Hone Health Alternatives

Hone Health is a platform for men, offering things like TRT and wellness care. However, they use a tiered-subscription model. I didn’t think much of that when I first considered them, that is, until I got my first few bills. 

The membership and medication fees are actually billed separately. That’s when I started looking into the actual total costs as compared to other Hone Health alts. I wasn’t alone either; they have an “F” rating on their BBB page because of their unique billing method and limited customer support. So if you are a man seeking testosterone optimization or HRT, you may want to consider some other providers. 

My Top Hone Health Alternatives

Here’s an overview of my top Hone Health alternatives, ranked. I’ll get into even more detail below. 

1. My Life Force (Lifeforce)

Lifeforce is a subscription based, holistic wellness platform that offers quarterly blood draws to look at 50+ biomarkers. The company provides specialized care and treatment for hormone health and TRT, as well as many key areas of wellness. 

Pros:

• Provides an in-depth, data-driven look at overall health, not just T levels.
• You get home-based blood draws, which is incredibly convenient

Cons:

• Higher start-up cost
• There are separate medication charges

2. Defy Medical

DefyMedical is an a la carte company offering concierge care for TRT and other hormone related health issues. They have an array of TRT options and only charge per service. 

Pros:

• You get highly personalized, concierge-style service
• They have some of the widest array of TRT and HRT options, including injections, creams, and pellets

Cons:

• The cost structure isn’t as predictable as a subscription because it varies based on the services you are getting that month, and it’s usually more expensive
• They don’t take insurance, so you can expect to pay for everything out of pocket 

3. FountainTRT

FountainTRT is an online TRT site that focuses on delivering T cream instead of pills or injections. It’s a completely remote process from your assessment to your blood draw to your medication delivery.

Pros:

• Excellent for patients who don’t want injections
• Transparent pricing in a simple online process

Cons:

• They have limited options for different TRT
• Limited customer service and communication options outside of texts

4. Ulo

Ulo is a newer company that prides itself on offering science-backed, personalized hair loss treatments, and to a lesser degree, TRT. They don’t use propylene glycol or corticosteroids as part of their care, and all of their pricing is pretty straightforward. 

Pros:

• Clear pricing model; no hidden fees
• Prices include labs and consults

Cons:

• They haven’t been around long enough to gauge how stable they are long-term
• You have to pay an initial $50 lab fee to start your assessment 

5. Maximus

Maximus uses a lot of the language you would expect from a gym bro, words like “transcend” and phrases like “men who refuse to settle for average.” Yikes. 

At its core, it’s a telehealth TRT company that provides men’s health and wellness education and access to online pharmaceuticals.

Pros:

• The testosterone therapy they offer is designed to maintain fertility, and that can be a big issue with standard treatments
• They send you at home tests that are relatively easy to use for your blood draws, so you don’t have to go to a clinic

Cons: 

• They don’t have a lot of variation in their TRT offerings
• Some of the TRT protocols require additional lab tests and can lead to higher costs

6. PeterMD

PeterMD is an online pharmaceutical option like HIMS, offering fast TRT solutions and other ED/hair loss treatments for men. They focus on things like sexual health, weight control, and hair loss. 

Pros:

• If you opt for an annual plan, it can lower your costs
• Your subscription includes medication and labs

Cons:

• Uses compounded medications, which are not FDA-approved.
• They have a lot of complaints about billing issues, much the same as HIMS (below)

7. HIMS

HIMS is an app-based form of fast, entry-level supplements. They don’t have a lot of offerings in terms of ongoing support and they do have a lot of complaints in terms of billing, but they are a simple, gamified solution to getting basic TRT, ED, or hair loss supplements in the mail.

Pros:

• They provide an accessible way to start getting help for men’s health services, especially things other than TRT
• If you don’t want injections and you want to maintain fertility, they have good oral therapy options

Cons:

• They don’t have traditional TRT injections
• They have a very bad reputation for billing and customer service. No thanks. 

I’m going to compare these seven Hone Health alternatives with what I think are the most important factors. 

Hone Health Alternatives Compared for Price

When looking at price, there are a lot of things to consider. Most people balk at the initial diagnostic fee for companies like Lifeforce, but when you look over the monthly per-service or per-subscription fees of other Hone Health alts, that price doesn’t seem so bad. 

• Lifeforce: Initial diagnostic cost between $300-$500 plus $149/month membership + additional medication cost. 
• FountainTRT: FountainTRT does package options, averaging $150–$160/month. This includes labs and medication (typically a topical cream–with higher charges for other TRT solutions). 
• HIMS: HIMS is limited in its TRT offerings, with compounded (and non-FDA-approved) oral treatments only. The Oral Enclomiphene starts at $99/month on a 10-month plan. 
• Ulo: Ulo prices are based on the treatment you choose. For example, TRT injections average $159/month, but gel is $169/month. All of this includes labs, supplies, and consults. 
• PeterMD: PeterMD is like HIMS in that you mostly get prescriptions through the mail, pretty fast if you already have recent bloodwork and physicals from your doctor. So their prices are based on treatments. They can be as low as $89/month for a 12-month plan, but the higher your membership plan, the cheaper the meds and labs, incentivizing you to stay with them instead of looking at cheaper competitors. 
• Maximus: The oral treatment can cost between $100 and $150 per month, depending on the plan you get and what other vitamins you choose.
• DefyMedical: The costs are done per service, so they’re going to look different depending on what treatment you are getting, but you can expect an average of $250 per month.

Handling TRT Side Effects

In my mind, managing side effects is imperative with TRT. That’s one of the biggest issues men face is deciding whether the upside is worth the side effects. 

• Lifeforce: They really emphasize proactive monitoring, so part of the holistic wellness service is access to that dedicated health coach and that clinical team that will monitor your changes in biomarkers and address any potential side effects or make adjustments to your supplements and pharmaceuticals as necessary.
• FountainTRT: They are pretty responsive with continual blood monitoring to catch issues. When you first start taking things like TRT, they will let you know what potential side effects to look for and adjust your dosage if you report any of those symptoms or if your lab results indicate a problem.
• HIMS: For both hair loss and TRT, they don’t have treatment options that might generate the same types of potential side effects, so there really isn’t any type of preventative plan for managing or treating side effects.
• Ulo: Side effects get managed with regular blood work and consultations, and that’s all included in your monthly subscription, so this system is designed to try and catch issues like gynecomastasia early.
• PeterMD: They state that regular contact with your healthcare provider is crucial to addressing side effects promptly, but that’s really only possible if you report symptoms regularly and get lab work done regularly.
• Maximus: The company has a protocol-based level of care, so you undergo continual monitoring with your blood work to help avoid potential side effects. They use oral protocols differently from traditional TRT, so they focus more on educating you about potential side effects beforehand rather than a big focus on monitoring for potential side effects.
• DefyMedical: This company actually wins first place in my mind when it comes to proactive and personalized care. They require ongoing lab testing to look at health indicators, and they use that to minimize your potential side effects or provide ancillary medications like HCG for specific side effects.

Communication Options 

Communication is the only way to know that your TRT is working, and that your needs/changing needs are being taken into account. Each of the Hone Health alternatives has a different care model, and that can severely impact the communication you receive. 

• Lifeforce: I love how communication is handled here, of course, this only matters if you care about good communication. They basically make it possible to communicate in any method, from the one-on-one coaching you get via text or email to the quarterly video consultations, the dashboard, and other consistent check-ins. The goal behind the communication options here is to provide preventative check-ins, not retroactive responses once a problem has already manifested.
• FountainTRT: You get video calls and text messaging communication options that are HIPAA compliant, in addition to the one-on-one private video calls with your provider.
• HIMS: Communication is mostly done through the app, so you can’t really proactively report any issues, but you can message a licensed provider if you have problems.
• Ulo: They are pretty responsive, and you can communicate directly with the provider team if you have any concerns.
• PeterMD: You have a dedicated client portal, and you can get contact via text, email, or phone, but only within certain support hours. Even with all that, a lot of the BBB complaints say that communication can be difficult, especially if the issue you were trying to communicate about is your billing.
• Maximus: You have pretty limited communication here. They give you access to physician consultations and then the biggest bragging point for them is their special community forums where you can technically engage in peer support, but in my experience you have no control over how many people are even active on that forum at any given time and of course a forum isn’t going to answer specific medical issues you have like a qualified and state licensed doctor.
• DefyMedical: There are many channels through which you can communicate with your dedicated care team, whether that’s through the client portal, phone, email, or chat function. If you do have concerns, you can extend your consultation times with the clinician.

Unique Features

I also looked at the unique features that each of these companies had to offer. Unique features are the things that make them stand apart from the competition, and they may or may not be an attractive feature to you based on your needs.

Lifeforce

Lifeforce offers a comprehensive, longevity-focused approach. That is why they test over 50 biomarkers for each blood draw, and do so for the sake of biomarker tracking. What’s more, they are one of the only companies that offers at-home blood draws. 

In addition to the blood panel and personalized health data they generate, you get access to other specialized pharmaceuticals for hormone and TRT needs, specialized supplements like their proprietary DHEA supplements, and discounts on all of those with your membership. 

FountainTRT

FountainTRT focuses exclusively on topical testosterone cream. So, if you are someone who wants to avoid injections and doesn’t care about other wellness offerings, this is a good Hone Health alt. But as soon as you want things like ED or hair loss support, you might want to look elsewhere. 

HIMS

HIMS has grown in popularity because of the oral treatments they offer. Mainly, you get alternatives to traditional TRT therapy like enclomiphene, supplements, and other men’s health services (ED, hair loss, weight gain, muscle mass).

Ulo

Their unique features center on the billing practices. Whereas other Hone Health alts might not be as clear about the total cost, Ulo has an all-inclusive, transparent price for services, labs, and supplies.

PeterMD

In terms of features, I like that they have a tiered membership plan. This might not be for everyone, but basically, if you sign up for a longer commitment, you get better discounts on all of your products. So, if you don’t want to continually shop around or change your provider, this can be a good way to maximize your costs, but it still doesn’t mean you get any additional services like you would with Lifeforce. 

Maximus

They focus mostly on protocols that preserve your fertility, so if that is a key goal for you in getting treatment, this is probably one of the only options you’ll want to consider. Moreover, they also send you at home testing kits where you do a shoulder blood draw that is arguably painless (although I don’t know how much I believe that).

DefyMedical

They have a high-touch form of consultation and care with extensive treatment options, including things that you might not be able to find with other subscription alternatives. So if you really want to be pampered as part of your care, you’ll pay more for it, but you’ll get it here.

Summing Up

Overall, costs and unique offerings vary across the board, but Lifeforce is my top Hone Health alternative because of its longevity approach to overall wellness. Defy Medical is great for those who want a pay-per-service model with more TRT options specifically, and HIMS is a good solution for fast, oral-only (though severely limited) TRT treatment.