Anyone in Ontario using Maple or Your Doctors Online? Trying to figure our which one actually makes sense for a family stuck without a GP

Hey everyone. I know this kind of questions gets asked a lot but i'm honestly lost and just want to hear from normal people who've actually used these things.

Our family doctor retired a few months ago and we still haven't found a new one. Health Care Connect keeps saying they're working on it and the walk in clinics around here are either always full or closed by the time i'm off work. I'm not trying to replace a real doctor forever, i just need something for the basic stuff. A prescription refill without sitting in a waiting room for hours, a sick note so i don't get crap from my boss, maybe a lab req when my kid gets another ear infection. That kind of thing.

I've been poking around online and I keep seeing two names. One is Maple. I think it's like $95 a month for a family plan, covers me, my wife, and our kid. They say you get 24/7 access to a doctor or nurse practitioner, plus pediatric stuff and supposedly faster access to specialists. The specialist thing sounds cool in theory but I have no clue if that actually happens for someone in Ontario or if it's just marketing.

The other one is called Your Doctors Online and it's way cheaper, like $20 a month or $240 for the year. They also say unlimited 24/7 access with a doctor and they can do prescriptions, sick notes, lab reqs. The thing that caught my eye is you can add your whole family under the same flat fee, no extra charge per person. So for us it would be twenty bucks a month versus ninety five. That's a huge difference.

But here's what I'm wondering and maybe someone who's not a review bot can help me out. Are the doctors on the cheap one actually okay? Like do they know how things work in Ontario, or am I gonna get a prescription that my pharmacy looks at funny? Do the lab reqs actually get accepted at places like LifeLabs or do I have to argue with them? And if I add my wife and kid to my plan, does it actually let me do that easily or is there some hidden catch where only one person can use it at a time?

Also wait times. Not what the website says, what's the real wait like when you need someone at 9pm on a Tuesday? And sick notes, do employers actually take them seriously or do they treat it like a doctor's note from a cereal box?

Maple seems more polished and i've heard the name for years, but ninety five dollars a month is a lot if the other one does basically the same thing. I just don't want to cheap out and then find out it's useless when i actually need it. Anyone in Ontario who's been paying for one of these, i'd really appreciate your honest take. Thanks.