The cheapest legal semaglutide, by what you have to commit to
The lowest advertised prices in this market all require a year. The best-documented fact about this market is that most people do not finish one. Those two things belong on the same page, and almost nowhere are they.
The cash-pay weight-loss buyer is the first group. Roughly two in three stop inside a year — so "$99 a month on the annual plan" is a price most people will not actually pay for twelve months.
Rodriguez PJ et al. JAMA Network Open. Published 2025-01-31. · Truveta electronic health records from 30 US health systems, 1 Jan 2018 to 31 Dec 2023. Discontinuation was defined as the first date a patient was 60 days or more without any GLP-1 on hand, using fill dates and days supplied to account for carryover. Read the study.
Two products, never one list#
Compounded semaglutide and branded Wegovy are not the same regulatory object. The branded product is FDA-approved with trials behind it; the compounded version is prepared by a pharmacy and is not FDA-approved. They are priced in the same market and ranked separately here, because a single sorted list would imply an equivalence that does not exist.
Month-to-month — cancel whenever#
Compounded 503A, all-in, membership included where required.
| Channel | All-in monthly | What that is | If you stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mochi Health injection | $139 incl. $79 membership | starter dose | All prescription sales final; cancel before a refill transmits; ~24h membership-charge dispute window |
| Found injection | $169 | cash, 12-month plan paid up front | Full refund only within 3 days of purchase or before first consult; prepaid plans not prorated |
| Cora injection | $175 | flat, monthly billing | Cancel/pause anytime; shipments non-refundable once pharmacy prepares them; unshipped prepaid blocks refundable with re-billing |
| Mochi Health injection | $178 incl. $79 membership | top dose | All prescription sales final; cancel before a refill transmits; ~24h membership-charge dispute window |
| Noom Med injection | $179 | microdose, all-in | Refundable until a prescription is written; once written, no refunds; cancellation may not auto-stop an in-process med order |
| Henry Meds injection | $179 | from $179 | Monthly plans cancel anytime; multi-month balances generally still owed; refunds mainly for pharmacy errors |
| Direct Meds sublingual drops | $179 | flat rate | Rx orders cancelable within 24h; no refunds for received meds; $35 disposal fee on returns |
| Shed (ShedRx) injection | $199 | monthly billing | 'Lose 5% in 120 days or your money back' guarantee (terms apply) |
| Noom Med injection | $279 | full dose, all-in | Refundable until a prescription is written; once written, no refunds; cancellation may not auto-stop an in-process med order |
| Found injection | $289 | cash, month-to-month | Full refund only within 3 days of purchase or before first consult; prepaid plans not prorated |
| Direct Meds injection | $297 | all-inclusive, month-to-month | Rx orders cancelable within 24h; no refunds for received meds; $35 disposal fee on returns |
Annual commitment — the $99 tier#
| Channel | Monthly on the annual plan | Terms | If you stop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cora | $99 | flat, annual prepay ($1,188) | Cancel/pause anytime; shipments non-refundable once pharmacy prepares them; unshipped prepaid blocks refundable with re-billing |
| Trimi | $99 | flat, annual plan only | Full refund before a prescription is issued; once issued, final even if unshipped; damage claims within 24h. A 6-month money-back promise sits on top of that for anyone who completes six continuous months — see the guarantee terms. |
| Shed (ShedRx) | $159 | annual plan | 'Lose 5% in 120 days or your money back' guarantee (terms apply) |
The break-even, in months#
An annual plan is only cheaper if you get far enough into it. Where a provider offers both tiers, this is the month at which a year prepaid stops costing more than paying monthly and walking away:
| Provider | Annual | Month-to-month | Year prepaid | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cora | $99/mo | $175/mo | $1,188 | 6.8 months |
| Shed (ShedRx) | $159/mo | $199/mo | $1,908 | 9.6 months |
Put that next to the persistence data. 64.8% of people without type 2 diabetes had stopped within twelve months, and every break-even above falls inside that window. The annual plan is priced for the buyer who finishes the year, in a market where most buyers do not — and that is before the refund terms decide whether the unused months come back at all.
We can't tell you how many stop before the break-even month specifically. The study reports discontinuation at one year and two years, not at three or six months, so any earlier figure would be an interpolation off a survival curve rather than something anyone measured. Twelve months is the number that exists, so it is the only one we use.
Providers offering only an annual tier have no month-to-month rate to break even against, so no row here. That is not a point in their favour — it means the comparison cannot be made.
The branded route, for contrast#
None of the above is the FDA-approved product. If that matters to you — and there are good reasons it might — the manufacturer's own pharmacy is the reference price, with monthly billing and no membership:
| Channel | All-in monthly | Product | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| NovoCare Pharmacy | $149 | Wegovy pill · 1.5 mg | monthly |
| NovoCare Pharmacy | $149 | Ozempic pill · low dose | monthly |
| Sesame Care | $149 | Wegovy pill · 1.5/4 mg | monthly |
| NovoCare Pharmacy | $199 | Wegovy pill · 4 mg | monthly |
| NovoCare Pharmacy | $199 | Ozempic pill · mid dose | monthly |
| Hims & Hers | $298 incl. $149 membership | Wegovy pill · from $149 | monthly + membership |
Note what the membership column does to the ranking: the same branded product at the same medication price lands at wildly different all-in costs depending on whether a channel charges a membership on top.
How to actually choose#
- Assume you might be in the two-thirds. Not as pessimism — as arithmetic. If there is real doubt you will still be taking this in six months, month-to-month is the cheaper bet even at a higher sticker price.
- Read the refund clause before the price. "Final once a prescription is issued" and "unshipped blocks refundable" are the difference between losing the year and losing a month.
- Check what happens at dose escalation. Several channels price by dose tier, so the starting price is not the year's price. Our titration projector runs that.
- Do not treat compounded and branded as interchangeable on price alone. They differ in approval status, oversight, and who made the active ingredient — most providers will not tell you which pharmacy that is.
Common questions#
What is the cheapest legal semaglutide?#
On a headline monthly rate, compounded 503A plans on an annual commitment reach $99. Month-to-month, the cheapest all-in compounded option is about $139. For the FDA-approved product, the manufacturer's own pharmacy sells the Wegovy pill from $149 a month with no membership. Compounded semaglutide is not FDA-approved and is a different regulatory product from the branded drug.
Is an annual GLP-1 plan worth it?#
It depends entirely on whether you finish the year, and most people do not. In a study of 125,474 US adults, 64.8% of patients without type 2 diabetes had discontinued a GLP-1 within twelve months. Annual prepay only beats month-to-month past the break-even month — roughly 6.8 months at Cora and roughly 9.6 months at Shed (ShedRx) — and the refund terms decide what happens if you stop before then.
Pricing journalism, not medical advice, and not a recommendation of any provider or product. Compounded semaglutide is not FDA-approved. Whether any GLP-1 is appropriate for you, and whether to stop or continue one, is a clinical decision that belongs with a prescriber who can see your history — nothing here should factor into that. Listed prices on the dates shown; the checkout is the final word. No link on this page earns us a commission; ordering is by cost, never compensation — disclosure.