Accurate staging is the thing that matters most here. Know your Norwood number first, and everything else, from choosing a medication to budgeting a transplant, becomes a real decision instead of a guess.
Comparison Table
| Tool | Cost | What It Does | Requires Signup | Gives Norwood Stage | Rx or Products |
| HairLine AI | Free | AI photo analysis, Norwood staging, graft/cost estimate | No | Yes | No |
| Hims Hair Quiz | Free quiz / paid Rx | Symptom quiz, routes to treatment plans | No | No | Yes (topical + oral fin, min) |
| Keeps Assessment | Free quiz / paid Rx | Hair-loss quiz, telehealth consult | No | No | Yes (fin, minoxidil) |
| Roman Hair Visit | Free quiz / paid Rx | Online visit, photo review by clinician | Yes | No (clinician only) | Yes (oral fin, solution min) |
| Happy Head Quiz | Free / paid Rx | Custom Rx compound formulas | Yes | No | Yes (prescription topical) |
| BosleyRx Portal | Free / paid | Assessment + transplant heritage guidance | Yes | No | Yes (Rx + clinic options) |
| Manual Norwood Chart | Free | Self-classification against reference images | No | DIY | No |
| Dermatologist Visit | $100-$300+ | Clinical scalp exam, possible trichoscopy | Yes (appt) | Yes | Yes |
The Picks
1. HairLine AI
Free. No account. No credit card. You open a browser, point your webcam or upload a photo, and the tool uses facial detection paired with a high-end vision model to classify your Norwood stage and spit out a rough graft count and cost range. That last part, the graft estimate, is something most free tools skip entirely. It is a starting point, not a diagnosis, and it does not touch prescriptions or sell you anything, which is exactly why it works as a first step before you talk to a clinician or compare treatment services. If you want an objective read on where you actually stand before committing to a subscription or a consult, this is the place to start.
See also: Progress at the Intersection of Tech and Biology
2. Hims Hair Quiz + Telehealth
Hims does more treatment variants than any other telehealth name in this space. Topical finasteride is on the menu here and not many others offer it. Combos of topical and oral options exist too. The quiz is fast but it leans toward selling you a plan, which is fine as long as you know going in.
3. Keeps
Hair loss is Keeps‘ whole thing. Three-month supply pricing is genuinely lower than most alternatives, and finasteride plus minoxidil are both available. Shipping runs about $5. Good for someone who already knows their situation and just wants straightforward medication access.
4. Roman (Ro)
Roman offers oral finasteride generic and liquid minoxidil solution. No foam formulation. Clinicians review your photos and history, so there is a human in the loop, which some people prefer over a fully automated quiz.
*A word here: for any of these medication services, finasteride results take at least three to six months to appear, they require you to keep taking the medication, and a minority of users report sexual side effects. Talk to a licensed clinician before starting.*
5. Happy Head
Custom compounded topical prescriptions are the focus. If standard off-the-shelf topicals have not worked for you, a tailored formula is worth exploring. Requires a telehealth consult to get started.
6. BosleyRx / Bosley
The Bosley name comes from decades in the transplant business. The Rx arm adds medication options alongside surgical consultations. Useful if you want one provider that covers both ends of the treatment range.
7. Manual Norwood Chart
Old, simple, free. Dozens of reference images exist on medical and dermatology sites. Staging yourself is imprecise, but it costs nothing and gives you vocabulary before any consultation.
8. In-Person Dermatologist
The gold standard. A dermatologist can perform trichoscopy, rule out conditions that mimic androgenetic alopecia, and actually prescribe. Cost runs $100 to $300 or more depending on insurance. Worth it if your situation is unclear or progressing fast.
Common Questions
Does HairLine AI’s graft count estimate hold up against a surgeon’s assessment?
Treat it as a ballpark, not a quote. HairLine AI uses facial detection and a vision model to approximate graft needs based on Norwood stage, and surgeons who have seen its output generally say it lands in the right order of magnitude. An in-person consult will refine that number significantly based on donor density and scalp laxity.
Can a quiz from Hims or Keeps actually replace a Norwood staging tool?
No, and they are not designed to. Those quizzes route you toward a treatment plan and a prescription. They do not classify your stage or estimate progression. If you want a Norwood number before talking to a telehealth provider, run HairLine AI or use a manual chart first.
Is there any point using BosleyRx if you are not considering a transplant?
Yes. The Rx portal offers medication options independently of the surgical side. If you want the convenience of a single provider that can scale from topical finasteride up to a surgical consult later, it is a reasonable choice, though pricing is worth comparing against Keeps or Hims before committing.
How reliable is self-staging with a manual Norwood chart compared to AI photo analysis?
Self-staging is notoriously inconsistent, particularly at the boundary between Norwood 2 and 3, where most men underestimate their progression. An AI tool trained on reference images tends to be more consistent than personal judgment, though neither replaces a dermatologist when the pattern is atypical or diffuse thinning is involved.
Which of these tools is appropriate if hair loss might not be androgenetic alopecia?
None of the quiz or AI tools here are built to distinguish androgenetic alopecia from alopecia areata, telogen effluvium, or other causes. If your shedding is patchy, sudden, or accompanied by other symptoms, skip straight to an in-person dermatologist. Trichoscopy and, if needed, a scalp biopsy are the only ways to get a reliable answer.
Sources
- American Academy of Dermatology: clinical recommendations for managing pattern hair loss in men and women
- Hamilton-Norwood Scale original classification literature
- Hims, Keeps, Roman, Happy Head, Bosley public product pages (2025-2026)
- MediaPipe facial detection documentation, Google open-source project
