Checked Jun 15, 2026
GLP-1 telehealth's advertised prices are a median 1.97x below the real cost
We measured the gap between the "from" price US GLP-1 programs advertise and the price you actually pay at a full dose. Across the 10 programs that publish both, the real maintenance price is a median of 1.97 times the advertised one. The median shopper who budgets on the headline number is about $1,485 short in year one.
Every GLP-1 telehealth program leads with a price. Almost none of them is the price you end up paying. We took the advertised “from” figure each program publishes and put it next to the real cost at a full maintenance dose. Across the 10 programs that publish both, the real price is a median of 1.97 times the advertised one, a median of $135 a month more. 5 of the 10 at least double.
- The real price is a median 1.97x the advertised price across the 10 programs that publish both an introductory rate and an ongoing cost.
- 5 of the 10 programs at least double from the advertised figure to the real maintenance cost.
- The widest gap is GoodRx for Weight Loss: $39 advertised, $468 real, about 12 times higher.
- The median shopper is about $1,485 short in year one (mean $1,861) if they budget twelve months at the advertised price.
The finding
Shopping for a GLP-1 means comparing prices that are built to look small. A program will say “from $138 a month” or “$39to start,” and that number is real. It is just not the number that recurs. It applies to the first month, or to the lowest starter dose, before titration brings you to a therapeutic dose and the price moves with it.
So we measured the distance. For every US program that advertises an introductory price and also publishes what it charges on an ongoing basis, we put the two side by side. The advertised price is the lowest first-month or entry figure the program shows. The real price is the all-in monthly cost at the maintenance dose, the same figure the GLP Chart Price Indextracks. Both come straight off each program's own pricing page.
Across 10 programs, the real price is a median of 1.97 times the advertised one. The median gap is $135 a month. The mean multiple is higher, 2.8x, pulled up by GoodRx for Weight Loss, whose advertised $39 subscription rate sits below a real cost of $468 once the branded medication is added. The narrowest gap belongs to Mochi Health at $138 advertised versus $178 real, because it prices flat across doses and the only difference is a small first-month discount.
Every program, advertised vs real
The 10 programs that publish both an advertised entry price and an ongoing cost, widest gap first. The multiple is the real price divided by the advertised one. The first-year column is what you overpay against a twelve-month budget pinned to the advertised price.
| Program | Advertised | Real maintenance | Gap | Multiple | First-year overpay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GoodRx for Weight Loss | $39/mo | $468/mo | +$429/mo | 12.00x | $4,719 |
| Hims & Hers | $188/mo | $448/mo | +$260/mo | 2.38x | $2,860 |
| LifeMD | $224/mo | $448/mo | +$224/mo | 2.00x | $2,464 |
| Costco / Success by Sesame | $199/mo | $408/mo | +$209/mo | 2.05x | $2,299 |
| Walgreens Weight Management | $149/mo | $299/mo | +$150/mo | 2.01x | $1,650 |
| Noom Med | $129/mo | $249/mo | +$120/mo | 1.93x | $1,320 |
| Ro Body | $344/mo | $444/mo | +$100/mo | 1.29x | $1,100 |
| Eden | $129/mo | $209/mo | +$80/mo | 1.62x | $880 |
| Zealthy | $217/mo | $297/mo | +$80/mo | 1.37x | $880 |
| Mochi Health | $138/mo | $178/mo | +$40/mo | 1.29x | $440 |
Source: the GLP Chart Price Index, advertised and maintenance fields, checked every Monday against each program's published pricing. Download the full set below. We list both the entry price and the maintenance price on every program row, and the mechanics are in how GLP-1 telehealth pricing works.
Why the gap exists
Three structures drive almost all of it. The first is the starter dose. GLP-1 dosing climbs over the first few months, and a program that prices by dose tier can advertise the lowest tier and bill the higher ones later. The second is the first-month discount, a one-time entry price that reverts on the second bill. The third is the unbundled membership, where the advertised figure is the access fee and the medication is a separate line you only see at checkout.
None of this is hidden, exactly. It is in the fine print on every one of these pages. But the comparison a shopper actually runs, the one big number against another big number, is the comparison the advertised price is designed to win. The gap is large enough to flip which program is cheapest. A program that looks like the best deal at the entry price can be mid-pack at the maintenance price, which is the price you live with.
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Free to embed with attribution. One iframe, no JavaScript, no tracking cookies. It shows the headline figure and the widest-gap programs, and links back here.
<iframe src="https://glpchart.com/research/glp1-price-gap/embed/" width="100%" height="340" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" title="The GLP-1 advertised vs real price gap, by GLP Chart" style="border: 1px solid #eaeaea; border-radius: 2px; max-width: 560px;"></iframe>Renders in WordPress, Webflow, Ghost, Substack and any CMS that allows raw HTML. Prefer the raw numbers? Take the CSV or JSON below.
Methodology
The set is every US GLP-1 weight-loss telehealth program we track that advertises an introductory or entry price and also publishes an ongoing cost, so the two are comparable. The advertised price is the lowest first-month or starter-dose figure the program shows on its pricing page. The real price is the all-in monthly cost at the target maintenance dose: the membership fee plus the medication where the program bundles them, or the program fee plus the published cash medication price where it bills the drug separately. Both are cash-pay, before insurance, United States only.
We check every price against the program's own published pricing page every Monday, and confirm through a web search of the program's materials when a site blocks automated access. We do not sign up, pay, or purchase to read a price. The multiple is the real price divided by the advertised price. The first-year overpay assumes the advertised price applies for one month and the maintenance price for the other eleven, so it equals eleven times the monthly gap, the amount a shopper exceeds a twelve-month budget set at the advertised price.
We exclude one program, PlushCare, because its lowest ongoing figure is an insurance copay rather than a cash price, which is not comparable to its cash entry price. Programs that do not advertise an introductory price, or do not publish an ongoing cost, are out of scope for this study and appear in the full Price Index. Full scoring methodology and sub-score definitions: methodology.
Download the dataset
Free to use, free to cite, under CC BY 4.0.
- Price-gap dataset (CSV) one row per program: advertised price, real maintenance price, monthly gap, the multiple, first-year overpay, basis, last verified.
- Price-gap dataset (JSON) the same rows plus the summary statistics and the method, for machine reading.
Cite this
Published under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0. Reuse any number, row or download with attribution and a link back. Suggested citation:
GLP Chart. “The GLP-1 advertised vs real price gap.” glpchart.com/research/glp1-price-gap/. Checked Jun 15, 2026.
CSV · JSON · live Price Index · press kit
For data questions or source-level documentation (the published page each figure came from), email press@glpchart.com. We reply within one business day.
Frequently asked questions
What is the gap between advertised and real GLP-1 prices?
Across the 10 US GLP-1 telehealth programs that advertise an introductory price and also publish an ongoing cost, the real maintenance price is a median of 1.97 times the advertised one. In dollars, the median program charges $135 a month more at a full maintenance dose than its advertised "from" price suggests. 5 of the 10 at least double.
Which program has the biggest advertised-to-real gap?
GoodRx for Weight Loss. It advertises $39 a month, and the real ongoing cost at a maintenance dose is $468 a month, about 12 times higher. The advertised figure is an introductory subscription rate that does not include the branded medication. The smallest gap in the set is Mochi Health at $138 advertised versus $178 real.
Are these teaser prices a scam?
Nothing here says any program advertises unlawfully. The advertised numbers are real first-month or entry-dose prices. The point is structural: a shopper who compares programs on the advertised "from" price, and does not read which dose or which month it applies to, will pay much more once titrated to a therapeutic dose. The practice is widespread, and the gap is large enough to change which program is actually cheapest.
How is the gap calculated?
For each program we take the lowest first-month or entry price it advertises, and the all-in monthly cost at the target maintenance dose, both read from the program's own published pricing and checked every Monday. The gap is the difference. The first-year figure assumes a shopper pays the advertised price in month one and the maintenance price for the other eleven months, so the year-one overpay versus a twelve-month budget at the advertised price is eleven times the monthly gap.
Why is PlushCare not in the table?
PlushCare advertises a $0 first-month cash price, but its lowest ongoing figure is an insurance copay, not a cash price. Comparing a cash teaser to an insured maintenance number would mix two different bases, so we left it out rather than report a misleading multiple. Every program in the table compares cash to cash.
See the live price of every program →
