Hair
The $0.83 pill in the $25 subscription
Hair-loss medicine is mostly cheap generics wrapped in expensive subscriptions. Here's every channel, priced, with the billing fine print the "$16/mo" headlines leave out.
The markup, itemized: Cost Plus Drugs' itemized pricing shows the finasteride in a $25/month subscription costs $0.83 a month ($0.72 manufacturing + $0.11 markup) before pharmacy labor. Subscription brands charge 2–4× the discounted cash price for the same FDA-approved generic — roughly 25–30× the drug cost. What the subscription buys is the prescriber, auto-refill, and branding.
Almost nobody bills monthly: a "$20/month" plan is a $60 charge →
Topical or oral finasteride? Similar hair counts, a hundredfold difference in systemic exposure →
The $5 finasteride: what hair-loss subscriptions actually mark up →
Provider dossiers#
One dossier per hair-loss provider: what it sells, its trust file read at the source, flags on file, and who it is actually for.
KeepsTelehealth — finasteride and minoxidil, quarterly billing. Trustpilot 3.6/5 from 273 reviews. Happy HeadTelehealth — compounded topicals and oral; longer plans bill up front. Trustpilot 4.5/5 from 1,821 reviews. XYON HealthTelehealth — proprietary topical delivery system. Trustpilot 3.7/5 from 61 reviews.
Oral finasteride 1 mg — the markup exhibit#
| Channel | Price | Billing truth | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon RxPass | $5/mo flat (covers 50+ generics) | requires Prime; not available CA/WA; not with Medicaid/CHIP; no HSA/FSA | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
| Cost Plus Drugs | $5.83 + $5.25 shipping = $11.08 delivered | itemized: $0.72 mfg + $0.11 markup + $5.00 labor; bring your own prescription | listed price · 2026-09-09 source |
| Retail + GoodRx coupon | as low as ~$9.75 (avg retail $51.94) | zip- and pharmacy-dependent; prescription required | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| Amazon Pharmacy | $11.60 without insurance | Prime pricing; listed retail $65.10 | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
| Happy Head | $20 / $19 / $18 / $17 by 1 / 3 / 6 / 12-month subscription | Read at source 2026-09-08. Longer plans bill up front, not monthly: the 6-month plan is $108 charged every 6 months ($18/mo), and the page's own one-time price for the same 6-month supply is $144 ($24/mo). Pause or cancel any time; consult and shipping included. Previously $19/$16/$14 on 1/3/6 months — every tier rose and the discount for committing shrank from a $5 spread to $3. | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
| Ro | $20 / $18 / $16 by 3 / 6 / 12-month plan | QUARTERLY shipments only (their own page); $16 headline needs the 12-month plan | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
| Keeps | ~$20–25 (sources spread $16–25) | billed & shipped quarterly + $5/shipment; $5 annual consult after year 1; prices quiz-gated | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| Hims | "starting at $22/mo" | reported billed $75/quarter (= $25/mo); the $22 rate reportedly bills $132 per 6 months | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
Topical combos (finasteride + minoxidil, and friends)#
| Channel | Product | Price | Billing truth | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximus (Tribe) | 4-in-1 gel (dutasteride + minox + tretinoin + fexofenadine) | ~$18–22/mo reported (~$55–65 per 90 days) | official page price not rendering | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| Hims | Rx spray / serum (fin + minox; +keto $39) | starting at $35/mo | billing unit behind checkout | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| Ro | Ro Mane spray (minox 6% + fin 0.3% + tretinoin) | $50/mo quarterly, $43/mo on 6-month | quarterly shipments | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
| Ulo | Topical finasteride 0.2% + minoxidil 7% | from $69/mo | headline rates tied to 12-month plans; add-on and tretinoin variants also from $69; 180-day money-back | listed price · 2026-09-11 source |
| Keeps | Topical fin + minox gel | $60/mo reported | quarterly billing | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| Happy Head | Topical fin 0.25% + minox 8% | $63/mo subscribe ($79 one-time); $49 first order | Derm consult included. The 'true monthly billing' we previously claimed here does not hold across the brand — Happy Head's oral plans bill up front on longer terms. On this product the page states the 1.7oz bottle is a 25-day supply at twice daily, so a subscription sold as monthly runs out before the month does; we have not yet confirmed the refill interval at checkout. | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| XYON | Topical finasteride (SiloxysSystem gel, no minox) | $109 per 30 days ($119 one-time) | $20 consult on first one-time order (credited on subscription) | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
| XYON | Topical dutasteride gel | $139 per 30 days ($149 one-time) | premium vehicle; true 30-day billing | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
Oral minoxidil#
| Channel | Price | Billing truth | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail + GoodRx coupon | ~$11.85 avg with coupon (2.5mg ×30) | prescription required; zip-dependent | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| RedBox Rx | $15/mo | budget telehealth | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
| Ulo | from $24–36/mo | 12-month plans 30% off; 180-day guarantee. Range covers plain oral minoxidil (1.25mg $24, 2.5mg $29, 5mg $36); combination pills adding folic acid, vitamin D or finasteride are listed from $45. | listed price · 2026-09-11 source |
| Ro (generic Loniten) | $30 / $27 / $24 by plan length | quarterly shipments | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
Supplements#
| Channel | Price | Billing truth | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viviscal Men | $36/mo sub; $30–32/mo on 3–6-month plans | $6.95 shipping on one-time only | reported · 2026-09-06 source |
| Nutrafol Men | $79/mo subscribe ($88 one-time) | Read at source 2026-09-08. Monthly subscription is $79 against an $88 list price — a 10% subscribe discount. Longer plans cost less per month: $224 per 3 months ($74.67/mo) and $422 per 6 months ($70.33/mo). Buying once is $88 plus $6.95 shipping; subscriptions ship free. Previously we published $70.40, which was the subscribe price when the monthly discount was 20%; the list price did not move, the discount did. | listed price · 2026-09-06 source |
Finasteride cost without insurance: every channel, $5–$25/month →
How to read this market#
- Have a prescription already? Amazon RxPass ($5/mo flat with Prime) or Cost Plus ($11 delivered) end the conversation for oral finasteride.
- Need the prescriber? A one-off telehealth visit plus a cheap pharmacy usually beats a lifetime subscription. If you want the subscription anyway, Happy Head's $14–16 finasteride is the cheapest true-monthly biller.
- Watch the billing unit. Ro ships quarterly only; Keeps bills quarterly plus $5 a shipment; Hims' "$22/mo" reportedly bills $132 per six months. "Per month" and "billed monthly" are different sentences.
- Topical combos are the same idea at 2.3× spread — functionally similar fin+minox compounds run $35 (Hims) to $79 list (Happy Head), with XYON's premium vehicles above that.
Hair beyond the prescription: ferritin, rosemary oil's RCT, and the supplements graded honestly →
Diet, deficiency and hair loss: test, don't guess →
Pricing journalism, not medical advice — finasteride and oral minoxidil have real side-effect profiles to discuss with a clinician. Draft rows flagged until verified. No link on this page earns us a commission; rankings never bend — disclosure.