Helvy vs Numan.

Numan launched in 2018 as a UK men's-health platform. The model is a vertical stack: a customer who wants to investigate low energy, low libido or erectile dysfunction takes a hormone panel, the result is reviewed by a clinician, and where appropriate a prescription is issued — testosterone replacement therapy, ED treatments (sildenafil, tadalafil), or weight-loss medication (GLP-1 receptor agonists, where indicated). The testing is the front door to the prescription pathway.

The Numan flow is well-suited to the customer who has a specific men's-health concern and wants to investigate it inside a regulated framework with a route to treatment. The clinician review and the prescription pathway are the differentiating value: the platform handles the testing, the clinical review, the prescription, and (where applicable) the ongoing monitoring of the treatment response. For testosterone replacement specifically, this is a regulated treatment that requires clinician oversight, and Numan's vertical integration is built for that.

Helvy is not a prescription platform. Helvy is a wellness programme. The Helvy panels measure biomarkers, the Helvy report explains the results in plain English and produces a supplement protocol, and the Helvy Plan layer (£89 per month) handles the ongoing supplement routing and the six-month retest cadence. If a biomarker breaches a clinical threshold (for example testosterone in the hypogonadal range), the Helvy report flags it and recommends a GP referral. Helvy does not issue prescriptions, does not run clinical consultations, and does not route into testosterone replacement therapy. The product is a wellness routing, not a clinical pathway.

The audience shape is also different. Numan focuses on men's health verticals — testosterone, ED, weight loss. Helvy is built for both men and women. The Helvy panel set includes Hormone Balance (£99, 5 markers) for women navigating PCOS investigation or the perimenopause transition, alongside Complete Male Hormones (£119, 9 markers) for men investigating testosterone, SHBG, LH, FSH and the broader hormone picture. The optimal ranges are sex-specific where the evidence supports it, but the same report structure applies to both.

Numan is built around a single insight: the gap between a private blood test and a treatment is often where customers lose the value. A customer who tests their testosterone and discovers it is low has a clinical question, not a wellness question, and the answer involves a GP, a clinician review, and potentially a prescription. Numan vertically integrates that path: the testing front door is wired to a clinical review service and, where appropriate, a prescription pathway. For testosterone replacement therapy specifically, this is the right shape — TRT is a regulated treatment that requires clinician oversight and ongoing monitoring, and Numan's stack handles that end-to-end.

The Numan customer journey starts with a quiz that routes to a hormone panel (for testosterone and ED concerns) or a weight-loss assessment (for GLP-1 candidates). The panel is shipped, the sample is collected at home (finger-prick) or at a clinic (venous), the result is reviewed by a Numan clinician. Where the result and the symptom picture support it, a prescription is issued and the customer is enrolled in an ongoing treatment programme with monitoring panels at three- and six-month intervals.

Helvy's customer journey is different in kind. The Helvy quiz routes to one of five wellness panels: Hormone Balance, Complete Male Hormones, General Energy & Wellness, Advanced Heart Health, Metabolic Health. The sample is collected at home (finger-prick) and posted back the same day. The result is processed at a UKAS-accredited UK laboratory to ISO 15189 and returned within five days. The Helvy report leads with what needs attention, explains every marker in plain English against published optimal ranges, and routes into a supplement protocol via the Helvy Plan layer (£89 a month). There is no clinician consultation in the Helvy flow and no prescription.

If a Helvy biomarker comes back in the clinical-threshold range — for example, testosterone below the hypogonadal threshold, or hs-CRP above 10 mg/L, or HbA1c above 48 mmol/mol — the Helvy report flags it and recommends a GP referral. The lab's clinical-commentary partner can contact the GP directly. Helvy does not route into a prescription pathway because Helvy is not a prescription platform. The Helvy programme is a wellness routing.

The audience shape difference matters. Numan's product is built for men. The marketing, the panels, the clinical pathway and the treatment options are all male-focused. Helvy's panel set explicitly includes Hormone Balance (£99, 5 markers) for women navigating PCOS investigation, perimenopause, or general female hormone questions, alongside Complete Male Hormones (£119, 9 markers) for men. The optimal ranges are sex-specific where the evidence supports it; the report structure is the same for both.

The Complete Male Hormones panel at £119 is the closest like-for-like comparison to a Numan men's hormone panel. Helvy's Complete Male Hormones covers nine markers (total and free testosterone, SHBG, LH, FSH, prolactin, oestradiol, DHEA-S, cortisol). Numan's equivalent men's hormone panel covers a similar range of markers; the exact composition varies by Numan product line. The difference between the two products is not the marker selection — it is what happens after the result. Helvy continues into the plain-English interpretation and the supplement protocol. Numan continues into the clinician review and the prescription pathway.

Numan is the right choice if you are a man investigating low testosterone, erectile dysfunction, or weight loss with the intent of accessing a clinician review and (where indicated) a prescription. The Numan stack is vertically integrated for that pathway: the testing front door, the clinical review, the prescription, the ongoing monitoring. For testosterone replacement therapy specifically, this is a regulated treatment that requires clinician oversight, and Numan's stack is built for that.

If your starting question is closer to "do I qualify for TRT" than "what do my results mean and what should I do about them", Numan answers the first question. The platform is designed to route a positive result into a treatment, and the customer journey is built around that. For ED treatments and GLP-1 weight-loss assessments, the same logic applies: the platform is built to route from testing to treatment inside a regulated framework.

Helvy is not the right choice if you specifically want a route into testosterone replacement, erectile dysfunction treatment, or GLP-1 weight-loss medication. Helvy is a wellness programme without a prescription pathway. If a Helvy result indicates clinical follow-up is needed, Helvy recommends a GP referral and (via the lab's clinical-commentary partner) can contact your GP directly. Helvy does not issue prescriptions.

Helvy is built for the customer, male or female, who wants a curated panel with every marker explained in plain English against optimal ranges, routed into a supplement protocol. The Hormone Balance panel covers female hormone questions (PCOS investigation, perimenopause transition); the Complete Male Hormones panel covers the male hormone picture without routing into a prescription pathway. The wider panel set covers cardiovascular risk, metabolic health and general energy and wellness.

The plan is the wedge on this comparison. Numan routes a positive result into a treatment; Helvy routes the whole panel into a supplement plan built only on what the results justify. If the question the customer is asking is closer to "how is my body doing" than "do I qualify for treatment", Helvy is the right shape.

Helvy is the wellness programme. Numan is the prescription pathway. They serve overlapping audiences at the testing layer and diverge at the post-result layer. The right choice depends on what the customer wants from the result: a wellness routing, or a clinical pathway.