Tool
Five-Year Cost Comparator
What does minoxidil, finasteride, PRP, a laser device or a hair transplant cost me over a year and over five years?
Every price below was published by one of our guides, and none of them published a single number — they published ranges. So this adds up the bottom of every range and the top of every range and shows you both. Your real cost sits somewhere in between, and almost certainly not at either edge.
Nothing selected yet. Tick a component above and the year-one and five-year spans appear here.
Five years is not a finish line. Almost every line in this comparator buys a result only for as long as you keep paying for it. Our finasteride guide: “Hair loss typically resumes within 12 months of stopping, and any gains made while on the medication are gradually lost.” T01 Our minoxidil guide puts you at “return to baseline or worse” six months after stopping TO01 and says to “plan for lifelong use if you want to keep gains”. TO01 Our laser-device guide: “Stop treatment and you’ll gradually lose the gains.” DP09
So read the five-year figure as one instalment of an open-ended commitment, not as the total. A comparison that showed you the number without that sentence would be selling you something.
What our guides publish
The whole price list this tool can draw from. Nothing outside this table is used, and nothing in it has been averaged into a single figure.
| Component | Published price | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Finasteride 1mg, generic | $5-15/month (T08) and $10-30/month (T01) | T08 T01 |
| Finasteride 1mg, brand (Propecia) | $70-90/month (T08), "often $70-90+" (T01) | T08 T01 |
| Dutasteride 0.5mg, generic | $15-30/month (T08) and $15-50/month (T02) | T08 T02 |
| Minoxidil 5%, topical, generic | $15-30/month generic, $45-60/month brand (T08) | T08 DP02 |
| Oral minoxidil 2.5mg, generic | $15-25/month generic, $40-60/month brand (T08) | T08 |
| Ketoconazole shampoo 1% (OTC) | ~$15-20 a bottle OTC, ~$25-40 prescription 2% (TO04) | TO04 |
| LLLT device (laser comb, band, cap or helmet) | $395-$2,499 one-off; combs $395-$899, helmets $699-$2,499 (DP09) | DP09 |
| Microneedling, at-home device | $15-$300 for the device, multiple uses (DP07) | DP07 TO06 |
| Microneedling, in-clinic sessions | $200-$700 a session (DP07), typically monthly (TO06) | DP07 TO06 |
| PRP course, then maintenance | Course $2,000-$15,000 (4-6 sessions); maintenance $500-$5,000/year (DP02) | DP02 |
| Hair transplant (US, typical procedure) | Typical $8,000-$15,000; full range $4,000-$15,000+; Turkey $1,800-$5,000 (DP04) | DP04 DP10 |
What this comparator leaves out
- Inflation. No guide of ours publishes one, so five years is simply five times today’s published price.
- Consultation and testing. Our transplant guide lists extended consultations at $100–$500 and blood work at $100–$300 as separate charges DP04; they are not added here because they are not universal.
- Repeat procedures. DP04 budgets $5,000–$15,000+ for potential future procedures. That is a possibility, not a line item, so it stays out of the bar and in this list.
- Device replacement. Our device guide does publish how long one is meant to last — warranties of two to five years, and diodes “rated at 10,000+ hours of use” DP09 — but no guide of ours puts a price on replacing one or a running cost on using it, so the five-year column assumes a single device and no consumables.
- Shampoo throughput. TO04 prices a bottle and sets a frequency but never says how long a bottle lasts TO04, so no bottles-per-year figure is guessed for you.
- Insurance. DP04 states plainly that insurance does not cover hair transplants DP04; nothing here assumes any reimbursement.
- Your prescriber’s decisions. T05 notes that cost is one reason people ask about lower or less frequent doses, and that 1mg every other day is half the standard weekly exposure T05. What that would do to your cost is arithmetic; whether it is appropriate is a conversation with a doctor, and this tool does not model it.
Every figure above, and the sentence it came from
Which column is which in T08’s price table: the first price is the generic, the second the brand T08
| Treatment | Generic | Brand |
Generic finasteride 1mg, monthly, in our medications comparison T08
| Finasteride 1mg oral | $5-15 | $70-90 |
Generic finasteride 1mg, monthly, in our finasteride guide T01
- Generic finasteride: Typically $10-30 per month
Brand finasteride (Propecia), monthly, in our medications comparison T08
| Finasteride 1mg oral | $5-15 | $70-90 |
Brand-name Propecia, monthly, in our finasteride guide T01
- Brand-name Propecia: Often $70-90+ per month
Every-other-day dosing is half the standard weekly exposure — the pill-stretching lever T05 describes T05
- Weekly exposure of 3.5mg (1mg EOD) is half the standard
Cost is one of the reasons T05 lists for asking about a lower or less frequent dose T05
4. Cost: Stretching prescriptions longer
Generic dutasteride 0.5mg, monthly, in our medications comparison T08
| Dutasteride 0.5mg oral | $15-30 | $180+ |
Generic dutasteride, monthly, in our dutasteride guide (second column) T02
| Generic Monthly | $10-30 | $15-50 |
Brand dutasteride (Avodart), monthly — our two guides disagree sharply here T02
| Brand Monthly | $70-90+ (Propecia) | $60-80+ (Avodart) |
Generic topical minoxidil 5%, monthly (brand runs $45-60) T08
| Minoxidil 5% topical | $15-30 | $45-60 |
Generic oral minoxidil 2.5mg, monthly (brand runs $40-60) T08
| Oral minoxidil 2.5mg | $15-25 | $40-60 |
What our PRP guide budgets for topical treatment across a year, as a cross-check DP02
- Topical treatments: $300-$600/year (ongoing, less effective for some)
Ketoconazole shampoo: 1% over-the-counter per bottle, 2% prescription $25-40 TO04
| Cost | ~$15-20 | ~$25-40 |
How often the guide says to use it — but it never says how long a bottle lasts TO04
| Frequency | 2-3 times per week |
Which column is which in TO04’s cost table: the first price is the 1% over-the-counter bottle, the second the 2% prescription one TO04
| Factor | 1% Nizoral A-D | 2% Nizoral RX |
The whole FDA-cleared home-device market, cheapest comb to premium helmet DP09
budget ($395-$2,499)
Laser combs and bands DP09
They're more affordable ($395-$899) but require active participation.
Helmets and caps DP09
Prices range from $699 to $2,499 depending on diode count and technology.
A device is a purchase; the result is not DP09
Stop treatment and you'll gradually lose the gains.
The longest warranty our device guide lists DP09
- Kiierr: 5-year warranty (longest in market)
The shorter warranty the same guide lists for the other named brands DP09
- HairMax: 2-year warranty
What the guide says about diode lifespan — the closest thing to a replacement interval anyone publishes DP09
Most devices rate their diodes at 10,000+ hours of use.
PRP per session, and how many sessions the initial course runs to DP02
Treatment involves 4-6 initial sessions ($500-$2,500 each) spaced 4-6 weeks apart
Initial 4-6 session course at budget clinics DP02
- Budget: $2,000-$4,800
Initial 4-6 session course at premium clinics DP02
- Premium: $6,000-$15,000
Ongoing PRP maintenance, 1-2 sessions a year, budget clinics DP02
- Budget: $500-$1,600/year
Ongoing PRP maintenance, 1-2 sessions a year, premium clinics DP02
- Premium: $1,500-$5,000/year
How many maintenance sessions a year our PRP guide budgets for DP02
Ongoing maintenance (1-2 sessions annually):
How our PRP guide frames the commitment, which is why years 2-5 carry a maintenance cost at all DP02
Think of PRP as ongoing therapy rather than a one-time fix.
At-home microneedling device, bought once DP07
- Cost: $15-$300 for device (multiple uses)
Professional microneedling, per session DP07
- Cost: $200-$700 per session
How often professional microneedling is typically done — the figure that turns a session price into a year TO06
| Frequency | Monthly typically |
A typical US hair transplant procedure DP04
- Typical procedure: $8,000-$15,000
The full published US range, low end included DP04
- Range: $4,000-$15,000+
Turkey, all-inclusive, before travel costs DP04
Cost: $1,800-$5,000 (typically all-inclusive)
What our transplant-cost guide budgets for ongoing medication after surgery DP04
- Ongoing minoxidil/finasteride: $300-$600/year
Possible future procedures, which this tool does not add in DP04
- Potential future procedures: $5,000-$15,000+
Extended consultations, charged separately by many clinics DP04
- Extended consultations: $100-$500
Pre-operative blood work, charged separately by many clinics DP04
- Blood work: $100-$300
Why nothing here assumes reimbursement DP04
Insurance doesn't cover hair transplants.
The same at-home device in our microneedling protocol guide, plus unpriced replacements TO06
| Cost | $15-150 device + replacements |
Why a transplant is rarely the last cost DP10
your non-transplanted native hair continues to thin without medication
What happens to finasteride gains after stopping T01
Hair loss typically resumes within 12 months of stopping, and any gains made while on the medication are gradually lost.
Where minoxidil gains stand six months after stopping TO01
| 6 months | Return to baseline or worse |
What our minoxidil guide says the commitment is TO01
- Plan for lifelong use if you want to keep gains