Manufacturer direct-pay program
Both Lilly and Novo Nordisk run self-pay programs for people without coverage. Pricing tiers change frequently — check the official program page for current rates.
Cheap GLP-1
You are trying to work out what this will cost you per month.
Reference and calculator, not medical advice. Dosing figures below are transcribed from FDA-approved prescribing information and link back to it. Last reviewed August 2026.
Price differences in this category are almost never discounts on the same thing. They come from four structurally different sources, and knowing which one you are looking at tells you what you are giving up: a compounded preparation instead of an approved product, a manufacturer self-pay channel instead of retail, a cash discount price instead of an insurance path, or a lower dose instead of a maintenance one. Only the last two are like-for-like.
Where the price comes from
The routes people actually pay through, and what determines the number in each.
Through insurance (copay)
If your plan covers the drug for your indication, your cost is the plan copay. Coverage for weight-loss indications is far less common than for type 2 diabetes.
Telehealth platform (brand drug)
Online clinics bundle a prescriber visit with brand-name medication. Membership fee is usually separate from drug cost.
Compounded semaglutide / tirzepatide
Compounded versions are prepared by pharmacies rather than the original manufacturer. Availability and legality depend on FDA shortage status, which has changed several times — verify current status before relying on this route.
Retail pharmacy cash price
List price without insurance, sometimes reduced by discount cards.
The fourth source is the one that catches people, because it is invisible at signup. A quoted price at the starting dose is not the price at maintenance if the platform charges by the amount of drug. Every approved schedule steps upward over months, so the relevant figure is the one at the dose you expect to stay on, not the one that gets you in the door.
Wegovy titration schedule
Semaglutide · once weekly · subcutaneous injection · as published in the prescribing information
| Step | Dose | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1–4 | 0.25 mg | Starting dose |
| Weeks 5–8 | 0.5 mg | — |
| Weeks 9–12 | 1 mg | — |
| Weeks 13–16 | 1.7 mg | — |
| Week 17+ | 2.4 mg | Maintenance dose |
This is the labelled default. Holding at a step longer than shown is common practice and is a decision for your prescriber. Transcribed from the Wegovy prescribing information (label revised 30 June 2026); checked against that label on 7 August 2026.
Compounded vs brand-name: what actually differs
Current as of August 2026.
- Prepared by a pharmacy, not the original manufacturer — so there is no FDA-approved label for the exact preparation you receive.
- Much more restricted than during the 2024–25 shortages. Supply is smaller and less predictable than it was.
- Brand-name self-pay programmes have narrowed the price gap that made compounding attractive.
Compounded is usually cheaper but can change with the rules; brand-name costs more and is more predictable. Worth raising with whoever writes your prescription. FDA’s compounding pages have the detail if you want it.
Where the price comes from
The routes people actually pay through, and what determines the number in each.
Manufacturer direct-pay program
Both Lilly and Novo Nordisk run self-pay programs for people without coverage. Pricing tiers change frequently — check the official program page for current rates.
Through insurance (copay)
If your plan covers the drug for your indication, your cost is the plan copay. Coverage for weight-loss indications is far less common than for type 2 diabetes.
Telehealth platform (brand drug)
Online clinics bundle a prescriber visit with brand-name medication. Membership fee is usually separate from drug cost.
Compounded semaglutide / tirzepatide
Compounded versions are prepared by pharmacies rather than the original manufacturer. Availability and legality depend on FDA shortage status, which has changed several times — verify current status before relying on this route.
Retail pharmacy cash price
List price without insurance, sometimes reduced by discount cards.
Cost comparison calculator
Enter the quotes you have actually been given. Everything is normalised to cost per month and cost per milligram so the options are comparable.
Monthly requirement21.65 mg4.33 doses/month × 5 mg
| Option | Per month | Per year | Per mg | One unit lasts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Option A | — | — | — | — |
| Option B | — | — | — | 2.0 weeks |
Common questions
- What is the actual cheapest route?
- It depends on your insurance, your dose and which product you are eligible for, which is why this site gives you a calculator rather than a ranking. A ranking would be wrong for most readers within a month of being published.
- Is compounded cheaper because it is worse?
- It is cheaper because it sits outside the approved-product framework, which means no FDA review of safety, efficacy or quality and no prescribing information. That is a description of what differs, not a verdict on any specific preparation.
- Do manufacturer self-pay programmes help?
- Both major manufacturers run direct self-pay channels for their own products. They quote a price for the medication itself, which makes them one of the easier figures to compare because there is no bundled service inside it.
Common questions
- Why do quoted GLP-1 prices vary so much?
- Because the quotes are not measuring the same thing. A membership fee, a per-vial price, and a per-pen price all describe different quantities, and the dose you are on determines how long that quantity lasts. Converting everything to cost per milligram is the only way to compare them directly.
- Does insurance usually cover this?
- Coverage is far more common for type 2 diabetes indications than for weight management. Whether your specific plan covers your specific indication is something only your plan documents can answer.
Sources and last review
Every dosing figure on this page is transcribed from an FDA-approved label and links back to it. Conversions are arithmetic you can repeat by hand. Nothing here is reviewed by a clinician, and this site does not employ one — which is exactly why what I do publish stays traceable to its source.
- Wegovy (Semaglutide) prescribing information — Novo Nordisk, label revised 30 June 2026, checked 7 August 2026
Transcribed from the labels above and checked by me — Gavin, who builds this site, takes a GLP-1, and is not a clinician. Last reviewed August 2026. Found an error? [email protected] — I treat corrections as bugs. How this site is built and funded.
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