Is Ozempic or Saxenda better for weight loss?

Their molecules have been tested against each other. STEP 8 randomized 338 adults with overweight or obesity and without diabetes to weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg, daily liraglutide 3.0 mg or placebo for 68 weeks. Weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide against 6.4% on liraglutide. (Rubino et al., JAMA 2022.) The 6.4% and 7.4% quoted for Ozempic and Saxenda 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, Ozempic or Saxenda?

Saxenda publishes no all-in monthly price that could be verified, so this page carries no comparison rather than an estimate — and an unpublished price is itself worth weighing.

Can you switch between Ozempic and Saxenda?

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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Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) vs Saxenda (liraglutide)

Verdict

Neither comes out ahead on the axes compared here. Ozempic scores higher on the published halfrx formula, 5.1 against 4.2; the formula takes in more than this table does.

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

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) or Saxenda (liraglutide): which one has a price?

Only Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) has an all-in figure here: $199–$499 a month, read from its own page on 2026-09-22. Saxenda (liraglutide) has none, so price cannot decide between them. Label-trial weight loss was 6.4% against 7.4%, from separate trials; the molecules were compared directly in STEP 8, where weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide 2.4 mg against 6.4% on liraglutide 3.0 mg over 68 weeks. Every axis below is computed from stored fields rather than written by hand, so the comparison moves when a price does. 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 4.2 out of 10, arithmetic over the same stored fields rather than an editor's preference.

Head to head

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) against Saxenda (liraglutide), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Ozempic $199–$499/mo	Saxenda price unverified
Entry priceNot comparable — Saxenda (liraglutide) publishes no verified all-in price.	not comparable	not comparable
Regulatory and complaint riskNeither carries a lawsuit, an FDA warning letter or a supply-risk flag.	tied	tied
Average weight loss in trialsOzempic (semaglutide, diabetes label) reports 6.4% and Saxenda (liraglutide) 7.4%, each from its own label trial, so the higher number is not by itself a better result. The trial that did compare the molecules is STEP 8 (weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide 2.4 mg against 6.4% on liraglutide 3.0 mg over 68 weeks).	not comparable	not comparable

What the trials, the titration and a year actually say

Axis	Ozempic	Saxenda
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	6.4%	7.4%
The trial that figure comes from	No percentage of body weight appears anywhere on the Ozempic label, which has no weight-management section: its three trial sections cover glycemic control, cardiovascular outcomes and kidney outcomes, and all report weight in kilograms. This figure is worked out from the label's own kilograms — 6.4 kg lost from a 100.1 kg mean baseline at week 40 on 2 mg — and is an arithmetic step the label does not take.	SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes, Study 1 on the label, 56 weeks: 7.4% mean weight loss on 3 mg against 3.0% on placebo, intention-to-treat.
Maintenance dose	0.5 mg to 2 mg once weekly	3 mg daily
Earliest week you reach it	week 5	week 5
Year one at the published price of every step	$4,237	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 molecules themselves were compared directly in STEP 8; the result is in the answers below. The year-one figures walk each titration step at its published price and count the thirteen fills a 28-day month bills. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Ozempic ↗Go to Saxenda ↗

What separates these two, price aside

These are different molecules — semaglutide against liraglutide — so this is a comparison of two treatments, not of two prices for one.

Novo Nordisk

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label)

5.1

$199–$499/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-22

Off-label for weightBoxed warning

Novo Nordisk

Saxenda (liraglutide)

4.2

Price unverified

Weaker moleculeBoxed warning

Ozempic (semaglutide, diabetes label)

Pros

+New self-pay patients pay $199 for the first two monthly fills on TrumpRx, through 31 December 2026, then $349 a month at 0.25 to 1 mg.[2]
+Identical active molecule to Wegovy.[2]
+If you have type 2 diabetes, this is the on-label product and the one insurance is most likely to cover.[2]

Cons

−Using it for weight loss without diabetes is off-label. Insurers deny it on that basis and prescribers vary in willingness.[2]
−Its top dose is 2 mg, against 2.4 mg for standard Wegovy and 7.2 mg for Wegovy HD; the Ozempic label reports no weight-loss percentage to set beside Wegovy's.[5]
−Prescribing it off-label for weight competes with diabetes patients for supply — a recurring shortage driver.[2]

Sources

Saxenda (liraglutide)

Pros

+Longest safety record of any GLP-1 approved for weight, on the market since 2014.[1]
+Generic liraglutide has been sold in the US since Teva launched generic Saxenda on 28 August 2025, so a branded Saxenda price is no longer the only liraglutide price.[3]
+Approved for adolescents aged 12 and over, as Wegovy and Qsymia are; Zepbound is for adults only.[1]

Cons

−7.4% mean weight loss on its label's trial — half of Wegovy and about a third of Zepbound.[1]
−Daily injection rather than weekly. Seven times the injections for a worse result.[1]
−No seller on this site offers branded Saxenda at a published cash price; Wegovy is $349 a month direct from NovoCare, for about twice the trial weight loss.[1]

Sources

Ozempic side effects →Saxenda side effects →Ozempic dosage →Saxenda 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 Ozempic

Everything on Saxenda

Ozempic against Saxenda, answered

Is Ozempic or Saxenda better for weight loss?: Their molecules have been tested against each other. STEP 8 randomized 338 adults with overweight or obesity and without diabetes to weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg, daily liraglutide 3.0 mg or placebo for 68 weeks. Weight fell 15.8% on semaglutide against 6.4% on liraglutide. (Rubino et al., JAMA 2022.) The 6.4% and 7.4% quoted for Ozempic and Saxenda 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, Ozempic or Saxenda?: Saxenda publishes no all-in monthly price that could be verified, so this page carries no comparison rather than an estimate — and an unpublished price is itself worth weighing.
Can you switch between Ozempic and Saxenda?: 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.