What happens if you stop Wegovy pill or Zepbound?

Zepbound's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Wegovy pill's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Zepbound's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 14% of body weight over the following 12 months while those who carried on lost 5.5% more. That figure belongs to Zepbound's trial, so this page does not apply it to Wegovy pill.

Is Wegovy pill or Zepbound better for weight loss?

Wegovy pill reports 13.6% average weight loss and Zepbound 20.9%, 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, Wegovy pill or Zepbound?

Wegovy pill, at $299 a month against $449 — a difference of $150 a month, or $2,249 over a year counting 12 fills a year for Wegovy pill and 13 for Zepbound. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate.

Can you switch between Wegovy pill and Zepbound?

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

Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) vs Zepbound (tirzepatide)

Verdict

Wegovy pill comes out ahead on this table, winning on entry price. Zepbound scores higher on the published halfrx formula, 7.3 against 6.5; 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.

Which is cheaper, Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) or Zepbound (tirzepatide)?

Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) is $149–$299 a month all-in, read from its own page on 2026-09-10; Zepbound (tirzepatide) is $299–$699, read from its own page on 2026-08-19. At the maintenance dose the gap is $150 a month, which is $2,249 across a year, counting 12 fills for Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) and 13 for Zepbound (tirzepatide). Trial weight loss was 13.6% against 20.9%, 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 2026-09-10 and 2026-08-19. Neither carries an FTC action, a state action, a BBB F grade or an FDA warning letter. The published formula scores them 6.5 and 7.3 out of 10, arithmetic over the same stored fields rather than an editor's preference.

Head to head

Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) against Zepbound (tirzepatide), one row per axis, with the side that wins each axis marked.
What decides it	Wegovy pill $149–$299/mo	Zepbound $299–$699/mo
Entry priceWegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) is $150/mo cheaper to start — $149 against $299.	✓ better here	—
Regulatory and complaint riskNeither carries a lawsuit, an FDA warning letter or a supply-risk flag.	tied	tied
Average weight loss in trialsWegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) reports 13.6% and Zepbound (tirzepatide) 20.9%, 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	Wegovy pill	Zepbound
Mean weight loss in the cited trial	13.6%	20.9%
The trial that figure comes from	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.	SURMOUNT-1, Study 1 on the label, 72 weeks: 20.9% mean weight loss at 15 mg against 3.1% on placebo, intention-to-treat.
Maintenance dose	25 mg once daily	5 mg, 10 mg or 15 mg once weekly
Earliest week you reach it	week 13	week 5
Year one at the published price of every step	$3,338	$5,637

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 fills each manufacturer bills a year: 12 for Wegovy pill, 13 for Zepbound. The full arithmetic is published.

Go to Wegovy pill ↗Go to Zepbound ↗

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

These are different molecules — semaglutide against tirzepatide — 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, Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg) is the 3rd cheapest of 9 and Zepbound (tirzepatide) the 8th — the cheapest of them all is $75.

Novo Nordisk

Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide 25 mg)

6.5

$149–$299/mo all-in

verified 2026-09-10

Newly approvedStrict dosing rulesBoxed warning

Eli Lilly

Zepbound (tirzepatide)

7.3

$299–$699/mo all-in

verified 2026-08-19

Price conditional on refill timingBoxed warning

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

Zepbound (tirzepatide)

Pros

+Highest average weight loss of any approved medication — around 20.9% at the 15 mg dose in SURMOUNT-1.[2]
+Dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist, a different mechanism from semaglutide, so it often works for people semaglutide failed.[2]
+$299/mo at the starting dose direct from Lilly against a $1,086 list price, with home delivery of vials or pens at the same price.[1]
+Also approved for obstructive sleep apnea, which can unlock insurance coverage that a weight indication alone would not.[2]
+If you are commercially insured with coverage, Lilly's card can bring it to as little as $25 a month.[1]

Cons

−Weekly injection with the usual GI side effects — nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation are the common discontinuation reasons.[2]
−The advertised $449 ceiling is conditional. It holds only while you refill within 45 days; lapse once and 10 mg and above cost $699 — 56% more than the number in the advert.[1]
−Lilly defines a month as 28 days, so a year is 13 fills, not 12. At $449 that is $5,837 a year against the $5,388 that 'per month' implies — $449 of hidden annual cost.[1]
−$1,086 list price if you have no coverage and do not use LillyDirect self-pay.[1]
−Weight regain after stopping is the documented norm, so the cost is ongoing rather than a course.[2]
−2.5 mg is a starting dose and is not approved for maintenance, so the $299 headline is a price nobody stays on.[1]

Sources

Wegovy pill side effects →Zepbound side effects →Wegovy pill dosage →Zepbound 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 Wegovy pill

Everything on Zepbound

Wegovy pill against Zepbound, answered

What happens if you stop Wegovy pill or Zepbound?: Zepbound's label includes a trial that stopped the drug on purpose; Wegovy pill's does not, which is a difference in what is known rather than in what happens. On Zepbound's label, the people randomly assigned to stop gained 14% of body weight over the following 12 months while those who carried on lost 5.5% more. That figure belongs to Zepbound's trial, so this page does not apply it to Wegovy pill.
Is Wegovy pill or Zepbound better for weight loss?: Wegovy pill reports 13.6% average weight loss and Zepbound 20.9%, 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, Wegovy pill or Zepbound?: Wegovy pill, at $299 a month against $449 — a difference of $150 a month, or $2,249 over a year counting 12 fills a year for Wegovy pill and 13 for Zepbound. Both figures are the maintenance price rather than an introductory rate.
Can you switch between Wegovy pill and Zepbound?: 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.