What a GLP-1 costs, and the four ways people pay for it

Price is the reason most people stop, switch, or never start. It is also the fastest-moving fact on these pages. Everything below is dated, sourced, and worth re-checking on the manufacturer site before you commit to anything.

List price

The list price is what the pharmacy bills before insurance and discounts. In 2026 the branded injectables sit at roughly $1,000 to $1,350 a month: Wegovy around $1,349, Zepbound around $1,060, Ozempic and Mounjaro around $1,000 to $1,080. Almost nobody pays this, but it sets the insurance negotiation and the self-pay comparison.

Insurance

Coverage for type 2 diabetes (Ozempic, Mounjaro) is common. Coverage for weight management (Wegovy, Zepbound) is patchier, often needs prior authorisation with a BMI and a comorbidity, and some employer plans exclude it outright. Medicare does not cover drugs for weight loss alone, though it can cover Wegovy for cardiovascular risk reduction and Zepbound for sleep apnoea. Copays with coverage run from under $25 with a manufacturer savings card to several hundred dollars without one.

Self-pay programs

Both manufacturers now sell direct to self-pay patients, and the prices fell through late 2025 and 2026 after the White House pricing agreement. As of October 2026:

These programs are for US residents with a prescription, paying cash, and generally exclude people on government programs. Offers for starter doses expire and get replaced. The manufacturer page is the only reliable source on the day you order.

Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide

Compounding pharmacies sold copies during the FDA shortage declarations. The shortages ended in 2025 and the regulatory position has tightened since, so the compounded route is narrower than it was: it generally requires a prescriber to document a clinical reason, and the FDA has acted against several sellers. Prices were typically $150 to $400 a month. If you are on a compounded vial, the dose arrives in milligrams and the syringe reads in units; the free reconstitution calculator and the vial log in the app do that maths.

The cost that does not show on the receipt

A missed or wasted dose is the expensive one. At $349 a month, each weekly shot is about $87. A pen left in a hot car, a vial past its expiry, or a dose taken twice because nobody could remember, costs more than any app. The free tier of Peptide AI keeps doses remaining and expiry on every vial and pen, which is a small thing until it is not.