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How we rate online providers

Every provider gets the same five scores out of 10, against the other providers in its category. The overall score is a weighted average you can check yourself.

By the RxLineup editorial team · Fact-checked against provider sites and FDA labels · Updated

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The five criteria

We read each provider’s public pricing pages, FAQs, terms of service and refund policy, and record what they say, with the date and the source. Each criterion is scored from 0 to 10 against the same checklist.

The overall score is the weighted sum: price and value × 30% + clinical care × 25% + medication options × 20% + transparency × 15% + experience × 10%, rounded to one decimal.

Lists are ordered by the unrounded sum, so two providers shown at the same score keep their exact order; names break only an exact tie.

  1. 30%

    Price & value

    What you pay in month one and at your maintenance dose, including membership fees, labs and shipping.

  2. 25%

    Clinical care

    Licensed prescribers, how dose changes and side effects are handled, and how quickly you can reach a clinician.

  3. 20%

    Medication options

    Brand-name and compounded choices, injectable and oral, and whether you can switch medications later.

  4. 15%

    Transparency

    Prices published up front, the same price as your dose rises, and plain cancellation terms.

  5. 10%

    Experience

    Time from intake to doorstep, shipping, guarantees and how easy the program is to run month to month.

The checklist behind each score

Each criterion starts at a published anchor, read from the same table for every provider in the category (where its price sits, the care it documents, the treatments it covers), then moves up or down for specific, recorded facts. A score has to be reproducible from the facts recorded in the provider’s sources, and we note the reasoning for every score.

Scores and the order of each list come from this published rating method.

  1. Price & value 30%

    • We compare the lowest all-in monthly cost for the category’s key treatments (medication plus any required membership, visits and labs) with every other provider in the same category.
    • The lowest prices score highest and the highest-priced quarter lowest; a price that isn’t published before sign-up scores below all of them.
    • Points come off for a membership billed on top of medication, for a price that rises with the dose or after the first month without saying so near the headline price, and for a best price that needs six months or more prepaid. One price covering medication, visits and shipping adds a little.

  2. Clinical care 25%

    • The top score needs a licensed clinician’s review, a live video or phone option, unlimited messaging, scheduled follow-ups, and lab work where the treatment calls for it (testosterone, menopause hormones, GLP-1s at higher doses).
    • An online-only review with messaging scores lower, a review with no follow-up process lower still, and a care model that isn’t described lowest.
    • Prescribing a treatment that needs labs without them costs a full point. Naming the pharmacy and the clinicians’ credentials adds a little.

  3. Medication options 20%

    • How much of the category’s treatment set a provider covers: FDA-approved brand-name and generic options alongside compounded ones, in more than one form, score highest; a single treatment scores lowest.
    • Switching treatment inside the same plan adds a little. Offering only compounded products where an FDA-approved one exists costs half a point.

  4. Transparency 15%

    • Starts at 6 out of 10, then adds for prices published before sign-up, a price that holds as the dose rises (or a published dose ladder), public refund and cancellation terms, LegitScript certification, a named dispensing pharmacy, and saying plainly which products are compounded and not FDA-approved.

  5. Experience 10%

    • Starts at 7 out of 10, then adds for free shipping, a stated delivery time of a week or less, availability in all 50 states (or every state where the treatment can be prescribed), HSA/FSA payment, a refund if you aren’t prescribed or a money-back promise, and an app or portal for refills.

How an overall score adds up

Every review shows its five scores beside the overall score, so you can redo the sum yourself: multiply each score by its weight, add the five results, and round to one decimal place.

What moves a score

What lowers it

  • A headline price that applies only to the first month or the lowest dose, without saying so clearly.
  • Prices that rise as your dose increases, or a membership charged on top of medication.
  • Prepaid terms with no refunds, cancellation fees or long notice periods.
  • Prices or medication details that aren’t published before you sign up.
  • Compounded medication marketed as if it were the same as an FDA-approved drug.

What raises it

  • The same price at every dose, with medication, visits and shipping included.
  • Licensed clinicians who adjust your dose and are easy to reach.
  • A choice of medications, including FDA-approved options and pills.
  • Clear terms, refunds if you are not prescribed, and LegitScript certification.

Rankings vs scores

Only providers that pay us appear in our rankings and reviews, and we’re paid when you sign up through our links. Compensation decides which providers appear in our rankings and reviews; guides also name providers that don’t pay us. The order of every list and every score come from this published rating method: lists run from the highest score down, and price lists from the lowest regular all-in monthly price. You can always see each score, and its five parts, on every review.

How often we check

We re-check prices and terms regularly and whenever a provider tells us something changed. Each review shows the date we last checked it. If you spot something out of date, tell us and we’ll correct it.

How labels are given

Labels are worked out from the data, within the list they appear on. A provider gets at most one, in the order below. When several providers share the top score for a label, it goes to the one ranked higher overall that doesn’t hold a label yet; when the only provider at the top already holds one, no one gets it.

Top pick
The highest overall score on the list.
Best value
The highest price and value score.
Best clinical care
The highest clinical care score.
Most options
The highest medication options score.
Lowest price
The lowest all-in monthly price on the list’s own price basis (medication plus any required membership), or on a list of one per-dose treatment the lowest price per dose. A sale counts at its regular price, a price with no published regular price never gets it, and neither does a price beside a per-dose or per-order price that could be lower.