Field note (2026-08): the tracked field expanded from eleven to eighteen providers — adding the U.S. News-rated (2026, per the release) Noom Med, WeightWatchers Clinic, LifeMD, PlushCare, Amazon One Medical, Ivim Health, and Fridays, Noom Med, WeightWatchers Clinic and LifeMD read on their own pages 2026-09-17 (no compounded price printed — listed, not ranked); the others pending verification until our pricing protocol reaches them. Live status: the dated ledger and the provider directory.

This page answers a different question than a leaderboard: not “which vendor is cheapest” but “which route should someone like me even be shopping.” Six routes, ordered by the true monthly cost they typically produce — with the caveat that your insurance card can reorder the whole list.

Route 1: insurance coverage, if you have it

A covered prescription with a manageable copay beats every cash option on this site — which is why our quiz asks about coverage before anything else. Coverage for weight-management indications is inconsistent and prior-authorization is normal; the tactics are in the coverage file. Diabetes and the newer cardiovascular, sleep-apnea, and kidney indications often unlock coverage that “weight loss” alone does not — see the medication files for which label carries which.

Route 2: manufacturer savings cards with commercial insurance

When commercially insured (even if the drug is covered poorly), Lilly’s and Novo’s savings programs can cut brand copays substantially. Terms and caps change; verify on the manufacturers’ pages, and note government-insured patients are typically excluded.

Route 3: manufacturer self-pay channels

LillyDirect’s Zepbound vials and NovoCare’s Wegovy pharmacy reset the cash floor for brand product — real FDA-approved medication at prices far under list, though generally above compounded flat rates. Current tiers change often enough that we won’t print a number here without a dated verification; check the channels directly and run the result through the calculator.

Route 4: verified flat-rate compounded programs

The cheapest standing figures our ledger has verified — charged monthly, no promotion, nothing prepaid — are compounded flat rates: NexLife’s $119–169 range depending on molecule and plan (verified 2026-09-17; disclosed material connection — see strip above). Cheaper stickers exist with a condition attached — Collective $69 / $59 beside a $199 annual membership, SnagRx $119 / $69 promotional, Embody $119 / $69 on prepaid years — and the dated most-affordable pages sort standing rates and conditional floors separately. The route carries the compounding legal-lane caveats we document in the status file, and eight tracked providers’ figures remain queued. Flat structures deserve preference within this route because they make teaser pricing impossible by design.

Route 5: generic liraglutide

Daily, and roughly half the average weight loss of modern weekly agents — but generic, legitimate, and often the lowest absolute cost available. The honest budget fallback: the liraglutide file.

Route 6: employer and clinic programs

Some employers bolt GLP-1 coverage onto wellness vendors; some health systems run obesity-medicine clinics with sliding scales. Worth one HR email and one local search before committing a year of cash anywhere.

The rule that spans all six

Price the maintenance dose across 12 months, all fees in — the arithmetic that exposes teaser pricing lives in the true-cost file.