GLP-1 cost calculator
Add up the true monthly cost of a GLP-1 program including medication, membership, labs and shipping — the figure providers rarely show on their banner price.
Verified against Eli Lilly's own pricing pages. Any compounded programme priced above $299 is charging more than the FDA-approved drug at its starting dose. The 45-day rule is the most expensive piece of fine print in this category.
What this tool calculates, and the formula behind it
Every figure this tool produces uses the same formula as our editorial pages, drawn from the same dataset. There is no separate “marketing” number.
Effective monthly cost = total mandatory payments ÷ months supplied.
| Input | Why it counts |
|---|---|
| Advertised price | The starting point — and usually the most misleading number available. |
| Number of months | A 12-month plan and a month-to-month plan are not the same product. |
| Membership fee | If you cannot decline it, it is part of the price. Roughly half the market splits it out. |
| Consultation fee | Charged separately by some providers; invisible in most comparison tables. |
| Laboratory fee | Some programmes require labs and bill them; others include them. |
| Shipping | Free at some providers, billed at others. |
| Onboarding fee | A one-off charge that is amortised across the plan, not ignored. |
| Dose surcharge | The big one. A flat-rate programme and an escalating one can differ by thousands a year at maintenance. |
| Renewal price | What you pay from month two. This is the number that matters. |
| Discount / coupon | Applied only where the eligibility is stated. |
Assumptions and limitations
- Assumes you complete the plan. Early cancellation terms vary enormously and are not modelled — get them in writing before committing.
- Assumes the advertised ongoing price is accurate. Where we have not captured a price ourselves it is labelled Reported, not Verified.
- Does not model a dose change mid-plan on an escalating programme — ask the provider what you will pay at your target maintenance dose.
- Does not model insurance. If your plan covers brand Zepbound, the savings card can bring it to roughly $25/month, which beats every cash option here.
Privacy
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is transmitted, stored or logged. We do not collect health information through any tool, form or search on this site.
Frequently asked questions
Are these prices verified?
Provider prices shown in our tools are captured from provider sites and major publishers and labeled with a verification status and date. Only first-party captures are marked Verified; always confirm current pricing on the provider’s own site before enrolling.
Does this tool give medical advice?
No. Our calculators and checklists are educational and help you compare cost and program features. Eligibility and treatment decisions are made by a licensed clinician.
How is effective monthly cost calculated?
Total mandatory payments for the treatment period — medication plus required membership, labs, shipping, onboarding, and dose surcharges — divided by months supplied. See our affordability methodology.
How the effective monthly cost is calculated
This calculator applies one formula: effective monthly cost equals the total of all mandatory payments for the treatment period — medication, required membership, required labs, mandatory shipping, onboarding fees, and any dose surcharges at your maintenance dose — minus valid discounts, divided by the number of months of medication supplied. Introductory or first-month promotional prices are treated separately because they do not represent your ongoing cost.
Worked example
Suppose a program advertises $99 per month for medication, charges a required $79 monthly membership, includes shipping, and holds one price across all doses on a month-to-month plan. The calculator returns $178 per month effective, $2,136 per year — not the $99 headline. Now suppose a second program advertises $145 per month on a 12-month plan with no membership and shipping included: $145 effective, $1,740 per year. The second program is $396 per year cheaper despite the higher advertised medication price, because the first program's membership adds $948 annually.
Assumptions and limitations
The calculator assumes the figures you enter are current and mandatory. It cannot know whether a fee is truly required or optional, whether a promotional rate expires, or whether a dose surcharge applies at your specific maintenance dose — you must confirm these on the provider's checkout flow and terms. It does not account for insurance, HSA/FSA tax advantages, or manufacturer savings cards, which can change your real out-of-pocket cost substantially. It is an educational budgeting aid, not medical or financial advice. Data date: July 2026.
Sources: FDA — human drug compounding and GLP-1 status; clinical evidence via NEJM. Pricing captured September 2026; see evidence ledger. Last reviewed September 2026.
The numbers behind this page
Checking the figures in this tool
Every price quoted in this tool comes from the programme's own pricing page and carries the date it was captured. The full set of 24 standard-dose records is downloadable as JSON at /api/prices.json, with molecule and dose class stated on every record. Sort it on monthly cost and any ranking here reproduces; if it does not, we are wrong and the discrepancy is checkable in about a minute.
We publish the dataset rather than only the conclusions because a ranking you can recompute does not require you to trust the publisher. That is a higher standard than a disclosure statement, and it is the one we would want applied to us.
Reading the price against the market
Where this sits in the market
The figures in this tool sit inside a market with a measurable shape, and that shape is what makes any single price readable.
12 programmes publish a price for both molecules. Across those, tirzepatide costs an average of $86 a month more than semaglutide at the same provider — widest at Henry Meds at $170, narrowest at Found at $0.
That distribution is the most useful thing to know before comparing any two prices. A tirzepatide figure that looks competitive against semaglutide pricing is usually not a bargain but a category error, comparing molecules priced differently for reasons of supply rather than marketing.
Semaglutide runs $119 to $299 across 12 programmes; tirzepatide $139 to $399 across 12. Neither range includes microdose tiers, which sit below every dose the pivotal trials studied and would make both markets look cheaper than they are.
Where this sits in the market
The figures in this tool sit inside a market with a measurable shape, and that shape is what makes any single price readable.
12 programmes publish a price for both molecules. Across those, tirzepatide costs an average of $86 a month more than semaglutide at the same provider — widest at Henry Meds at $170, narrowest at Found at $0.
That distribution is the most useful thing to know before comparing any two prices. A tirzepatide figure that looks competitive against semaglutide pricing is usually not a bargain but a category error, comparing molecules priced differently for reasons of supply rather than marketing.
Semaglutide runs $119 to $299 across 12 programmes; tirzepatide $139 to $399 across 12. Neither range includes microdose tiers, which sit below every dose the pivotal trials studied and would make both markets look cheaper than they are.
Questions this page answers
Where do these prices come from?
Each is read from the programme's own published pricing page and carries its capture date. The full set of 24 standard-dose records is at /api/prices.json with molecule and dose class on every record.
What is the cheapest verified GLP-1 programme?
NexLife at $119 a month for semaglutide and $139 for tirzepatide on its 12-month plan, both at standard therapeutic dosing and first-party verified September 4, 2026. Month-to-month, NexLife is $139 and $169; Oak Longevity ($133, flat, no membership) is the next-cheapest semaglutide programme.
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.
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 rank on the month-to-month figure and state the prepaid rate separately, since a rate requiring a year's commitment is not the same offer.