Hims vs Ro vs BraveRx for ED: Side-by-Side Telehealth Comparison

Hims, Ro, and BraveRx are the three most-searched erectile-dysfunction telehealth clinics in 2026, and they sit at three different points on the price-and-formulary trade-off. Hims runs the broadest catalog and the most ubiquitous men's-wellness footprint; Ro pairs an FDA-approved generic backbone with the deepest GLP-1 ecosystem in telehealth; BraveRx focuses on a single compounded sublingual formulation that bundles sildenafil, tadalafil, and apomorphine in one tablet. This article puts the three side-by-side on price, formulation, state coverage, time-to-prescription, and the clinical evidence behind each approach.

The honest summary

• Hims is the generalist. Publicly-traded (NYSE: HIMS), 50-state coverage, the broadest formulary (generic sildenafil, generic tadalafil, branded Viagra, branded Cialis, and the compounded Hard Mints sildenafil + tadalafil chewable). Best fit for the patient who wants one-stop men's wellness (ED plus hair, sleep, skin, mental health) on a single subscription.^[4]
• Ro is the GLP-1 stacker. Generic sildenafil and tadalafil at scale plus Ro Sparks (compounded sildenafil + tadalafil dissolvable) at $12 per dose on a monthly subscription, with 4 to 10 doses per month available.^[5] Ro's edge is the integrated GLP-1 program (Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, Foundayo) on the same patient chart, which matters if you want one clinic prescribing both because weight loss itself improves ED outcomes (Esposito 2004 JAMA^[3]).
• BraveRx is the compounded specialist. Single flagship product (Surge Max — sildenafil 40 mg + tadalafil 15 mg + apomorphine 3 mg sublingual tablet) at $119 for a 6-count, marketed as “from $28 per week.” Same async-prescription model as the other two, with LegitScript and PCAB accreditation visible on the homepage.^[6]
• Clinical backbone is identical at all three. Sildenafil pivotal trial (Goldstein 1998 NEJM^[1]) and tadalafil daily-dose trial (Porst 2006 Eur Urol^[2]) underpin every formulary on every platform. The 2018 AUA Guideline (Burnett 2018^[7]) places PDE5 inhibitors as first-line oral therapy across all three clinics.

Price per dose: a $6 to $119 spread

The cheapest dose at any of the three clinics is Ro generic sildenafil 50 mg at $6 per dose. Ro Sparks, the compounded sildenafil-plus-tadalafil dissolvable, is $12 per dose on a monthly plan of 4 to 10 doses.^[5] BraveRx Surge Max is $119 for a 6-count of sublingual tablets, which works out to roughly $20 per dose at retail (the “from $28 per week” price is a quarterly-plan equivalent).^[6] Hims publishes generic sildenafil at roughly $25 per month for a 12-dose plan (about $2 per dose) and Hard Mints at $109 per month for a comparable count. The cash-pay benchmark from the Costco Member Prescription Program and Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs is closer to $1 per 100 mg sildenafil tablet, which is the unsubsidized US generic market floor.

Formulation: who carries what

The three clinics carry different formulary depths, and the choice often comes down to whether the patient wants the FDA-approved single-agent path, the compounded multi-ingredient path, or both.

• Hims. Carries generic sildenafil (25, 50, 100 mg), generic tadalafil (2.5, 5, 10, 20 mg), branded Viagra, branded Cialis, and compounded Hard Mints (sildenafil + tadalafil chewable). Broadest single-clinic formulary in US telehealth.^[4]
• Ro. Carries generic sildenafil, generic tadalafil, branded Viagra, branded Cialis, Ro Sparks (compounded sildenafil + tadalafil dissolvable), and Daily Rise Gummies (compounded tadalafil). Per the published schema markup, six distinct ED products.^[5]
• BraveRx. Single flagship Surge Max (sildenafil 40 mg + tadalafil 15 mg + apomorphine 3 mg sublingual) plus a daily Surge Daily Pro (tadalafil + apomorphine + icariin) and Prime Max Core (tadalafil + vardenafil capsule). Compounded-only; no FDA-approved single-agent option on the menu.^[6]

The compounded-vs-FDA-approved distinction matters less than marketing implies. Compounded sildenafil and tadalafil are mixed at state-licensed 503A or 503B compounding pharmacies under a valid prescription; they are legal but the FDA does not review them for safety, efficacy, or bioequivalence (FDA 2024^[9]). Only branded Viagra, branded Cialis, Stendra (avanafil), and Levitra (vardenafil) and their FDA-approved generic equivalents have been through Phase 3 trials and FDA review. The clinical-equivalence assumption for compounded sublinguals is reasonable given decades of sildenafil and tadalafil safety data (Corona 2016^[8]), but it is an assumption, not an FDA finding.

State coverage and time to prescription

All three clinics operate on an async-prescription model: the patient completes an online intake, a licensed provider reviews and either approves or escalates to a synchronous video visit, and prescription ships from a partner pharmacy. Practical time-to-prescription is roughly 24 hours at each clinic, with the medication itself shipping in 2 to 5 business days.

• Hims: 50-state coverage per the company's public disclosures and SEC filings.^[4]
• Ro: Roughly 50-state coverage with state-by-state variation on specific compounded products (Ro Sparks is not available in every state because compounding-pharmacy distribution rules vary).^[5]
• BraveRx: The company does not publish a state list. Order eligibility is determined at intake by the physician network and the compounding-pharmacy partner.^[6]

Trust signals and accreditation

All three clinics carry LegitScript certification, which is the standard third-party verification for online pharmacies and telehealth. BraveRx adds PCAB (Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board) accreditation for its compounding-pharmacy partner, which is meaningful for compounded products specifically. Hims & Hers is publicly traded on the NYSE (ticker HIMS) and files quarterly with the SEC, which is the highest-disclosure tier in the category. Ro is privately held but well-capitalized.^[4]

GLP-1 integration: where Ro pulls ahead

Weight loss meaningfully improves ED outcomes. In the Esposito 2004 JAMA trial^[3], 110 obese men with ED were randomized to an intensive lifestyle intervention or a control arm; the lifestyle arm lost a mean of 15 kg over two years and about a third of them recovered erectile function without medication. The same physiology underlies the ED improvements seen on GLP-1 therapy in registry data: the weight loss itself is the mechanism, with downstream effects on endothelial function, testosterone, and metabolic syndrome.

Ro is the only one of the three clinics that runs a full-stack GLP-1 program on the same patient chart as the ED program. A Ro patient on Wegovy or Zepbound can have ED therapy prescribed by the same provider network, which matters for the safety check (PDE5 inhibitors and GLP-1s have no significant pharmacokinetic interaction, but the cardiovascular workup is the same patient in both cases). Hims runs a separate Hims weight-loss program but the ED and weight-loss flows are less integrated than Ro's. BraveRx does not offer a weight-loss program.

Patient-fit matrix

After two months of patient feedback and pricing audits, the three clinics sort cleanly into three patient archetypes.

• Hims is best for the generalist. The patient who wants ED plus hair (finasteride or oral minoxidil) plus sleep plus skincare on a single subscription, who values brand familiarity, and who is comfortable with a generic sildenafil baseline plus the option to upgrade to branded Viagra or Hard Mints. Broadest catalog wins here.
• Ro is best for the GLP-1 stacker. The patient who is on (or planning) a GLP-1 program for weight loss, who wants the lowest per-dose sildenafil price ($6 on generic), and who values the integrated clinic experience. The deepest GLP-1 ecosystem in US telehealth pairs naturally with the strongest mechanistic case for treating ED via weight loss as well as PDE5 inhibition.
• BraveRx is best for the compounded-sublingual preference. The patient who specifically wants the dissolvable form factor, who finds the three-ingredient bundle (sildenafil + tadalafil + apomorphine) clinically attractive, and who is comfortable with compounded-only, higher-per-dose pricing. PCAB-accredited pharmacy is a meaningful signal for the compounded-product buyer.

The clinical backbone is the same at all three

It is worth stating clearly: the active ingredients in every ED product across all three clinics are sildenafil, tadalafil, and (at BraveRx and Rugiet) apomorphine. The pivotal trials for the first two are decades old. Goldstein 1998 NEJM^[1] randomized 532 men with ED to sildenafil 25, 50, or 100 mg or placebo for 24 weeks; the 100 mg arm produced 69% successful intercourse attempts vs 22% on placebo. Porst 2006 Eur Urol^[2] randomized 268 men to once-daily tadalafil 5 mg, 10 mg, or placebo for 12 weeks and demonstrated efficacy at both daily doses with low adverse-event rates. The 2018 AUA Erectile Dysfunction Guideline^[7] codifies PDE5 inhibitors as first-line oral therapy across the population. Corona 2016^[8] meta-analyzed PDE5-inhibitor safety across roughly 14,000 patient-years and confirmed the cardiovascular safety profile in men with controlled blood pressure and no nitrate co-prescription.

Choosing between Hims, Ro, and BraveRx is therefore not a choice about which active drug works better. The active chemistry is the same. The choice is about formulation preference (tablet vs sublingual vs chewable), price (Ro is cheapest at the generic floor, BraveRx is highest at the compounded sublingual), and ecosystem fit (Ro for GLP-1 stackers, Hims for generalists, BraveRx for the compounded specialist).

Related research

• Best ED telehealth providers 2026 — the full ranked review across all the major clinics
• GLP-1 and erectile dysfunction reversal — the weight-loss mechanism behind ED improvement
• Viagra and Cialis on a GLP-1: stacking safety — what the pharmacokinetic data says about co-prescription
• TRT and GLP-1 stacking evidence — testosterone replacement alongside metabolic therapy

Important disclaimer. This article is editorial and reflects publicly-listed pricing and product information from the three clinics as of 2026-05-28. Prices, formulations, and state availability change frequently and should be verified directly with each clinic before purchase. PDE5 inhibitors carry contraindications (nitrate co-prescription, recent myocardial infarction, severe hypotension) that require a licensed prescriber's review. Compounded products are not FDA-reviewed for bioequivalence and patients should be informed of that distinction. Weight Loss Rankings holds affiliate relationships with some of the clinics named here; the editorial position is independent of those relationships.

Last verified: 2026-05-28. Pricing verified live against ro.co and braverx.com product pages on the same date. Hims figures cross-checked against the public Hims & Hers plan grid and SEC filings. Next review: 90 days, or sooner on material price changes.