Checked Jun 15, 2026

Compounded vs. branded GLP-1 cash prices: the $130–$250/month gap, measured

At a maintenance dose, compounded semaglutide runs from $169/month. The cheapest branded Wegovy telehealth path runs from $299/month. That is a $130/month difference, or $1,560 in year one. For tirzepatide vs. Zepbound, the gap starts at $250/month. We measured both by drug, dose level, and lock-in status, using each program's own published cash prices verified through June 15.

The compounded-versus-branded question is the one that actually determines how much a patient pays. It is a drug-by-drug question, not a program-by-program one: the active molecule in compounded semaglutide and in Wegovy is the same. The price is not. We pulled cash prices for every US telehealth program that publishes them for both pathways, sorted by molecule, and measured the gap. At the floor, compounded semaglutide is $130/month cheaper than the cheapest branded Wegovy telehealth path, and compounded tirzepatide is $250/month cheaper than the cheapest branded Zepbound path.

The gap, in numbers

A patient choosing between compounded and branded is choosing between two different regulatory and manufacturing chains that happen to use the same molecule. What they are not choosing between is two different prices that are somehow hard to compare. The prices are published. We put them side by side.

For semaglutide: the cheapest month-to-month all-in compounded path is $169/month (that is Found, medication included, no membership lock-in). The cheapest branded Wegovy cash path through a comparable telehealth program is $299/month at a maintenance dose on a month-to-month basis. The gap at the floor is $130/month, or $1,560 over 12 months.

For tirzepatide: the cheapest month-to-month all-in compounded path is $199/month (Found). The cheapest branded Zepbound cash path starts at $449/month at a low maintenance dose. The gap at the floor is $250/month, or $3,000 over 12 months. At higher Zepbound dose tiers the gap widens; compounded programs generally keep pricing flat across doses.

Neither gap is trivial. $1,560 a year is a car payment. $3,000is a meaningful fraction of a month's rent. What the patient gives up for the lower compounded price is the FDA-approved manufacturing chain and, for tirzepatide specifically, supply certainty while litigation continues.

Every program, by molecule and pathway

Cash prices only. Insurance-copay rows excluded. Sorted cheapest first within each molecule. Prices verified against each program's published pricing as of Jun 15, 2026.

Source: each program's own published pricing page, verified against the GLP Chart Price Index data, checked every Monday. Download the full set below.

Why the gap exists

Branded Wegovy and Zepbound carry FDA-approved manufacturing costs, patent protections, and manufacturer pricing power. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly set the wholesale price, and telehealth programs pass it through with a margin. Compounded versions use the same active molecule but are prepared by 503A or 503B pharmacies under a physician's prescription outside the branded supply chain. The pharmacy cost is lower; the program passes some of that to the patient.

The gap is also dose-structure. Branded programs frequently charge by dose tier: a starter dose is cheaper; a maintenance dose is more expensive. Compounded programs, particularly the flat-priced ones like Found, absorb the titration increase internally and bill the same rate at every step. That structural difference makes branded programs look closer to compounded at the starter dose and further away at the maintenance dose, which is the dose you live with.

The gap for tirzepatide is larger than for semaglutide because compounded tirzepatide has historically been available in a wider dose-range at a fixed price, while branded Zepbound prices climb steeply with dose. Whether that supply chain survives current FDA enforcement and Lilly litigation is a separate question.

The supply risk on compounded tirzepatide

The compounded tirzepatide market has been contested since 2025. Eli Lilly filed lawsuits against 503A and 503B pharmacies compounding tirzepatide, arguing that the drug is not on the FDA shortage list and therefore cannot lawfully be compounded. Several pharmacies have received FDA warning letters. Some programs that offered compounded tirzepatide have quietly exited the market or shifted to other molecules.

Programs in the table above that still offer compounded tirzepatide were verified as available as of June 15. That can change quickly. Branded Zepbound does not carry that discontinuity risk. This page will update when programs exit or re-enter the compounded tirzepatide market; the verified date on each row shows when that program was last confirmed.

Download the dataset

Free to use, free to cite, under CC BY 4.0.

• Compounded vs. branded dataset (CSV) one row per program-molecule pair: pathway, monthly cash price low and high, lock-in, last verified.
• Compounded vs. branded dataset (JSON) the same rows plus the headline gap statistics, for machine reading.

Methodology

We pulled cash medication_pricing entries from the same providers.json that powers the GLP Chart Price Index. The dataset includes every US telehealth program that publishes a specific cash price for compounded semaglutide, compounded tirzepatide, branded Wegovy (including the oral Wegovy pill), or branded Zepbound. Programs whose branded prices are insurance-copay only are excluded because the copay is not comparable to a cash price.

“All-in” means the total monthly out-of-pocket: the membership or program fee plus the medication cost where bundled, or the program fee plus the published cash medication price where billed separately. We do not include one-time costs such as initial lab work or setup fees. Shipping is included where free; excluded where it is separately itemized.

“Maintenance dose” means the therapeutic dose most patients stabilize at after titration: typically 1mg-2.4mg semaglutide injectable or 9mg-25mg oral, and 5mg-15mg tirzepatide. We use the maintenance-dose price to avoid overstating the compounded advantage (starter doses are nearly always cheaper; maintenance doses are what you pay for the duration of treatment).

Prices are checked every Monday against each program's published pricing page. Verification uses the published page directly; we do not sign up or pay. The verified date on each row reflects the most recent Monday that price was confirmed. Full methodology: methodology page.

Cite this

Published under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0. Reuse any number, row or download with attribution and a link back. Suggested citation:

For data questions or source-level documentation, email press@glpchart.com. We reply within one business day.

Frequently asked questions

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John Samaras, Founder and EditorI started GLP Chart after overpaying for a GLP-1 myself. Based in Austin, Texas.
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