I spent six months trying to figure out what TRT actually costs.
Not the advertised price. The real price — labs, startup fees, everything. Then my father started looking into it. I watched him go through the same frustrating cycle. That's when I decided to build ClinicLayer.
It started with a phone call from my father.
My father had been feeling off for a while — low energy, brain fog, the kind of fatigue that a good night's sleep doesn't fix. His doctor ran labs and confirmed what he suspected: his testosterone was low. The doctor recommended TRT and suggested he look into telehealth options to keep costs manageable.
So he called me. I'd gone through the same process a year earlier — and I remembered how confusing it was. I'd spent hours comparing clinics only to find the real cost buried in checkout flows, subscription agreements, and fine print. A clinic advertising $89/mo turned out to cost $1,600/yr once labs were added. Another clinic that looked expensive upfront actually came in $400/yr cheaper because everything was included.
I watched my father go through the same maze I had. He's not a tech-native person who enjoys opening 12 browser tabs. He just wanted to know: which clinic is legitimate, and what will it actually cost me per year? That question had no clean answer anywhere on the internet.
The problem wasn't lack of information. It was lack of honest information.
Every clinic has a marketing page. Every clinic shows their best number. Headline monthly prices are designed to get you to the checkout flow — where the real costs appear. Labs billed separately. Startup consultations charged once. Required supply kits marked up. Mandatory 6-month commitments you didn't read.
Review sites rank clinics based on who pays for placement. Comparison articles are often written by the clinics themselves. The "unbiased" guides are frequently affiliate-driven with no disclosure. The entire information ecosystem around telehealth pricing is designed to obscure cost, not clarify it.
I'm a product person. When I see a broken process that affects enough people, I want to fix it. This was that broken process.
So I built the site I wished existed.
ClinicLayer started with TRT — the category I knew best from personal experience. I manually verified pricing for every clinic I could find: the advertised monthly rate, whether labs were included, the startup fee, what delivery methods cost, whether HCG was available as an add-on. I called some clinics. I subscribed to their email lists. I did the math.
Then I expanded to GLP-1 weight loss, HRT, hair loss, peptides, and sexual health — every category where the same opacity problem existed. Fifty clinics across six categories, all with a single number I wished existed when I needed it: the true annual cost, all fees included.
We now run an automated system that re-checks every clinic's pricing page daily and monitors their email lists for price changes and promo codes. When a price drops, the site reflects it within 24 hours. That's the promise.
ClinicLayer vs. doing it yourself
What the process looks like before ClinicLayer — and after.
| What you need to know | Without ClinicLayer | With ClinicLayer |
|---|---|---|
| Finding the real price | ✕Buried in checkout or a phone call | ✓Shown upfront, all-in annual cost |
| Labs cost | ✕Hidden until after you sign up | ✓Explicitly included or excluded on every card |
| Comparison | ✕You research manually across 10 tabs | ✓Every clinic side-by-side in one table |
| Hidden fees | ✕Startup fees, kit fees, mandatory add-ons | ✓True 12-month cost calculated for you |
| Reviews | ✕Marketing testimonials | ✓Direct links to verified Trustpilot profiles |
| Ranking transparency | ✕Unknown — could be paid | ✓Methodology published on this page |
| Price updates | ✕Whenever someone remembers | ✓Automated daily verification |
How ClinicLayer actually works
Scoring methodology
| Factor | Weight |
|---|---|
| True annual cost (all fees included) | 35% |
| Labs inclusion | 20% |
| Delivery method options | 15% |
| Patient reviews (Trustpilot) | 15% |
| State availability | 15% |
Sponsored placements are clearly labeled on every page where they appear. They do not affect the editorial scores of any listed clinic.
How we make money
When you click through to a clinic and sign up, ClinicLayer earns a commission at no extra cost to you. This is standard affiliate marketing. Clinics may also pay for sponsored placements — these are clearly labeled everywhere they appear.
Our editorial scores are calculated independently. The ranking formula is published above and cannot be purchased. The business only works long-term if you trust the data — that's the only incentive structure that makes sense.
Start with the comparison I wish existed.
50 clinics across 6 categories, ranked by true annual cost. Every price verified in the last 24 hours.