Sesame Care vs Winona
Side-by-side HRT telehealth comparison · Verified August 16, 2026
The short answer
Winona takes it: 8.4 vs 7.6, transparency grade B against B, from $54/mo (~$1,161 realistic first year). The edge: $0 consult + product-only pricing + largest HRT-specific review base. Sesame Care still makes sense for women who want FDA-approved (not compounded) generic HRT they can run through insurance at their own pharmacy, from a named clinician, with prices visible up front, and who are fine seeing whichever clinician they book rather than a dedicated menopause specialist.
| Sesame Care | Winona | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 7.6/10 | 8.4/10 |
| Transparency grade | B | B |
| Consult fee | Menopause care runs about $99/mo on Sesame's reported Menopause and HRT plan, or per-visit (about $99 to $125 a video visit) on the marketplace; optional Sesame Plus $10.99/mo or $99/year takes $10 off visits [Reported plan price; Plus verified July 2026] | $0, product-only pricing [Verified July 2026] |
| Monthly cost | From $99/mo | From $54/mo |
| Real first-year cost | Not verified | ~$1,161 |
| Bloodwork | Not required to prescribe; lab tests are available to order, and Sesame Plus includes one free lab per year ($65 value, for example testosterone, TSH, lipid panel) [Verified July 2026] | Not required [Reported] |
| Formats offered | oral, patch, gel, vaginal, cream | cream, oral, patch, vaginal |
| Insurance | No, cash pay | No, cash pay |
| States | All 50 states [Reported] | 37 states plus Puerto Rico, counted off Winona's own states page. The 48-state figure this record carried until 2026-08-16 was third-party and is 11 states too generous [Verified August 2026] |
| Trustpilot | Not surfaced | 4.6/5 · ~7,802 reviews |
| Visit Sesame Care | Visit Winona |
Sesame Care first-year math: We do not publish a single first-year figure for Sesame because its cheapest realistic path has two variable parts we could not verify this pass: a menopause video visit (about $99 to $125 [Reported]) plus generic estradiol filled at your own pharmacy (cheap, often a low copay on insurance, but the exact cash price was not shown to us). Optional Sesame Plus is $10.99/mo or $99/year [Verified]. The generic-at-your-pharmacy route is plausibly the cheapest cash HRT in this set, but we do not claim it as verified. Alloy, whose $39.99/mo estradiol pill price we fetched directly, is the cheapest route we can stand behind.
Winona first-year math: Winona bills every 28 days, not monthly, so a year holds 13.04 charges rather than 12. Estrogen Body Cream with Progesterone at $89 per cycle x 13.04 = $1,160.56, all-inclusive (consults, follow-ups, shipping included). Cheapest-entry route: estrogen tablets at $54 x 13.04 = $704.16. Every other provider on this roster is measured at 12 charges a year, so counting Winona the same way understated its year by one full charge, which is where the $1,068 this record carried until 2026-08-16 came from [Verified August 2026].
Choose Sesame Care if
Women who want FDA-approved (not compounded) generic HRT they can run through insurance at their own pharmacy, from a named clinician, with prices visible up front, and who are fine seeing whichever clinician they book rather than a dedicated menopause specialist.
From $99/mo · Transparency B
Read full Sesame Care review →Choose Winona if
Women who want compounded bioidentical HRT with zero consult fees, published product pricing, and unlimited text follow-ups.
From $54/mo · Transparency B
Read full Winona review →Where both fall short
The honest part
Sesame Care
- Menopause is one of 120+ marketplace services, not a specialty: no dedicated menopause-specialist continuity, and you see whichever clinician you book [Verified July 2026]
- A minority of reviews describe surprise recurring charges and thin post-visit provider messaging [Reported]
- Trustpilot 4.7 and BBB A+ are platform-wide, not menopause-specific [Reported]
- The menopause visit price and generic drug cost were not shown to our verification pass; both carry [Reported] status [Reported]
Winona
- Bills every 28 days while quoting a monthly price, which is 13.04 charges a year, not 12 [Verified August 2026]
- Founders, HQ and corporate entity still not surfaced anywhere, though the clinicians now are [Verified August 2026, absence]
- Subscription-cancellation confusion in reviews [Reported]
Go deeper
This is general information, not medical advice. Hormone therapy is prescription treatment. Whether either provider fits your health history is a decision for a licensed clinician. Facts on this page render from our provider data layer, verified August 16, 2026 where sites allow crawling; items marked [Reported] rest on third-party sources.
Midi Health
Sesame Care