Price-index methodology
How GLP-1 Price Index turns documented prices into a reproducible index value, and the rules that keep incomparable categories from being merged.
Each category index takes the median verified effective monthly cost of every eligible program, sets the baseline-period median to 100, and reports the current median as a proportion of that baseline. Medians (not means) are used; programs are equally weighted; affiliate status never affects weighting; and clinically or commercially different categories are never combined.
Step 1: effective monthly cost
For each program we compute total mandatory payments for the compared treatment period — medication plus required membership, clinician, laboratory, onboarding, shipping, and dose surcharges, minus generally available discounts — divided by months supplied. Conditional rebates, financing, tax effects, and non-general assistance are not deducted.
Step 2: baseline and index value
The baseline-period category median is set to 100. The current index value equals the current median effective monthly cost divided by the baseline-period median, times 100. A value of 110 means the category median is 10 percent above baseline; 90 means 10 percent below. The first snapshot necessarily reads 100 because it defines the baseline.
Step 3: inclusion and weighting rules
Each eligible program is weighted equally. We never weight by affiliate status, revenue, traffic, popularity, or conversion rate. We use the median rather than the mean unless a documented reason supports another measure. Programs with conflicting evidence, missing mandatory-fee data, introductory-only pricing, or discontinued status are excluded rather than assigned a favorable default. Every snapshot publishes its sample size, eligible-program list, verification cutoff, and methodology version.
Worked calculation
| Program | Effective monthly ($) |
|---|---|
| OrderlyMeds | 74 |
| NexLife | 119 |
| Mochi Health | 178 |
| Henry Meds | 197 |
| Eden Health | 229 |
| MEDVi | 299 |
With six eligible programs, the median of $74, $119, $178, $197, $229, $299 is the average of the two middle values ($178 and $197), which is $187.50, rounded to $187. Because this is the first documented snapshot, the baseline median is also $187, so the index value is ($187 ÷ $187) × 100 = 100. When a later snapshot is captured, the index will move if the median shifts — for example, a future median of $178 would give an index of 95, a 5 percent decline.
Category separation
We never combine brand and compounded, semaglutide and tirzepatide, weight-management and diabetes indications, medication-only and complete-program prices, microdose and standard-dose, monthly and prepaid, or injectable and ODT into one aggregate number. Each is a separate index with its own baseline and sample.
Sources
- Evidence ledger and index dataset: evidence-ledger.csv, price-index.json
- Affordability method: affordability methodology; provider scoring: provider scoring.
- FDA — compounded GLP-1 status and 2025–2026 shortage-resolution policy. fda.gov/drugs/human-drug-compounding
The numbers behind this page
What we do not claim in this page
Every price quoted in this page comes from the programme's own pricing page and carries the date it was captured.
We do not claim these prices will hold. Compounded pricing moves within weeks, and a figure without a capture date is not a fact. We do not claim a compounded preparation is equivalent to an approved product: it is not FDA-approved, is not therapeutically equivalent to any brand-name product, and FDA does not review it for safety, effectiveness or manufacturing quality before marketing.
And we do not claim to be a clinical resource. Which molecule suits you, at what dose, and whether treatment is appropriate at all are questions for a prescribing clinician who has your history. This is price research, and it is only useful once those questions are settled.
Reading the price against the market
What the plan term is worth
The figures in this page sit inside a market with a measurable shape, and that shape is what makes any single price readable.
Several programmes publish two prices: the advertised rate, which requires a commitment, and the month-to-month rate, which does not. The gap between them is the price of flexibility, and it is rarely presented that way.
Compounded medication is generally not refundable once shipped, and most discontinuation happens in the first three months — precisely the window a twelve-month prepayment covers. Committing at signup and committing after reaching a dose you tolerate are materially different decisions, even though the advertised rate is identical.
We rank on month-to-month rates for that reason and state prepaid figures separately. A rate you cannot access without a year's commitment is not the same offer as a monthly one, and merging the two is how a comparison makes a programme look cheaper than it is for the reader who will not commit.
What the plan term is worth
The figures in this page sit inside a market with a measurable shape, and that shape is what makes any single price readable.
Several programmes publish two prices: the advertised rate, which requires a commitment, and the month-to-month rate, which does not. The gap between them is the price of flexibility, and it is rarely presented that way.
Compounded medication is generally not refundable once shipped, and most discontinuation happens in the first three months — precisely the window a twelve-month prepayment covers. Committing at signup and committing after reaching a dose you tolerate are materially different decisions, even though the advertised rate is identical.
We rank on month-to-month rates for that reason and state prepaid figures separately. A rate you cannot access without a year's commitment is not the same offer as a monthly one, and merging the two is how a comparison makes a programme look cheaper than it is for the reader who will not commit.
Questions this page answers
Are compounded GLP-1 medicines FDA-approved?
No. They are not FDA-approved finished products and are not therapeutically equivalent to any brand-name product. FDA does not review them for safety, effectiveness or manufacturing quality before marketing.
Why do the same programmes quote two different prices?
Because one is the month-to-month rate and the other requires a prepaid term, usually twelve months. We rank on the month-to-month figure and state the prepaid rate separately, since a rate requiring a year's commitment is not the same offer.
Where do these prices come from?
Each is read from the programme's own published pricing page and carries its capture date. The full set of 24 standard-dose records is at /api/prices.json with molecule and dose class on every record.
What is the cheapest verified GLP-1 programme?
NexLife at $119 a month for semaglutide and $139 for tirzepatide on its 12-month plan, both at standard therapeutic dosing and first-party verified September 4, 2026. Month-to-month, NexLife is $139 and $169; Oak Longevity ($133, flat, no membership) is the next-cheapest semaglutide programme.