GLP-1 medications without insurance: every cost option in 2026

GLP-1 without insurance: which option fits you

Almost no one who shops around pays the full list price. Start with the line that sounds like you:

• Lowest start: Mochi Health, compounded semaglutide from about $140 a month at the lowest dose.
• Coaching included: Fridays, about $150 a month on a yearly plan paid upfront.
• One all-in bill, shot or tablet: Henry Meds. The tablet drops to about $150 a month on a 12-month prepay.
• Semaglutide or tirzepatide at one flat price: Found, about $170 or $240 a month on a 12-month plan paid up front.
• FDA-approved semaglutide: Wegovy through NovoCare. The pill starts at about $150 a month.
• FDA-approved tirzepatide: Zepbound through LillyDirect, from about $300 a month.
• You'd rather pick your pharmacy: GoodRx shows Novo's same cash price for Wegovy at local pharmacies.
• You have Medicare: a federal program caps Wegovy and Zepbound at $50 a month for those who qualify.

The key trade-off is brand versus compounded. Brand-name Wegovy and Zepbound are FDA-approved and sold by their makers. Compounded semaglutide is mixed by a pharmacy for you on a prescription. It costs less, but it is not FDA-approved as a finished product.

Compounded semaglutide: the cheapest GLP-1 without insurance

Compounded semaglutide through a telehealth service is the cheapest GLP-1 when you pay cash. It runs about $140 to $300 a month. Your dose, the provider and the plan you pick set the final price.

Mochi Health: medicine priced by dose, plus a membership

Since August 2026, Mochi prices semaglutide by dose. The medicine starts at $60 a month at the lowest dose. At the top dose, it costs about $190. A $79 monthly membership comes on top.

All-in, that is about $140 to $270 a month, the lowest starting price on this page. New members get the first month of membership free in most states. Prepaying the membership for 12 months brings it down to about $50 a month. Shipping is included.

Mochi has more than 400 board-certified providers. Some are also board-certified in obesity medicine, a specialty focused on weight. You choose among Mochi's partner pharmacies, and the medicine price can vary from one to the next.

Fridays: about $150 a month on a yearly plan

Fridays charges about $150 a month for compounded semaglutide on a yearly plan paid upfront. Month to month, it costs about $280.

The price covers the medicine, your clinician visits and shipping. A dietitian and coaching are included too. Fridays does not refund the rest of a yearly plan if you cancel partway.

Henry Meds: one bundled price, no membership

Henry Meds bundles visits, medicine, supplies and shipping into one price, with no membership. The semaglutide shot costs about $300 a month, month to month. Prepaying lowers it to about $250 a month for 6 months, or about $200 for 12 months.

Henry also sells semaglutide tablets that dissolve in your mouth, for women who want to avoid needles. They cost about $250 a month, or about $150 a month on a 12-month prepay.

Each Henry plan covers your medicine up to a set amount. Henry says the price varies with your plan and dose. On a prepay plan, you may owe the rest of the balance if you stop early.

Found: one all-in price, semaglutide or tirzepatide

Found's compounded plans cover care, medicine and membership in one price. The price stays the same at every dose, and you are billed every 28 days.

• Semaglutide: about $290 a month, month to month, with a first month of about $180. About $170 a month on a 12-month plan paid up front.
• Tirzepatide: about $360 a month, month to month, or about $240 a month on a 12-month plan.

The membership fee is refundable only within 3 days of buying, or before your first visit. If you do have commercial insurance, Found can bill it for your visits, which lowers the plan price. See our Found review.

Is compounded semaglutide still legal?

Yes, within limits. The FDA declared the semaglutide shortage over in February 2025. Since then, a pharmacy may still make it for one patient when a prescriber documents a clinical need the approved drug can't meet.

In April 2026, the FDA also proposed keeping semaglutide off the list that larger outsourcing pharmacies may compound from. No final decision has been announced. Ask any provider which pharmacy fills your prescription.

Brand-name GLP-1s without insurance: the makers' self-pay programs

Novo Nordisk makes Wegovy, and Eli Lilly makes Zepbound. Both sell directly to people paying cash. These are the FDA-approved drugs, and the self-pay prices cost far less than the list price.

NovoCare Wegovy self-pay

Novo Nordisk's NovoCare pharmacy sells Wegovy in two forms:

• Wegovy pill: about $150 a month at the 1.5 mg starting dose. It is about $200 at 4 mg, and about $300 at the 9 mg and 25 mg doses.
• Wegovy pen: about $350 a month at the usual doses, and about $400 at the 7.2 mg high dose.
• New-patient offer: your first two pen fills cost about $200 each, through Dec 31, 2026.

You need a prescription. NovoCare ships to your home, or you can pick up at a pharmacy.

LillyDirect Zepbound

Eli Lilly sells Zepbound, which is tirzepatide, straight to self-pay patients. The pen and the vial cost the same:

• 2.5 mg: about $300 a month.
• 5 mg: about $400 a month.
• 7.5 mg to 15 mg: about $450 a month.

From 7.5 mg up, you keep that price only if you refill within 45 days of your last delivery. A late fill costs about $500 to $700. A calendar reminder helps.

You can order from LillyDirect, Lilly's online pharmacy. The KwikPen is also sold at this price through local pharmacies.

Retail pharmacy, with or without a GoodRx coupon

If you skip every program and fill Wegovy at a retail pharmacy, expect about $1,350 a month. That is the list price, the maker's official price before any discount. It is the figure behind most sticker-shock headlines.

Novo Nordisk plans to cut that list price to about $675 on January 1, 2027. Its self-pay prices stay the same.

GoodRx no longer runs its own Wegovy coupon. It now shows Novo Nordisk's cash price at more than 70,000 pharmacies, the same as NovoCare. It is worth using if you'd rather pick up locally than wait for the mail.

How much does a GLP-1 cost per year without insurance?

Here is the first-year cost of each route. Where the price rises with the dose, it follows the usual dose steps. Wegovy pens and Zepbound come in 28-day boxes, so a year means 13 fills.

• Mochi Health: about $1,670 a year if you stayed on the lowest dose. Higher doses cost more. The free first month takes about $80 off in most states.
• Fridays: about $1,800 a year on the yearly plan, or about $3,350 month to month.
• Henry Meds shot: about $2,360 on a 12-month prepay, or about $3,560 month to month.
• Henry Meds tablet: about $1,790 on a 12-month prepay.
• Found semaglutide: about $2,200 a year on the 12-month plan, or about $3,650 month to month. Tirzepatide costs about $3,110 on the 12-month plan.
• Wegovy pill, NovoCare or GoodRx: about $3,340 in the first year as you step up to 9 mg or 25 mg.
• Wegovy pen, NovoCare: about $4,240 in the first year, with the two intro fills.
• LillyDirect Zepbound: about $5,640 in the first year if you step up to 7.5 mg or more.
• Wegovy at full list price: about $17,500 a year.

Why GLP-1s matter for women in perimenopause

Weight gain in perimenopause is not about willpower. As estrogen falls, fat shifts toward the belly. Blood sugar control also gets harder. Many women find the habits that worked at 38 do less at 46. Our guide to perimenopause weight gain explains why.

GLP-1 medicines curb appetite and improve how the body handles blood sugar. Some menopause clinicians now pair them with hormone therapy. The two work in different ways, and neither replaces the other. See our guide to weight-loss medication in perimenopause for the options.