Most people shopping around for hair transplant options jump straight to clinic consultations or start comparing finasteride prices. That is backwards. You often do not know your actual stage of loss, how many grafts you might need, or whether a transplant even makes sense yet. Spending $200 on a consultation before you have that baseline is like calling a plumber without knowing which pipe broke.
Here are five options worth knowing, grouped by where they fit in the decision process.
For Total Beginners Who Want an Objective Starting Point
HairLine AI (Free, Browser-Based)
Cost to get a Norwood read: zero. No account, no credit card, nothing to download.
You open it in a browser, point your webcam or upload a photo, and the tool processes your hairline using MediaPipe to map facial geometry. It then runs that data through a Gemini 3 Pro vision model, assigns you a Norwood stage, and spits out estimated graft counts and a rough cost range, all in one dashboard. The whole thing takes about two minutes.
Why does this belong at the top? Because it is the only free, non-salesy assessment that gives you an actual staging number before you walk into any clinic or fill out any quiz designed to sell you something. Most clinic “free consultations” involve a sales pitch. This does not. It is just a read.
Honest limits: an AI photo estimate is a guide, not a clinical diagnosis. It does not prescribe anything, sell anything, or replace a dermatologist. Think of it as orienting yourself on a map before asking for directions. For medications like finasteride or minoxidil, you still need a licensed clinician, both for the prescription and because those drugs carry real considerations (more on that below).
For People Ready to Start Medical Treatment
Hims
Hims is the only major telehealth brand currently offering topical finasteride, which matters for men who want to keep systemic absorption low. Their catalog also includes oral finasteride, topical and oral minoxidil, and combination kits. The range is genuinely wider than most competitors. Prices vary by plan and formula, so check their current listings directly.
Finasteride (any form) requires a prescription. Some users experience sexual side effects, though this affects well under half of those who take it. Results take at minimum three to six months and disappear if you stop. That is not a scare, just the reality of how it works.
Keeps
Keeps runs a tighter operation, hair loss only, no skincare bundling or distractions. Three-month plans bring the per-unit cost down noticeably, and they charge roughly $5 for shipping rather than folding it into inflated product prices. Good fit for someone who wants finasteride and minoxidil without a complicated checkout experience.
For People Who Want Custom Topical Formulas
Happy Head
Happy Head writes prescriptions for compounded topical treatments, meaning a formulation mixed specifically for your combination of ingredients and concentrations. This is appealing if you have had GI issues with oral finasteride or just want something dialed in. Custom compounding is not magic, the underlying actives are still finasteride and minoxidil, but the delivery format and dosage can be adjusted in ways off-the-shelf products cannot match.
For People Seriously Considering a Transplant
Bosley / BosleyRx
Bosley has been doing surgical hair restoration longer than most current telehealth brands have existed. They operate physical clinics and also have a prescription arm (BosleyRx) for people who want to manage thinning medically while deciding on surgery. If you already have a Norwood stage estimate in hand from a tool like HairLine AI, an in-person Bosley consultation becomes a much more focused conversation. You walk in knowing your baseline rather than relying entirely on what the sales floor tells you.
Transplants are not cheap. Graft costs vary widely by clinic, technique (FUE vs. FUT), and geography. Getting a realistic cost range before that appointment means you are less likely to be caught off-guard.
For Women Dealing With Diffuse Thinning
Keranique
Most hair loss conversation defaults to male-pattern loss and finasteride, neither of which applies cleanly to women. Keranique is one of the few widely available OTC brands built specifically for women, using minoxidil 2% in a formulation designed for female-pattern thinning. It is not a prescription product. Realistic expectations matter here: minoxidil slows loss and may thicken existing hair; it is not a regrowth guarantee, and like all minoxidil use, stopping it means whatever ground you held will likely be lost again.
A Note Before You Do Anything
Nothing in this article is medical advice. AI staging tools, telehealth quizzes, and listicles like this one are information, not diagnosis. If you are seeing significant shedding, a dermatologist who specializes in hair loss is worth the appointment, especially before committing to long-term medication. Start with information, then get a professional opinion.
Common Questions
Does the HairLine AI Norwood reading actually match what a clinic would tell you?
It often gets close, but close is not the same as exact. The tool uses a photo and facial geometry mapping, so lighting, angle, and hair styling all affect the output. Treat it as a starting estimate. Clinics like Bosley use in-person scalp assessments and sometimes trichoscopy, which gives a more detailed picture of follicle miniaturization.
If Hims and Keeps both offer finasteride, what actually separates them day to day?
Hims has topical finasteride as an option, which Keeps does not currently offer. Keeps focuses exclusively on hair loss, so the checkout and ongoing experience is simpler, and their three-month supply pricing tends to reduce the per-dose cost. If you want topical delivery specifically, Hims is the differentiator. If you want a stripped-down subscription, Keeps is the cleaner fit.
Can women use any of these telehealth services, or is it all built around male-pattern loss?
Most of the major telehealth platforms, Hims, Keeps, and Happy Head, are oriented toward male-pattern loss. Keranique is the one brand here built specifically for women, using 2% minoxidil. Women with significant thinning are generally better served starting with a dermatologist rather than a generic telehealth flow, because female hair loss has more possible causes than the male version does.
How many grafts would a typical Norwood 3 or 4 actually need, and what does that cost?
Rough industry estimates put a Norwood 3 at around 1,500 to 2,500 grafts and a Norwood 4 at 2,500 to 3,500, though individual donor density changes everything. FUE pricing in the US commonly runs $4 to $10 per graft, meaning a mid-range Norwood 4 case could land anywhere from $10,000 to $35,000 depending on clinic and location.
Is Happy Head worth the higher cost over a standard Hims or Keeps prescription?
It depends entirely on your situation. If oral finasteride has caused GI discomfort or you want a specific ingredient ratio that off-the-shelf formulas do not offer, the compounding angle makes real sense. If you have no issues with standard formulas, the added cost of custom compounding is harder to justify. Start simple, then move to compounded options if you hit a specific problem.
Sources
- American Academy of Dermatology: finasteride and minoxidil evidence summaries
- Norwood Scale clinical description (O’Tar Norwood, 1975, updated classifications)
- MediaPipe documentation (Google, open source)
- Hims, Keeps, Happy Head, Bosley, and Keranique public product pages (current 2025-2026 listings)
