Cake Meds Review

If survey data is any indication, we’re having less sex now than we were 20 years ago.1 There’s no way to pin the trend on one thing, but it’s compelling to see that incidences of ED have nearly doubled since 1995.2 Whether you’re a single guy having a hard time finding a partner or in a committed relationship where things have slowed down a bit, it seems you’re far from alone.

Cake Meds can’t help you find a partner, but the company may be able to help you treat ED or libido issues, and its lineup of niche lubricants and sex toys might help reignite things in the bedroom if you and your partner need a little spark. Its catalog is far from extensive, but it has plenty to offer certain men.

Cake Meds offers combination prescriptions for ED and female sexual dysfunction (FSD), as well as a slew of sex toys and lubes designed specifically for different types of sex (e.g., oral, anal, toy-based, etc.). Its prices are reasonable, especially for its non-RX products. But, the available doses for its ED medications limit its reach to men who have already tried similar meds at lower doses or those who are willing to throw caution to the wind and start their treatment at a high combined dose.

At Innerbody Research, we thoroughly test any of the products or services that we review, including Cake. Our team went through the entire consultation process and acquired prescriptions for Cake’s ED medications so that we can relay to you the ins and outs of its customer service and patient portal.

To augment this hands-on testing, we applied our more than 1,000 hours of research into ED, FSD, and sexual wellness in general, which has included reviewing hundreds of scientific papers on these subjects. Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy and will continue to be monitored for updates by our editorial team.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

In evaluating Hello Cake, we applied similar criteria we’ve used when investigating its top competitors like Hims or Promescent. These included product lineup, potential efficacy, cost, safety, and customer experience. Compared to its competition, there are some things Hello Cake does very well and others on which it can stand to improve.

Let’s take a look at each criterion to see how Cake measured up.

Product lineup

Hello Cake has a product lineup that compares pretty well with some of its competitors. Central to its offering are its ED medications, but ancillary products like sex toys, lube, and sexual health supplements round out the catalog nicely. That said, there are some deficiencies compared to others that we should investigate here.

Hello Cake's most direct competitors include BlueChew, Hims, and Promescent, all of whom sell one or more of the product types in Cake’s lineup. Here’s a quick comparison:

As you can see, Promescent comes the closest to matching Hello Cake’s overall offering, but it’s important to note that Promescent only delivers its ED medications as traditional tablets. Cake provides dissolving lozenges, and both BlueChew and Hims offer chewable medications. All three competitors also have more dose flexibility than Cake and, in most cases, better prices.

Hello Cake also offers a combination libido treatment for women suffering from FSD that contains tadalafil, oxytocin, and L-citrulline, as well as a topical cream designed to improve arousal with the help of prescription topical sildenafil.3 That oral medication is promising, and equivalents are hard to come by from competitors, but competitor Wisp’s OMG! Cream topical also contains sildenafil and costs a lot less.4

Potential efficacy

Most of the products you could get through Hello Cake are likely to work. Its toys and lubricants are straightforward, and there’s enough variety among them to find the right combination for your desires. We paid more scrutiny to the company’s sexual wellness products, specifically its Sex Drive supplement and its ED medication.

Hello Cake only offers a combination of two ED medications: sildenafil and tadalafil, the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis, respectively. But you can’t get them separately from Hello Cake. Instead, Hello Cake only offers them in an as-needed combination lozenge in two possible doses:

For the low dose, 40mg is around the lower middle of the sildenafil dose range, which typically runs up to 100mg.5 The tadalafil dose lands in a similar spot, as that range typically extends out to 20mg.

The high-dose offering is certainly high by comparison, at least doubling each ingredient. And these dose ranges are typically employed when administering these medications individually. Their combination might call for a reduction in one or both, but Hello Cake doesn’t offer a more entry-level dose. Ultimately, this means Hello Cake’s ED doses are more likely to be effective than lower doses or individual medications would be, but most doctors would likely start men who are new to ED meds at a lower dose. Doses like the 6mg of tadalafil or 30mg sildenafil chews from BlueChew, for example, are more reasonable starting points.

On the supplements side, Hello Cake suffers from the opposite problem. Its Sex Drive for Him revolves around a 600mg dose of Testofen, a branded form of fenugreek extract. We actually find fenugreek extract to be a potent and reliable tool for male sexual health, and the 600mg dose of Testofen ought to be effective.6 But its efficacy depends on daily consumption over at least 12 weeks. Hello Cake has designed its supplement to be taken as needed, but we’ve seen no evidence that Testofen offers any effects when taken like this.

Daily sexual health supplements from companies like Performer 8 would likely be superior for improving sexual performance.

Some of Sex Drive’s other ingredients may bear fruit after a single dose, like its caffeine and maca extracts, but you’d probably be better off just having an espresso.

Cost

Hello Cake’s prices are competitive for its lubricants and sex toys. Its Sex Drive supplement is particularly inexpensive, but we aren’t too thrilled with the formula compared to similar products on the market.

Hello Cake runs into a little trouble with its ED medication pricing, though. Its high-dose combination is the only one of its two doses that presents a good deal. If you’re looking for a lower dose, you could get separate prescriptions for sildenafil and tadalafil from other companies for less. The equivalents aren’t exact, so we did a little math with the nearest available options from competitors to illustrate differences in cost.

Here’s how it breaks down:

As you can see, Hello Cake’s high dose is less expensive per use than its competitors, but its low dose is far from the same deal.

Safety

Of all the products Hello Cake offers, its prescription medications come with the most caveats around safety. Sildenafil and tadalafil have been studied in humans for decades, and they have favorable safety profiles overall. Still, those years of study have revealed certain populations that are likely poor candidates for such drugs.

Specifically, sildenafil and tadalafil have been shown to affect blood pressure, and men taking medications to control blood pressure or those with conditions that affect it may encounter dangerous side effects, including a steep enough drop in blood pressure to endanger their lives.7

For most men who are approved for use, these side effects are extremely unlikely. But, there are a few other common side effects among approved users that are worth considering, as well. Both sildenafil and tadalafil are PDE-5 inhibitors. PDE stands for phosphodiesterase, and these families of enzymes influence numerous bodily systems, from nitric oxide synthesis to visual perception.8

Both sildenafil and tadalafil have been shown to collaterally affect other PDE families, including PDEs 1, 6, and 11.9 Each of these relates to a different potential side effect, including muscle or back pain and disturbances in blue-green color processing. Other common side effects of PDE-5 inhibitors include headache, nausea, flushing, and dizziness.10

Customer experience

In testing Hello Cake for ourselves, we were exposed to every aspect of the customer experience, from browsing the site and going through the telehealth intake to receiving medication and, ultimately, canceling services. The process is decidedly similar to those we’ve encountered through prominent competitors.

There are some interesting differences, though. First off, Hello Cake doesn’t offer any kind of chat support. This fast, direct form of communication has been able to answer several burning questions that have arisen as we’ve reviewed the likes of Hims or BlueChew. Without it, you’re left relying on email communications that typically take about one business day to resolve.

We also found one aspect of the cancellation process to be slightly confusing. On the patient portal, you have to click “Manage Prescription” to manage your subscription to a prescription medication. If you go looking for a way to cancel a subscription and don’t see an option including the words “cancel” or “subscription,” you might understandably assume that the “Manage Prescription” button is just for contacting your doctor to discuss changes to your dose or other questions. That could lead to significant frustration.

One last bit of frustration we encountered through Hello Cake’s site is that there’s no clear way to navigate to the pages featuring its sex toys. If you go to the product page for any lubricant, you’ll see available bundles listed toward the bottom of the page that include nice-looking toys. But there’s no way to navigate to individual toy pages directly. We went to one of the bundle pages and altered the URL enough that it brought us to an 11-page listing of all Hello Cake’s products. This is not where you end up if you click on “Shop All” for some reason. These pages are where you can find all of Cake’s products, including its full sex toy lineup.

Cake Meds is the prescription wing of Hello Cake, a telemedicine and sexual wellness company with a focus on libido enhancement, sex toys, and lubrication. The company’s medication catalog is somewhat limited compared to its other product categories, but it might be a good place to go for men at a certain point on their ED journey.

Let’s take a closer look at Hello Cake’s full lineup:

While there aren’t too many categories in Hello Cake’s product lineup, the options within each are pretty diverse, certainly more so than some competitors have to offer. Let’s take a closer look at each category to see what’s available.

Prescription ED medication

Hello Cake offers its ED treatment as a dissolving lozenge that contains two of the most widely researched PDE-5 inhibitors on the market. It’s available by prescription only and comes in two dose combinations.

• Low dose: 40mg sildenafil, 8mg tadalafil
• High dose: 80mg sildenafil, 17mg tadalafil

Sildenafil is the active ingredient in Viagra, and tadalafil is the active ingredient in Cialis. Both drugs increase blood flow to the penis and allow men with ED to achieve an erection hard enough for penetrative sex.5 They’ve both been studied for decades and have well-established mechanisms of action, safety profiles, and dose options.

Here’s a quick look at how they compare:

The duration is the biggest difference between these medications, with sildenafil’s effects fading after around six hours and tadalafil’s effects lasting well over a day.5

Normally, these drugs are taken separately, and men seeking ED medication for the first time will typically be prescribed one or the other, not both. This is why we prefer to steer men new to ED prescriptions away from Hello Cake and toward a competitor like BlueChew.

However, for men who’ve tried one or the other in isolation and had underwhelming results, the combination may provide enhanced efficacy.14

Prescriptions for FSD

Female sexual dysfunction may not get the same degree of attention that ED has over the years, but it’s a prevalent condition that affects anywhere between 30% and 50% of women.15 It can include loss of libido, vaginal dryness, pain during intercourse, and more.

Hello Cake offers two prescriptions for treating FSD:

• Libido Lift Rx: an oral tablet containing tadalafil, L-citrulline, and oxytocin
• O-Cream Rx: a topical cream containing sildenafil

Let’s break down the ingredients in each to better understand how they might work. In the oral medication, you’ll find:

Hello Cake’s topical cream for FSD contains sildenafil, which has been shown to increase self-reported sexual arousal scores in healthy postmenopausal women.19 Application appears to be safe as well, with at least one study reporting the same incidence of adverse effects as a placebo.20

Sex Drive for Him and for Her

Sex Drive is how Hello Cake brands its sexual wellness supplements. Unlike many similar supplements that you take daily, these are supposedly effective enough for as-needed use. Research indicates that certain ingredients in each could offer single-use results, but the most prominent ingredients — especially in the men’s formula — typically take months of daily use to yield results.

Here’s a quick look at each formula’s ingredients.

Sex Drive for Him:

• Magnesium: 54.4mg
• Zinc: 22mg
• Testofen: 600mg
• L-Citrulline: 120mg
• Maca root extract: 120mg
• Guarana extract: 50mg
• Caffeine from green tea: 50mg
• Black pepper extract: 5mg

Sex Drive for Her:

• Libifem: 600mg
• L-Arginine: 500mg
• Organic reishi mushroom: 200mg
• Guarana extract: 50mg
• Caffeine from green tea: 50mg
• Saffron extract: 30mg
• Tribulus terrestris: 6.8mg
• Black pepper extract: 5mg

There is some crossover between these blends. Both contain 600mg of fenugreek seed extract under different brand names. There’s bountiful evidence that fenugreek can help with male libido and testosterone, but it typically requires months of regular use.6 There is some similar evidence for women, as well.21 But these effects typically take months of daily use to manifest.

Both also contain the same amounts of guarana, caffeine, and black pepper extract. The black pepper extract can help with nutrient absorption, making the other included ingredients more potent.22 And caffeine’s role should be pretty obvious in boosting short-term energy.23 But guarana lacks sufficient scientific evidence for either formula.

Among ingredients that may offer some immediate benefit in an as-needed product, the L-citrulline and maca root in the men’s formula may be beneficial. For women, the L-arginine may improve blood flow after a single dose.12

Beyond those few short-term impacts, the majority of the ingredients in these supplements lack evidence of single-use efficacy. There are superior products for men and women seeking supplemental sexual support, including male enhancement pills and testosterone boosters, as well as female-oriented products like Promescent’s VitaFLUX for women.

Lubricants and stimulation creams

Hello Cake’s lube lineup is one of the highlights of its catalog. Competitors like Promescent make different lubes divided by main ingredient, with options made with bases of oil, water, silicone, and aloe. Hello Cake offers similar base ingredients throughout its catalog, but it combines them with each other and with other ingredients with specific aims in mind.

Here’s a quick breakdown of available lubes and creams:

• Natural Sex Lube: Straightforward water-based lube for vaginal sex
• Silicone Sex Lube: Straightforward silicone-based lube for vaginal sex
• So-Low Lotion: Oil-based cream intended for male masturbation
• Tush Cush: Hybrid water and silicone base intended for anal use
• Toy Wonder: No-drip water-based lube for use with sex toys
• Stim for Him: Stimulant cream designed for penile use
• Tingle to Mingle: Stimulant cream designed for clitoral use
• Vanilla Chai: Flavored water-based lube for toy-augmented oral sex
• Peach Ginger: Flavored water-based lube for toy-augmented oral sex
• Coconut Lime: Flavored water-based lube for toy-augmented oral sex

Hello Cake’s two stimulant creams (Stim for Him and Tingle to Mingle) aren’t also lubricants, but they can be combined with a lube of your choice as needed.

While silicone lubricants and toys or condoms typically don’t get along, Hello Cake claims its Tush Cush hybrid formula can still be used with silicone materials. However, we recommend trying Toy Wonder first if you’re considering using it with silicone sex toys, just to be safe.

Sex toys

Hello Cake has a pretty extensive sex toy lineup, though it does a terrible job of making them accessible to anyone casually browsing the website. The collection is extensive, comprising 18 distinct toys, though some toy types, like prostate massagers and realistic dildos, are not part of the current picture.

Here’s a look at Hello Cake’s available toys:

• Bounce Vibe: A ribbed dildo featuring 16 modes of thrusting and vibration; silicone, waterproof, and rechargeable
• Vibrating Stroker: A handheld wrap-around masturbation aid for men with 10 vibration patterns; ABS and silicone, waterproof and rechargeable
• Vibrating Ring: Penis ring with 10 vibration modes; ABS and silicone, waterproof and rechargeable
• Silicone Rings: Trio of silicone penis rings for erection strength and orgasm delay
• Buzzy Butt: Vibrating butt plug with 10 settings. 4.5 inches of insertable length and 1.5 inches at maximum girth; silicone, waterproof, and rechargeable
• Tush Pops: Trio of flexible silicone butt plugs in ascending sizes (3x.0.75in, 4x1in, 5x1.25in) intended as training tools for anal play
• Oral Stroker: Stretchy silicone cylinder to assist with oral sex
• Little Massager: Handheld massager with 10 vibration settings for clitoral stimulation or full-body massage; ABS and silicone, waterproof and rechargeable
• Pretty Big Dil: 6.6-inch silicone dildo with a 1.5-inch girth
• Backside Beads: Tapered trio of connected silicone anal beads in ascending size with a looped handle
• Flutter Vibe: Clitoral stimulator designed to mimic tongue motions with five flicking and five vibrating modes; silicone, waterproof, and rechargeable
• Pocket Stroker: Disposable silicone travel masturbator for men with up to 10 uses
• Stroker: Double-ended male manual masturbator with a ribbed end and a beaded end; TPE rubber
• Spin Stroker: Motorized male masturbator designed for hands-free use with five rotation settings and 10 vibration settings; ABS and TPE, waterproof and rechargeable
• Pocket Wand: Discreet female masturbator with a bulbous head and six vibration settings; silicone, waterproof, and rechargeable
• Vibrating Double Ring: Male sensation enhancer that wraps around the shaft and scrotum with three vibration speeds and seven patterns; ABS and silicone, waterproof and rechargeable
• Star Sucker: Clitoral stimulator with 10 suction and 10 vibration modes; ABS and silicone, waterproof and rechargeable
• Little Sucker: Clitoral stimulator with three suction intensities and seven patterns (but no vibration); ABS and silicone, waterproof and rechargeable

Each toy is available as a bundle with an appropriate lube and/or cream. For example, you can get the Tush Pops on their own or alongside a bottle of Tush Cush anal lubricant.

It’s impressive how many of these items are made by Hello Cake. Often, similar companies will resell toys made by other companies, as Promescent does with toys from WeVibe, Nova, and ArcWave. Hello Cake only does this with two of its products, the Star Sucker and Little Sucker, which are licensed from Lovehoney.

Condoms and miscellaneous

In addition to its toys and lubes, Hello Cake also offers a handful of other essentials, including:

• Sex toy cleaner
• Wipes for personal sex post-coitus
• A zippered carrying case for toys
• A branded Cake sweatshirt
• Starter kits for couples

The company also offers a selection of condoms designed around different needs. There are five condom types in all:

• Dotted
• Ribbed
• Ultra-thin
• Snug fit
• Large fit

Hello Cake is a good place to go if you’re curious about adding toys or specialized lubricant to your masturbation sessions or couples play. The company offers a starter kit for adventurous couples that includes lubricant, some basic toys, and stimulating cream to increase sensations.

On the medication side, Cake is great for men who’ve tried one or another ED medication in the past with mixed or poor results, especially those who’ve mostly tried lower doses. If a higher dose and a combination of ED medications seem like the logical next steps in your search, Cake might be a good fit.

Who might want to look elsewhere?

Men who are new to prescription ED medication would want to start somewhere else. The available doses from Cake are too high for beginners, and there are no monotherapies, only combinations of ED medications.

We tend to steer men new to ED treatment in the direction of BlueChew. The company doesn’t offer things like toys or lube; its sole focus is on its chewable ED medications. But Innerbody readers can get a free trial of the Active Plan or $20 off any other plan from BlueChew on sildenafil, tadalafil, or vardenafil. And doses start at much more tolerable levels for men who haven’t tried ED medications before. If you find success at a lower dose, you can reduce your risk of side effects and save money over time.

Cake’s products for women leave a fair amount to be desired, as well. Most women would do better to seek less expensive versions of similar treatments elsewhere, like through Promescent or Wisp for supplements and stimulating creams.

Hello Cake’s online reputation

Hello Cake doesn’t appear to have a profile with the Better Business Bureau, but the company does have a claimed Trustpilot page. There, you can find a rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars after nearly 700 reviews. Nearly 80% of those are 5-star reviews, with the negative reviews on the page revolving around frustrations with canceling orders and difficulty using one particular toy — the suction stroker.

Several customers also complain about shipping times, even in the positive reviews. However, these reviews are from around 2022, and our testing team (ordering mid-2024) did not experience any shipping delays.

The majority of non-prescription products from Cake should be safe for most people. There may be some potential for allergic reaction to certain ingredients in its lubricants, and sex toy use comes with certain dangers that can be avoided with patience and lubrication.

Hello Cake’s non-prescription supplements contain ingredients like L-arginine, which can increase blood flow and decrease blood pressure, resulting in a dangerous situation for anyone with a condition or on a medication that affects their blood pressure.12 There is also evidence that too much arginine in the body can cause a herpes flare-up, so anyone with HSV might want to steer clear.24

Other supplemental ingredients may cause side effects like nausea, headache, and other GI distress.10 And its included saffron could interfere with fetal development or affect how the body processes caffeine.25 26

The most important safety caveats come with Cake’s prescription medications for erectile dysfunction and female sexual dysfunction. These contain PDE-5 inhibitors, which can have cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and visual processing effects.10 In research, these effects are better documented in a male population, and Cake’s doses for its ED prescriptions are relatively high. They also combine two ED medications in each of the company’s two ED med offerings — monotherapies, which are far more common treatment routes, are not available here.

Additionally, Cake recommends that those who are pregnant avoid using its topical sildenafil treatment for FSD.

Many of the products in Hello Cake’s catalog come in under what similar goods cost from competitors, but its ED medications are only worth the investment if you need the company’s highest dose. Some other products, like the Sex Drive supplements and lubricants, are available on a subscription basis, saving 15% off their normal prices. Subscriptions also unlock free shipping (and prescriptions always come with free shipping). Additionally, some lubes and creams are available in three-packs, which lowers the cost per bottle.

Here’s how the pricing works out for Hello Cake’s marquee products:

A one-to-one comparison to similar toys available from competitor Hims reveals better prices from Hello Cake at every stop, though there are some noteworthy differences between the catalogs. For example, Hims offers a prostate massager but lacks any lube except for a simple water-based formula.

Availability from third-party sellers like Target and Wal-Mart

You can find several prominent Hello Cake products through reputable third-party sellers like Amazon, Target, and others. For some products, this represents an opportunity to save, though catalogs through these sellers are far from complete, and some lubes and creams come in smaller sizes:

As you can see, the Cake store on Amazon has much of the company’s catalog, and many products are available there at a discount.

However, prescription products like Cake’s ED medications and pills or creams for FSD are only available through the company’s telemedicine interface on its official website. It’s also critical to note that Cake only accepts returns for products purchased directly from its website.

Hello Cake return policy

The exact wording of Hello Cake’s return policy is somewhat contradictory. Aspects written out in the Terms and Conditions make it seem as though the company doesn't accept returns on any opened products, no matter what. But the return policy itself (as linked in those very Terms and Conditions) mentions the company’s Good Times Guarantee, a 30-day policy that lets you try out any non-prescription product and get a refund after 30 days if you aren’t satisfied.

But just below that, the policy states, “We are not able to accept returns or exchanges for any product that has been opened and/or used. These are products used for sex, after all!”

So, we reached out to the company for clarification, and the answer we got was the best possible one. When Cake says it can’t accept returns or exchanges, that means it can’t physically accept a used item that you would ship back. In practice, you can still request a refund if you aren’t satisfied after 30 days; you just don’t need to send the product back to receive your refund.

This turns out to be an exceptionally generous policy. Most competitors won’t even entertain refunding you your money for a used sex toy, but Cake makes it easier and less expensive (you don’t have to pay return shipping if you aren’t sending anything back!) than most of the companies we review on this site.

There are a lot of alternatives to Hello Cake, especially considering its product variety. Some companies have catalogs that approach Cake’s total offering, while others meet and exceed it. There are also some niche companies that do one thing Cake does but either do it better, cheaper, or both.

Let’s start by looking at two companies that have similar catalogs to Cake’s: Hims and Promescent.

BlueChew for chewable ED medication

Among niche players offering certain things you could find through Cake, we really want to highlight one: BlueChew.

BlueChew was the first in the space to offer chewable ED medications prescribed through telehealth and delivered straight to your door. The company keeps a streamlined catalog of sildenafil, vardenafil, and both daily and as-needed tadalafil.

For chewable sildenafil on its own, BlueChew’s prices can’t be beaten. Hims has a slightly better deal on certain regimens of tadalafil, however. That said, Innerbody readers can use BlueChew to see if ED meds are right for them in the first place by capitalizing on a free trial offer the company gives our readers. With the coupon code INNERBODY, you can get a free Active Plan of sildenafil, tadalafil, or vardenafil, or you can take $20 off any of the other plans for those medications.

Alternatives to Cake for women

For women seeking treatment for FSD, Hello Cake offers a small handful of interesting products, but you’re likely to find superior alternatives elsewhere, either for cost, efficacy, or both.

For example, Wisp is a female-oriented telehealth company offering various wellness products, including a prescription sildenafil cream similar to the one Cake offers. However, Wisp’s cream costs $39 for an entire bottle, whereas Cake provides just six doses for $54.

Hello Cake also offers an as-needed prescription pill for female arousal that contains tadalafil, L-citrulline, and oxytocin. Again, this costs $54 for just six doses. There are also other effective (and less expensive) prescriptions, namely Vyleesi or Addyi, that you can seek through your normal doctor or other telehealth companies like beyondMD.