Truemed Alternatives for Your Store, Gym, or Spa
Comparing Truemed alternatives for your store, gym, or spa? See setup time, pricing, and recurring billing side by side, and what it takes to go live this week.
6 minute read
TLDR;
If you run a store, gym, spa, or wellness business, letting customers spend HSA/FSA dollars with you is one of the most effective sales lifts available, and Truemed is the name most owners hear first. It is not the easiest way to get there. Truemed means a sales call, a checkout integration on their card rails, and terms that typically include a rev share. Burst is the alternative built for speed: self-serve signup, live in about 30 minutes, no technical integration, $100 a month with no contract and never a percentage of your revenue, and it works whether you sell online, in person, or both. Here's the full merchant-side comparison.
(Shopping as a consumer, not a merchant? You can get a letter for any purchase directly from Burst.)
Truemed alternatives for merchants at a glance
Offering | Getting live | Cost to you | Built for | Recurring billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Truemed | Sales call, then checkout integration, typically weeks | Not public; typically a rev share | Online brands in their partner network | Limited support |
Flex | Sales call, then checkout integration, typically weeks | Not public; typically a rev share | Online brands in their partner network | Limited support |
Burst | Self-serve, live in 30 minutes, no integration | $100/month, month to month, no contract, no revenue share | Every business: retail, gyms, spas, studios, online or in person | Works with your existing billing; no card rails involved |
Why merchants go looking for a Truemed alternative
Four reasons come up over and over. First, the process: Truemed requires a sales call, a wait, technical integration, and their team's timeline becomes your launch timeline. Second, the terms: their merchant pricing isn't published, so you don't know what offering HSA/FSA will cost you until you're deep in their sales process. Third, the model is built around online checkout; if your revenue happens at a front desk, a med spa chair, or a custom billing system, you're not the customer their product was designed for. Fourth, recurring billing: memberships and subscriptions are exactly where HSA/FSA spend is most valuable to a gym or studio, and card-rail models handle them worst.
Burst: live in 30 minutes, built for every business
Burst was built to remove every one of those obstacles. Signup is self-serve, and partners are live in 30 minutes with zero technical integration: nothing changes in your checkout, your POS, or your billing. Your customers pay you exactly the way they do today, with any card. Burst handles the Letter of Medical Necessity side: a licensed clinician reviews each member's case, the letter arrives within 24 hours of approval, and Burst files the reimbursement claim with the member's FSA, HSA, or HRA plan; the administrator pays the reimbursement out of their account to them.
The pricing is public and flat: $100 a month, billed month to month, no contract, and never a percentage of your revenue. Members pay a $20 one-time letter fee, or you can cover it as a perk. And the offer is safe to put your brand behind: if a clinician doesn't approve a letter or a member's claim is denied, the fee is refunded automatically. Neither Truemed nor Flex advertises a comparable guarantee.
Retailers, gyms, wellness spas, med spas, and studios all run on the same setup, because there is no integration to vary. See how it works or go live now.
Flex
Flex (withflex.com) is functionally the same product as Truemed: an HSA/FSA card option in partner checkouts, an LMN service, a marketplace of partner brands, a sales call to learn your terms (typically a rev share), and an integration to go live. If you're comparing Flex to Truemed, you're comparing logos and rev share percentages, not models. If you want to be live today without engineering, neither is the tool.
What about Hammock?
Hammock (usehammock.co) is a consumer app that scans a shopper's own accounts for eligible expenses. There's nothing for your business to offer; it isn't a merchant product.
The recurring billing problem, and why it matters for gyms and spas
HSA/FSA card payments must be substantiated in real time under IRS rules (the IIAS framework, IRS Notices 2006-69 and 2007-2), and a recurring card charge needs that check at every renewal. That's why card-rail providers struggle with exactly the revenue that matters most to membership businesses. Burst sidesteps the whole problem: members keep paying through your existing billing, on whatever card they already use, and the letter covers the expense. Nothing changes in your billing at all.
How to choose
You're an e-commerce brand already in Truemed's or Flex's pipeline and comfortable with an integration project on their timeline.
You want HSA/FSA live this week, at a price you know in advance, without touching your checkout: that's Burst, and it's not close.
You're a gym, spa, or studio with recurring billing: card-rail models work against you structurally. Start with the offering that ignores card rails.
Frequently asked questions
How do I let customers use HSA/FSA money at my business?
Offer them a path to a Letter of Medical Necessity and reimbursement. With Burst, partners are live in 30 minutes, self-serve: your customers pay you normally, Burst's clinicians handle the letters, and Burst files the reimbursement claims.
What does Truemed cost a merchant?
Truemed doesn't publish merchant pricing; you learn your terms through their sales process (typically a rev share %). Burst's pricing is public: $100 a month, month to month, no contract, and no percentage of revenue.
Does offering Burst require a developer or checkout changes?
No. There is no technical integration. Your checkout, POS, and billing stay exactly as they are, which is also why Burst works for in-person businesses, not just online stores.
What happens if my customer's claim is denied?
Burst refunds the letter fee automatically if a clinician doesn't approve the letter or the plan denies the claim, so the offer never burns a customer. Truemed and Flex don't advertise a comparable guarantee.
Can Burst make my products FSA/HSA eligible?
No service can. Eligibility comes from IRS rules and each member's plan administrator. A Letter of Medical Necessity documents the medical reason for an expense so an eligible claim can be approved.
Can members get letters for things they already bought?
No. IRS rules require the letter to be dated on or before the purchase, and that binds every provider equally: Burst, Truemed, and Flex.
Related guides
Offer HSA/FSA savings this week
Self-serve setup in about 30 minutes. $100 a month, no contract, no revenue share, no integration. Get started with Burst or see how it works.
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