GLP-1 telehealth programs, compared on what you actually pay

How does GLP-1 telehealth work?

You fill in an online health questionnaire, a licensed clinician reviews it (by message, phone or video, depending on the program), and if a prescription is appropriate it goes to a pharmacy that ships the medication to you. Most programs charge a subscription that bundles the clinician review and the medication.

The differences that matter sit in the fine print: whether a clinician ever speaks with you, how your weight is checked, which pharmacy fills the prescription, how billing works after the first month and how quickly a cancellation takes effect. Our program reviews record what each program states on its own pages, and our screening guide compares how programs say they check eligibility.

What do telehealth GLP-1 programs really cost in a year?

Take the price you would pay at your maintenance dose, multiply by the number of charges in a year, and add any membership. A program billed every four weeks charges 13 times a year, not 12. A low first-month price says little about months two to twelve.

The full list, with the date each price was read, is in our October 2026 price index.

Should you choose brand or compounded?

Brand Zepbound and Wegovy are FDA-approved and now sold directly to cash-pay patients: Zepbound through LillyDirect from $299 a month at 2.5 mg to $449 at 7.5–15 mg with on-time refills, and the Wegovy pen through NovoCare at $349 a month. Compounded tirzepatide and semaglutide cost less in most programs, but they are not FDA-approved, are not generic versions of the brands and are not the same products.

If you have Medicare Part D and qualify, the CMS Medicare GLP-1 Bridge sets a $50 monthly copay for covered weight-loss GLP-1s from July 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027, which costs less than nearly every cash-pay option.

What did the trials show?

In SURMOUNT-1, adults without diabetes taking tirzepatide 15 mg lost 20.9% of body weight on average at 72 weeks (treatment-regimen estimand), against 3.1% with placebo; the 5 mg and 10 mg doses averaged 15.0% and 19.5%. In SURMOUNT-5, the head-to-head trial, tirzepatide averaged 20.2% and semaglutide 13.7% at 72 weeks. These are trial averages for the FDA-approved products, not promises, and individual results vary widely.

Gastrointestinal side effects (nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation) are the most common and are most frequent while the dose is being increased. Both drugs carry a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors in rodents and are not for people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2. See tirzepatide side effects and tirzepatide vs semaglutide.

Who are GLP-1 weight-loss medications for?

The FDA-approved weight-management labels cover adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 or more with at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol. They are meant to be used with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, usually long term: trials that stopped treatment (such as SURMOUNT-4) saw much of the weight return.

A licensed clinician who knows your history should make the decision. If a program prescribes without checking your weight or asking about your history, treat that as a warning sign; our red-flags guide lists others.