What you actually pay

Nearly every complaint we receive about a GLP-1 programme comes down to the same thing: the price in month two was not the price in the advert. It is almost never a scam. It is structure.

Once you know the six shapes this takes, you can read any of these websites in about ninety seconds and work out what you will really be charged.

1. The membership that renews higher

The commonest one. A $39 introductory membership renews at $99. Eden advertises $99 semaglutide, and the membership behind it takes the real figure to about $198.

2. The medication price that excludes the fee

Two separate charges presented as one number. Hims & Hers quotes $199 for compounded injections; the $39 membership is billed alongside it.

3. The fee that buys no medication at all

Ro charges $149 a month for the membership and bills medication separately. That is stated plainly, and it still surprises people.

4. The cheapest tier that is a different product

"From $179" at Henry Meds is the sublingual tier; the weekly injection is about $297. "From $79" at Hims is an oral kit. Neither is the weekly injection most people are picturing.

5. The price that climbs with your dose

Many programmes charge more as you titrate up, so the month you reach a therapeutic dose is the month the bill jumps. Flat-rate programmes such as Coreage Rx hold the price across the dose range, which is worth more over a year than most headline discounts.

6. The insured price quoted to cash payers

The $25 a month figures in the advertising are what an insured patient pays after coverage is approved. If you are paying cash, that number has nothing to do with you.

The ninety-second check

1. Find the ongoing monthly price, not the first-month price.
2. Ask whether a membership or platform fee is billed separately, and what it renews at.
3. Confirm which format the advertised price refers to — injection, oral or sublingual.
4. Ask whether the price changes when your dose goes up.
5. Add it all together and multiply by twelve. Compare that number, and nothing else.

We have done that arithmetic for every provider we cover — the results are in the cheapest GLP-1 programmes.

October 15 addition: a clinic quote needs more than a medicine price

The clinic reviews below were added on October 15, 2026. The earlier six examples in this guide retain their September 18 research date; this addition does not recheck those older offers. Clinic fees can follow a different schedule from a medication subscription, so the two should be compared using an itemized quote.

Medi-Weightloss lists a $199 self-pay new-patient visit and separate first-month compounded medication offers of $99 for semaglutide or $199 for tirzepatide. Its pricing page says programme fees exclude medication and vary by clinic. Neither introductory figure is a complete recurring total.

Premier Physicians describes follow-ups every two weeks on its private-pay page without a complete public dollar quote. Nuviva describes weekly check-ins and remote care, also without a complete public total on the reviewed pages. Ask each clinic what the fee buys, rather than assigning an assumed monthly amount.

1. Write down the first payment, normal recurring payment and billing interval.
2. Separate visits, medicine, repeat tests, supplies, delivery and optional extras.
3. Check visit coverage and prescription coverage independently with the insurer.
4. For prepayment or financing, request the exit terms and remaining obligations in writing.
5. Compare the same duration and services; label introductory offers and uncertain future costs.

A free consultation is a booking step, not a promise of free medicine. No-contract language does not settle whether a completed consultation, prepaid package or medication order can be refunded. The linked reviews identify which details are public and which still need a patient-specific answer.