What happens if you stop Mounjaro or Wegovy?

Wegovy's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Mounjaro's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Wegovy's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 6.9% of body weight over the following 11 months while those who carried on lost 7.9% more. That figure belongs to Wegovy's trial, so this page does not apply it to Mounjaro.

Is Mounjaro or Wegovy better for weight loss?

Their molecules have been tested against each other. SURMOUNT-5 randomized 751 adults with obesity and without diabetes to tirzepatide or semaglutide injections, each raised to its highest tolerated dose (up to 15 mg and 2.4 mg), for 72 weeks. Weight fell 20.2% on tirzepatide against 13.7% on semaglutide. (Aronne et al., N Engl J Med 2025.) SURPASS-2 randomized 1,879 adults with type 2 diabetes on metformin to tirzepatide 5, 10 or 15 mg or semaglutide 1 mg for 40 weeks. Tirzepatide lost 1.9, 3.6 and 5.5 kg more than semaglutide at the three doses. (Frías et al., N Engl J Med 2021.) The 11.9% and 14.9% quoted for Mounjaro and Wegovy on this page are each drug's own label trial, not this comparison. A trial answers for the doses and the people it enrolled, not for one reader.

Which is cheaper, Mounjaro or Wegovy?

Wegovy, at $349 a month against $499 — a difference of $150 a month, or $1,950 over a year counting the thirteen fills a 28-day month bills. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate. Above the maintenance dose, the optional higher dose costs more: Wegovy at 7.2 mg, Wegovy HD is $399 a month.

Can you switch between Mounjaro and Wegovy?

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.

← All providers and medications

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) vs Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

Verdict

Wegovy is the better choice of the two, winning on entry price (halfrx score 6.9 against 5.1).

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, Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) or Wegovy (semaglutide injection)?

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) is $499 a month all-in, read from its own page on 2026-09-21; Wegovy (semaglutide injection) is $199–$399, read from its own page on 2026-09-22. At the maintenance dose the gap is $150 a month, which is $1,950 across a year, counting 13 fills. Label-trial weight loss was 11.9% against 14.9%, from separate trials; the molecules were compared directly in SURMOUNT-5, where weight fell 20.2% on tirzepatide against 13.7% on semaglutide over 72 weeks, in adults with obesity. 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 2026-09-21 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 5.1 and 6.9 out of 10, arithmetic over the same stored fields rather than an editor's preference.

Head to head

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) against Wegovy (semaglutide injection), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Mounjaro $499/mo	Wegovy $199–$399/mo
Entry priceWegovy (semaglutide injection) is $300/mo cheaper to start — $199 against $499.	—	✓ better here
Regulatory and complaint riskNeither carries a lawsuit, an FDA warning letter or a supply-risk flag.	tied	tied
Average weight loss in trialsMounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) reports 11.9% and Wegovy (semaglutide injection) 14.9%, each from its own label trial, so the higher number is not by itself a better result. The trials that did compare the molecules are SURMOUNT-5 (weight fell 20.2% on tirzepatide against 13.7% on semaglutide over 72 weeks, in adults with obesity) and SURPASS-2 (tirzepatide lost 1.9 to 5.5 kg more than semaglutide 1 mg over 40 weeks, in type 2 diabetes).	not comparable	not comparable

What the trials, the titration and a year actually say

Axis	Mounjaro	Wegovy
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	11.9%	14.9%
The trial that figure comes from	No percentage of body weight appears anywhere on the Mounjaro label, which has no weight-management section: every trial on it is a diabetes trial and reports weight in kilograms. This figure is worked out from the label's own kilograms — 11.2 kg lost from a 93.8 kg mean baseline at week 40 on 15 mg, in SURPASS-2 against semaglutide — and is an arithmetic step the label does not take.	STEP 1, Study 2 on the label (NCT03548935), 68 weeks: 14.9% mean weight loss at 2.4 mg against 2.4% on placebo, intention-to-treat.
Maintenance dose	2.5 mg to 15 mg once weekly, set by blood sugar control	2.4 mg once weekly, or 1.7 mg
Earliest week you reach it	—	week 17
Year one at the published price of every step	$6,487	$4,237

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 molecules themselves were compared directly in SURMOUNT-5 and SURPASS-2; the result is in the answers below. The year-one figures walk each titration step at its published price — Mounjaro has one price at every dose, so there is no step to walk — and count the thirteen fills a 28-day month bills. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Mounjaro ↗Go to Wegovy ↗

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

These are different molecules — tirzepatide against semaglutide — 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, Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) is the 9th cheapest of 9 and Wegovy (semaglutide injection) the 5th — the cheapest of them all is $75.

Eli Lilly

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label)

5.1

$499/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-21

Off-label for weightBoxed warning

Novo Nordisk

Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

6.9

$199–$399/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-22

Boxed warning

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label)

Pros

+Same tirzepatide molecule as Zepbound, the most effective approved weight-loss agent.[4]
+On-label and readily covered if you have type 2 diabetes.[4]

Cons

−Off-label for weight loss without diabetes — expect insurance denial and prescriber reluctance.[4]
−Self-pay is $499 a month at every strength through LillyDirect, with no cheaper starting tier: Zepbound, the same molecule on the weight-loss label, is $299 at 2.5 mg and $449 at 7.5 mg and above through the same pharmacy. For weight loss, Zepbound is the cheaper route to the same molecule.[1]
−Weekly injection with the same GI side-effect profile.[4]

Sources

Wegovy (semaglutide injection)

Pros

+One flat $349 across every standard dose from 0.25 to 2.4 mg — no dose-escalation penalty and no refill deadline attached, unlike Lilly's conditional pricing on Zepbound.[1]
+New patients pay $199 for the first two fills through 31 December 2026 — the first two of the four titration months.[2]
+Approved for cardiovascular risk reduction, not only weight — the strongest insurance-coverage argument in the category.[1]
+The longest real-world safety record of any modern weight-loss GLP-1.[1]
+Commercially insured, the savings card can bring it to $25 a month, capped at $100 of savings per month.[2]

Cons

−$1,349 monthly list price without insurance or the self-pay program.[1]
−Weaker than tirzepatide where the two were tested head to head: in SURMOUNT-5, weight fell 13.7% on semaglutide against 20.2% on tirzepatide over 72 weeks.[6]
−A month is one box of four weekly pens, so a year takes 13 boxes, not 12: $4,537 at $349 rather than the $4,188 that 'per month' implies.[1]
−The new high dose, Wegovy HD 7.2 mg, sits outside the flat price at $399.[1]
−Weekly injection, refrigerated storage, GI side effects during titration, and weight regain after stopping is the documented norm.[3]

Sources

Mounjaro side effects →Wegovy side effects →Mounjaro dosage →Wegovy 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 Mounjaro

Everything on Wegovy

Mounjaro against Wegovy, answered

What happens if you stop Mounjaro or Wegovy?: Wegovy's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Mounjaro's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Wegovy's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 6.9% of body weight over the following 11 months while those who carried on lost 7.9% more. That figure belongs to Wegovy's trial, so this page does not apply it to Mounjaro.
Is Mounjaro or Wegovy better for weight loss?: Their molecules have been tested against each other. SURMOUNT-5 randomized 751 adults with obesity and without diabetes to tirzepatide or semaglutide injections, each raised to its highest tolerated dose (up to 15 mg and 2.4 mg), for 72 weeks. Weight fell 20.2% on tirzepatide against 13.7% on semaglutide. (Aronne et al., N Engl J Med 2025.) SURPASS-2 randomized 1,879 adults with type 2 diabetes on metformin to tirzepatide 5, 10 or 15 mg or semaglutide 1 mg for 40 weeks. Tirzepatide lost 1.9, 3.6 and 5.5 kg more than semaglutide at the three doses. (Frías et al., N Engl J Med 2021.) The 11.9% and 14.9% quoted for Mounjaro and Wegovy on this page are each drug's own label trial, not this comparison. A trial answers for the doses and the people it enrolled, not for one reader.
Which is cheaper, Mounjaro or Wegovy?: Wegovy, at $349 a month against $499 — a difference of $150 a month, or $1,950 over a year counting the thirteen fills a 28-day month bills. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate. Above the maintenance dose, the optional higher dose costs more: Wegovy at 7.2 mg, Wegovy HD is $399 a month.
Can you switch between Mounjaro and Wegovy?: 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.