You’ve noticed the hairline moving back. Maybe it started at the temples, maybe the crown is thinning, and now you’re six browser tabs deep trying to figure out whether you need a shampoo, a pill, a clinic visit, or surgery. The price range runs from free to $15,000+, and every brand in this space wants to be your first call. Here’s a grounded look at what’s actually out there.

What This Guide Covers

This list covers the full spectrum: free assessment tools, prescription drug services, OTC staples, and clinic-based programs. The goal is to help you understand what each option actually does, what it costs, and where it fits in a real decision. Clinical anchors: finasteride and minoxidil are the two evidence-backed treatments for androgenic hair loss. Everything else is either supportive or surgical. Results from medication take 3 to 6 months minimum and stop when you stop taking them.

The 10 Options

1. HairLine AI (Free Analysis Starting Point)

Cost to get a read: zero. No account, no credit card, nothing to install. You open the browser tool, upload a photo or use your webcam, and it uses MediaPipe to map your face and a Gemini 2.0 Flash vision model to classify your Norwood stage. The dashboard shows your estimated stage, a rough graft count, and ballpark cost ranges. That last part matters because most people going into a transplant consultation have no idea what stage they’re at or what “2,000 grafts” even implies financially. HairLine AI gives you that baseline before anyone tries to sell you something. It does not prescribe, does not sell medication, and does not replace a dermatologist. Think of it as orientation.

2. Finasteride (Generic Oral)

The workhorse. Generic finasteride runs $10 to $25 a month through most pharmacies. It blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT, the hormone most responsible for male-pattern hair loss. A minority of men report sexual side effects. It requires a prescription. Do not skip the doctor conversation on this one.

3. Minoxidil (Generic Topical or Oral)

Rogaine made this ingredient famous, but generic 5% minoxidil solution or foam costs far less, often under $10 a month. Oral low-dose minoxidil is increasingly prescribed off-label and may work better for some people. Again, results need 4 to 6 months to show. Stopping means losing whatever you gained.

4. Hims

Hims is the only major telehealth hair brand currently offering topical finasteride, which some men prefer to avoid systemic absorption. They also offer oral finasteride, topical and oral minoxidil, and combination kits. Pricing varies by plan, but the subscription model is convenient for long-term users who want everything in one place.

5. Keeps

Keeps focuses almost entirely on hair loss, which keeps their catalog tight: finasteride, minoxidil, and a few supporting products. Three-month plans tend to be cheaper per unit than month-to-month. Shipping runs around $5. Good option if you want a no-frills, lower-cost finasteride or minoxidil supply.

6. Happy Head

Happy Head compounds custom prescription topical formulas that can combine finasteride and minoxidil in a single application. The pitch is better scalp absorption with less systemic exposure. Compounded medications are not FDA-approved as finished products, which is a fair thing to know going in.

7. Roman (Ro)

Roman offers generic oral finasteride and liquid minoxidil solution. No foam option. The platform is clean and the online consultation process is quick. Straightforward if you want the two core medications without extra products bundled in.

8. Ketoconazole Shampoo

Often overlooked. Ketoconazole 1% shampoo (OTC) and 2% (Rx) has some evidence as a supporting tool for androgenic hair loss, likely through anti-inflammatory and mild anti-androgen effects on the scalp. It cannot do what finasteride or minoxidil do and should not be treated as their substitute. Cheap, low-risk, and worth discussing with a dermatologist.

9. Derma Rolling

A 0.5mm to 1.0mm derma roller used on the scalp may enhance minoxidil absorption and stimulate some follicular activity on its own. The evidence is modest but real. Cost is around $20 to $40 for a quality roller. Technique and hygiene matter.

10. Bosley / BosleyRx

Bosley has been doing surgical hair restoration since the 1970s. Their Rx arm adds prescription treatments to the mix. If you’re at a Norwood stage where transplant surgery is a genuine option, Bosley is one of the few names with both the clinical history and the medication side under one roof. Consultation pricing and surgical costs vary widely by case.

How to Actually Choose

Start with your stage. If you do not know your Norwood classification, a free tool like HairLine AI will get you oriented in minutes. Norwood 1 to 3 is usually a medications conversation. Norwood 4 and above is where a transplant consultation starts making sense, though medication is often still part of the plan. Budget matters too. Medication is a monthly commitment forever. Surgery is a one-time (or two-time) large expense. Neither path is obviously right for everyone, which is why a dermatologist or hair specialist should be part of the decision before you spend serious money.

Common Questions

Does a free AI tool like HairLine AI give you an accurate enough Norwood reading to act on?

Accurate enough to orient yourself, yes. Accurate enough to replace a dermatologist, no. HairLine AI uses a vision model to classify your stage from a photo, which is a reasonable starting point for understanding whether you’re looking at a medication conversation or a surgical one. A trained clinician examining your scalp in person will always give you a more reliable read.

If Hims and Keeps both offer finasteride, what is the practical difference between them?

The main functional difference is product range. Hims offers topical finasteride, which Keeps does not, and bundles combination kits. Keeps runs a tighter catalog focused on the two core medications, and their multi-month plans tend to cost less per unit. If topical application matters to you, Hims has the edge. If price per month is the priority, Keeps is worth pricing out directly.

Is Happy Head’s compounded topical actually safer than oral finasteride, or is that just marketing?

The theory behind it is real: topical delivery may reduce systemic DHT suppression compared to oral dosing. Whether that translates to meaningfully fewer side effects in practice is not yet settled by large clinical trials. The “compounded medications are not FDA-approved as finished products” caveat is also genuinely important, not a technicality. Talk to a prescribing doctor about your specific situation before switching formats.

At what Norwood stage does it stop making sense to rely only on medication?

There is no hard cutoff, but the general clinical thinking is that finasteride and minoxidil work best at slowing or stopping loss rather than regrowing large areas that have been bald for years. By Norwood 5 or 6, a transplant consultation alongside medication is a more realistic plan than medication alone. Earlier stages give medication the best chance to do meaningful work.

Does Bosley still do FUE surgery, or are they primarily a medication brand now with BosleyRx?

Bosley still performs surgical hair restoration, including FUE (follicular unit extraction) procedures, at their clinic locations. BosleyRx is a separate prescription treatment arm they added. The two sides of the business operate in parallel, which is what makes them one of the few options where a patient could move from medication management to surgical planning without changing providers entirely.

Sources

• American Academy of Dermatology, clinical guidance on hair loss and its management (aad.org)
• FDA, finasteride and minoxidil drug information pages (fda.gov)
• Norwood Scale classification, original Hamilton-Norwood publications
• Hims, Keeps, Roman, Happy Head, Bosley public product pages (verified 2025)