Alloy Menopause Reviews

Each year, over one million people in the United States become menopausal.1 If that includes you, then you’re likely all too familiar with the wide range of symptoms that come with the transition. Whether you’re dealing with hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, genitourinary symptoms (like vaginal dryness), or all of that and more, menopause can have major effects on your quality of life.2 3

Because of this significant, often negative impact — and a generational shift in the perception of women’s health — the market for menopause relief products has grown rapidly in recent years.4 5 And as telehealth has become more widespread, you can now get prescription treatments for your menopause symptoms delivered to your door without setting foot in a doctor’s office.

One such telehealth service is Alloy, an online platform that offers a collection of prescriptions for many of the most common menopause symptoms. But are these treatments right for you? To help you decide, our review of Alloy details our firsthand experience and covers the treatments’ safety, efficacy, cost, convenience, and more.

Alloy is a convenient telehealth service that offers effective options for menopause symptom relief. All of the platform’s doctors are board-certified physicians who have been certified by The Menopause Society for at least ten years. Alloy offers a wide range of treatments, including FDA-approved hormone replacement therapy (HRT), prescription skin care, low-dose oral minoxidil, a nonhormonal hot flash solution, a female arousal topical, and — most recently — a collection of GLP-1 prescriptions for weight loss. Alloy’s quarterly subscription setup for most treatments means that your up-front costs are higher than those from competitors, but its monthly costs are lower. So if you can afford to pay more at first, you’ll save more over time.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions involving staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

Throughout the years, we’ve spent hundreds of cumulative hours researching and reviewing treatments for menopause, including many of the online platforms dedicated to offering them. For our review of Alloy’s menopause treatments, we examined 50+ studies on the safety and effectiveness of the service’s hormonal and nonhormonal options. Our testers also interacted with the platform by going through the intake process and purchasing prescriptions to offer you insights into the patient experience that could only be obtained firsthand.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

If you’re searching for relief from bothersome menopause symptoms, you likely want something that won’t harm your health, is actually effective, doesn’t break the bank, and is easy to use long-term. With that in mind, we considered four customer-centric criteria when evaluating Alloy: safety, efficacy, cost, and convenience.

Let’s see how Alloy fared in each category.

Safety

Before delving into the safety of Alloy’s treatments for menopause, we want to clarify that pretty much all of the concerns we express about these treatments — particularly hormone replacement therapy (HRT) — are not limited to those you get from Alloy. Similar prescriptions from other online telehealth services or from your primary care physician or OB-GYN will carry many of the same risks.

Now, HRT can increase your risk of stroke, blood clots, heart disease, certain cancers, and gallbladder disease, among other things. If you have a personal or close family history of any of these conditions, it could be unsafe to proceed with HRT treatment.6 Of course, speaking with your doctor first is essential, even if you don’t have any history (family or personal) of the aforementioned concerns.

For those who have had their uterus removed (hysterectomy), you can use estrogen therapy (HRT without progesterone), which may come with fewer long-term health risks than combination therapy.6 7

Some other risks from Alloy’s treatments include:

• Paroxetine for hot flashes may lead to side effects like headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, digestive upset, dry mouth, muscle aches, joint pain, or decreased libido.8
• Tretinoin for signs of skin aging could cause application site reactions such as redness, itching, peeling, or burning, but these side effects should dissipate over time.9
• The most common side effect of oral minoxidil for hair loss is hypertrichosis (excessive hair growth elsewhere on the body).10

For more information on the safety of Alloy’s prescriptions, we go into more detail under the “Are Alloy’s menopause treatments safe?” section later on.

Effectiveness

Overall, Alloy offers effective treatments for relieving menopause symptoms. All of the company’s HRT treatments are FDA-approved, and according to a 2024 review, “hormone therapy is effective for treating moderate to severe vasomotor and other menopausal symptoms.”11 Basically, by replenishing the hormones that your body isn’t making enough of, you may be able to reduce the severity of your symptoms.6

Another one of Alloy’s FDA-approved prescriptions is its vaginal estradiol cream, a treatment for symptoms of vaginal atrophy or genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) that experts have dubbed the “gold standard.”3 12

If you would prefer to avoid hormones — or if you have to for health reasons — Alloy offers paroxetine for vasomotor symptom (hot flashes and night sweats) relief. This SSRI antidepressant has demonstrated efficacy in trials, reducing the severity and frequency of hot flashes in subjects by up to 67% over 6-12 weeks.13

For more details on the effectiveness of Alloy’s menopause treatments, you can read the full section “How do Alloy’s treatments for menopause work?” later in this guide.

Cost

Prescriptions for menopause, especially HRT, tend to be expensive. But Alloy’s monthly cost is actually better than that of close competitors, like Winona. You do have to pay more up front for Alloy’s prescriptions, unfortunately, since nearly all treatments are sold in three-month supplies, but the long-term savings could make up for it.

The chart below offers a quick comparison of similar treatments from Winona and Alloy.

As you can see, Winona is always more expensive than Alloy; the main difference is that you pay per month with Winona and per quarter with Alloy. Additionally, only Alloy offers free progesterone pills with the purchase of an estradiol prescription. With Winona, you’ll also need to take those costs into account.

Convenience

As with many similar telehealth platforms, there’s an inherent convenience in having your Alloy prescriptions delivered right to your door instead of having to go to a doctor’s office or your local pharmacy. The sign-up process and intake aren’t too complicated, either, and our testers completed it in about five minutes tops.

But while your assigned doctor should contact you quickly after intake to let you know whether you’re approved and to decide on your ideal treatment plan, the shipping time for your prescription(s) may take longer than anticipated. Alloy mentions shipping taking 5-7 days, but our prescriptions took a couple of weeks to show up (we also noticed a similar complaint from other customers during our investigation into the company). This delay isn’t exactly a dealbreaker, but when you’re waiting for relief from symptoms that are impacting your quality of life, the wait can at least be frustrating.

Pivoting to the treatments, Alloy’s prescriptions aren’t difficult to use by any means. For example, the estradiol and progesterone pills are quite small (as pictured below), and swallowing them shouldn’t be too difficult.

The only potential issue our testers could imagine was possible messiness from applying the estradiol gel, spray, or other prescription creams.

Based in New York, NY, Alloy Health, Inc. (more commonly known as simply “Alloy”) is a LegitScript-certified telehealth service dedicated to helping women going through the menopausal transition. All providers on the platform are board-certified, menopause-trained physicians who have been certified by The Menopause Society for at least a decade.

Though Alloy’s biggest draw is perhaps its FDA-approved hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions, the company also offers solutions — with and without hormones — for related concerns like hot flashes and night sweats, menopausal skin and hair changes, and genitourinary symptoms.

At the time of this review, Alloy offers the following treatments:

We’re happy to see that progesterone is now in Alloy’s prescription lineup. Around a year ago, it wasn’t available. But since people with a uterus require progesterone as part of their HRT regimen, it’s certainly a welcome addition that makes Alloy’s HRT more accessible to a large population of people.6

Also, during the writing of this review, Alloy debuted its new Weight Care program and three GLP-1 prescriptions along with it. The medications include:

• Zepbound
• Wegovy
• Compounded liraglutide (generic Victoza or Saxenda)

Alloy Health online reputation

On Alloy’s Better Business Bureau (BBB) page, the company has an “A” rating, no reviews, and only three complaints within the past year. Only two of those complaints are viewable, and Alloy has resolved both. One customer reported an issue with the amount of medication (a cream) not being enough for three months, while another had difficulty canceling their subscription. Overall, the information from the company’s BBB page isn’t much to go off of.

Thankfully, Alloy’s claimed Trustpilot profile offers substantially more information. The company has a 4.4-star rating (“Excellent” by Trustpilot standards) based on over 2,100 customer reviews. Currently, 78% of those reviews are 5-star, while the remaining 22% are spread out between the 1- through 4-star ratings. Most customers express an all-around good experience with Alloy, but the complaints that do exist report difficulty making prescription adjustments, issues with medication side effects, trouble managing subscriptions, and longer-than-promised shipping times. (Our testers also experienced those last two concerns.)

Alloy’s treatments are intended for women assigned female at birth (AFAB) who are experiencing bothersome symptoms from the menopausal transition. This includes those who are in the perimenopause or postmenopause phase.

Unlike some of its competitors, HRT isn’t Alloy’s only available option. The platform also offers treatments — both hormonal and nonhormonal — for people struggling with other menopause-related concerns, such as:

• Vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats)14
• Skin and hair changes (loss of skin elasticity, thinning hair, etc.)15
• Sexual difficulties (decreased libido and/or arousal)16
• Genitourinary symptoms (vaginal dryness, burning, or itching, UTIs, painful sex, etc.)3

It’s also worth mentioning that these treatments aren’t just for those experiencing “natural” menopause due to the hormone changes of aging. They can also be used by those experiencing “premature” or “early” menopause from surgery (oophorectomy or hysterectomy), cancer treatment, autoimmune diseases, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), genetic disorders, or any other reason — in many cases, there isn’t a definite cause.17

Who should look elsewhere?

While Alloy could be suitable for a large population of people suffering from menopause symptoms, there are some cases in which it might not be ideal. For example:

• If you’d prefer a different form of HRT, like an estrogen or progesterone cream, then Winona may be better suited for you.
• For those dealing with vaginal dryness who would like to avoid hormones entirely, the hyaluronic acid suppository Revaree could be a good alternative.
• If you’re not going through menopause but are still suffering from female sexual difficulties, then the prescriptions and over-the-counter options from other platforms like Wisp or Hello Cake might be worth trying. (Our guide to the best female arousal products covers some noteworthy options.)

When used as directed by your prescribing physician, the treatments from Alloy should be generally safe for most healthy adults who aren’t pregnant or breastfeeding. However, there are still a few risks to keep in mind. Below, we break down some of the most important safety information for the prescriptions offered by Alloy.

Alloy’s menopause treatments work differently depending on the active ingredients. In the breakdown below, we cover the basics of how those key ingredients may help make your symptoms more manageable.

The prices listed on Alloy’s website — particularly on the “Solutions” page that shows all of the available treatments — are misleading at first glance. This is because the company presents potential patients with the monthly cost for each product when, in fact, you’ll always be charged for a three-month supply at a time (billed quarterly). There aren’t any other subscription intervals available, nor is there the option for one-time purchases, even for the nonprescription synbiotic.

To make it easy to see how much you’d actually have to pay for each treatment, we’ve compiled a chart below that breaks down the total (three-month supply) and monthly costs for every product currently offered by Alloy.

Note: If you have a uterus (haven’t had a hysterectomy) and therefore require progesterone as part of your HRT regimen, Alloy will include a prescription of progesterone pills for free alongside any estradiol treatment if you opt for it. You’ll only be charged for progesterone if it’s not paired with estradiol during your intake (e.g., you reject the progesterone during intake but add a separate prescription for it after the fact).

Though the total cost of Alloy’s treatments may seem high, they’re actually quite a bit more affordable per month than those from close competitors, like Winona. For example, Winona’s estrogen tablets are $54 per month, or $162 total after three months. Compared to Alloy, that’s about $14 more per month or $42 more per quarter.

So, even though you’d technically be paying less per purchase because Winona is charged on a monthly basis, you would have to pay more for Winona in the long run. Plus, unlike Alloy, Winona doesn’t offer progesterone for free with estrogen HRT, meaning those who need it will also have to take that charge into account.

It’s also worth mentioning that Alloy’s initial consultation costs $49 and is nonrefundable, even if you decide not to move forward with treatment or don’t qualify for it. In contrast, Winona’s consultation is free. But in Alloy’s defense, a consultation charge isn’t out of the ordinary for a lot of telehealth platforms. Musely, an online dermatology service that offers a few treatments for menopause-related hair and skin concerns, charges a $20 intake fee, and that only gets you 60 days of communication with your doctor. Alloy, on the other hand, gives you unlimited messaging for the duration of your treatment.

Alloy weight loss medication pricing

Though it’s in its early stages, Alloy has recently started offering weight loss support. The decision to start offering weight loss prescriptions makes sense, as weight management in menopause is particularly difficult. On average, researchers estimate that people gain around 2-5lb during the perimenopausal transition.36

The weight loss program has a different pricing structure compared to the company’s other treatments. Instead of being charged quarterly, you’ll be charged each month — and you need to pay an additional $39 monthly membership on top of the medication cost. Here’s how the pricing works out:

• Consultation fee: $89
• Zepbound: Starting at $349 per month ($388 after membership fee)
• Wegovy: Starting at $499 per month ($538 after membership fee)
• Compounded liraglutide: Starting at $80 per month ($122 after membership fee)

Does Alloy accept insurance?

At the time of this writing, no, Alloy does not accept insurance as payment for any service or treatment provided. It’s pretty uncommon for telehealth platforms to accept insurance, though. One Alloy competitor, Gennev, does accept some insurance plans, but only for visits with the company’s dietitians or doctors; its prescriptions are not covered.

Alloy’s FAQ mentions that some patients have been able to get their prescriptions reimbursed through their PPO insurance provider, and others have successfully used HSA/FSA cards at checkout or been reimbursed. If you need itemized receipts or other documentation to submit for reimbursement, you can find invoices in your customer dashboard (under the “Order History” section) or by contacting customer service.

Alloy refunds and returns

Alloy does not accept returns of or offer refunds for any of its treatments. Similar policies usually apply to prescriptions from other telehealth platforms or even those you get from your local pharmacy. Some telehealth services — Musely, for example — may offer money-back guarantees, but returns of medications are typically not accepted for safety reasons.

If Alloy doesn’t sound like the right fit for you or if you’re interested in learning about other options before making a final decision, this section covers two potential alternatives for different menopause symptom treatments: Winona and Musely.

Winona

Winona, like Alloy, is an online menopause telehealth platform dedicated to offering HRT and other prescription treatments for symptom relief. Unlike Alloy, though, Winona offers topical HRT options, like estrogen and progesterone creams. Otherwise, most of the treatments are pretty similar.

Let’s compare the prices of some Alloy and Winona HRT prescriptions and calculate the difference.

As mentioned earlier in this review, Winona does not give patients free progesterone with the purchase of an estrogen prescription like Alloy does. This means that, for many people, the monthly cost of Winona will also include an additional $39-$89, depending on the form of progesterone they choose.

You could save some money by opting for Winona’s combination body cream containing both estrogen and progesterone (it’s priced the same as the vaginal estrogen cream mentioned in the chart above), but this still costs more per month and per quarter than the most expensive HRT combination from Alloy (estradiol patch with free progesterone pill). And even if Alloy customers did have to pay for progesterone, it would still be the more cost-effective option in the long term.

However, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge the fact that not everyone can afford to pay a higher up-front cost in exchange for long-term savings. Also, unlike Alloy, Winona does offer additional menopause resources like webinars, monthly live Q&A sessions with physicians, “hormone-healthy” recipes, ebooks, and more. So if you feel like you may need more menopause support than just prescriptions, the higher price of Winona could be worthwhile.

To learn more about Winona, check out our full review of the service.

Musely

Musely is an online dermatology service specializing in prescription skin care for a wide range of concerns, some of which include menopausal skin and hair changes. Some of the most popular Musely treatments related to menopause are:

• The Aging Repair Cream (starting at $35 per month)
• The Hair Pill (starting at $30 per month)
• The Hair Topical Solution (starting at $32 per month)
• The Facial Hair Cream (starting at $40 per month)
• The Estrogen Boost (starting at $44 per month)

Similar to Alloy, Musely charges you a $20 intake fee. However, unlike Alloy, Musely gives you the option of making either a one-time purchase or opting for a subscription. From our testers’ experience with Musely, its subscriptions are worth it for the 30% discount. For instance, a one-time purchase of The Aging Repair Cream is $99, but a subscription takes that down to $69 (a savings of $30).

To learn more about Musely, read our comprehensive review.