Ranked board
The approved drugs: what a year of Wegovy or Zepbound costs, by seller
The compounded market gets the attention because it is cheaper. This board prices the other one: the FDA-approved products — Wegovy and Zepbound — through every channel we have read a price off, including Eli Lilly's own. It is the board where the billing cycle bites hardest, because Lilly defines its month as 28 days and bills thirteen times a year.
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What gets on this board
Every priced row on a published review here for an FDA-approved GLP-1, identified by the product's brand name on the row or by the company calling it branded. Each company appears once, on whichever approved product costs it least over a year.
What decides the order
Ranked by true-year cost, cheapest first — the price of one cycle with no commitment, multiplied by the number of times a year it is actually billed. Nothing is pinned, sponsored, or lifted into position.
What the spread looks like
$2,688
Cheapest year
$5,976
Dearest year
$3,288
Between the two
Ranked by what a year actually costs
The advertised column is what the company leads with. The walk-away column is what one cycle costs if you stop after it. The year column is the second of those multiplied by the number of times a year it is genuinely billed — which is thirteen, not twelve, for anyone on a four-week cycle.
Every price was read off the company's own page on the date shown beside it. The capture procedure, and the five ways a price gets captured wrong, are on our methodology page.
Key terms
Show definitions
- Walk-away price
- What one cycle costs at the standing, no-commitment rate — what you pay if you stop after it. Not a prepay tier and not a first-month promotion.
- True year
- The walk-away price multiplied by the number of times it is actually billed in a year: 12 on a calendar-month cycle, 13 on a four-week cycle.
- Advertised price
- The figure the company leads with on its own pricing page. It is shown here beside the price you pay rather than instead of it.
What this board does not tell you
Whether you qualify
Coverage varies by state, and several of these companies serve fewer states than they appear to. Each review names the exclusions its company actually discloses.
Whether the care is good
This is a cost ranking and nothing else. We have not assessed anyone's clinical care, and there is no quality score anywhere on this site.
What your insurer pays
Every figure here is a cash price. What a covered drug costs you depends on your own plan's formulary and deductible, and no public source publishes a per-drug copay.
Whether the price will hold
Plans restructure without notice. Every row carries the date it was read so you can see how old the number is before you rely on it.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the manufacturer not the cheapest row?
Partly because it is not selling the same thing. The row that undercuts LillyDirect here is a programme fee against an insurance copay, which is a different transaction: what the drug costs you there depends on your own plan's formulary and deductible, and no public source publishes a per-drug copay. LillyDirect's figure is a cash price for the medicine with no prescriber and no membership attached, which is why it is on the board and why it is not directly comparable to a row that assumes coverage.
Why is a branded price roughly double a compounded one?
Because they are different products with different economics, which is exactly why this site keeps them on separate boards rather than in one column. An approved product carries the manufacturer's price; a compounded preparation is made by a state-licensed pharmacy and is not FDA-approved or evaluated for safety, effectiveness or quality. Putting them in a single ranking would flatter the compounded rows for a reason that has nothing to do with value.
Medical disclaimer: This content is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a licensed healthcare professional before starting, stopping, or changing any treatment.