One molecule, a 4.3-fold spread
The single most striking thing in the opening dataset is not the gap between brands and compounds, which everyone expects. It is the gap within one compounded molecule. Compounded semaglutide is sold across 16 of the programs we track, at prices from $69 to $299 a month: a 4.3-fold spread.
There is no clinical difference being priced here. Compounded semaglutide has no trial of its own, and the pharmacies preparing it are drawing on the same active ingredient. What varies is what each program decided to charge, and how visible that decision is to a buyer who only ever sees one website at a time.
Tirzepatide costs more, and it is worth asking why
Tirzepatide's median sits at $217 against semaglutide's $149, a $68 premium, and it is available at fewer programs: 24 against 27.
The premium tracks the evidence. In SURMOUNT-5, the only head-to-head trial of the two molecules, tirzepatide produced a 20.2 percent mean body-weight reduction at 72 weeks against semaglutide's 13.7 percent, across 751 adults. Buyers are paying about 46 percent more for the molecule that won that trial.
A third of the market will not tell you the full price
Twelve of 35 programs publish no membership fee we could verify. Among the five that charge one, fees run from $25 to $89 a month and change who is cheapest.
The clearest case is orforglipron, the new oral GLP-1 approved in April. Three programs sell it. Ro advertises $149 a month, the lowest sticker of the three, but adds a $74 monthly membership, making it $223 all-in and the most expensive of the three. Maximus advertises $199.99 and publishes no separate fee we could verify, which makes it the cheapest of the three on what is confirmable. Sesame Care sits between them at $208. Ranked on advertised price, the order is exactly inverted.
This is not a rounding problem. Over a year the difference between the advertised cheapest and the actually cheapest is $276.
What is coming
Two dates matter for the next reading. Novo Nordisk's $149 self-pay price on the 4 mg Wegovy tablet expires on 31 August 2026, after which that dose is $199. And the FDA's proposal of 30 April 2026 to exclude semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide from the 503B bulks list closed for comment on 29 June, with no final determination announced as of publication. A determination against inclusion would put pressure on the compounded prices that currently set the floor of this index.
The opening state, by molecule
All-in monthly prices, Aug 23. One program contributes its own cheapest verified offer.
| Molecule | Programs | Cheapest | Median | Dearest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semaglutide | 27 | $69 | $149 | $299 |
| Tirzepatide | 24 | $119 | $217 | $399 |
| Orforglipron | 3 | $200 | $208 | $223 |
Using this
These figures are free to quote with attribution to pricetrackerglp1.com. The dataset behind them, every offer with the URL it was read from, is published openly so you can check any number here yourself.
Published Aug 23 · figures frozen as of Aug 23 · the live index has moved since and says so