What a year actually costs
A year of a GLP-1 is not twelve times the advertised monthly price. The first months are a different dose at a different price, and Lilly and Novo bill the pens by the 28-day fill, so a year of Zepbound or Wegovy is thirteen fills; the tablets come in 30-day bottles, twelve a year. Most savings calculators in this category multiply by twelve anyway. The other ways an advertised figure understates a year are cataloged separately.
Last updated 2026-09-22 — the most recent price verification behind these totals. Read and dated by Alex Seot.
How much does a year of Zepbound or Wegovy actually cost?
At the manufacturers' own self-pay prices, a first year of Zepbound is $5,637 rather than the $5,388 that its monthly figure implies, and a first year of Wegovy is $4,237 rather than $4,188. Two things account for it, both printed by the sellers. The first months are spent at starting doses priced separately: Zepbound is $299 at 2.5 mg and $399 at 5 mg before it reaches $449. Then Lilly and Novo each bill a 28-day month on the pens, which makes a year thirteen fills rather than twelve — an entire extra payment no monthly figure discloses. The tablets are billed by the 30-day bottle, twelve a year. The conditional pricing matters more than either. Zepbound's rate holds only under a program requiring a refill inside 45 days; miss that window once and the higher doses list at $699, taking the year to $8,137. Foundayo runs the other way, $3,188 against $3,588, because its starting doses are cheaper.
The calculator on its own page, with the worked comparison against a naive year →
Work out your own number
Same stored prices as the tables below, walked for however long you expect to be on it. Nothing is sent anywhere; this is arithmetic in your browser.
| Dose | Fills | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 0.8 mg | 1 × $149 | $149 |
| 2.5 mg | 1 × $149 | $149 |
| 5.5 mg | 1 × $199 | $199 |
| 9 mg | 1 × $299 | $299 |
| 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg (maintenance) | 8 × $299 | $2,392 |
Manufacturer self-pay prices only — not what a plan would charge you, and not a quote. Every figure is the one shown on the medication's own price page, with the date it was verified.
- Foundayo (orforglipron)$3,188 real year one · $3,588 advertised × 12
- Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label)$4,237 real year one · $4,188 advertised × 12
- Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)$3,338 real year one · $3,588 advertised × 12
- Wegovy (semaglutide injection)$4,237 real year one · $4,188 advertised × 12
- Zepbound (tirzepatide)$5,637 real year one · $5,388 advertised × 12
Foundayo (orforglipron)
verified 2026-09-12| Dose | Fills | Each | If the window lapses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.8 mg | 1 | $149 | — |
| 2.5 mg | 1 | $149 | — |
| 5.5 mg | 1 | $199 | — |
| 9 mg | 1 | $299 | — |
| 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg | the remaining 8 | $299 | $349 |
- Lilly defines a month as 30 days and a bottle holds 30 tablets, so a year is 12 fills.
- The $149 at 2.5 mg and the $199 at 5.5 mg are temporary reductions through 31 December 2026. The $299 at 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg holds only under the Foundayo Self-Pay Journey Program, which requires a refill within 45 days; without it those two doses list at Lilly's regular price, $349. The 0.8 mg and 9 mg prices carry no condition.
Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label)
verified 2026-09-22| Dose | Fills | Each | If the window lapses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 mg, first fill | 1 | $199 | — |
| 0.5 mg, second fill | 1 | $199 | — |
| 0.25 mg to 1 mg | the remaining 11 | $349 | — |
| 2 mg | the remaining 11 | $499 | — |
- An Ozempic pen carries four once-weekly doses, so a month is 28 days and a year is 13 fills rather than 12.
- The $199 covers two monthly fills at 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg and is available only between 17 November 2025 and 31 December 2026. Every fill after it is $349, or $499 at 2 mg.
Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)
verified 2026-09-10| Dose | Fills | Each | If the window lapses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 mg | 1 | $149 | — |
| 4 mg | 1 | $199 | — |
| 9 mg | 1 | $299 | — |
| 25 mg maintenance | the remaining 9 | $299 | — |
- One month is one bottle of 30 tablets, so a year is 12 fills.
- NovoCare's self-pay prices are per 30-tablet bottle: $149 at 1.5 mg, $199 at 4 mg, $299 at 9 mg and 25 mg. Eligibility and restrictions apply, and Novo says it can change or cancel the program at any time.
Wegovy (semaglutide injection)
verified 2026-09-22| Dose | Fills | Each | If the window lapses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.25 mg | 1 | $199 | — |
| 0.5 mg | 1 | $199 | — |
| 1 mg to 2.4 mg | the remaining 11 | $349 | — |
| 7.2 mg, Wegovy HD | the remaining 11 | $399 | — |
- One month is one box of four weekly pens, so a year is 13 fills rather than 12.
- The $199 rate is for patients new to the savings offer and runs through 31 December 2026.
Zepbound (tirzepatide)
checked 2026-08-19, past the 45-day window| Dose | Fills | Each | If the window lapses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 mg | 1 | $299 | — |
| 5 mg | 1 | $399 | — |
| 7.5 mg | 1 | $449 | $499 |
| 10 mg and above | the remaining 10 | $449 | $699 |
- Lilly defines a month as 28 days, so a year is 13 fills rather than 12.
- The $449 at 7.5 mg and above holds only under the Zepbound Journey Program, which requires each refill within 45 days of the last delivery; the first purchase at those doses gets the offer automatically. Miss the window and Lilly's regular price applies: $499 at 7.5 mg, $699 at 10 mg, 12.5 mg and 15 mg.
What each one costs without insurance
One page per medication: the cash price with its date, every verified route to the same molecule, what a pharmacy pays for it, and a year's real total.
Questions
- Why is a year not twelve times the monthly price?
- Two reasons, and both are printed by the manufacturers themselves. The first months are spent at starting doses that are priced differently — lower for Zepbound and Foundayo, discounted for Wegovy — so the early months mislead in one direction. Then Lilly and Novo both define a month of pens as 28 days rather than a calendar month, which makes a year of Zepbound or Wegovy thirteen fills, not twelve — a whole extra payment nobody budgets for. The tablets are the exception: Foundayo and the Wegovy pill come in 30-day bottles, twelve a year.
- Is the maintenance figure the one I should plan around?
- Yes. Titration takes weeks and the dose you stay on is the dose you pay for from then until you stop. That is why every price on this site is recorded at maintenance, and why an introductory rate covering month one tells you almost nothing about the cost of treatment.
- What about the refill-window conditions?
- Lilly's self-pay prices for Zepbound and Foundayo hold only if you refill within 45 days. Miss the window once and Zepbound's higher doses go from $449 to $699 a month. The table below shows both, because the condition is easy to miss and expensive to break.
Every figure here is the one shown on the drug's own price page, with its source and the date it was read. Titration lengths come from the FDA label, on each dosage page. Nothing is estimated: where a price is not published, the table says so rather than filling the gap.
Why a cash price is often the only price
Paying cash is a transaction outside the plan, and for one indication a plan is forbidden to pay at all. The documents behind that.
- Social Security Act §1927(d)(2), Office of the Law Revision Counsel — The statute itself, listing “agents when used for anorexia, weight loss, or weight gain” among the drugs a program may exclude.
- Manufacturer safeguards may not prevent copayment coupon use for Part D drugs, HHS Office of Inspector General — Why a manufacturer copay card cannot be used with a federal program, from the office that enforces it.
- Weight-loss drugs, Medicare.gov — Medicare's own page on what it does and does not cover for weight loss.