Hims vs. Roman 2024: What to Know About These Men’s Health Services

Hims is a men’s health brand founded in late 2017 when, as the story goes, the sister of founder Andrew Dudum commented on his skin issues.

Focused on full-service telemedicine for men’s health, Hims provides digital management tools for appointments, prescriptions, and generic medications for common ED treatments, like sildenafil (Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis).

Hims also has services and treatment offerings for:

• hair loss
• premature ejaculation
• skin care
• mental health

Hims has also created partner brand Hers, which addresses women’s healthcare needs through the digital management of appointments, prescriptions, and treatments.

Looking for more info on Hims? Read our full Hims ED review.

Roman is an offshoot of a company called Ro. It was founded in 2017 as an “end-to-end” healthcare service. Its services are aimed directly at consumers, with minimal obstruction from healthcare professionals, physicians, and pharmacies.

Since its founding, Roman has aggressively advertised this service. It’s become a recognized brand in the men’s health space, especially for its generic Viagra (sildenafil) and generic Cialis (tadalafil).

Roman’s primary service is helping you access healthcare on its platform. This includes:

• making appointments
• getting prescriptions
• having easy access to a physician to guide you through your questions and concerns

Looking for more info on Roman? Read our full Roman ED review.

In addition to their telemedicine services, Hims and Roman both offer ED medications called phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors, which are oral tablets.

PDE5 inhibitors help the smooth muscles relax, so blood vessels allow more blood flow into the penis for an erection.

You need a prescription from a healthcare professional to access these:

• sildenafil (Viagra)
• tadalafil (Cialis)
• avanafil (Stendra)

Keep in mind that many of these ED treatments work similarly but may come in different doses. These doses may take different lengths to take effect and may be taken at different intervals, such as daily or weekly.

Some medications used to treat ED are prescribed off-label. This means doctors have found therapeutic use for a medication outside of what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it for.

Each service also offers PE treatments. These include a lidocaine spray from Hims and benzocaine wipes from Roman.

You can also get sertraline from either service. This oral tablet is used off-label for PE. It has the same active ingredient as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant Zoloft.

For PE, sertraline helps you last longer before ejaculating during sex or masturbation. However, it’s worth noting that SSRI use has been tied to sexual dysfunction in some people. Talk with your prescribing healthcare professional if you begin to experience any symptoms of sexual dysfunction while using sertraline.

Finally, both services offer compounded medications for ED. Compounded medications are specially formulated for a specific use case. They contain the same active ingredients as their FDA-approved counterparts, but they sometimes come in different forms and contain additional ingredients. Compounded medications are not FDA approved.

Here’s how some medications that both Hims and Roman sell work for ED and PE.

Sildenafil and tadalafil

Typically, when your penis nerves are stimulated, smooth muscles around the spongy tissue in your penis, called the corpus cavernosa, relax and let blood flow into this tissue to engorge it. This results in an erection.

With ED, this process is disrupted.

Sildenafil and tadalafil are in a class of drugs called PDE5 inhibitors.

These medications stop the production of the enzyme PDE5. This allows your body to produce higher levels of nitric oxide and relax your penis muscles, letting sufficient blood flow into the penis for an erection.

Lidocaine and benzocaine

Typically, stimulated nerves in your penis use sodium to communicate signals to the central nervous system called action potential. But you can get too stimulated and ejaculate earlier than you want.

Benzocaine and lidocaine help block sodium channels so nerve signals can’t take place. This means you’ll feel less sensation or none at all, so the sensation of sex or masturbation doesn’t overstimulate you.

Some people find this helps them with performance and lowers some anxiety around sex.

Although each company may promise easier alternatives to traditional healthcare, the marketing bluster can sometimes be deceiving.

It’s worth checking out official company websites and third-party review sites, such as Trustpilot. These can give you the broadest, unbiased sense of what to expect from these companies based on personal experiences.

Here’s what customers have to say about each of these brands.

Hims reviews: Is Hims worth trying?

Hims does not offer refunds on certain prescription medications due to regulatory controls around selling and reselling medications.

But as its website states, Hims does allow you to pause or cancel any subscription service without charge if you pause or cancel at least 48 hours before your next scheduled purchase or delivery.

As of August 2024, Hims is rated at 3.85 out of 5 stars on the BBB website and has over 4,600 customer reviews. Many of the reviews cover the same concerns listed above.

Roman reviews: Is Roman worth trying?

Like Hims, Roman does not offer refunds on prescription medications for regulatory reasons. However, if you feel that the company made an error filling your prescription, you can email them for a resolution.

Roman is rated 1.28 out of 5 stars on the BBB website from 46 customer reviews as of August 2024.

Here is an overview of what customers have to say on the BBB:

Both Hims and Roman are relatively young companies with limited track records. This means that most complaints and legal actions against them may not be publicly available.

It can take years for enough consumer reports and evidence to build up before a lawsuit can be successfully filed and taken to court. But here’s what we found that may be relevant to each of these companies.

Hims reputation

To date, the FDA has not issued warning letters targeting Hims’s products or services. In addition, no lawsuits have been publicly filed against the company.

Roman reputation

As with Hims, no FDA warning letters or lawsuits against the Roman brand or the Ro company have been issued or filed.

Here are some common side effects to watch out for when using any of Hims and Roman’s medications.

PDE5 inhibitor side effects

Side effects of PDE5 inhibitors like sildenafil, tadalafil, and avanafil include:

• rashes
• flushed skin
• redness
• achy muscles
• sore throat
• back pain
• headache
• runny nose
• upset stomach
• erection longer than 4 hours (priapism)
• blurry vision

A serious side effect can occur when taking PDE5 inhibitors with nitrates that you might use to regulate blood pressure. These two medications are contraindicated and could cause potentially life threatening hypotensive (low blood pressure) effects.

If you are currently taking nitrates or blood pressure medication, or have a history of heart attacks or strokes, it’s important to share this information with your doctor before starting any PDE5 inhibitors.

Sertraline side effects

Side effects of sertraline can include:

• nausea
• appetite loss
• diarrhea
• upset stomach
• sleepiness
• difficulty falling asleep
• sweating a lot (hyperhidrosis)
• feeling shaky
• exhaustion
• agitation

Benzocaine side effects

Benzocaine is a common numbing agent and is generally considered safe. It’s even used to help numb you before dental procedures.

Here are some uncommon but possible side effects of benzocaine:

• skin flaking
• skin feeling tender where you wiped
• itchiness
• burning and stinging
• warmth or skin redness

One of the biggest benefits of Hims and Roman is that you can get an online consultation with a physician and be prescribed medications sent directly to your home.

However, there’s no substitute for meeting in person with a doctor if you’re able to.

If you have any concerns or questions that these online professionals cannot address, consider talking with a primary care doctor. They can also order additional tests, if necessary, to rule out any other potential causes of your symptoms.

There may be a chance that recent changes to daily nutrition, mental health, or lifestyle may be contributing to your symptoms. If so, your doctor can help build a more personalized treatment plan for you. They can also recommend a local urologist or specialist who can meet with you.

Also, if you experience any concerning side effects as a result of medications received through Hims and Roman, your doctor would be a good resource to reach out to for help.