What the spread actually is

Cheapest
$358

Sesame Care

Middle of the field
$449.99

Maximus

Dearest we track
$1,828

Fridays

Manufacturer self-pay
$299

$299 at the starting dose, rising to $699 at the maintenance doses

Zepbound is a branded, FDA-approved drug and is priced like one. If price is the only thing that matters to you, the compounded molecule is a fraction of this.

Manufacturer price quoted verbatim from its own published terms, checked Aug 22: “Available through Zepbound self-pay, Zepbound is offered as a 4-count single-dose vial (0.5mL) and a single-patient-use KwikPen (2.4mL, 0.6mL/dose) in doses of 2.5mg, 5mg, 7.5mg, 10mg, 12.5mg and 15mg, with direct-to-patient pricing of $299, $399, $499, $699, $699 and $699 respectively.

How this list is ranked

  • All-in, not advertised. A $149 program with a $74 monthly membership is a $223 program, and it ranks as one. Where a seller has not published a fee we could verify, the row says so rather than assuming zero.
  • Checked weekly.Every price is read from the seller’s own page and dated. The trail on each row shows the shape; the solid section is our own record.
  • Order is price, nothing else. We earn a commission when you buy through these links, and it never changes the order. No seller can pay for position.
  • Only sellers we can verify. Programs we cannot check, or that have stopped taking patients, drop off the list rather than sitting on it stale.

How we verify prices · How we make money

Before you pick a Zepbound program

Buying safelyWegovy or Zepbound denied by insuranceThree different things get called a denial and only two are worth appealing. If your plan excludes weight-loss drugs as a category, the refusal is not about you and no amount of clinical documentation moves it. If it is step therapy or unmet criteria, both are answerable, and the answer is usually documentation rather than argument. Here is how to tell which one you got, and what each needs.7 min · checked Aug 28Buying safelyHow to get Wegovy or Zepbound covered by insuranceThere are four gates and most people fight the wrong one first. Before any clinical criterion applies, your employer has to have bought the weight-loss drug category at all, and if they did not, no BMI number and no comorbidity will change the answer. Once past that, the published criteria across the major insurers are strikingly consistent: BMI of 30 or more, or 27 with a weight-related condition, plus a documented period of lifestyle change, plus roughly 5 percent weight loss to stay approved at renewal.8 min · checked Aug 28The drugsSwitching from Wegovy to ZepboundMost people searching this did not choose to switch. A formulary chose for them. CVS Caremark removed Zepbound in July 2025 and told members they would have to try and fail Wegovy first, then said it would add Zepbound back as a preferred option on 1 October 2026, so a lot of people are being pushed one way and invited back the other inside fourteen months. Here is what your plan will ask for when you switch in either direction, and what each side costs today.6 min · checked Aug 28

$358/mo is today’s floor. It moves.

We re-check 37 programs weekly. Get one email when the cheapest Zepbound gets cheaper.