Most people treating hair loss jump straight to a subscription without knowing their Norwood stage. That is backwards. Knowing where you stand changes everything, from whether you even need finasteride to whether a transplant consultation should come before a shampoo routine.
What This Guide Covers
This comparison looks at nine options across the hair loss category, from free analysis tools to Rx telehealth brands to OTC staples. The goal is to help you figure out what fits your situation, not push you toward the priciest option.
What I Looked At
- Clarity of purpose: does the product actually do what it claims?
- Evidence base: finasteride and minoxidil are the two clinically supported mainstays; everything else gets held to a higher standard
- Cost and friction: real prices, subscription terms, signup requirements
- Honesty: does the brand tell you what it can’t do?
See also: The Rise of Distributed Storage
The 9 Options
1. HairLine AI
Free. No account. You open the browser tool, hold up your phone camera or upload a photo, and within seconds you get a Norwood classification, a graft estimate, and a rough cost range displayed in a results dashboard. The AI uses MediaPipe to read facial geometry and Gemini 3 Pro to do the actual staging. Nothing to install, nothing to pay.
The reason it tops this list is simple: it answers the question everyone should ask first. What stage am I at? A telehealth brand will sell you a subscription whether you are a Norwood 2 or a Norwood 6. HairLine AI tells you where you actually stand and then points you toward appropriate next steps, whether that is a basic minoxidil routine or a transplant consult. It does not prescribe or sell anything. It is a neutral starting point, and that neutrality is genuinely useful before you hand over a credit card anywhere else.
2. Hims
Hims has the widest medication menu in this space. It is the only major telehealth brand currently offering topical finasteride, and it sells oral finasteride, topical minoxidil, oral minoxidil, and combination kits. Pricing varies by formula and subscription length. If you want one platform that can adjust your protocol over time without switching providers, Hims has the range to do it.
3. Keeps
Keeps focuses exclusively on hair loss, which keeps the experience cleaner than multi-category health brands. Three-month supply plans bring the per-month cost down meaningfully, and shipping runs around $5. It covers the core medications: finasteride and minoxidil. No foam minoxidil, but for most people that is not a dealbreaker.
4. Roman (Ro)
Ro’s prescription offering covers generic oral finasteride and a liquid minoxidil solution. Straightforward and no frills. No foam formulation, no topical finasteride. If you already know what you need and want a simple generic prescription filled without a complicated onboarding process, Roman works fine.
5. Happy Head
Happy Head’s angle is custom prescription topical compounds. Rather than standard 5% minoxidil, a clinician can formulate a blend tailored to your profile. That appeals to people who have had irritation or poor results with off-the-shelf topicals. More clinic-forward than pure telehealth.
6. BosleyRx / Bosley
Bosley started as a transplant clinic network and added Rx products later. If you are considering a surgical route and also want ongoing medical treatment, Bosley gives you a single ecosystem. The brand heritage is in procedures, not subscriptions.
7. HairClub
HairClub operates physical clinics and offers programs that include non-surgical hair systems alongside medical options. Not a telehealth play. Better suited to people who want in-person assessment and are open to a broader range of solutions beyond medication alone.
8. Keranique
Keranique targets women specifically. It is OTC, built around 2% minoxidil topical, and does not require a prescription. A practical starting point for women with diffuse thinning who are not ready for a clinical consultation.
9. Generic Minoxidil, Ketoconazole Shampoo, and Derma-Rolling
The OTC stack. Generic 5% minoxidil foam or solution costs a fraction of branded options and contains the same active ingredient. Ketoconazole shampoo has modest supporting evidence. Derma-rolling as an adjunct shows some early positive data. None of these replace finasteride for androgenetic alopecia, but they are low-cost and low-risk starting points.
How to Choose
Start with your stage. Use a free tool to understand your Norwood position before signing up for anything. Early-stage thinning responds well to topical minoxidil alone. Mid-range loss usually warrants a conversation about finasteride with a clinician, keeping the side-effect profile in mind. Significant recession or density loss at the crown may mean a transplant consult belongs in the mix sooner rather than later. Match the resource to the problem, not the other way around.
Common Questions
Does it actually matter which telehealth brand you pick, or is the medication the same regardless?
The medication itself, generic finasteride or minoxidil, is chemically identical across Hims, Keeps, and Roman. What differs is the formula range, the quality of clinical follow-up, and whether the platform can adjust your protocol without you switching providers. For most people at early stages, the gap between brands is smaller than the marketing suggests.
Can HairLine AI’s Norwood staging replace a dermatologist’s assessment?
Not exactly. The tool gives you a fast, free baseline using camera-based geometry and AI classification, which is genuinely useful for orientation. A board-certified dermatologist can assess scalp health, rule out non-androgenetic causes like alopecia areata or nutritional deficiency, and examine the actual follicle density in ways a phone camera cannot.
Why does Hims offer topical finasteride when the others don’t, and does it matter?
Topical finasteride is designed to reduce systemic absorption compared to the oral version, which theoretically lowers exposure-related side-effect risk. Hims is currently the only major telehealth brand in this comparison offering it. Whether the difference is clinically meaningful for any individual is a question worth raising with the prescribing clinician, not assumed from marketing copy.
At what point does it make more sense to call Bosley or HairClub than to order a subscription?
If you are at Norwood 5 or above, or if you have been on finasteride and minoxidil for 12 or more months without meaningful retention, the medication-only route has probably given you its answer. That is when a transplant consultation or an in-person clinic assessment through Bosley or HairClub becomes the more productive next step rather than switching subscription brands.
Is Keranique a real treatment option or mainly a marketing product for women?
It contains 2% minoxidil, which is the FDA-approved concentration for women with androgenetic alopecia, so the active ingredient is legitimate. The surrounding product line, shampoos and conditioners sold alongside it, has a thinner evidence base. Women with diffuse thinning can reasonably start with the minoxidil component while being skeptical of the broader kit claims.
Sources
- American Academy of Dermatology: minoxidil and finasteride evidence summaries
- National Institutes of Health: androgenetic alopecia clinical overviews
- Norwood Scale original classification literature (O’Tar Norwood, 1975)
- MediaPipe documentation (Google, public)
- Individual brand pricing pages (Hims, Keeps, Roman, Happy Head, Bosley, HairClub, Keranique) accessed 2025-2026
