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.
GLP-1 near me
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.
Searching locally for this makes an assumption worth examining: that the prescription is a local transaction. For a large share of people getting GLP-1 treatment it is not — the evaluation happens through a telehealth platform and the medication arrives by mail. That does not make the local route wrong, but it does mean a geographic search may be narrowing the field on a dimension that turns out not to matter much.
Where local genuinely matters is insurance. A prescription from your own physician runs through your plan in the ordinary way; many telehealth memberships are self-pay by design and never touch it. If you have coverage that includes weight-management medication, the local route can be dramatically cheaper for exactly that reason, and it is the first thing to check rather than the last.
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.
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
- Do I need to see someone in person?
- Telehealth prescribing for this class is widespread, subject to state rules. Whether in-person assessment is preferable is a clinical question about your own situation, not a logistical one.
- Is my own doctor cheaper than a telehealth platform?
- If you have insurance covering the medication, frequently yes, because most telehealth memberships are self-pay arrangements that bypass your plan entirely. Check your formulary before assuming a subscription price is the market rate.
- What about a local compounding pharmacy?
- Compounded preparations are not FDA-approved products regardless of where they are dispensed. Proximity does not change the regulatory category.
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
This page is general reference rather than a dosing table, so it quotes no figures from a label. 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.
- This page carries no product-specific dosing figures. The labels behind everything on this site are listed on the sources page, and the originals live on DailyMed.
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.