What a year of TRT costs
The best price comparison we found is a 2022 study by Jesse and colleagues in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. They priced 12 months of injectable testosterone through three US online platforms and at a hospital-based (tertiary) clinic.
Through the online platforms, a year cost $1,586 to $4,200. At the clinic, the same year ran $134 to $1,333, depending on whether the patient had no insurance, private insurance, or Medicare. Gels and other skin-applied forms also cost more through the platforms.
The online platforms charged less up front. Their first visit and first labs were cheaper than the clinic's, especially for men without insurance or with private insurance. The gap opened up over the months of ongoing care.
These are 2022 prices from three platforms and one clinic. Your quote will differ. The pattern is the useful part: a low sign-up price says little about what the year costs.
The drug is the cheap part
Generic testosterone cypionate is an old, inexpensive injectable. GoodRx listed it from about $24 with a coupon when we checked on November 1, 2026. That is a single-fill price for the drug only, and pharmacy prices change often.
How long a fill lasts depends on the dose and schedule your prescriber sets, so we do not turn it into a monthly figure. What the Jesse study shows is that the drug is a small part of the total. Visits, labs, and membership fees make up the rest.
The Endocrine Society guideline lists cost alongside preference, side effects, and treatment burden as things to weigh when choosing a form of testosterone. Ask your prescriber what each option costs you before you pick one.
Online platform or a clinic that takes insurance
If you have private insurance or Medicare, the Jesse study authors say you should be told that ongoing care on an online platform will likely cost more than care from a clinic that can bill your insurance.
If you are uninsured, the math is closer. The online platforms were cheaper to start, and the yearly gap depends on what your local clinic charges for visits and labs.
Either way, ask for the full first-year price in writing: the first visit, the diagnostic labs, the drug, follow-up visits, and follow-up labs.
The testing you pay for before you start
A diagnosis should come before a prescription. The Endocrine Society diagnoses low testosterone only in men with symptoms and signs plus a consistently low result: a fasting morning total testosterone, confirmed by repeating it.
The AUA guideline uses a total testosterone below 300 ng/dL (about 10.4 nmol/L) as a reasonable cut-off to support the diagnosis, read together with symptoms and signs.
A single number is not a diagnosis. Our guide to how to test testosterone covers timing and test types, so you do not start paying for therapy because of a false low.
The monitoring you pay for after
Starting therapy adds lab work. The Endocrine Society guideline calls for a standardized monitoring plan in the first year: checking symptoms and side effects, measuring testosterone and hematocrit (the share of your blood made of red cells), and evaluating prostate cancer risk.
Those labs belong in your budget. A quote that leaves them out is not the real price.
When the cheap option costs more
In a 2022 study in JAMA Internal Medicine, Dubin and colleagues sent a mystery shopper to seven US online testosterone platforms. He presented as a 34-year-old man with low energy and low libido who wanted children in the future. His total and free testosterone were normal.
Six of the seven platforms (85.7%) offered him testosterone anyway. Only one asked about recent heart events or plans for children. Half quoted a treatment goal above 1,000 ng/dL and did not discuss fertility risks, and 83.3% did not discuss polycythemia, a thickening of the blood.
That was one shopper in 2022, and it does not describe every online clinic. It does show why the cheapest path to a prescription can cost more in the end.
Who should not start
The Endocrine Society recommends against starting testosterone in men planning to have children soon, and in men with any of these, without further evaluation:
- Breast or prostate cancer, or a prostate nodule a doctor can feel
- A PSA above 4 ng/mL, or above 3 ng/mL in men at higher risk of prostate cancer
- An elevated hematocrit
- Untreated severe obstructive sleep apnea
- Severe lower urinary tract symptoms
- Uncontrolled heart failure, or a heart attack or stroke in the last 6 months
- A blood-clotting disorder (thrombophilia)
Lab checklist
Before you sign up: five checks
Get the full first-year price
Ask for visits, diagnostic labs, the drug, and follow-up labs in one written number.
Check what your insurance covers
In a 2022 study, care that could bill insurance cost far less over a year than online platforms.
Confirm the diagnosis first
Symptoms plus a low fasting morning result, repeated, before any prescription.
Ask about fertility
The Endocrine Society advises against starting if you plan to have children soon.
Ask how they will monitor you
Testosterone, hematocrit, and prostate risk in the first year, and who reads the results.
Fit check
Who this guide is (and is not) for
Good fit
- Men comparing an online TRT platform with a local clinic or their own doctor.
- Men with a low result who want to know what a year of treatment really costs.
- Men who have seen a low monthly price and want to know what it leaves out.
Poor fit
- Men who have not had a confirmed morning test yet. Start with testing.
- Men already on therapy with questions about their dose. Your prescriber makes that call.
- Men planning to have children soon. Talk with a doctor before any testosterone.
Common questions
The questions worth answering
How much does TRT cost a year?
In a 2022 study, a year of injectable testosterone cost $1,586 to $4,200 through three online platforms and $134 to $1,333 at a hospital-based clinic, depending on insurance. Your price depends on where you get care and how you pay.
Is the testosterone itself expensive?
No. GoodRx listed generic testosterone cypionate from about $24 with a coupon on November 1, 2026. That is the drug only. Visits and labs make up most of the yearly cost.
Is online TRT cheaper than going through insurance?
It was cheaper to start in the 2022 study, but ongoing care cost more. The authors say men with private insurance or Medicare should expect online care to cost more over time.
What tests should come before TRT?
The Endocrine Society asks for symptoms plus a low fasting morning total testosterone, confirmed on a repeat test. A single number is not a diagnosis, so read it with a clinician.
Does TRT affect fertility?
The Endocrine Society recommends against starting testosterone in men planning to have children soon. In a 2022 mystery shopper study, half the online platforms did not discuss fertility risks.
Muscle Velocity standard
Know your numbers. Read them with a clinician.
Price the whole year, confirm the diagnosis, and decide with a clinician. If you also want a daily NAD+ protocol for cellular energy, see what is in ours.
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View NAD+Educational content only. A lab result is not a diagnosis, and supplements are not a substitute for medical care. Speak with a qualified healthcare professional about symptoms, results, or medication.
Evidence desk