988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Free, confidential crisis support by call, text, or chat, 24 hours a day, across the United States.
Best for
Anyone in emotional crisis, thinking about suicide, or worried about someone who is.
Why Kave includes this
Kave routes crisis situations out of the matching engine entirely. When someone indicates they are in danger the answer is not a ranked list — it is this number, shown immediately and without further questions.
- Expected cost
- Free. No insurance, no account, no cost.
- Insurance requirement
- None.
- Who qualifies
- Available to anyone in the United States.
- Where it is available
- Nationwide (United States)
- How you use it
- Online or by phone
- Languages
- English and Spanish
Limitations Kave wants you to know about
- Crisis support and referral; not ongoing therapy.
- Call 911 instead if someone is physically injured or in immediate danger.
Call or text 988. Chat is available on the website.
Verification
Compiled by Kave on July 1, 2026 and link-checked. Not yet independently verified. Kave assembled this from the organisation’s own published material and confirmed the links resolve. No reviewer has confirmed the eligibility details against the source, so check them on the official site before you rely on them.
- Compiled
- July 1, 2026 (28 days ago)
- Next scheduled review
- September 29, 2026
- Reviewed by
- Not yet reviewed
Sources used
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — read July 1, 2026
Kave quality score
97/100
Kave lists resources scoring 80 or above that also clear all four mandatory gates.
- Patient impact25/25
- Affordability or financial value20/20
- Accessibility14.4/15
- Transparency13.2/15
- Ease of use10/10
- Geographic reach5/5
- Institutional credibility5/5
- Privacy and data practices4.1/5
Geographic reach is deliberately worth only five points, so a strong local resource is not pushed out by a weak national one. Read the methodology.