Is Foundayo or Qsymia better for weight loss?

Foundayo reports 11.1% average weight loss and Qsymia 9.8%, each from its own trial. The two were not compared against each other, so the higher figure is not a result of a head-to-head and this page does not present it as one. What is comparable is what each costs, below.

Which is cheaper, Foundayo or Qsymia?

Qsymia, at $75 a month against $299 — a difference of $224 a month, or $2,688 over a year counting the twelve 30-day bottles a year holds. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate.

Can you switch between Foundayo and Qsymia?

They are different molecules, so this is a change of medication rather than of brand, and the one you move to is started on its own dosing schedule.

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Foundayo (orforglipron) vs Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate)

Verdict

Qsymia is the better choice of the two, winning on entry price (halfrx score 7.1 against 6.3).

Computed from the stored fields, so it moves when a price does. Nothing here is written by hand or by a model.

Which is cheaper, Foundayo (orforglipron) or Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate)?

Foundayo (orforglipron) is $149–$349 a month all-in, read from its own page on 2026-09-12; Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate) is $66–$75, read from its own page on 2026-09-22. At the maintenance dose the gap is $224 a month, which is $2,688 across a year, counting 12 fills. Trial weight loss was 11.1% against 9.8%, from separate trials with different populations, so the gap is not a measured difference between the two. Every axis below is computed from stored fields rather than written by hand, so the comparison moves when a price does. They were last checked on 2026-09-12 and 2026-09-22. Neither carries an FTC action, a state action, a BBB F grade or an FDA warning letter. The published formula scores them 6.3 and 7.1 out of 10, arithmetic over the same stored fields rather than an editor's preference.

Head to head

Foundayo (orforglipron) against Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Foundayo $149–$349/mo	Qsymia $66–$75/mo
Entry priceQsymia (phentermine/topiramate) is $83/mo cheaper to start — $66 against $149.	—	✓ better here
Regulatory and complaint riskNeither carries a lawsuit, an FDA warning letter or a supply-risk flag.	tied	tied
Average weight loss in trialsFoundayo (orforglipron) reports 11.1% and Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate) 9.8%, each from its own trial. They were not compared against each other, and the populations, durations and endpoints differ, so the higher number is not a better result — it is a different study.	not comparable	not comparable

What the trials, the titration and a year actually say

Axis	Foundayo	Qsymia
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	11.1%	9.8%
The trial that figure comes from	ATTAIN-1, Trial 1 on the label, 72 weeks: 11.1% mean weight loss at 17.2 mg against 2.1% on placebo, intention-to-treat.	CONQUER, Study 2 on the label, 56 weeks: 9.8% mean weight loss at the 15 mg/92 mg dose against 1.2% on placebo, intention-to-treat.
Maintenance dose	5.5 mg, 9 mg, 14.5 mg or 17.2 mg daily	7.5 mg / 46 mg daily
Earliest week you reach it	week 9	week 3
Year one at the published price of every step	$3,188	No titration prices recorded

Trial percentages are quoted from the label or the named trial beside them. They are not a head-to-head result: different populations, different durations, different endpoints. That is why the comparison above scores this axis as not comparable rather than awarding it to the higher number. The year-one figures walk each titration step at its published price and count the twelve 30-day bottles a year holds. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Foundayo ↗Go to Qsymia ↗

Read the price gap carefully: these two are not the same purchase

These are different molecules — orforglipron against phentermine and topiramate — so this is a comparison of two treatments, not of two prices for one.
Against every medication on this site with a verified maintenance price, Foundayo (orforglipron) is the 3rd cheapest of 9 and Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate) the 1st — the cheapest of them all is $75.

Eli Lilly

Foundayo (orforglipron)

6.3

$149–$349/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-12

Newly approvedPrice conditional on refill timingBoxed warning

Vivus

Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate)

7.1

$66–$75/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-22

Weaker moleculeREMS restrictedControlled substance

Foundayo (orforglipron)

Pros

+A daily pill with no injection, no needles and no refrigeration — unlike semaglutide pills it is a small molecule, so there are no food-and-water timing rules to follow.[3]
+$149 a month at the entry dose through LillyDirect — the lowest self-pay price for a branded GLP-1 on this site, matched only by the Wegovy pill's first month.[4]
+11.1% mean weight loss over 72 weeks in ATTAIN-1, intention-to-treat — below the Wegovy tablet's 13.6%, and well above the older oral options.[2]
+Being a small molecule, it is manufactured chemically rather than biologically — supply scales in a way peptide injectables cannot.[3]
+Commercially insured with coverage, Lilly's card can bring it to as little as $25 a month.[1]

Cons

−Approved 1 April 2026, so real-world safety data outside trials is still thin compared with semaglutide's years of use.[2]
−$649 list price if you have no coverage and do not use the LillyDirect self-pay channel.[4]
−Weight loss trails tirzepatide injection, which reaches roughly 20%+ in its pivotal trials.[2]
−Maintenance doses hold their $299 price only while you refill within 45 days; lapse and they are $349.[1]

Sources

Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate)

Pros

+9.8% mean weight loss at the top dose in CONQUER, intention-to-treat — the strongest result available from an oral non-GLP-1 drug.[2]
+$74.99/mo through Qsymia Engage home delivery for anyone, $65.99 for Costco members, and generic phentermine/topiramate ER runs roughly $50–$100 — an order of magnitude under branded GLP-1 list prices.[1]
+Approved down to age 12, as Wegovy and Saxenda are; Zepbound is for adults only.[2]

Cons

−Topiramate raises the risk of oral clefts when taken in the first trimester. The label recommends a negative pregnancy test before starting and every month during treatment, with effective contraception, and Qsymia is dispensed only through pharmacies certified under an FDA REMS.[6]
−Phentermine is a controlled substance with cardiovascular contraindications.[2]
−Cognitive side effects — word-finding difficulty and trouble concentrating — are common enough to be a frequent reason people stop.[2]
−Its 9.8% in CONQUER is under half the 20.9% tirzepatide reached in SURMOUNT-1 on Zepbound's label, a separate trial in a different population, so this is not a head-to-head result.[7]

Sources

Foundayo side effects →Qsymia side effects →Foundayo dosage →Qsymia dosage →

Comparisons are computed from the fields on each card, not written by hand or by a model, so they change when the data does. Information only, not medical advice. halfrx may earn a commission from some links, which never changes what a comparison says.

Everything on Foundayo

Everything on Qsymia

Foundayo against Qsymia, answered

Is Foundayo or Qsymia better for weight loss?: Foundayo reports 11.1% average weight loss and Qsymia 9.8%, each from its own trial. The two were not compared against each other, so the higher figure is not a result of a head-to-head and this page does not present it as one. What is comparable is what each costs, below.
Which is cheaper, Foundayo or Qsymia?: Qsymia, at $75 a month against $299 — a difference of $224 a month, or $2,688 over a year counting the twelve 30-day bottles a year holds. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate.
Can you switch between Foundayo and Qsymia?: They are different molecules, so this is a change of medication rather than of brand, and the one you move to is started on its own dosing schedule.