Is Saxenda or Wegovy pill better for weight loss?

Saxenda reports 7.4% 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 sits on each one's public record, below.

Which is cheaper, Saxenda or Wegovy pill?

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no all-in monthly price that could be verified, so this page carries no comparison rather than an estimate — and an unpublished price is itself worth weighing.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 Saxenda 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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Saxenda (liraglutide) vs Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)

Verdict

Neither comes out ahead on the axes compared here. Wegovy pill scores higher on the published halfrx formula, 6.5 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.

Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) or Saxenda (liraglutide): which one has a price?

Only Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) has an all-in figure here: $149–$299 a month, read from its own page on 2026-09-10. Saxenda (liraglutide) has none, so price cannot decide between them. Trial weight loss was 7.4% 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. Neither carries an FTC action, a state action, a BBB F grade or an FDA warning letter. The published formula scores them 4.2 and 6.5 out of 10, arithmetic over the same stored fields rather than an editor's preference. Cost here is scored on what a patient pays once titrated, never on the entry price, because an introductory rate covers the months before anybody has reached the dose they stay on.

Head to head

Saxenda (liraglutide) against Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Saxenda price unverified	Wegovy pill $149–$299/mo
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 trialsSaxenda (liraglutide) reports 7.4% 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	Saxenda	Wegovy pill
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	7.4%	13.6%
The trial that figure comes from	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.	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	3 mg daily	25 mg once daily
Earliest week you reach it	week 5	week 13
Year one at the published price of every step	No titration prices recorded	$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 and count the twelve 30-day bottles a year holds. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Saxenda ↗Go to Wegovy pill ↗

What separates these two, price aside

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

Novo Nordisk

Saxenda (liraglutide)

4.2

Price unverified

Weaker moleculeBoxed 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

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

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

Saxenda side effects →Wegovy pill side effects →Saxenda 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 Saxenda

Everything on Wegovy pill

Saxenda against Wegovy pill, answered

Is Saxenda or Wegovy pill better for weight loss?: Saxenda reports 7.4% 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 sits on each one's public record, below.
Which is cheaper, Saxenda or Wegovy pill?: 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 Saxenda 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.