GLP-1 cost in October 2026: Zepbound $299–449 and Wegovy $349 a month without insurance, $25 with coverage

Zepbound without insurance: through LillyDirect Self Pay, vials cost $299 a month at 2.5 mg, $399 at 5 mg and $449 at 7.5 mg and above, when each refill comes within 45 days of the last delivery; after that, $499 at 7.5 mg and $699 at 10 to 15 mg. Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect

First month against later months: the first month is the 2.5 mg starting dose, the cheapest fill. The label raises the dose in 2.5 mg steps after at least four weeks on each, so month two at 5 mg costs $399, and a maintenance dose of 7.5 mg or more costs $449 a month. With commercial coverage of Zepbound, the savings card brings any dose to as little as $25 a month. Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect

Compounded tirzepatide is made by a compounding pharmacy, not Lilly, has no FDA approval, and starts at $119/mo on a one-year plan at the providers we track. First month against later months, by provider: compounded tirzepatide price. Price checked Oct 26, 2026 · joinem.co

Per pound lost, only the brand-name drug has a trial result: the route table.

Wegovy without insurance: through NovoCare Pharmacy, pens cost $349 a month from 1 mg to 2.4 mg and $399 for the 7.2 mg pen. The Wegovy pill is $149 at 1.5 mg, $199 at 4 mg and $299 at 9 mg and above. Price checked Oct 26, 2026 · novocare.com

First month against later months: the pens start at 0.25 mg and step up every four weeks; a new patient's two starter doses cost $199 a month through December 31, 2026, then $349 from 1 mg up. The pill's price rises with its strength the same way. With commercial coverage of Wegovy, the savings card brings it to as little as $25 a month. Ozempic is the same molecule approved for type 2 diabetes, not weight management. Last known price, Oct 22, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on NovoCare Pharmacy; Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect

Compounded semaglutide has no FDA approval and starts at $69/mo on a one-year plan at the providers we track. First month against later months, by provider: compounded semaglutide price. Price checked Oct 26, 2026 · joinem.co

Wegovy's cost per pound lost is in the route table.

Every route this site tracks, cheapest first year first, in the billing view you choose: month to month (the default) or Annual prepay, which prices compounded rows on their one-year plan, billed upfront. A brand row is one maintenance dose. Its first year counts every fill from your first dose, the lower-priced titration fills included; a fill lasts 28 days, so a 52-week year is 13 fills, not twelve calendar months. The ongoing column is a year at the maintenance dose. Weight loss is that same dose's trial average at week 52, estimated from the trial curve (the trials report week 72 and week 68), applied to a 230 lb start, close to the mean starting weight in both trials: Zepbound 5 mg 14.8% (34 lb), 10 mg 18.5% (43 lb) and 15 mg 19.5% (45 lb) in SURMOUNT-1; Wegovy 2.4 mg 14.3% (33 lb) in STEP 1. Those figures, and the cost per pound worked from them, apply to the brand-name rows only: no compounded product was tested in either trial, so compounded rows show no weight loss and no cost per pound. Highlighted rows are the lowest month-to-month compounded price for each drug.

Each price shows the date its provider's own page last confirmed it, with a link to that page; a price that could not be re-confirmed is shown as the last known price. We earn a commission from some providers; it never changes the order. How we make money

A promotional first-fill price with no published renewal price gets no yearly total ("Not confirmed") and is not ranked on one. A one-year plan that delivers fewer than 52 weeks of medication shows its plan total and the weeks it covers; its 52-week total is not confirmed, and it is ordered by its price per week of medication. Uses current prices and offer terms; future prices are not guaranteed.

Set a calendar reminder ~35 days after each LillyDirect delivery — missing the 45-day window raises 10–15 mg vials from $449 to $699. Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect

Each price shows the date it was last confirmed. One-year plans are charged upfront and are often non-refundable: switch to Annual prepay to see them with their terms. Compounded products were not tested in either trial, and brand-name results do not carry over to them, so they are compared on price only. For your own weight and months on a brand-name drug, use the cost per pound calculator above.

Compounded semaglutide on a prepaid one-year plan is the lowest price we track, from $69/mo on a one-year plan, billed upfront and often non-refundable; it has no FDA approval (compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide price). For an FDA-approved drug, the cheapest self-pay start is the Wegovy pill or Foundayo from $149 a month at the starting dose, then Zepbound vials from $299 through LillyDirect. On Medicare, the GLP-1 Bridge is $50 a month if you qualify. Price checked Oct 26, 2026 · joinem.co; Oct 26, 2026 · novocare.com; Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect; Oct 25, 2026 · medicare.gov

Without insurance, Zepbound vials are $299 at 2.5 mg, $399 at 5 mg and $449 from 7.5 mg through LillyDirect; Wegovy pens are $349 from 1 mg to 2.4 mg and $399 at 7.2 mg through NovoCare Pharmacy, and the Wegovy pill $149–299 a month. Zepbound's larger average loss in the trials narrows the gap per pound lost; the route table has both. Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect; Oct 26, 2026 · novocare.com

Not under the regular Part D benefit, but the temporary Medicare GLP-1 Bridge gives eligible Part D enrollees Wegovy, Zepbound KwikPen or Foundayo for a $50 monthly copay, and manufacturer savings cards never apply to Medicare. Who qualifies, the dates, the prior-authorization steps and the exceptions are all on who qualifies for the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge. Price checked Oct 25, 2026 · medicare.gov

It depends on the dose you end up on. For the first year from a 230 lb start, on trial averages for the same dose that is priced: Zepbound through LillyDirect is $126 per pound at 15 mg, $132 at 10 mg and $149 at 5 mg; Wegovy 2.4 mg through NovoCare is $129. The difference is the denominator: tirzepatide 15 mg averaged about 19.5% at week 52 in SURMOUNT-1 and 5 mg about 14.8%, against about 14.3% for semaglutide 2.4 mg in STEP 1 (all estimated from the trial curves), and the head-to-head SURMOUNT-5 trial found tirzepatide ahead. Averages hide a wide spread, and some people do better on semaglutide. Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect; Last known price, Oct 22, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on NovoCare Pharmacy

Not for the $25 price. That copay needs commercial insurance that covers the drug. Without coverage, both manufacturers point you to their self-pay pharmacies instead, which is the LillyDirect and NovoCare rows above. Anyone on a government plan is excluded from the cards entirely. If a commercial plan refused your claim, an appeal may be worth more than any cash route: what to do when insurance won't cover Wegovy or Zepbound. Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect

About $7–10 per pound with insurance and a savings card and $126–149 for brand-name self-pay over the first year from the first dose, from each dose's average week-52 loss in SURMOUNT-1 and STEP 1, whose participants started around 230 lb. There is no per-pound figure for compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide: no compounded product was in those trials. Compounded prices start at $69 a month on a one-year plan (billed $828/yr upfront, non-refundable), or $79 a month for the first 4 weeks, and a year costs $828–$4,788 from the cheapest one-year plan to the dearest month-to-month price. Your own figure depends on your starting weight and how you respond: cost per pound falls as starting weight rises, because the same percentage loss is more pounds for the same price. It also changes with how long you stay on treatment, since most of the loss comes in the first year while the monthly price continues. Run it for your own weight and months. Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect; Oct 26, 2026 · joinem.co · joinem.co page 2; Oct 26, 2026 · medgm.org

The first year counts every fill bought from the first dose over 52 weeks: the titration fills at their own prices, 28-day fills (13 in a year), and a first-fill promotion only where the maker applies it automatically. A compounded plan's year is its monthly charges (a posted first-month price included, a welcome-code price not) or, under Annual prepay, its one-year bill. Cost per pound divides a brand row's first year by the pounds lost at week 52 on that same dose, read from the published trial curve: 19.5% for tirzepatide 15 mg in SURMOUNT-1 (−20.9% at 72 weeks) and 14.3% for semaglutide 2.4 mg in STEP 1 (−14.9% at 68 weeks), on the treatment-regimen estimand (everyone randomized), as the prescribing information reports. Both trials added diet and activity counselling, enrolled adults without diabetes, and report averages across people whose results ranged widely. Visit fees, lab work and supplies are not included unless the provider's price includes them. This is a budgeting tool, not a prediction and not medical advice; whether to take a GLP-1, and which one, is a decision for you and a licensed clinician.

Calculate my own cost per pound →

• Weight loss: Jastreboff et al., SURMOUNT-1 (NEJM 2022); Wilding et al., STEP 1 (NEJM 2021); Aronne et al., SURMOUNT-5 (NEJM 2025). Curve data: trials.json.
• Brand prices: Eli Lilly, Zepbound vial pricing (Dec 1, 2025); NovoCare Pharmacy, Wegovy pricing; Novo Nordisk, Wegovy savings offer; Lilly, Zepbound savings card, read 2026-09-20.
• Compounded prices: each provider's posted pricing, linked with its check date under every price in the provider table (paid affiliate links to Embody, SnagRx, Collective, CoreAge Rx, HealthRX and MEDGm); regulatory status from the FDA, concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs.
• Medicare: CMS, BALANCE model and Medicare GLP-1 Bridge; KFF, explainer.
• Wegovy list price and savings card: Novo Nordisk, Wegovy cost, coverage and savings: list price $1,349.02 per package; pay as little as $25 a month, maximum savings $100 a month. Price checked Oct 26, 2026 · novocare.com; Last known price, Oct 7, 2026 — may have changed · confirm on LillyDirect
• Telehealth fees: Ro and PlushCare pricing pages: Ro $74 a month on the annual plan, paid upfront ($149 month to month, $39 first month), drug billed separately; PlushCare $19.99 a month plus a visit, in-network copay usually $30 or less. Price checked Oct 25, 2026 · ro.co; Oct 25, 2026 · plushcare.com
• Cost calculator trial curves: OASIS 4 (NEJM 2025) −13.6% at 64 weeks for the Wegovy pill; STEP UP for Wegovy HD (−18.8% at 72 weeks across everyone randomized, from the Wegovy prescribing information; the published paper gives −18.7% for the same group and −20.7% among people who stayed on treatment); SURMOUNT-5 −20.2% vs −13.7% at 72 weeks.
• Label criteria: the Wegovy and Zepbound prescribing information (BMI 30 or more, or 27 or more with a weight-related condition).
• Each price shows the date it was last confirmed. Prices change several times a year; the manufacturer or provider page is the final word.