Monthly price is the number everyone quotes. The number that decides whether a drug is worth it is cost per pound lost — and the cheaper drug is not always the cheaper answer.
| Medication, per month | — |
|---|---|
| Total over the period | — |
| Expected loss at this point in the trial | — |
| Weight you'd expect to reach | — |
| Cheapest channel for this drug | — |
SURMOUNT-5, the head-to-head trial published in 2025, put tirzepatide at roughly 20–22% mean weight loss against roughly 14% for semaglutide over 72 weeks. So a drug that costs $150 more per month can still finish cheaper per pound. That is the whole reason this page exists: the monthly sticker price and the value are two different questions, and every price comparison online answers only the first one.
The loss figures here come from the same published trial means used on the projection page — STEP 1 for semaglutide, SURMOUNT-1 for tirzepatide, SCALE for liraglutide, OASIS for oral semaglutide. They are group averages. Individual results spread widely around them, and the trials all included diet and activity counselling alongside the drug.
Manufacturer self-pay (NovoCare for Novo Nordisk drugs, LillyDirect for Lilly drugs) is the most predictable cash route and needs no insurance, only a valid prescription. It does not count toward an insurance deductible.
Insurance plus a manufacturer copay card is the cheapest route by far when it works, but it requires commercial insurance that actually covers the drug for weight management, and government plans are excluded. Whether your plan covers it is the single biggest variable in this whole calculation.
List price is what an uninsured patient pays with no program at all. Almost nobody should be paying this; it is here as the baseline the other channels are discounted against.
Telehealth platforms add their own visit or membership fee on top of the medication, typically $25–$99 a month. Where a platform quotes one bundled number, that number normally includes the visit.