GLP-1 Savings Calculator

The 2026 GLP-1 cost landscape

What GLP-1 weight loss therapy costs swings by a full order of magnitude across the access paths available in 2026 — from $25/month with full commercial insurance coverage and a savings card, to $99-$199/month for compounded semaglutide, to $149-$399/month for Wegovy across the NovoCare pen/HD-pen/oral-pill tiers (or $199 for the first 2 months under the new-patient promo), to $299-$699/month for Zepbound across the LillyDirect dose-specific vial tiers, to $1,300+/month list price without any discounts.

The biggest 2026 change is the Foundayo (orforglipron) launch on April 1, 2026 at $149/month self-pay [1]. No FDA-approved branded GLP-1 had previously matched compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide on price, and the effect on the market's price floor has been material.

How the calculator works

Pick your current access path from the “Currently paying” dropdown and the alternative you're considering from the “Switching to” dropdown. The calculator uses the verified 2026 default monthly cost for each option, but you can override either price with the actual amount you're paying or quoted. The result card shows your monthly, yearly, and 5-year savings (or extra cost) for the switch.

Important context for each access path

• Brand-name with insurance + savings card. Both Wegovy and Zepbound have manufacturer savings cards that bring eligible patient costs to $25/month. Eligibility requires commercial insurance (not Medicare or Medicaid), an FDA-on-label prescription, and a prior authorization approval. Without the PA, the savings card doesn't apply.
• Brand-name self-pay direct-pay. Both manufacturers operate direct-pay pharmacies for patients who can't use insurance. NovoCare for Wegovy publishes self-pay tiers that vary by dose (verified 9/30/2026): $199/month for two monthly fills on the two lowest pen strengths (0.25 and 0.5 mg) for new patients (the offer runs through 12/31/2026), $349/month ongoing for the Wegovy pen across its 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.7 and 2.4 mg doses, $399/month for the 7.2 mg HD pen, and, in tablet form, $149/month at 1.5 mg, $199/month at 4 mg and $299/month at 9 mg or 25 mg. One month is defined as 1 box of 4 pens or 1 bottle of 30 tablets, and all rates require fulfillment through NovoCare Pharmacy [2]. LillyDirect for Zepbound uses dose-specific vial pricing (effective Dec 1, 2025): $299 for 2.5 mg, $399 for 5 mg, $499 for 7.5 mg, and $699 for 10/12.5/15 mg maintenance. Lilly's Self Pay Journey Program (effective Feb 23, 2026) offers $449/month for eligible patients on the 7.5–15 mg vials [3]. These are bypass programs that skip the insurance system entirely.
• Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide. 503A compounding pharmacies sell these through telehealth providers, at anything from a $99/month floor to a median past $300/month. The format is not FDA-approved, and how good it is differs substantially from one pharmacy to the next. See our compounded bioequivalence investigation and our PCAB accreditation guide for the quality considerations [5].
• Foundayo (orforglipron). Newest to arrive. Commercial insurance with a savings card puts it at $25/month; self-pay through LillyDirect at $149/month [1]. No branded GLP-1 prices its self-pay tier more aggressively, and our expectation is that it pulls a meaningful slice of the compounded patient population back toward brand-name therapy across 2026 and 2027.

Things the calculator doesn't account for

• Insurance deductibles. The $25/month insurance numbers assume you've already met any deductible. Early-year costs may be higher.
• Quantity-discount programs. Many telehealth providers bundle several months together and drop the per-month rate.
• Dose escalation pricing. Some manufacturer programs put a different price on the lower titration doses than on maintenance. What is defaulted here is the maintenance-dose price.
• Switching costs. Switching providers sometimes has one-time fees (intake consultation, shipping). The calculator does not subtract these.
• Quality and reliability differences. Cheapest is rarely best. There is a reason behind a low price when it comes from an unaccredited compounding facility, a pharmacy carrying FDA warning letters, or a telehealth provider that will not be there in six months. See our FDA warning letters database before optimizing purely for price.

Important disclaimer

This category moves fast, and the default monthly costs here are best-effort 2026 snapshots taken from public sources. Get your real price from your telehealth provider, pharmacy or prescriber before you commit to switching anything. Coverage decisions differ by plan and change from one year to the next. Nothing in this calculator is financial or medical advice.

Related tools and research

• Live GLP-1 pricing index — the whole compounded telehealth market, as one dataset
• GLP-1 weight loss calculator — what weight loss to expect down each access path
• GLP-1 BMI calculator — your trial-endpoint BMI, and whether the FDA label reaches you
• Insurance employer checker — whether Zepbound or Wegovy is covered where you work
• Foundayo approval deep-dive — the new $149/month oral pill that's reshaping the cost floor