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The GLP-1 Price Index Journal

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In-depth analysis of semaglutide and tirzepatide — what they cost, what the trials actually show, and how to tell verified pricing from marketing. Every post is sourced, dated, and written to the same evidence standard as the rest of the site.

About the Journal

30 articles across pricing and clinical topics, each with comparison tables, a data visualization, an FAQ, and cited sources. Pricing posts are reviewed by Kim Callender, NP; clinical posts by Jonathan Snipes, MD. Educational information, not medical advice.

Pricing & cost analysis (17)

pricing
Medicare Open Enrollment and GLP-1s: 2026 Cost Checklist
The $50 Bridge and who is excluded, the 2027 Part D cap of $2,400, the negotiated semaglutide price and the cash fallback, as of October 15, 2026.
pricing
Prepaid GLP-1 Plan Renewal: What Month 13 Costs
Only one of 14 programs prints what its plan costs after the term ends. Renewal, notice and refund terms from first-party pages, October 15, 2026.
pricing
Brand vs Compounded Semaglutide: Is the Price Gap Worth It?
Brand Wegovy lists near $1,349/month; compounded semaglutide runs $119-299. The gap buys FDA approval, trial evidence, a…
pricing
The Cheapest Legitimate Way to Get Semaglutide in 2026
If insured, a covered Wegovy copay (~$25/mo) is cheapest. Uninsured, compounded semaglutide from ~$119/mo usually beats …
pricing
Compounded Tirzepatide Price by Dose: Does It Rise as You Titrate?
Some compounded tirzepatide programs hold one flat price across all doses; others raise the price as you titrate from 2.…
pricing
GLP-1 Cost Without Insurance: Every Cash-Pay Route Compared
Without insurance, compounded semaglutide ($119-299) is usually cheapest, followed by oral Wegovy (from $149 for qualify…
pricing
GLP-1 Membership Fees: The Hidden Cost That Changes the Ranking
A required $79/month membership turns a $99 medication headline into $178 all-in. Membership fees are the most common wa…
pricing
How the GLP-1 Price Index Works: Reading the Numbers
The GLP-1 Price Index tracks the median effective monthly cost of a defined category, sets a baseline period to 100, and…
pricing
GLP-1 Add-On Fees: Shipping, Labs and Onboarding Compared
Beyond the medication price, GLP-1 programs may charge for shipping, lab work, onboarding, and membership. These add-ons…
pricing
The Most Affordable Compounded Tirzepatide Online in 2026
Compounded tirzepatide runs about $199-297/month across legitimate providers, with MEDVi reporting the lowest published …
pricing
Does Semaglutide Cost More as Your Dose Increases?
It depends on the provider. Many compounded semaglutide programs charge a flat price across all doses; others raise the …
pricing
Semaglutide First-Month vs Renewal Price: The Intro-Rate Trap
Many semaglutide programs advertise a low first-month price ($99) that reverts to a much higher renewal ($299). Compare …
pricing
Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide Cost in 2026: Full Price Breakdown
Compounded semaglutide runs about $145-299/month, compounded tirzepatide $199-297/month. Tirzepatide costs more because …
pricing
The True Annual Cost of Tirzepatide: Commitment Math Explained
A 12-month tirzepatide prepay lowers the monthly rate but locks you in; month-to-month costs more but lets you stop. The…
pricing
Tirzepatide Microdose Programs: Cost and the Evidence Gap
Microdose tirzepatide programs advertise lower monthly prices, but the pricing is often unresolved and the clinical evid…
pricing
The Wegovy Pill vs Injection: Cost and Value Compared
The oral Wegovy tablet (oral semaglutide 25mg) is available from about $149/month for qualifying patients, while injecta…
pricing
Zepbound vs Mounjaro Cost: Same Drug, Different Insurance Math
Zepbound and Mounjaro are both tirzepatide from Eli Lilly. Mounjaro (diabetes) is often covered by insurance including M…

Clinical & scientific evidence (15)

clinical
Compounded GLP-1 Safety: What Evidence Exists and What Doesn't
Compounded GLP-1s are not FDA-approved and have no formulation-specific trial evidence. The active molecules are well-st…
clinical
Beyond Weight Loss: GLP-1 Cardiovascular and Kidney Data
GLP-1 evidence extends beyond weight loss: SELECT showed semaglutide cut cardiovascular events ~20%, and FLOW showed it …
clinical
GLP-1 Contraindications: Who Should Not Take Them
GLP-1 medications are contraindicated in people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN …
clinical
Managing GLP-1 GI Side Effects: What the Evidence Supports
Nausea and other GI effects are the most common GLP-1 side effects, usually mild-to-moderate and worst during dose incre…
clinical
GLP-1 Weight Loss and Muscle: What the Data Shows
A meaningful share of GLP-1 weight loss can be lean mass, not just fat — studies suggest roughly 25-40% of tot…
clinical
GLP-1 Side Effects Compared: Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide
Both semaglutide and tirzepatide most commonly cause gastrointestinal side effects — nausea, diarrhea, vomitin…
clinical
Oral vs Injectable Semaglutide: The Absorption Problem
Oral semaglutide is poorly absorbed through the gut, so it requires a far higher dose (up to 25mg daily for weight manag…
clinical
The SELECT Trial: Semaglutide's 20% Cardiovascular Benefit
The SELECT trial showed semaglutide 2.4mg cut major adverse cardiovascular events by about 20% in adults with overweight…
clinical
How GLP-1 and Dual GIP/GLP-1 Drugs Work in the Body
Semaglutide activates the GLP-1 receptor; tirzepatide activates both GLP-1 and GIP receptors. Both slow gastric emptying…
clinical
Semaglutide Titration: Why Dose Escalation Is Slow
Semaglutide is escalated slowly — typically starting at 0.25mg weekly and increasing every four weeks &mda…
clinical
Weight Regain After Stopping Semaglutide: The Evidence
Trial data (STEP-1 extension, STEP-4) show most people regain a substantial share of lost weight within a year of stoppi…
clinical
STEP-1 Explained: The 14.9% Semaglutide Weight-Loss Result
STEP-1 was the pivotal semaglutide weight-management trial. Over 68 weeks, participants on semaglutide 2.4mg lost about …
clinical
SURMOUNT-5: What the Head-to-Head Trial Actually Showed
SURMOUNT-5 was the first direct trial comparing tirzepatide and semaglutide for weight loss. At 72 weeks, tirzepatide pr…
clinical
Tirzepatide for Sleep Apnea: The SURMOUNT-OSA Evidence
SURMOUNT-OSA showed tirzepatide significantly reduced the severity of obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity, le…
clinical
Tirzepatide vs Semaglutide for Type 2 Diabetes
For type 2 diabetes, the SURPASS trials showed tirzepatide produced greater A1c reduction and weight loss than semagluti…

The numbers behind this page

How this entry is kept current

Every price quoted in this entry comes from the programme's own pricing page and carries the date it was captured. Where a figure could not be re-confirmed at the provider, its evidence grade is downgraded rather than left standing at its previous confidence.

Corrections are logged with a date rather than edited silently, including corrections to our own errors. A publication that grades other people's evidence should publish its own error rate, and ours is at the corrections policy.

No provider pays for placement, position or inclusion here. Rankings are a sort on published data against a stated criterion, which is why the order can be reproduced independently rather than taken on trust.

Reading the price against the market

Why the spread is this wide

The figures in this entry sit inside a market with a measurable shape, and that shape is what makes any single price readable.

The molecule is chemically identical across every programme in the range. The $230 a month between the lowest and highest all-in semaglutide prices we read on October 15, 2026 ($49 and $279) is not a difference in medicine. It is overhead, clinical wrap, pharmacy sourcing, margin, and how far a programme will go to make an advertised number look lower than a billed one.

Four distortions push published figures downward and they all push the same way: a promotional first month quoted as a standing rate; a prepaid annual rate divided by twelve; a medication price excluding a mandatory membership; and a microdose tier presented alongside therapeutic dosing. Each is individually defensible and together they compound.

Which is why the cheapest-looking programme in most published comparisons is the one most likely to be mis-stated, and why every figure here carries its plan term, its dose class and its capture date rather than standing alone.

Questions this page answers

Why do the same programmes quote two different prices?

Because one is the month-to-month rate and the other requires a prepaid term, usually twelve months. We compare programs on their lowest all-in monthly price and print the plan term beside every figure, so a rate that needs a commitment is labelled as one.

Where do these prices come from?

Each is read from the program's own pricing page and carries its read date. The October 15, 2026 file at /api/prices.json holds 106 records, 49 of them verified standard-dose prices, with molecule, dose class and evidence status on every record.

Which tracked programs charge less than NexLife?

Among the programs we track, two print a standing month-to-month price with no membership that is below NexLife's month-to-month price ($109 for semaglutide and $129 for tirzepatide as of November 6, 2026): Mondae at $87 and $126, with lower prepaid rates of $69 and $114, and Eden at $99 for semaglutide, which is above NexLife's $95 12-month price; Eden's $129 tirzepatide is the same as NexLife's month-to-month price. Competitor prices were read on October 15, 2026. Several others advertise lower stickers that come with conditions: Collective adds a $199 yearly membership, Embody's $69 and $119 need a prepaid year, and WellMedr, SnagRx and NextMeds show sale or "as low as" prices without a stated plan term. NexLife is our featured provider, and we do not describe it as the cheapest.

Are compounded GLP-1 medicines FDA-approved?

No. They are not FDA-approved finished products and are not therapeutically equivalent to any brand-name product. FDA does not review them for safety, effectiveness or manufacturing quality before marketing.

Researched By Dr. Parmis · Medical Researcher · Western University of Health Sciences

Medically Reviewed By Dr. Jonathan Snipes, MD · Kim Callender, NP (FNP-BC)

Last medically reviewed: · This page is informational and does not constitute medical advice.