Is Mounjaro or Wegovy pill better for weight loss?

Mounjaro reports 11.9% average weight loss and Wegovy pill 13.6%, 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, Mounjaro or Wegovy pill?

Wegovy pill, at $299 a month against $499 — a difference of $200 a month, or $2,899 over a year counting 13 fills a year for Mounjaro and 12 for Wegovy pill. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate.

Can you switch between Mounjaro and Wegovy pill?

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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Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) vs Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)

Verdict

Wegovy pill is the better choice of the two, winning on entry price (halfrx score 6.5 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 pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)?

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) is $499 a month all-in, read from its own page on 2026-09-21; Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) is $149–$299, read from its own page on 2026-09-10. At the maintenance dose the gap is $200 a month, which is $2,899 across a year, counting 13 fills for Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) and 12 for Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg). Trial weight loss was 11.9% against 13.6%, 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 2026-09-21 and 2026-09-10. Neither carries an FTC action, a state action, a BBB F grade or an FDA warning letter.

Head to head

Mounjaro (tirzepatide, diabetes label) against Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Mounjaro $499/mo	Wegovy pill $149–$299/mo
Entry priceWegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) is $350/mo cheaper to start — $149 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 pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) 13.6%, 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	Mounjaro	Wegovy pill
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	11.9%	13.6%
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.	Study 7 on the label (NCT05564117), 64 weeks: 13.6% mean weight loss on 25 mg once daily against 2.4% on placebo, intention-to-treat.
Maintenance dose	2.5 mg to 15 mg once weekly, set by blood sugar control	25 mg once daily
Earliest week you reach it	—	week 13
Year one at the published price of every step	$6,487	$3,338

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 — Mounjaro has one price at every dose, so there is no step to walk — and count the fills each manufacturer bills a year: 13 for Mounjaro, 12 for Wegovy pill. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Mounjaro ↗Go to Wegovy pill ↗

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 pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) the 3rd — 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 pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)

6.5

$149–$299/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-10

Newly approvedStrict dosing rulesBoxed 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 pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)

Pros

+13.6% mean weight loss on the label's own 64-week trial, intention-to-treat — the strongest result of any oral weight-loss drug approved to date.[5]
+No injections, no needle disposal, no refrigeration.[4]
+Self-pay from roughly $149/mo direct from Novo Nordisk, against $1,349 list for the injection.[3]
+Same molecule as Wegovy injection, which has years of post-marketing safety data behind it.[4]

Cons

−The $149 headline is the 1.5 mg starting month only. The 4 mg month is $199, and every month from 9 mg up — including the 25 mg dose you stay on — is $299, twice the advertised figure.[1]
−Oral semaglutide has strict dosing conditions — taken on an empty stomach with a small sip of water and nothing else for 30 minutes. Adherence in the real world is worse than in trials, which is why this site uses the label's intention-to-treat 13.6%, counting everyone randomized, and not the 16.6% the paper reports for those who kept taking it.[5]
−Telehealth programs add a membership on top of the drug — Ro and Hims both charge $149 a month on a monthly plan — while Novo sells the pill direct at $149 to $299 depending on dose.
−Its 13.6% in the label's 64-week trial is below the 20.9% tirzepatide reached in SURMOUNT-1 on Zepbound's label; these were separate trials, not a head-to-head.[8]

Sources

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

Mounjaro against Wegovy pill, answered

Is Mounjaro or Wegovy pill better for weight loss?: Mounjaro reports 11.9% average weight loss and Wegovy pill 13.6%, 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, Mounjaro or Wegovy pill?: Wegovy pill, at $299 a month against $499 — a difference of $200 a month, or $2,899 over a year counting 13 fills a year for Mounjaro and 12 for Wegovy pill. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate.
Can you switch between Mounjaro and Wegovy pill?: 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.