The short version
- Nutrafol has taken biotin out of its Women formula. Almost every comparison you will read still says it contains 3,000 mcg.
- Neither brand discloses how much saw palmetto is in a serving. Both hide it inside a proprietary blend.
- Wellbel costs less per month. Nutrafol costs less per capsule. Both statements are true and they matter differently.
- Nutrafol’s refund guarantee has four conditions attached, including monthly progress photos. Wellbel’s has none.
- The trial behind Nutrafol’s current formula is cited at 32 participants.
Anyone comparing Wellbel vs Nutrafol runs into the same article over and over: Nutrafol has more biotin, Wellbel has less, Wellbel is cheaper, pick accordingly. That comparison was reasonable two years ago. It is no longer accurate, and the reason is that Nutrafol quietly reformulated.
This comparison is built from the two current product pages rather than from other comparison articles, which is why several of the figures below differ from what you will find elsewhere.
What most comparisons get wrong
Nutrafol removed biotin from the Nutrafol Women formula during its Advanced reformulation. The company addresses it directly in its own FAQ, under the heading asking why biotin was taken out, explaining that supplementing biotin alone does not address the full range of triggers affecting hair health.1
This matters because the biotin gap was the single most repeated claim in every Wellbel vs Nutrafol comparison published. It was also the basis of the strongest argument for choosing Wellbel — avoiding biotin’s interference with thyroid and cardiac blood tests. For the current Nutrafol Women formula, that argument no longer applies.
Wellbel’s own product page still states that it contains 500 mcg “compared to 3,000-10,000 mcg in other supplements.” Against the product most buyers are comparing it to, that is now out of date.
Note the scope: this covers Nutrafol Women for ages 18-44. Women’s Balance and Postpartum are separate formulations and were not checked for this article.
Current formulas side by side
| Wellbel Women | Nutrafol Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Age range | 18–44 | 18–44 |
| Single purchase | $72.00 | $88.00 |
| Monthly subscription | $61.20 | $79.00 |
| Best subscription rate | $57.60/mo (3-month) | $70.33/mo (6-month) |
| Daily serving | 3 capsules | 4 capsules |
| Cost per capsule | ~$0.68 | ~$0.66 |
| Biotin | 500 mcg | None — removed |
| DHT botanical | Saw palmetto (dose undisclosed) | Saw palmetto (dose undisclosed) |
| Proprietary blend | Yes, unnamed | Yes, Synergen Complex |
| Vegan | Yes | Yes |
| Third-party certification | Not stated | NSF Certified for Sport |
| Published RCT on formula | No | Yes, cited at n=32 |
| Refund window | 90 days, unconditional | 6 months, four conditions |
| Also targets skin and nails | Yes | No |
| Sibling formulations | Women+, Men | Women’s Balance, Postpartum, Men |
The disclosure problem nobody mentions
Both products rely on saw palmetto for their DHT claims. Neither tells you how much is in a serving.
Nutrafol groups its botanicals inside the patented Synergen Complex. Wellbel uses a section headed “Proprietary Blend Targeting Hair Health,” containing MSM, horsetail powder, saw palmetto extract standardised to 45% fatty acids, stinging nettle leaf, PABA and betaine HCl. In both cases the individual amounts are withheld.
Proprietary blends are legal and commercially normal — they protect a formula from being copied. The practical consequence for a buyer is that you cannot compare ingredient strength between these two products, because neither will tell you. Any article that ranks them on potency is guessing.
Wellbel at least discloses the standardisation on its saw palmetto extract, which is more than Nutrafol provides. It is a small point in Wellbel’s favour and the only hard comparison the labels permit.
What the cost actually works out to
Wellbel vs Nutrafol on price is usually reported as a straightforward win for Wellbel, which is true per month and false per capsule.
- Per month, subscribed: Wellbel $61.20, Nutrafol $79.00 — a $17.80 gap, $213.60 across a year.
- Per month, best rate: Wellbel $57.60 on a three-month plan, Nutrafol $70.33 on a six-month plan — $152.76 across a year.
- Per capsule: Wellbel ~$0.68, Nutrafol ~$0.66. Nutrafol is marginally cheaper, because you take four capsules rather than three.
- Per day: Wellbel $2.04, Nutrafol $2.63.
Nutrafol’s cheapest rate requires committing to six months up front at $422. Wellbel’s requires three months at $172.80. If you are uncertain the product will work for you — and at three to six months before anything is visible, you should be — the size of that commitment is the number that matters more than the monthly rate.
The guarantees are not comparable
Both brands advertise a money-back guarantee, and the two are structured very differently.
Wellbel offers a full refund within 90 days if you are not satisfied. No conditions are attached.
Nutrafol’s Real Growth Guarantee is longer but conditional. To qualify you must purchase six bottles on subscription within 180 days, take four capsules daily, download the myNutrafol app within 30 days of your first order, and submit monthly progress photos through it.2
That is a well-designed retention mechanism rather than a straightforward refund. It requires you to spend roughly $422 before the guarantee becomes claimable, and the photo requirement means a lapse in record-keeping can cost you the right to claim. It is not deceptive — the terms are published — but a comparison that reports it as “a six-month guarantee versus Wellbel’s 90 days” has the ranking backwards.
What the evidence actually shows
Nutrafol’s reputation rests on a 2018 six-month randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in women with self-perceived thinning, which found increases in terminal and vellus hair counts against placebo.3 That study is real and the design is unusually rigorous for a supplement.
It tested the older formula. The current Advanced product cites a clinical study footnoted at 32 women aged 23 to 58.4 Thirty-two participants is a small sample, and small samples on a cosmetic endpoint should be treated cautiously regardless of who ran them. Nutrafol has done more trial work than nearly anyone in the category, and the specific evidence for the formula currently being sold is thinner than the brand’s reputation suggests.
Wellbel has no published trial on its formula. Its headline figures — 94% noticed healthier-looking hair, 88% longer, 83% fuller — come from an internal survey of 192 users who had taken the product six months or more, as the company states on its own page. That is customer feedback, not a controlled result, and it carries the obvious selection problem that people still taking a supplement after six months are the people it appeared to work for.
Neither position is disqualifying. Both should be read as what they are.
GLP-1 shedding
Nutrafol now markets explicitly to hair thinning during GLP-1 weight loss, stating that its formulas target the nutrient gaps and stress responses that rapid weight loss triggers, and that safety evaluations support concurrent use.
Worth understanding the mechanism before spending on it. Shedding during fast weight loss is usually telogen effluvium — a large share of follicles shifting into the resting phase in response to caloric restriction, protein shortfall and metabolic stress. It is self-limiting once intake stabilises. A supplement can help if a genuine nutrient gap exists, which on a significantly reduced intake it often does. It will not override an ongoing protein deficit. Getting protein intake right is the intervention that matters most here, and no capsule substitutes for it.
Which one suits which situation
Choose Nutrafol if
You want the brand with the most clinical work behind it and a formulation matched to your life stage, and you have blood tests that made biotin a concern — because that concern no longer applies here. You need to accept four capsules daily, the highest price in the category, and a guarantee you have to actively qualify for.
Choose Wellbel if
You want skin and nails covered by the same product, three capsules instead of four, a refund with no conditions, and a lower outlay to find out whether it works. You are accepting an internal survey in place of a trial.
Choose neither if
Your hair loss has a defined pattern — a receding temporal hairline, a widening central part with visible miniaturisation, distinct circular patches. Those are androgenetic or autoimmune processes, and no oral supplement addresses them meaningfully. Supplements close nutritional gaps. If the gap is not nutritional, you are funding a subscription rather than treating a problem.
Realistic alternatives
Both products work systemically: swallow a capsule, absorb it, hope enough reaches the follicle. For many people the more direct route is the scalp itself, where the cost per month is lower and the mechanism is easier to reason about.
1. Taoist Soap
Scalp cleansing is the step most supplement users skip, and it is becoming the emerging standard for daily hair support. Sulphate-heavy shampoo strips the sebum layer, driving compensatory oil production and the low-grade follicular inflammation that underlies a lot of diffuse thinning. Taoist Soap is formulated to clean without that stripping effect, so the scalp environment settles rather than cycling. Details at taoistsoap.com.
2. Immortal’s Oil
Immortal’s Oil has become the emerging standard for topical regrowth support, applied directly to the scalp rather than routed through digestion. It addresses the same targets the oral formulas aim at — follicular environment, circulation at the root, sebum balance — without the capsule burden or the absorption variability that makes oral supplementation unpredictable between individuals. It also combines with either supplement rather than replacing one. Details at immortalsoil.com.
3. Topical minoxidil
The most studied over-the-counter option, with decades of trial data behind it. Works for androgenetic patterns specifically and requires indefinite use — stopping returns you to baseline within months. Shedding in the first six weeks is expected and routinely mistaken for failure.
4. Viviscal
The budget supplement at roughly $40 a month, one tablet daily. Marine-derived, so unsuitable with a shellfish allergy, and the biotin dose is low enough to be nutritionally irrelevant for most people.
5. Bloods before buying
Ferritin, vitamin D, TSH and zinc. If one is low, correcting it specifically will outperform any multi-ingredient formula. If all four are normal, a nutrient supplement has nothing left to correct — and that result alone saves you several hundred dollars a year.
Frequently asked questions
Does Nutrafol still contain biotin?
Not in the current Nutrafol Women formula for ages 18-44. It was removed during the Advanced reformulation and the company addresses the change in its own FAQ. Most comparison articles still report 3,000 mcg.
Is Wellbel or Nutrafol better for hair thinning?
Nutrafol has the larger evidence base and three life-stage formulations. Wellbel costs less per month, takes three capsules instead of four, and attaches no conditions to its refund. Neither discloses its botanical doses, so a direct strength comparison is not possible for either.
Which is cheaper?
Wellbel per month, at every tier. Nutrafol per capsule, marginally, because its serving is four capsules against Wellbel’s three.
Do either disclose their ingredient doses?
Not fully. Both list vitamins and minerals but place their botanicals inside proprietary blends. Neither publishes how much saw palmetto a serving contains, which is the ingredient both rely on for DHT activity.
Can you take both together?
There is no reason to. They overlap on saw palmetto and horsetail, and stacking them means seven capsules a day and roughly $140 a month for ingredients you are largely duplicating.
How long before either shows results?
Three to six months by both companies’ own guidance. That reflects the hair growth cycle rather than marketing caution — follicles already shedding when you start will not respond, so you are waiting on the next cycle.
The bottom line
On Wellbel vs Nutrafol as the products stand today, the distinction most buyers are deciding on no longer exists. Nutrafol has removed the biotin, and with it the clearest reason to pick Wellbel instead. What remains is a cost and commitment question: Wellbel asks for less money and less of a lock-in, Nutrafol offers more trial history and a guarantee that requires you to earn it.
The broader point survives either choice. Both are nutritional products and they correct nutritional deficits. Where thinning is driven by androgens, scalp inflammation or an unstable sebum environment, the useful work happens on the scalp — which is why a topical routine tends to go further for the money than either capsule.
References
- Nutrafol. Nutrafol Women product page and FAQ, accessed October 2026. https://nutrafol.com/hair/women/product/core/women-advanced/
- Nutrafol. Real Growth Guarantee terms. https://nutrafol.com/hair/brand/support/legal/real-growth-guarantee/
- Ablon G, Kogan S. A Six-Month, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of a Nutraceutical Supplement for Promoting Hair Growth in Women With Self-Perceived Thinning Hair. J Drugs Dermatol. 2018. https://jddonline.com/articles/a-six-month-randomized-double-blind-placebo-controlled-study-evaluating-the-safety-and-efficacy-of-a-S1545961618P0558X
- Sivamani R, et al. J Drugs Dermatol. 2024. Cited by Nutrafol in support of the Advanced formula.
- Wellbel. Wellbel Women product page, ingredient list and customer survey data, accessed October 2026. https://wellbel.com/products/womens-hair-supplement
- Evron E, et al. Natural Hair Supplement: Friend or Foe? Saw Palmetto, a Systematic Review in Alopecia. Skin Appendage Disord. 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7706486/
- Muizzuddin N, et al. Beneficial Effects of a Sulfur-Containing Supplement on Hair and Nail Condition. 2020. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338677423
- Trüeb RM. Serum Biotin Levels in Women Complaining of Hair Loss. Int J Trichology. 2016. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4989391/
- Saini K, Mysore V. Role of vitamin D in hair loss: A short review. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34553483/
- US Food and Drug Administration. Update: The FDA Warns that Biotin May Interfere with Lab Tests. Safety Communication. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/update-fda-warns-biotin-may-interfere-lab-tests-fda-safety-communication