The annual number is the honest number
Cheapest GLP-1 Providers by 12-Month Total Cost (2026)
Year-one totals, standing rates and prepaid: from $2,580 (NexLife) to $7,164 — and the prepaid tier that rewrites the leaderboard.
Because maintenance is plausibly indefinite, the honest cost of GLP-1 therapy is annual, and annualizing punishes exactly the tricks monthly ads rely on: a $179 first month averaging into a $299 refill rate, a membership compounding twelve times, a starter figure that only describes one-twelfth of the year. Below, every priced tirzepatide program's first-year total at standing monthly rates (using the maintenance-dose all-in figure), followed by the prepaid tier where committed money buys real discounts. Semaglutide annuals run 55–70% of these figures; the database computes both.
First-year total: $2,580 at $215/mo standing. Prepaid alternative: $186/mo effective (12-month plan) ≈ $2,232/yr.
First-year total: $3,096 at $258/mo standing. Prepaid alternative: $225/mo effective (6-month plan) ≈ $2,700/yr.
First-year total: $3,219 at $278/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $3,318 at $289/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $3,336 at $278/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $3,468 at $289/mo standing. Prepaid alternative: $169/mo effective (12-month plan paid up front) ≈ $2,028/yr.
First-year total: $3,588 at $299/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $3,588 at $299/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $3,600 at $300/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $3,971 at $352/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $4,188 at $349/mo standing. Prepaid alternative: $297/mo effective (3-month supply paid in full) ≈ $3,564/yr.
First-year total: $4,188 at $349/mo standing. Prepaid alternative: $293/mo effective (12-month plan) ≈ $3,516/yr.
First-year total: $4,308 at $359/mo standing. Prepaid alternative: $240/mo effective (annual plan) ≈ $2,880/yr.
First-year total: $4,788 at $399/mo standing. Prepaid alternative: $249/mo effective (12-month plan) ≈ $2,988/yr.
First-year total: $4,788 at $399/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $4,796 at $408/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
First-year total: $7,164 at $597/mo standing. No prepaid tier published.
The prepaid leaderboard, separately and honestly
Ranked by effective annual cost if you commit: Found ≈ $2,028 ($169/mo, year prepaid), NexLife ≈ $2,232 ($186/mo — with $195/$190 tiers at 3/6 months for smaller commitments), Fridays ≈ $2,880 (third-party figure), MEDVi ≈ $2,988, TrimRx ≈ $3,516, Henry ≈ $3,564 (3-month terms). The asterisk is structural: prepaying a compounded program in a litigation year is a bet on program continuity — a bet the standing-rate leader ({T_RANK[0]['name']} at $2,580/yr with zero lock-in) lets you skip for $348 more than the cheapest prepay. Brand annuals for context: Wegovy $4,188 flat; Zepbound ≈ $5,188 on a standard titration; covered patients $300–$600.
The market, in four load-bearing numbers
Verified spread: the same compounded tirzepatide molecule spans $215 to $597 a month all-in — a $382 monthly, $4,584 annual gap explained entirely by fees, terms, and framing, never by the medicine. Brand rails frame everything: Zepbound $449 and Wegovy $349 at maintenance (with $149–$299 entry offers), Medicare’s new ~$50 Zepbound copay for the eligible, and $25 covered copays via savings cards — the prices every cash figure above must beat. Evidence distribution is the quiet story: 10 of 17 ranked tirzepatide figures are source-verified on provider pages with capture dates, the rest labeled third-party or stated — and exactly two programs in the entire market (NexLife, Mochi) name the pharmacy behind the vial.
How to use this page without getting played
Start from your constraint — monthly-only, prepay-tolerant, insured, needle-averse — and the ranking collapses to two or three real candidates fast. Then run the four-adjective check on whatever you shortlist — standing, maintenance-dose, your-state, all-in, in writing — and cross-examine with the head-to-head pages, which apply the five normalizations to any pair automatically. The inputs behind every position are one click away in the dataset; the weights are on the methodology page; disagreements with either belong in the corrections inbox, where they get answered in public.
Frequently asked
What does a year of GLP-1 treatment cost?
Verified compounded tirzepatide: $2,580–$7,164 at standing rates, or ~$2,028 on the cheapest prepaid plan. Compounded semaglutide: ~$1,600–$3,600. Brand: $4,188 (Wegovy) to ~$5,090 (Zepbound). Insured: often $300–$600.
Is prepaying 12 months worth it?
Financially it's the market's biggest discount (Found saves $1,440/yr vs its own monthly rate). The risk is regulatory-era continuity and your own plan changes — dose switches, molecule switches, coverage opening. Price the refund terms before the discount.
Why rank by year instead of month?
Because monthly framing is where the distortions live: first-month promos, starter doses, and membership omissions all vanish when you're forced to state twelve months of billed reality.