GLP-1 CollectiveIf you are paying cash
The price you start at
is not the price you stay at.
These are brand-name, self-pay prices. What Lilly and Novo Nordisk charge for Zepbound, Wegovy and Ozempic when you pay them directly instead of going through a plan. Compounded copies are a different product and are priced nothing like this, so if that is what you have been quoted, the compounded page is the one you want.
Self-pay pricing is advertised at the starting dose. Almost everyone moves up from that dose over the first few months, and the price moves with them. Here is what each step costs, so you can plan for the maintenance price rather than the first one.
Zepbound, from Lilly
Self-pay pricing by dose.
2.5 mg
The starting dose, usually taken for the first four weeks.
5 mg
The first step up, and the dose some people stay on.
7.5 mg and above
Covers 7.5 mg, 10 mg, 12.5 mg and 15 mg at the same price, but only if each refill is completed within 45 days of the last delivery.
If you miss the refill window
The regular price for those same higher doses without the refill condition met. This is the single most expensive mistake available on this page.
Wegovy and Ozempic, from Novo Nordisk
Self-pay pricing through NovoCare Pharmacy.
Wegovy, new patients
After the first two months the price is $349 a month for standard doses, and $399 a month for Wegovy HD at 7.2 mg.
Ozempic, new patients
The introductory price applies to the 0.25 mg and 0.5 mg doses. When the promotion ends on 31 December 2026 the price is $349 a month for 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg and 1 mg, and $499 a month for 2 mg.
NovoCare on Wegovy pricing → NovoCare on Ozempic pricing →
What self-pay dollars do not do
Money you spend through a savings offer or a self-pay pharmacy does not count toward your insurance deductible or your out-of-pocket maximum, and it cannot be submitted to your insurer for reimbursement afterwards. If you are close to meeting a deductible for the year, that is worth working out before you choose this route.
FAQ
Why the price goes up after you start.
Four separate things move it, and none of them is a mistake or a bait and switch. They are how the pricing is built.
Your dose goes up over the first few months
These medications are started low and increased on a schedule to limit side effects. Moving from a starting dose to a maintenance dose is the normal course of treatment, not a complication, and self-pay prices are set per dose. Budget for where you are heading rather than where you begin.
Introductory pricing expires
Novo Nordisk's lower price for new patients applies to the first two months. The published promotional pricing is dated, and the company states that pricing will be updated after 31 December 2026.
Refill windows carry conditions
Lilly's lowest self-pay price on the higher Zepbound doses requires you to complete the next refill within 45 days of the last delivery. Miss the window and the price for those doses is considerably higher, $699 a month rather than $449, which is the single most expensive mistake available on this page.
A month is 28 days, not a calendar month
Lilly defines one month of Zepbound as 28 days. Thirteen fills a year rather than twelve is roughly one extra payment annually, which is worth including when you work out what you can carry.
Are these all the prices there are?
No. These are the brand-name self-pay prices people ask us about most, and new products, new doses and new prices arrive all the time. We update this page periodically, so there may well be an option that is not listed here yet. The manufacturer's own page for the medication you were prescribed is the authority on what it costs today.
Prices change. Every figure on this page was read off the manufacturer's or the government's own page on 4 September 2026, and each one links to that page. Programs are set and changed by the companies and agencies that run them, not by us, so check the source before you rely on a number.