Buying a hearing aid is a big deal. Even with the non-prescription hearing aids I review, you’re looking at a few hundred dollars. When it comes to your hearing, there’s only so much you’ll want to compromise on price. So how do you prevent a big lump sum payment? A hearing aid payment installment.
Like most other products, you can buy hearing aids by paying a smaller monthly fee. This installment program means you’re paying off your hearing aids over a longer period of time and is essentially a loan that the company offers.
If you’re looking to buy a hearing aid with a small monthly fee, an installment agreement could be just what you need. Naturally, life is better when you have money laying around to pay for big expenses out of pocket, but things don’t always work out like that.
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Below, I have assembled the different payment plan options for well-known brands that I’ve covered before. First, I’ll pull up a comparison table, then discuss the different options a bit more in detail.
| Company | Service | Options | Interest paid | Lowest monthly amount |
| Otofonix | Affirm | Yes | Yes* | $33 |
| Neosonic | Affirm | Yes | Yes* | $28 |
| ZVOX | Shop Pay | No | No | $50 |
*Interest paid on some options.
How do hearing aid payment installment programs compare?
As you can see, most companies use Affirm to offer the option to pay for your hearing aids in installments. Affirm is an online lender that offers these payment programs for thousands of retailers. In essence, you get a personal loan for one specific product. This helps break up the price into smaller parts that you pay out in 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 or 36 months. The precise details of each transaction will differ based on what the retailer has determined.
Benefits of Affirm include: transparent pricing, no compounded interest (meaning you only pay interest over the original amount), and no late fees. You need to qualify for a purchase, and each purchase can affect your credit score, although an Affirm loan seems easier to get than a normal personal loan.
Otofonix
Otofonix offers the Affirm installment option on most models. The Apex is excluded, but currently has a liquidation sale with a price that doesn’t warrant an installment ($124). As of September 2021, the cheapest hearing aid with an installment option is the Otofonix Elite. For this model, the lowest monthly price is $32.05 for twelve payments. A complete overview of models can be found in the table below (click on a model name for a full review):
| Model | Term options | Interest-free option | Lowest monthly amount | Total interest with lowest monthly amount |
| Elite | 3, 6, 12 months | $118.33 / mo | $32.05 | $29.60 |
| Encore | 3, 6, 12 months | $165 / mo | $44.69 | $41.30 |
| Helix | 3, 6, 12 months | $185 / mo | $50.14 | $46.67 |
| Groove | 3, 6, 12 months | $251.67 / mo | $68.21 | $63.47 |
As you can see, Otofonix always offers an interest-free option with three payments, and the lowest payments when you pay for your hearing aid in twelve months.
Neosonic
Just like Neosonic’s models often look like Otofonix’ models (or the other way around), their payment options are also very similar. There are very few differences between the two companies. Neosonic’s cheapest model is the B10, which is available starting at $27.01 per month.
| Model | Term options | Interest-free option | Lowest monthly amount | Total interest with lowest monthly amount |
| B10 | 3, 6, 12 months | $99.67 / mo | $27.01 | $25.13 |
| MX | 3, 6, 12 months | $182.67 / mo | $49.51 | $46.30 |
| MX-RIC | 3, 6, 12 months | $216 / mo | $58.54 | $54.47 |
As you can see, Neosonic also offers an interest-free option with three payments.
ZVOX
ZVOX doesn’t really need a table. They currently only offer their older VB20 model. You can either pay $199 at once or select four interest-free biweekly installments of $49.99.
Amazon
Although Amazon also offers paying for your products in installments, I haven’t seen the option with any hearing aids yet, but when I notice the option pop up, I’ll make sure to add it in the overview right here.
Final thoughts
I’m glad to see the rise of hearing aid payment installment programs. I personally don’t like adding a monthly payment to my budget, but I’ll take it over settling for worse hearing aids. Especially the more expensive models from Otofonix and Neosonic are a lot easier to pay for when you can pay for your hearing aids in installments. I’ve seen another trend that’s worth looking out for: hearing aid memberships, where a flat fee every month gives you hearing aids, insurance, and support.