Comparison

Morpheus8 vs FaceTite

Morpheus8 delivers radiofrequency through the skin on needles; FaceTite delivers it under the skin through a cannula, with an entry point and local anaesthesia. They are often sold together, and that combination has no controlled human trial behind it.
Written & medically reviewed by the Dermapedia team
At a Glance

Through the skin, or under it — that is the whole distinction. Morpheus8 presses an array of insulated needles into the skin and releases radiofrequency from the last half-millimetre of each one. FaceTite passes a cannula beneath the skin through a small entry point and runs current between that tube and an electrode on the surface above it. Same company, same energy, two different procedures.

The practical consequences follow directly. Morpheus8 uses topical numbing cream and leaves the skin intact. FaceTite involves an entry point and, in the published case series of this technique, local anaesthesia. If your clinic offers both and describes them in the same breath, that is the sentence to ask about first.

They are frequently sold as one combined treatment, and the evidence for combining them is not a human trial. The pairing is described in a 2019 technique paper that covers Morpheus8 together with FaceTite and BodyTite. The journal graded it Level 4 evidence - a technique description and case experience, not a controlled comparison. The only published study that put a Morpheus8 group, a radiofrequency-under-the-skin group and a combined group side by side was a 24-rat histopathology study — and it used BodyTite, the body version, not FaceTite. Combining them is clinic practice with a plausible rationale, not a tested protocol.

Neither one is cleared for a cosmetic use. Morpheus8's clearances read electrocoagulation and hemostasis — surgical language for sealing tissue and stopping bleeding — in December 2019 (K192695), then coagulation or contraction of soft tissue in July 2023 (K231790). FaceTite is not the name on any FDA clearance at all; it is a handpiece under InMode's general RF System clearances, worded the same way. Jowls, laxity, tightening and contouring appear in neither. Off-label treatment is legal and normal — it just means no regulator reviewed either device for the thing you are being sold.

Morpheus8
InMode, needles through the skin
FaceTite
InMode, a cannula under the skin

What it is

An in-office needle treatment through intact skin, with topical numbing
A minimally invasive procedure with a small entry point and local anaesthesia
Both
If you are choosing between the two at one clinic, this row is the choice. The rest is detail.

How it works

Bipolar current at 1 MHz runs between pins in the tip, leaving a grid of small coagulation zones in the dermis

The pins are insulated except the distal 0.5 mm, so heat leaves at the needle tip rather than at the surface.

Current runs between an internal cannula and an external skin electrode, coagulating the fibrous network beneath the skin

Temperature and tissue resistance are monitored and the energy adjusts automatically as the cannula moves.

Both
InMode and the clinical literature describe the FaceTite arrangement as bipolar; the FDA's own 2026 summary calls the same handpieces monopolar, because the external electrode acts as a return.

How deep it goes

Selectable by tip: a fixed 0.5 mm resurfacing tip, 1 to 4 mm on Prime, 1 to 7 mm on the standard tip, 2 to 7 mm on Body

The deepest figure in any FDA summary is 7.0 mm. "8 mm" is a 2020 marketing number — 7 mm of needle plus 1 mm of thermal profile — and depth is not something the FDA clears.

Into the subcutaneous plane, wherever the cannula travels

No cannula length or gauge is published, so none is quoted.

What it is cleared to treat

Electrocoagulation and hemostasis (2019); coagulation or contraction of soft tissue (2023)

Above 62 mJ per pin the applicator is limited on-label to skin types I to IV.

Electrocoagulation and hemostasis; since July 2024, coagulation or contraction of soft tissue

No 510(k) exists under the name FaceTite.

Both
Identical regulatory position, so this row cannot help you choose between them. It is useful for a different reason: it tells you that any clinic claim of "FDA cleared for jawline tightening" is not coming from a clearance document.

Downtime

Redness in essentially everyone, swelling in some; three to four days in one neck study, with barrier function back to baseline by about day seven

Those figures come from RF microneedling studies on other manufacturers' machines, not from Morpheus8 itself.

Not documented in the published literature

No published trial gives a recovery figure for FaceTite, so none is quoted. It is a procedure with an entry point and an anaesthetic, which is a different order of event.

Comfort

Topical numbing is standard and usually included in the price; nerve blocks or sedation cost extra
Local anaesthesia is part of the procedure, as described in the published case series
Both
No study has compared the two for pain, so this is description rather than a measured finding.

Sessions

The operator's manual says 1 to 6, typically 3 to 5, every 3 to 6 weeks; published protocols usually run three
No published session figure

Who tends to be happy with it

Best for
Someone whose concern is skin quality: texture, acne scarring, early laxity. Willing to do a course and accept a few red days each time.
The mindset
Several smaller treatments, a result that builds over months.
Best for
Someone whose concern is the layer under the skin, often at the same time as another procedure, and who is prepared for an anaesthetic, an entry point and a real recovery.
The mindset
One larger event, planned around.

The combination, honestly

Clinics commonly package these together, usually as FaceTite for the deeper layer and Morpheus8 for the skin above it. The mechanical logic is easy to follow, and the two really do act at different depths.

What is missing is a controlled human study. The published support amounts to a technique paper the journal graded Level 4 - a technique description and case experience - and an animal study using the body version of the device. No published study measures whether people who have both do better than people who have one — or whether the combined heat load raises the risk of anything.

That is not a reason to refuse. It is a reason to ask the clinic what they expect the second device to add, and to be sceptical of a price that assumes both are necessary.

What each one costs, and what is not documented

Morpheus8 has one dated, citable price figure and it comes from consumers, not a survey. RealSelf's Morpheus8 cost page, last updated 10 May 2024, gives an average of $1,861 drawn from 124 patient-reported prices, notes prices starting at $549 for a single session on one small area, and says a full series can cost upwards of $4,000. Those are self-reported, unaudited, not a random sample, US-skewed and now dated.

No professional society publishes a price for this treatment. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons stopped reporting minimally invasive physician fees after its 2023 report, and the categories it did publish were not RF microneedling.

There is no reliable published price for FaceTite, so none is quoted. Ask for the total course price, ask what the tips and consumables cost, and ask what is included if a second pass is needed.

What to ask before you agree to either

  • Which device, which tip, what depth and what energy per pin
  • Whether anything will be inserted under the skin, and what anaesthesia is planned
  • Who performs it, and what recovery looks like in their hands specifically
  • If a combination is proposed, what the second device is expected to add
  • What the plan is if the result is disappointing, and whether that costs more

Before you book

If you get cold sores, say so when you book — not on the day. Antiviral medicine is started in advance, so it has to be prescribed before the appointment. There is no published data on cold-sore reactivation after these treatments specifically; the precaution is carried over from laser resurfacing, where reactivation is well documented and prophylaxis is standard.

Also disclose a pacemaker or an implantable defibrillator, and any metal implant near the treatment area. These are labelled contraindications for radiofrequency devices generally. They are precautionary rather than tested — no published study has treated patients with cardiac implants — so the people to advise you are your cardiology team, not the clinic's front desk.

Say too if you have an active skin infection in the area, a history of raised or thickened scarring, or any current or past skin cancer where you are being treated.

Get emergency help now

  • A fever, or redness that keeps spreading outward from the treated area
  • Pus, or an area that becomes hot, hard and increasingly painful

These are signs of an infection that is spreading, and they need urgent care rather than a wait-and-see appointment.

Call your provider if

  • Redness, swelling or pain increases after day three instead of settling
  • A grid pattern of marks is still visible beyond about a week after Morpheus8
  • A blister, crust or open area appears, or a burn is suspected
  • An area starts to look hollow or deflated compared with the other side
  • The treated skin darkens noticeably over the following weeks
  • A cluster of small painful blisters appears — this can be a cold sore flare

Related

Questions people ask+
Which should I pick if my clinic offers both?It depends which layer your concern lives in. Morpheus8 works in the skin — texture, acne scarring, early laxity — and needs no incision. FaceTite works beneath it and involves an entry point and local anaesthesia. Neither clearance names a cosmetic use, so the clearance cannot settle it for you.
Is Morpheus8 less invasive than FaceTite?Yes, straightforwardly. Morpheus8 needles enter the skin and come straight back out; FaceTite passes a cannula under the skin through a small entry point and is performed under local anaesthetic.
Should I have them together?Some clinics package them, and the depths they work at are genuinely different. But the published support is a technique paper the journal graded Level 4 plus a 24-rat study using BodyTite rather than FaceTite. No published human trial compares the combination against either treatment alone.
Is either FDA cleared for jawline tightening or jowls?No. Morpheus8's clearances say electrocoagulation and hemostasis and, since 2023, coagulation or contraction of soft tissue. There is no FDA clearance under the name FaceTite; the handpiece sits under InMode's general RF System clearances, worded the same way. Treating jowls with either is off-label, which is legal and routine.
Which costs more?There is no reliable published price for FaceTite, so no comparison is offered. The one dated Morpheus8 number is RealSelf's $1,861 average from 124 self-reported prices, updated 10 May 2024, with single small-area sessions starting at $549 and a full series upwards of $4,000.
How many treatments does each need?Morpheus8's operator manual says 1 to 6, typically 3 to 5, every 3 to 6 weeks. No session figure for FaceTite is published.
Do the studies I am shown for Morpheus8 actually use Morpheus8?Usually not. A PubMed search for Morpheus8 returns 16 records and no randomised trial. The RF microneedling research base was largely generated on other machines — Lutronic Genius and Infini, Jeisys, Pollogen, Lumenis and unnamed devices — and the longest measured follow-up anywhere in it is six months.