You cannot generalize that. If you start too late and have aggressive hair loss, it will be hard to recover. Early enough, you can see good long term progress.
I don't even get why people hate on pills and "chemicals" in today's world. Finasteride and Dutasteride have very good long term safety profiles. And with our entire body being infested with microplastics, I think Finasteride is our smallest worry. You gotta understand that for many guys, the psychological side effects of balding might be worse than the potential small side effects that affect a minority and are reversible as soon as you get off the drug.