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.
Disclosure: Some links on this site are affiliate or referral links. If you start a treatment or buy a product through them, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Read our full disclosure.
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
Companies we have an affiliate relationship with are listed first, and we may earn a commission if you start with one. Within that group and within the rest, the order is 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. The prices themselves are read off each company's own page and are the same either way.
What the spread looks like
$3,576
Cheapest year
$17,976
Dearest year
$14,400
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.
| Company & compound | Advertised | Walk-away | Year at this price | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $149 | $298+$149 on the ad | $3,576$298 × 12 | Visit | |
| $258 | $448+$190 on the ad | $5,824$448 × 13 | Visit | |
| $499 | $499 | $5,988$499 × 12 | Visit | |
| $1,399 | $1,399 | $16,788$1,399 × 12 | Visit | |
| $1,299 | $1,299 | $16,887$1,299 × 13 | Visit | |
| $199 | $224+$25 on the ad | $2,688$224 × 12 | Visit | |
| $149 | $248+$99 on the ad | $2,976$248 × 12 | Visit | |
| $188 | $298+$110 on the ad | $3,576$298 × 12 | Visit | |
| $299 | $299 | $3,887$299 × 13 | Visit | |
| $338 | $398+$60 on the ad | $4,776$398 × 12 | Visit | |
| $188 | $448+$260 on the ad | $5,376$448 × 12 | Visit | |
| $328 | $418.99+$90.99 on the ad | $5,446.87$418.99 × 13 | Visit | |
| $238 | $498+$260 on the ad | $5,976$498 × 12 | Visit | |
| $349 | $578+$229 on the ad | $6,936$578 × 12 | Visit | |
| $1,399 | $1,399 | $16,788$1,399 × 12 | Visit | |
| $1,400 | $1,400 | $16,800$1,400 × 12 | Visit | |
| $1,498 | $1,498 | $17,976$1,498 × 12 | Visit |
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.
- Year at this price
- 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 board ranks on cost, not on care. 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 program 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.