How Hims & Hers Built a $2.35 Billion Consumer Health Machine
Hims & Hers is one of the most important telehealth companies to study because it did something many healthcare startups struggle to do.
It made healthcare feel like a consumer brand without completely reducing healthcare to a consumer product.
The company launched in 2017 with a narrow focus on stigmatized men’s-health problems such as erectile dysfunction and hair loss. A year later, it launched Hers for women. From there it expanded into dermatology, mental health, weight management, heart health, hormone care, diagnostics, international markets, retail distribution, and increasingly personalized treatment.
By the end of 2025, Hims & Hers reported $2.35 billion in annual revenue, up 59% year over year, with more than 2.5 million subscribers, $128 million in net income, and $318 million in adjusted EBITDA.
By mid-2026, subscribers had grown to nearly 2.9 million.
That makes Hims & Hers very different from MEDVi and Ro.
MEDVi shows what can happen when a tiny team combines outsourced infrastructure, AI, affiliates, and explosive demand.
Ro shows what happens when a heavily capitalized company vertically integrates and builds deep healthcare infrastructure.
Hims & Hers shows what happens when direct response, recurring revenue, brand, personalization, owned technology, retail distribution, international expansion, and increasingly broad clinical capabilities compound over time.
That is why it may be the most useful growth model of the three for telehealth founders and CMOs to study.
Hims Started With an Embarrassing Problem and Made It Easy to Buy Help
The original Hims proposition was strategically simple.
Men had problems they often did not want to discuss in person.
Erectile dysfunction.
Hair loss.
Other sensitive conditions.
These categories had several characteristics direct-response marketers love:
- high emotional intensity
- clear consumer awareness
- strong search demand
- recurring treatment potential
- large addressable markets
- an embarrassing or inconvenient traditional buying process
Instead of trying to educate consumers about an entirely new health concept, Hims inserted itself between an existing problem and an existing solution.
The innovation was the experience.
A consumer could start online, communicate with a licensed provider, receive a prescription when clinically appropriate, and have treatment delivered.
The company removed friction from a journey consumers already understood.
Lesson 1: The Best Telehealth Wedges Often Combine Pain, Privacy, and Existing Demand
A strong telehealth category is not simply one that can technically be delivered online.
It often combines several things:
- the consumer already knows the problem exists
- the problem matters enough to trigger action
- the patient may prefer privacy
- traditional access has friction
- the treatment can recur
- the customer can understand the offer quickly
That is why sexual health and hair loss were so powerful.
Hims did not need a long educational funnel explaining why erectile dysfunction matters.
The customer already knew.
The company needed to make the next step easier.
Hims & Hers Did Not Look Like Traditional Healthcare
This may have been one of its most important advantages.
Traditional healthcare branding often feels institutional.
Blue logos.
Stock photos of doctors.
Dense clinical language.
Complicated navigation.
Hims & Hers deliberately looked more like a modern consumer brand.
Simple packaging.
Clean photography.
Direct copy.
Memorable out-of-home advertising.
Familiar ecommerce-style experiences.
The company was named Ad Age’s Direct-to-Consumer Brand of the Year in 2021.
That matters because the brand was not an afterthought sitting on top of telehealth infrastructure.
The brand was part of the growth engine.
Lesson 2: Healthcare Consumers Still Respond to Great Consumer Marketing
Healthcare companies sometimes behave as though good marketing becomes inappropriate the moment medicine is involved.
That is wrong.
The rules are stricter.
The stakes are higher.
The claims require more discipline.
But patients are still people.
They respond to:
- clarity
- relevance
- simplicity
- trust
- good design
- social proof
- convenience
- a strong offer
Hims & Hers understood this early.
That helped normalize telehealth for sensitive conditions.
The Subscription Model Changed the Economics
Hims & Hers was never simply an ecommerce store selling one-off products.
Recurring revenue was central to the business model from early on.
When the company announced plans to go public in 2020, it said more than 90% of revenue was recurring in nature.
This is strategically important.
One-time sales create a constant acquisition treadmill.
Subscriptions create a different relationship between customer acquisition cost and lifetime value.
If a customer remains on treatment for months or years, the company can spend more to acquire that customer because the revenue arrives over time.
Lesson 3: Recurring Revenue Is One of Telehealth’s Most Powerful Growth Advantages
A telehealth company that earns $100 once has very different economics from one that earns $100 per month for twelve months.
That affects:
- allowable CAC
- media buying
- cash flow
- forecasting
- valuation
- retention strategy
- cross-sell economics
The strongest categories are often not merely high demand.
They have continuity.
Hims & Hers Turned One Customer Into Multiple Categories
Once the company had customers, it expanded into more conditions.
Hims moved beyond erectile dysfunction and hair loss.
Hers added women’s health.
Then came dermatology, mental health, weight management, heart health, testosterone, menopause, labs, and other categories.
This is not simply catalog expansion.
It is a lifetime-value strategy.
A consumer acquired for one problem can later become a customer in another category.
That reduces the economic dependence on the first sale.
Lesson 4: Customer Acquisition Gets More Valuable When the Brand Can Solve More Than One Problem
The first transaction may not be the most important transaction.
If a telehealth brand can build enough trust, a patient may later use it for another clinically appropriate service.
That changes the competitive math.
A single-condition competitor may calculate LTV from one treatment.
A multi-category platform can calculate LTV across a relationship.
The company with greater lifetime value can often afford a greater acquisition cost.
And the company that can afford the highest sustainable CAC has an advantage in paid media.
Personalization Became a Major Revenue Driver
Hims & Hers has increasingly emphasized personalized treatment plans rather than simply offering a static menu of products.
Its 2025 annual report specifically said growth in monthly revenue per average subscriber was driven partly by subscriber uptake of personalized offerings.
Monthly revenue per average subscriber increased from $65 in 2024 to $83 in 2025.
That is a major increase.
It suggests something important about the next phase of telehealth.
Consumers may not only pay for access.
They may pay more for care that feels more tailored to them.
Lesson 5: Personalization Can Raise Revenue Without Requiring More Customers
Growth does not always require acquiring another million people.
You can also increase the value created for existing customers.
Personalized offerings can potentially improve:
- conversion
- retention
- average revenue per subscriber
- customer satisfaction
- cross-sell
That is why personalization is strategically different from simply adding more SKUs.
The Retail Strategy Was Smarter Than It Looked
Hims & Hers did not remain purely digital.
The company expanded consumer products into physical retail, including Target and later Walmart.
That may seem strange for a telehealth brand.
It is actually strategically smart.
Retail creates:
- brand awareness
- physical visibility
- trust
- lower-friction first purchases
- distribution beyond paid digital acquisition
A person may discover the brand on a Walmart shelf and later become a telehealth customer.
The physical product becomes advertising.
Lesson 6: Distribution Channels Can Reinforce One Another
Telehealth companies often think in isolated channels.
Google.
Meta.
TikTok.
SEO.
Retail.
Influencers.
Television.
But the most powerful brands allow channels to reinforce each other.
A consumer sees an ad.
Later sees the product at retail.
Searches the brand.
Reads reviews.
Visits the site.
Eventually becomes a subscriber.
Attribution software may struggle to identify the single winning touchpoint.
The consumer does not care.
Hims & Hers Built a Proprietary Technology Layer
The company now describes a proprietary electronic medical record and technology stack supporting its care delivery.
This is important because Hims & Hers is no longer simply a marketing brand sitting on top of off-the-shelf telehealth software.
As the business grew, technology became part of the moat.
Proprietary systems can help optimize:
- provider workflows
- treatment personalization
- care transitions
- administrative efficiency
- data collection
- retention
- cross-category care
Lesson 7: Rent Early. Own Later When the Economics Justify It.
This is a useful middle ground between MEDVi and Ro.
A startup does not need to build every system before validating demand.
But once a company reaches sufficient scale, proprietary infrastructure can become strategically valuable.
The mistake is not owning technology.
The mistake is building expensive proprietary technology before you know whether anyone wants the product.
The GLP-1 Opportunity Supercharged Growth
Hims & Hers entered weight management before the GLP-1 category reached its current scale.
As obesity medications exploded in popularity, the company became one of the largest consumer telehealth platforms participating in the market.
Weight loss helped increase average revenue per subscriber and became an important contributor to growth.
But the company also became a central example of the regulatory tension surrounding compounded GLP-1s.
In February 2026, the FDA publicly announced its intention to take action against companies mass-marketing non-FDA-approved compounded GLP-1 drugs and named Hims & Hers among the companies involved in that market.
Shortly afterward, Hims & Hers announced a strategic shift toward broader access to FDA-approved GLP-1 medications and a collaboration with Novo Nordisk.
By March 2026, FDA-approved Novo Nordisk GLP-1 medications were available through the platform.
Lesson 8: A High-Growth Category Can Accelerate the Business and Increase Regulatory Risk at the Same Time
GLP-1s gave telehealth companies an enormous growth opportunity.
They also put those companies under much greater scrutiny.
That is normal.
Large categories attract:
- competition
- regulators
- journalists
- manufacturers
- politicians
- litigation
Growth strategy has to mature as category visibility increases.
The marketing practices tolerated at $10 million in revenue may create existential risk at $2 billion.
The Super Bowl Ad Became a Compliance Lesson
Hims & Hers ran a high-profile Super Bowl ad around obesity and weight-loss treatment.
In 2025, the FDA commissioner publicly said the advertisement violated prescription-drug promotion rules because it highlighted benefits without adequately presenting risks.
Hims & Hers argued that the ad was intended to raise awareness of the obesity crisis rather than promote a specific prescription medication.
Regardless of how marketers interpret the dispute, it illustrates a basic rule:
As healthcare brands become mass-market consumer brands, their advertising receives mass-market regulatory attention.
Lesson 9: Brand Scale Magnifies Both Upside and Scrutiny
A small digital ad may attract a few thousand impressions.
A Super Bowl advertisement attracts regulators, journalists, competitors, lawmakers, physicians, and tens of millions of consumers.
The larger the distribution, the higher the standard of review should become.
Compliance cannot remain a final checkbox after creative is finished.
It has to be part of the creative system.
Hims & Hers Is Expanding Internationally
The company is no longer only a U.S. telehealth story.
Hims & Hers has expanded through acquisitions and operations in multiple international markets.
In 2025 it acquired ZAVA.
In 2026 it completed the acquisition of Eucalyptus, expanding its presence across markets including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, Ireland, and Spain.
The company now says it is targeting $6.5 billion in annual revenue by 2030 and $1.3 billion in adjusted EBITDA.
That is no longer the ambition of a niche telehealth startup.
It is the ambition of a global consumer-health platform.
Lesson 10: Once the Playbook Works, Geography Becomes Another Growth Lever
There are only so many new categories a company can launch domestically.
International expansion creates another vector.
If the company can reuse:
- brand systems
- technology
- growth expertise
- clinical workflows
- product development
- data infrastructure
across countries, international growth can increase the return on infrastructure already built.
But healthcare is local.
Licensing, prescribing, pharmacy, privacy, reimbursement, cultural norms, and regulation differ by market.
That is why acquisitions such as Eucalyptus can be attractive. They provide local expertise rather than forcing a U.S. company to learn every market from zero.
The Hers Brand Became More Important Than Many People Realize
Hims may be the original brand, but Hers has become a major part of the business.
During the second quarter of 2026, Hims & Hers reported that Hers represented more than 40% of U.S. revenue.
That growth was driven heavily by weight loss and dermatology.
This is strategically important because it demonstrates successful brand extension beyond the original male audience.
Lesson 11: Do Not Let the Original Wedge Become a Prison
Starting narrow is smart.
Staying narrow forever may not be.
Hims & Hers preserved the clarity of separate Hims and Hers brands while allowing the underlying platform to broaden.
That architecture let the company expand without forcing every customer into one generic healthcare brand.
There is a useful lesson here for telehealth founders:
The infrastructure can be broad while the customer-facing proposition stays specific.
Hims & Hers Is Becoming Less Dependent on Any Single Category
The company itself has pushed back on the idea that it is primarily a GLP-1 company.
At the end of 2025, it said only a small minority of subscribers were using compounded GLP-1 treatments.
By the second quarter of 2026, the company reported that a majority of U.S. revenue still came from non-GLP-1 offerings.
That matters.
A business built entirely around one regulatory window or one drug category is fragile.
A diversified platform has more resilience.
Lesson 12: Use Hot Categories to Accelerate the Platform, Not Define the Entire Platform
Every few years there is a category marketers become obsessed with.
CBD.
Crypto.
AI.
GLP-1s.
The danger is building a company whose identity disappears when the trend changes.
Hims & Hers used GLP-1 demand to grow, but its existing sexual health, hair, dermatology, mental health, and other categories created a more diversified base.
That makes the company more strategically durable.
Hims & Hers vs Ro vs MEDVi
These three companies now give us three distinct telehealth growth architectures.
MEDVi: The Lean Acquisition Machine
Minimal internal headcount. Heavy outsourcing. AI-assisted operations. Aggressive affiliates and direct response. Speed over infrastructure ownership.
Ro: The Vertically Integrated Healthcare Platform
Large venture funding. Owned pharmacy infrastructure. Labs. Diagnostics. Acquisitions. Provider systems. Deep control over the patient journey.
Hims & Hers: The Consumer Brand Subscription Machine
Strong brand. High recurring revenue. Direct response. Cross-category expansion. Proprietary technology. Retail. Personalization. Public-market discipline. International acquisition.
These are not merely three companies.
They are three strategic templates.
What I Would Copy From Hims & Hers
1. Start With High-Intent Problems
Do not begin by selling a philosophy. Begin with a problem people want solved.
2. Remove Embarrassment and Friction
Privacy is a conversion advantage in sensitive health categories.
3. Build Recurring Revenue
Subscriptions change acquisition economics.
4. Cross-Sell Carefully
The customer relationship should become more valuable over time.
5. Invest in Brand
Direct response captures demand. Brand creates trust and expands awareness.
6. Increase Personalization
Higher-value care can increase revenue per customer without requiring another acquisition.
7. Use Multiple Distribution Channels
Paid digital, SEO, retail, television, influencers, partnerships, and international distribution can reinforce one another.
8. Own Infrastructure Once Scale Justifies It
Proprietary systems can become a moat after product-market fit.
9. Use Large Categories Without Becoming Dependent on Them
Hot markets should accelerate the platform rather than become the only reason it exists.
10. Think Globally Only After the Domestic Engine Works
Do not internationalize a broken model.
What I Would Not Copy
I would not let brand ambition outrun regulatory discipline.
I would not assume a Super Bowl-sized audience can be treated like a normal paid-social campaign.
I would not build expensive proprietary infrastructure before proving demand.
I would not expand into categories purely because competitors are entering them.
I would not rely on one drug, one regulation, or one acquisition channel.
I would not mistake subscriber growth for healthy economics without also watching gross margin, retention, cash flow, and contribution margin.
The Most Important Growth Metric May Be Revenue Per Subscriber
Subscriber counts make headlines.
Revenue per subscriber tells you more about the maturity of the platform.
Hims & Hers increased monthly revenue per average subscriber from $65 in 2024 to $83 in 2025.
By the second quarter of 2026, that metric had reached $92.
That is a powerful signal.
The company was not merely acquiring more people.
It was monetizing relationships more deeply.
The Bigger Lesson: Telehealth Is Becoming Consumer Health Infrastructure
Hims & Hers began as a website helping men get ED and hair-loss treatments.
Less than a decade later, it is operating across multiple countries, managing millions of subscribers, generating billions in revenue, connecting patients with hundreds of licensed providers, operating proprietary clinical technology, distributing health products through major retailers, and participating in some of the most important pharmaceutical categories in the world.
That trajectory tells us something important.
The leading telehealth companies are not remaining telehealth companies.
They are becoming consumer healthcare platforms.
Telehealth is simply one delivery layer.
The Bottom Line
Hims & Hers did not win because it invented telemedicine.
It did not win because it invented sildenafil, finasteride, semaglutide, or any other medication.
It won because it understood the consumer.
It began with problems people already cared deeply about.
It removed embarrassment and friction.
It wrapped healthcare in a modern consumer experience.
It built recurring revenue.
It expanded lifetime value.
It invested in brand.
It built technology.
It diversified channels.
It expanded internationally.
And it kept moving into larger categories without allowing one category to become the entire business.
By the end of 2025, that system had produced $2.35 billion in annual revenue and more than 2.5 million subscribers.
That is the real Hims & Hers lesson.
Telehealth growth is not one trick.
It is the compounding effect of offer, brand, distribution, retention, infrastructure, personalization, and timing.
Get enough of those pieces working together, and a niche health brand can become a global consumer-health company.
Sources and Further Reading
- Hims & Hers Full Year 2025 Financial Results
- Hims & Hers 2025 Form 10-K
- Hims & Hers Company History
- Hims & Hers Public-Market Announcement
- Hims & Hers Named DTC Brand of the Year
- Hims & Hers Walmart Expansion
- FDA GLP-1 Enforcement Statement, February 2026
- Hims & Hers 2026 Weight-Loss Strategy Shift
- Novo Nordisk GLP-1s on Hims & Hers
- Hims & Hers Completes Eucalyptus Acquisition
For the two other major telehealth growth models, read How MEDVi Grew to $401 Million and How Ro Went From Roman to a Consumer Health Platform.
For the infrastructure underneath these companies, see Best Telehealth Software Platforms: 2026 Buyer’s Guide.
