Hims Hair Loss Review

While hair loss is an extremely common issue, cultures across the world still associate it with aging and look upon it as a problem to be solved.1 Fortunately for men and women dealing with hair loss, treatments have come a long way in the past few decades, and accessing those treatments is easier than ever.

Hims has been a pioneer in expanding that access via telemedicine, initially offering oral finasteride and topical minoxidil but eventually expanding to a range of prescription and non-prescription interventions that boast significant scientific support.

Hims also offers numerous other products and services, including erectile dysfunction treatment, skin care, and even some mental health support. Our team has been reporting on Hims for years, and this review aims to spotlight the company’s hair loss offerings and compare them to your other options.

At Innerbody Research, we extensively test each health service we review whenever possible, including telemedical services like Hims. At-home hair loss treatment options, whether prescription or OTC, have been a major focus of ours for years. We’ve followed Hims especially closely, keeping up with new offerings as they’ve become available and even ordering and trying nearly 20 different products and services in the company's lineup, around a dozen of which were specific to hair loss. And we’ve been similarly vigilant when it comes to Hims’ competitors.

At every stop, we’ve researched the scientific studies supporting the ingredients in Hims products, including more than 300 hours spent researching hair loss treatments. 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.

We considered several important criteria in evaluating Hims hair loss services, which made it possible for us to faithfully compare these products to those available from Hims’ direct competitors. And because the hair loss treatment landscape has expanded a lot in recent years, we looked at available medications as the most important criterion.

After that, we considered cost, safety, and the customer experience, a criterion we can speak to at length given our years of experience interacting with and ordering from Hims.

Let’s take a closer look at the most important factors in our Hims evaluation:

Treatment options

Hims’ greatest strength is its treatment options. They don’t include every possible approach to treating hair loss, but they do include several varieties of the most popular and well-researched medications. The company also offers better shampoo and conditioner options than any others we’ve tried in the space.

Hims hair loss medications include topical and oral forms of both finasteride and minoxidil, drugs better known perhaps by their respective brand names, Propecia and Rogaine.2 Other companies offer similar solutions, but Hims’ variety is slightly greater than the rest.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s available in the hair loss market:

As you can see, Hims’ variety of available treatments is impressive. It lacks a few things you can find from other companies, like dutasteride or styling products, but it has the potential to serve your core hair loss needs in more ways than its competitors.

What’s also interesting is that Hims is the only provider, at this time, offering chewable hair loss medication, including finasteride and minoxidil, as well as a multivitamin mixture intended to promote healthy hair growth. To be fair, that multivitamin is a little limited compared to similar products by Happy Head or Nutrafol, containing just four vitamins:

• Biotin: 2.5mg
• Vitamin B5: 10mg
• Vitamin B6: 2mg
• Vitamin C: 100mg

Happy Head's supplement contains more than 20 ingredients, though it does come at a significant cost, especially if you combine it with oral minoxidil or oral finasteride, as Hims does. That makes Hims Hair Hybrid chews a significant value by comparison.

Cost

Hair loss interventions are known as “forever treatments.” They aren’t cures, but they’ll be effective for as long as you keep using them. For that reason, it’s helpful to compare the costs of popular treatments over longer periods than just a month or two.

Most companies offer discounts for subscribers with larger billing/shipping periods. Let’s look at the best possible prices for a year’s treatment for some popular medications offered by the top companies:

Hims doesn’t boast the lowest price in every category, but only its oral minoxidil presents the highest cost in the field. Its topical finasteride, which is compounded with a full 6%-7% minoxidil solution, is significantly less expensive than alternatives from competitors, some of which have lower concentrations of finasteride, minoxidil, or both. Topical finasteride is an especially popular treatment option because it can deliver many of the same benefits as oral finasteride without the potential for sexual side effects.3

Of note, Hims offers the largest oral minoxidil dose of the group at 3mg. Studies indicate that male pattern hair loss responds best to doses ranging from 2.5mg to 5mg daily.14 That places Roman at the low end of the effective spectrum and Happy Head well below it. Still, Roman’s cost per milligram is superior, as is the sticker price. So, if 2.5mg works for you, Roman may be the brand to stay with. But if you need something a little stronger, you might consider switching to Hims.

Customer experience

We’ve spent a lot of time with Hims customer service, having ordered products and services from every one of the company’s major categories — hair loss, erectile dysfunction (ED), premature ejaculation, mental health care, skin care, and more. So our familiarity with the company runs deep, and we’ve typically had positive experiences as customers.

The live chat feature is the Hims website’s most useful tool if you have nuanced questions you need answered in detail. But that feature is available only at the site’s customer help center; it’s not available on any of the product pages.

The site itself is generally easy to navigate; it’s certainly gotten easier over the years. However, prices are not always clear, especially on prescription products. Roman, Keeps, and Happy Head are all up-front about their pricing, but Hims prices are sometimes hidden. You can get answers to most pricing questions through customer service, but we’d much prefer the information to be visible on the product pages.

As with most companies in this space, packages typically arrive quickly in nondescript boxes that don’t hint at their contents.

Safety

Many of today’s hair loss treatments are generally safe, and Hims gets high marks for safety by using many of the same relatively safe ingredients as its competitors. Still, the active ingredients in these treatments do present some risks that are worth examining.

Oral finasteride continues to present the most harrowing side effect profile, with the potential for adverse sexual side effects in 2%-3% of users, as well as the potential to increase symptoms of depression.12 But Hims offers a great price on the topical version of finasteride, which prevents the majority of the dose from ever entering the bloodstream and causing those side effects.3

Oral minoxidil may not be safe for those with low blood pressure or on medications to control blood pressure. It was originally developed to reduce blood pressure, so some users may experience a significant and potentially dangerous drop.14 Oral minoxidil has also been associated with a high incidence of hypertrichosis, or unwanted hair growth on parts of the body other than the head. Despite its prevalence, this side effect rarely resulted in drop-outs in the studies we’ve researched.14

Topical treatments like finasteride and minoxidil might result in some burning, itching, or scaling, which are typically mild.15 These side effects are sometimes due to the inclusion of propylene glycol, an ingredient you won’t find in the Hims topical minoxidil foam. With Hims, then, customers with sensitive scalps have an additional option for successful treatment.24

Hims is a telehealth company offering a range of products and services aimed at treating hair loss, ED, mental health issues, and more. The company’s catalog has expanded and contracted over the years, but hair loss treatments have always been part of its core. In fact, while Hims has trimmed the fat around some of its ancillary services (e.g., its primary care platform and mental health coverage, including individual counseling), its focus on hair and sexual health has increased.

Hims continues to add new products in these areas, such as custom-compounded medications and chewable tablets for hair loss and ED. How the company’s product line might evolve in the future remains to be seen, but we’ll stay on top of it as always.

Who is Hims for?

Hims is built for men, a designation that can include anyone assigned male at birth and others who identify toward the male end of the spectrum. The company has a sister site called Hers that’s designed to address female concerns more directly.

However, many of the products and services found on Hims are suitable for anyone, like minoxidil for hair loss or the company’s skin care line. Case in point, the female partners of some of our male testers have made good use of products we’ve bought from Hims.

Since the company offers several different products, it’s worth the time to go through the consultation process to see what you may be eligible to take.

Who might want to look elsewhere?

So, there aren’t many people for whom the company can’t offer at least some benefits. But it’s worth noting that products containing finasteride — whether in simple tablet form or compounded into topicals — are not suitable for women who haven’t been through menopause. That’s because the hormonal influence finasteride exerts on the body can cause significant side effects in younger women.25 Similarly severe risks extend to other products, as well, like oral minoxidil not being suitable for people with certain heart conditions.14

Hair loss can occur under many circumstances. There are obvious influences like genetics but also unexpected factors like medication side effects or hormonal disorders.

The most common form of hair loss is androgenetic alopecia (sometimes called androgenic alopecia).4 The primary driver behind androgenetic alopecia is the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT). When you produce too much DHT, it messes with your hair follicles, and those follicles shed their strains and have trouble creating new ones. In time, as this happens to more and more follicles, you experience hair loss.5

The most effective way researchers have found to combat DHT accumulation is to stop your body from creating so much of it to begin with. That requires a little dance with an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. Your body typically uses 5-alpha reductase to turn testosterone into DHT, so doctors will prescribe 5-alpha reductase inhibitors to slow this conversion and allow your follicles to breathe again.

But medication can’t address every cause of hair loss. For example, telogen effluvium is a type of hair loss caused by physical or psychological stress on the body like chemotherapy, an accident, or a bad breakup.6 Your DHT levels have nothing to do with this kind of hair loss, so a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor won’t help.

Hair loss can also result from an autoimmune disorder called alopecia areata, in which your body’s immune system attacks the hair follicles.7 Alopecia areata can be localized, causing a patch of baldness, or it can go so far as to affect the whole body, rendering you completely hairless. None of the hair loss treatments you’ll find from Hims or its competitors can treat alopecia areata.

The Hims hair loss product line consists of various topical and oral medications — routes of delivery that remain the most widely researched and reliable methods for treating hair loss. Here are the products Hims offers to help you fight hair loss and maximize hair health:

• Finasteride (oral and topical)
• Minoxidil (oral and topical)
• Multivitamins
• Biotin gummies
• Thickening shampoo and conditioner
• Volumizing shampoo and conditioner
• Anti-dandruff shampoo

You can mix and match several of these solutions with oversight from your Hims doctor to ensure you get the greatest possible efficacy while minimizing potential side effects.

Some competitors offer additional products that are missing from the Hims line, such as volumizing styling products or dutasteride (an alternative to finasteride). You can also find lesser-known ingredients like spironolactone and latanoprost from a competitor like Happy Head.

Hims hair loss products should be effective for most men in the early-to-middle stages of hair loss, as they have the potential to stop further loss and revive dormant follicles.

In a placebo-controlled study looking at more than 1,500 men using finasteride 1mg for up to two years, men on finasteride saw a greater than 10% increase in hair count within target areas.8 Another study pitting topical finasteride against oral finasteride showed nearly identical results between the two.3

On the minoxidil side, studies of its topical application reveal increases in scalp coverage and patient satisfaction at the 5% concentration, which is the minimum employed by Hims.9 Oral minoxidil has produced similar, occasionally superior results to its topical counterpart, and it does so without the inconvenient regimen topical minoxidil involves.10

However, these medications can’t resurrect follicles from the dead if they’ve been starved of nutrients for too long. Also, you have to keep taking the product for as long as you want to keep your hair. Once you stop, your hair loss resumes.

While finasteride and minoxidil have been shown to be effective in treating hair loss, they aren’t without their risks. Here’s what you can expect from each:

Finasteride, the generic form of Propecia, is one of the most widely used hair loss medications on the market. Accessible only with a prescription, it’s a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor that slows the conversion of testosterone into DHT — the culprit behind pattern hair loss.8 For most of its lifespan, finasteride has been prescribed orally, but topical administration has recently gained popularity for having similar efficacy with a significant reduction in side effects.3

Hims offers finasteride in the following forms:

This variety of delivery mechanisms makes Hims a great place to start for men interested in finasteride treatment. Competitors Keeps and Happy Head lack the chews and the topical spray (though Keeps has gel and foam options), and Roman lacks the chews and topical serum.

Oral finasteride’s side effect profile is a big sticking point for a lot of men, as it’s been shown to cause sexual side effects in about 2% of users and present mental health implications for others. These can include:11

• Loss of libido
• Erectile dysfunction
• Fertility issues
• Increased intensity of depression

Fortunately, Hims has the ability to treat sexual dysfunction. If you find yourself among the unlucky 2% who experience sexual side effects from oral finasteride, Hims doctors can prescribe you several treatments, including the generic forms of popular PDE-5 inhibitors like Cialis and Viagra.

While it was initially developed as an oral medication for hypertension, minoxidil’s tendency to create extra hair growth led researchers to develop a topical formulation that eventually hit the market as Rogaine. It’s been a very successful treatment that, unlike finasteride, doesn’t require a prescription.16

Hims offers minoxidil in a few different forms. Let’s take a quick look before delving into the details:

Many men find that combining topical minoxidil with oral finasteride creates an effective one-two punch, as minoxidil seems to work better on the crown than the hairline, and finasteride seems to work better on the hairline than the crown.17

For many men, the problem with topical treatment is the regimen. It can be messy and cumbersome to apply, and you can’t shower or go to sleep for several hours after application (for fear of rinsing away or unintentionally spreading the product to other parts of your body or other people in the house).

Oral minoxidil has recently returned to the spotlight as a hair loss treatment that’s globally effective (working all over the head, including at the hairline) without a messy application or oral finasteride’s side effect profile. To be fair, it has some risks of its own, including serious cardiovascular ones for certain individuals,13 but otherwise healthy men would likely find it safer than finasteride.

For its combination of convenience and efficacy, oral minoxidil has become a top recommendation of our editorial staff. Hims doesn’t have the best price for oral minoxidil, but it does have the highest available dose among competitors, and it delivers the medication as a chewable tablet.

Topical minoxidil products are available over the counter unless they contain finasteride, which requires a prescription as an oral or topical medication. Oral minoxidil also requires a prescription at this time.

In addition to its various iterations of finasteride and minoxidil, Hims offers a handful of well-made hair care products, including a shampoo and conditioner line we think is among the best in its class.

Here’s a quick look at Hims’ hair care lineup:

Hims doesn’t typically boast the lowest prices for hair loss interventions, but it’s also rarely the most expensive. And extended billing cycles — every 3, 5, or 12 months — can help bring down costs where available.

Those billing cycles can be confusing, however, especially when only a portion of Hims products are priced clearly on its website.

Below, we demystify some of Hims’ pricing practices so you know what you’re getting into and how certain offerings compare to similar products from companies like Keeps, Happy Head, and Roman.

Hims finasteride pricing

Let’s start by looking at finasteride options. Hims sells finasteride as an oral medication in 1mg doses on its own or 1.1mg doses when combined with minoxidil in a chewable tablet. It’s also available as a topical medication in spray and serum form, always combined with minoxidil.

Because the combination chews provide a relatively high dose of minoxidil compared to competitor offerings, that option likely presents the best deal for men looking to combine therapies with an oral delivery route (and the added vitamin content doesn’t hurt, either). Happy Head’s oral minoxidil is only a 1.25mg dose, either on its own or combined with 1mg finasteride. Roman’s oral minoxidil is superior in price and close in dose at 2.5mg, but it doesn’t come combined with any other ingredients.

Hims minoxidil pricing

As with finasteride, Hims offers numerous versions of its minoxidil — oral medication and topical formulas. Oral minoxidil still requires a prescription, whereas topical minoxidil does not. Here’s how Hims prices its minoxidil:

Again, the minoxidil chews offer great value if you’re looking for a convenient delivery route that maximizes your dose. However, it’s worth noting that Roman’s oral minoxidil is less expensive than the Hims version, so that may be a better choice if you want to save some money on a 2.5mg dose that isn’t combined with any other medications.

Hims’ price for topical minoxidil serum is one of the few that firmly beat out the competition. Keeps’ serum comes in a close second at $16 monthly.

Hims hair care pricing

Hims hair care products are reasonably priced compared to other options on the market. There’s also more variety than you’ll see in catalogs from Roman, Keeps, or Happy Head. In some cases, you can save money by subscribing for longer billing cycles, while some other hair care products from Hims are only available for a one-time purchase. You’d have to buy multiple bottles in those cases to avoid regular processing fees whenever you run out.

Here’s how the pricing looks:

Bundling options

Hims offers a few money-saving bundles for those who know they want multiple products from the lineup. They include:

Hims products for sale elsewhere

Hims sells several of its over-the-counter hair loss products in other places like Amazon and Target, often at prices that resemble what you’d pay with a high-level subscription through Hims. This could save you money in most cases when you’re shopping for

For instance, here’s a quick price comparison comparing Target prices and one-time purchases through Hims:

As you can see, Target sells these items for a little less than you’d pay on Hims’ website, and there’s no $5 processing fee. However, you can’t access any of the Hims Hair Hybrid products, whether topical or oral, and you can’t get prescription Hims products anywhere other than the Hims website.

HSA, FSA, and health insurance

Insurance companies very rarely cover hair loss treatments. We’ve seen cases in which burn victims and childhood cancer patients were denied coverage for hair growth treatments. So, at this time, neither Hims nor its competitors work with insurers for hair loss, and you won’t be able to get a reimbursement through an HSA or FSA, either. In fact, Hims’ Terms and Conditions explicitly state that you can’t make an HSA/FSA claim.

Hims has some pretty ardent competition in the hair loss space. We’ve mentioned its top three competitors throughout this piece, but now let’s take a slightly closer look at each, as well as another approach to hair loss treatment that you may prefer.

Similar companies to Hims

Hims’ top three competitors in the hair loss treatment space are Keeps, Happy Head, and Roman. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, as described below:

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT)

LLLT is a form of photobiomodulation that stimulates blood flow in the scalp. It has gained serious traction in recent years, with the prices of laser caps coming down to more attainable levels. The technology has been shown to be about as effective as topical minoxidil, and its regimen is more convenient for many.22

The entirety of its mechanism of action isn’t completely understood, but studies have regularly shown that it can stop hair loss and regrow hair.23

For most people, we typically recommend the Kiierr 272 Premier Laser Cap. It’s well-priced, boasts a high number of laser diodes, and has one of the longest battery lives we’ve encountered.