Winona Alternatives

Winona is a specialized site for women, offering HRT and other menopause-related treatments. While they do provide an introductory quiz and somewhat personalized medication options, they don’t have a lot of preventative medicine or the same type of biometric data and lifestyle changes that competitors offer. So if you are looking for another option, there are four key contenders. 

Bottomline:

LifeForce is the overall best Winona alternative because it offers a comprehensive program that uses your biometric data and blood draws to curate personalized treatment plants that include hormone treatments and lifestyle changes but The HRT Club offers a membership model that saves you up to 90% on prescriptions. 

• Midi Health: Best for Comprehensive Care Model
• MyAlloy: Best for Lower Monthly Costs
• The HRT Club: Best for Direct-to-consumer Membership Model
• LifeForce: Best for Comprehensive Wellness and Preventation

So how do these Winona alts compare? When should you choose one over the other?

Midi Health: Best for Comprehensive Care and Insurance Benefits

Midi Health is a company that offers a more robust care model than Winona. Plus, they take insurance so if you are trying to apply your insurance benefits to the cost of care, this can be a good model for you.

• Insurance Coverage: Winona is a cash-pay service, so you have to pay everything out of pocket but Midi accepts a wide range of major insurance plans, which can drastically reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket costs.
• Personalized Consultations: Midi provides longer, more in-depth initial consultations (e.g., 60 minutes) and follow-ups with a dedicated “Menopause Society Certified Clinician”. This means you get a more personal touch than Winona’s often message-based, “AI-like” interactions.
• Holistic Treatment Options: Beyond HRT, Midi offers non-hormonal prescriptions, supplements, botanicals, and personalized coaching on nutrition, sleep, and exercise to address the root causes of symptoms, not just eliminate symptoms. 

Pros

• Midi is an in-network provider with many major insurance plans, which makes treatment significantly more affordable for many women.
• Clinicians specialize in women’s hormone health, and many patients report feeling listened to and receiving effective, personalized care plans.
• Midi offers a range of solutions including HRT, non-hormonal prescriptions, and lifestyle recommendations, addressing various symptoms and patient needs.

Cons

• The 30-minute appointment slots can feel rushed, and some providers may not have enough time to address all complex issues thoroughly. 

What I Love Most About Midi

Midi is a good Winona alternative for those who want comprehensive health plans. Winona might be great at offering menopause treatments, but age-related symptoms can extend far beyond menopause or perimenopause so you might be looking for something that incorporates lifestyle changes and medication from a single provider. That’s what Midi offers. 

MyAlloy: Best for Lower Monthly Costs and Broader Products

MyAlloy (sometimes called Alloy) has lower monthly costs so if you are trying to cut your Winona costs, but you still want a broader range of treatment options especially non-hormonal solutions, this might be a good alternative. 

• Lower Per-Month Cost: While Alloy bills quarterly, its per-month pricing for similar HRT is generally lower than Winona’s, which can lead to significant long-term savings.
• Wider Range of Products: In addition to standard HRT, Alloy offers non-hormonal solutions for hot flashes (e.g., Paroxetine), skincare treatments (e.g., tretinoin), and gut health supplements, options not available through Winona.
• Exclusive use of FDA-Approved Medications: Alloy exclusively provides FDA-approved bioidentical hormones, which some may prefer over the compounded options also offered by Winona. If you’ve ever seen It’s a Wonderful Life then you can imagine why some people might shy away from compounded meds. 

Pros

• Alloy offers a convenient telehealth model with prescriptions delivered to your home.
• While billed quarterly, the monthly cost for many prescriptions, such as estrogen patches and tablets, is often lower than competitors.
• The company emphasizes the use of FDA-approved forms of hormone therapy and other treatments, with clear safety information provided.

Cons

• Alloy does not directly accept insurance, so payment is out-of-pocket, though HSA/FSA cards can be used and some PPO plans may offer reimbursement.
• Treatments are billed in three-month supplies, requiring a higher initial payment than monthly billing options.

What I Love Most About MyAlloy

MyAlloy is great for quarterly purchases, and a good Winona alternative if you want non-hormonal/accessory treatments to go with menopause care. I like their skin and gut health offerings, as these are often secondary symptoms of menopause that require additional care. MyAlloy gives you menopause treatment, skin care options, and gut health treatments in one place. 

The HRT Club: Best for a Direct-to-Consumer Membership Model

The HRT Club is unique in its cost-reduction model. You pay an annual membership so you do have to commit to one year. But that annual membership gives you wholesale prices on any prescriptions so you not only save up to 90% on FDA approved medications,you also get the company’s focus on patient-doctor autonomy.

• Significant Cost Savings: The HRT Club is unique in its direct-to-consumer membership model and direct partnerships with manufacturers. This means you pay your annual membership and after that can get access to up to 90% savings on FDA-approved medications by cutting out middlemen like Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). 
• No Insurance Hurdles: You aren’t required to use insurance. So if you don’t have any, or you don’t want to deal with things like prior authorizations or deductibles, you can sign up with the HRT Club and your doctor can prescribe exactly what is clinically appropriate without restriction.
• Broadest Range of HRT: As the name suggests, The HRT Club focuses pretty heavily on, you guessed it, HRT. So they have a very broad range of HRT and related treatments, including testosterone, with wholesale pricing starting at around $10 a month. 

Pros

• The primary benefit is access to HRT prescriptions at up to 90% savings through an annual membership fee.
• The service only provides access to FDA-approved products, ensuring safety and efficacy standards.
• You can use your own doctor for a prescription or use their tools to find a qualified provider in their network.

Cons

• You need to already have a valid prescription from a licensed provider to use the service for the medication, or pay for a separate consultation.
• There is a non-refundable annual membership fee ($99) separate from the medication costs.
• The company does not practice medicine itself, but rather facilitates access to affordable medication and providers.

What I Love Most About the HRT Club

The HRT Club might be a good alternative over Winona if price point is your goal. The HRT Club has some of the lowest possible prices for FDA-approved (very important here) HRT medication. You can avoid insurance red tape and still access wholesale pricing with the basic annual membership fee of $99 (but you won’t get data based on your biometrics and blood work like LifeForce). 

LifeForce: Best for Comprehensive Wellness and Preventation

LifeForce is the most robust competitor. They offer so much more than any of the other platforms including Winona. Winona is a targeted approach to treating menopause but if you are struggling with anything else, or you simply want to manage menopause symptoms while also improving your overall health, LifeForce is the winner. 

• Comprehensive Diagnostics: LifeForce includes in-depth at-home blood testing covering over 50 biomarkers (including hormones and metabolic panels). This white glove service takes place quarterly as long as you maintain your membership and that information is tracked through the personalized dashboard which gives you a much deeper understanding of overall health than typical menopause platforms.
• Integrated Health Coaching: Members receive one-on-one coaching on nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management, providing a holistic wellness approach that Winona does not offer.
• Longevity Focus with Peptides and GLP-1s: LifeForce focuses on longevity medicine, and preventative medicine, all of which is incorporated into your health coaching. So if you are dealing with symptoms tangentially related to menopause like weight gain, you can get access to treatments like GLP-1 weight loss medications and peptides, which are not part of Winona’s offering. 

Pros

• The diagnostic includes testing for over 40 biomarkers, offering a very thorough snapshot of your overall health.
• Their platform connects members with a functional medicine clinician and a dedicated health coach to address diet, lifestyle, supplements, and prescriptions.
• Members receive ongoing, unlimited access to a health coach for accountability and questions, which many users find valuable.
• LifeForce is geared towards proactive, preventative health and longevity, helping women feel younger and more vital.

Cons

• This is the most expensive option, involving an initial diagnostic fee and a significant monthly membership cost.
• LifeForce does not accept insurance, so it is a full out-of-pocket expense.

What I Love Most About LifeForce

I think LifeForce offers a much broader program for preventive health and longevity. They use comprehensive data from blood tests and the wearables (optional) to optimize overall health, not limited to menopause-related symptoms like Winona. 

Summing Up

Midi is a good Winona alternative that focuses on personalized, insurance-covered care plans for perimenopause and menopause, and MyAlloy (Alloy Health) offers both hormonal and non-hormonal FDA-approved treatments delivered to your door. 

The HRT Club operates on a membership model designed to significantly reduce the cost of HRT medications, but for overall lifestyle management, health and preventative care, LifeForce is one of the most robust Winona alternatives. LifeForce offers a comprehensive, preventative health optimization program that includes extensive biomarker testing regularly (and done at home, hooray!), functional medicine consultations, and personalized plans with supplements and prescriptions (including hormone therapy).