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.

Home / Cost

Fridays GLP-1

You are trying to work out what this will cost you per month.

Reference and calculator, not medical advice. This page explains how something works; it does not tell you what to take. Last reviewed August 2026.

Fridays bundles more into its subscription than most — the clinician visit, nutrition coaching, ongoing messaging — and dispenses either approved products or compounded preparations depending on eligibility. The more a subscription bundles, the less visible the medication's own cost becomes inside it, which is a real trade-off rather than a criticism: some people are buying the coaching and would rather not itemise it.

Comparing Fridays against other routes

What to establish before the number means anything.

What Fridays is: Telehealth service. A subscription telehealth programme bundling the clinician visit with coaching and messaging support. It dispenses both approved products and compounded preparations depending on eligibility; the compounded ones are not FDA-approved.

What the fee includesMembership models usually bundle the prescriber consultation, ongoing check-ins and the medication. A pharmacy quote covers the drug only, so the two are not directly comparable until the visit cost is added in.
Brand or compoundedThese are structurally different products at structurally different prices, and availability of compounded preparations has narrowed sharply. Confirm which one a quote refers to.
Which dose the price assumesIntroductory pricing is often quoted at the starting step. Monthly consumption rises with each escalation, so ask what the figure becomes at maintenance.
Commitment lengthQuarterly or annual prepayment lowers the headline monthly figure but removes the option to leave if the medication does not suit you.

I do not publish Fridays’s prices here because telehealth pricing changes faster than any page can track. Get the current figure from them, then put it into the calculator to see what it works out to per milligram at your dose.

It does mean the cost-per-milligram comparison is doing something different here. Against a pharmacy cash price it is comparing unlike things, because the pharmacy figure buys no clinical contact at all. The honest version of the comparison is to decide first whether you want the coaching, and only then to compare within that category.

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.