None. Cancel anytime from your portal.	None listed. The employer agreement allows minimum fees and fee changes on 30 days' notice, and closing the account takes 90 days' notice.
How premiums are paid	Employees pay their insurer as usual. StretchDollar reimburses them by ACH from your business bank account.	Thatch pays insurers and bills you the full premium a month in advance, or employees use the Thatch Card.
Premiums above the allowance	Never on your books. You only reimburse up to the allowance; employees pay any difference to their insurer directly.	Thatch bills you the full premium, and you take the difference back from the employee's paycheck through payroll deductions.
Who holds the money	No one. Money moves straight from your bank to your employee's bank, and StretchDollar never holds client funds.	Funds sit in Thatch health balances, and Thatch may require a reserve.
Brokers	Brokers stay agent of record in their licensed states, keep 100% of carrier commissions, and earn $22 per enrolled employee per month.	Brokers earn a referral fee. Thatch is the default broker for employees unless they choose otherwise, and the fee stops if another broker becomes broker of record.
Support	Real people by live chat, email and phone, plus licensed brokers to help employees choose a plan	Email and an AI assistant. Licensed advisors are available to employees; no support phone number is published.

Cost

Both charge only for employees who enroll. Here's what each costs per month, using each company's published prices:

Enrolled employees	StretchDollar	Thatch
3	$175	$185
5	$225	$275
10	$350	$500
20	$600	$950

The gap grows with every employee who enrolls, because StretchDollar's per-employee fee is $20 lower. Thatch's employer agreement also allows minimum fees regardless of how many employees participate. See How much does StretchDollar cost?

How money moves

With StretchDollar, your employees pay their insurance company the same way anyone with an individual plan does. Each month you approve their reimbursements, and StretchDollar moves that money by ACH from your business bank account straight to theirs. You only ever pay up to the allowance you set. There are no cards, no extra accounts and no payroll deductions.

With Thatch, Thatch pays the insurer for plans bought through Thatch and debits your bank twice a month: premiums around the 15th and platform fees on the 1st. Premiums are billed a month in advance, including the part above each employee's allowance. You then recover that difference through payroll deductions, which Thatch can set up with supported payroll providers.

The difference matters for cash flow. With Thatch you front the full premium. With StretchDollar you only pay the allowance.

Contracts and switching

StretchDollar: no long-term contract and no cancellation fee. Admins can cancel from the Employer Portal. See Can I cancel our StretchDollar benefits plan?
Thatch: the employer agreement requires 90 days' notice to close an account, and fees and contributions continue during that time. Opting out of renewal needs notice at least 90 days before the renewal date. Only Thatch's own plan documents may be used.

Thinking of moving? See Switching a client's ICHRA from another provider to StretchDollar.

For brokers

StretchDollar is built to work through brokers:
- You stay agent of record in the states where you're licensed, through your own enrollment links.
- You keep 100% of your carrier commissions.
- You earn $22 per enrolled employee per month.
- You get your own branded ICHRA Partner Portal with quoting, client onboarding and reporting.
Thatch pays brokers a referral fee. Its member agreement names Thatch's own agency as the employee's broker unless they designate another, and its partner agreement stops the referral fee for any month where someone other than Thatch is broker of record.

See How much does StretchDollar cost for agents?

Compliance

Both create the core documents for you.

StretchDollar:
- Creates your Summary Plan Description, Summary of Benefits and Coverage, and each employee's ICHRA notice when you build your policy.
- Provides your 1095-B data each year.
Thatch:
- Provides its own plan documents and notices, plus draft 1095 data.
- Offers a separate, opt-in ACA filing package.

With either, the employer remains responsible for its plan.

Where Thatch may fit better

To be fair, Thatch offers some things StretchDollar doesn't:

A debit card and a marketplace of partner health services employees can spend leftover allowance on.
Automatic payment of insurers for plans bought through Thatch.
A custom tier for employers with 50 or more employees.

If those matter most to you, Thatch is worth a look.

Where StretchDollar fits better

You want the lowest cost once three or more employees enroll, with no compliance fee.
You'd rather not prefund premiums, hold a reserve or run payroll deductions.
You want to cancel anytime without a 90-day notice period.
You work with a broker and want them to stay your broker of record.
You want to reach a real person by phone, chat or email.

Want to see your own numbers side by side? Ask in the help window or book a call, and we'll walk you through a quote.