4 in 10 priced out of brand-name GLP-1s, survey finds
Key findings, glp·helper GLP-1 price survey, October 2026
4 in 10 people we surveyed would pay $149 a month but not $349 for the Wegovy pen.
Moving from a $149 compounded GLP-1 to the $349 Wegovy pen costs $200 more a month, 2.3 times the price. The price sample is 28 US adults on Prolific who take, took, or plan to take a GLP-1. 11 of them (39%) would pay $149 but not $349. Only 4 of those 11 take a compounded GLP-1 today. Only 3 of the 28 would pay $349. The Wegovy pill starts at $149, so brand-name is not out of reach at every dose. Prices checked October 5, 2026.
For three years, compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide were the low-cost way onto a GLP-1. That door is closing. The FDA declared both shortages over, ended its grace periods for compounders in 2025, and in April 2026 proposed to keep both drugs off the list large compounders may use. The brand-name drugs that remain cost more than the compounded versions did. So we asked people who use or may use a GLP-1 what they would pay.
We surveyed 30 US adults on Prolific on October 3, 2026. 28 take a GLP-1, took one, or plan to start within a year. Each named the most they would pay each month for a brand-name GLP-1 with no insurance help. We then read every answer against two prices. The first is $149, near the top of the $99 to $150 our compounded users paid. The second is $349, the self-pay price of the Wegovy pen.
The gap between the compounded and brand-name price
Half of the people we asked, 14 of 28, would pay $149 a month. At $349, only 3 would. The 11 people in between named a ceiling of $149 or more but under the $349 Wegovy pen. Nine of them would pay the $199 pill dose. Three of those nine would also pay $299 for the top pill doses. Only 4 of the 11 take a compounded GLP-1 today. The other 7 take a brand-name drug (3), stopped (2), or want to start (2).
Who would pay each price, n=28
The reference price changes the size of the gap, so we show it. At $149, the gap is 11 people, 39 percent. If the compounded price is $99, the lowest a compounded user paid, 19 would pay it and the gap grows to 16, 57 percent. We lead with $149 because it is the smaller and safer number.
What changed for compounded GLP-1s
Compounders could copy semaglutide and tirzepatide while both drugs sat on the FDA shortage list. When a shortage ends, that permission ends with it. One route stays open. A state-licensed pharmacy can still compound for an individual patient on a prescription. The drug cannot be essentially a copy of the approved product. The exception is a significant difference that the prescriber determines and documents for that patient. The FDA set out the dates on its GLP-1 compounding policy page.
| Date | What the FDA did |
|---|---|
| December 19, 2024 | Declared the tirzepatide shortage resolved |
| February 21, 2025 | Declared the semaglutide shortage resolved |
| March 5 to May 22, 2025 | Grace periods ended. State pharmacies: March 5 for tirzepatide, April 24 for semaglutide. Outsourcing facilities: March 19 and May 22 |
| April 30, 2026 | Proposed to keep semaglutide, tirzepatide, and liraglutide off the 503B bulks list |
| July 30, 2026 | Comment period closed, after a one-month extension. No final decision published yet |
The April proposal targets 503B outsourcing facilities, the large compounders. The FDA said in its 503B proposal announcement that it found no clinical need for them to compound these drugs from bulk ingredients. Compounded GLP-1s are not FDA-approved, and the FDA lists its safety concerns on its page on unapproved GLP-1 drugs.
Compounded and brand-name prices in October 2026
Prices checked October 5, 2026.
Share who would pay each monthly price, n=28
| Option, per month | Price | Would pay it |
|---|---|---|
| Compounded, what our respondents paid | $99 to $150 | 50% would pay $149 for a brand-name GLP-1 |
| Wegovy pill, 1.5 mg | $149 | 50% |
| Wegovy pill, 4 mg | $199 | 43% |
| Wegovy pill, 9 mg and 25 mg | $299 | 21% |
| Zepbound KwikPen or vial, 2.5 mg | $299 | 21% |
| Wegovy pen, 0.25 to 2.4 mg | $349 | 11% |
| Zepbound KwikPen or vial, 7.5 to 15 mg | $449 | 11% |
Two of those prices carry conditions. Lilly charges $449 for 7.5 to 15 mg on a first purchase and on any refill within 45 days, then its regular price of $499 for 7.5 mg and $699 for 10 to 15 mg. For new patients, Novo Nordisk charges $199 for the first two months of Wegovy at 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg on fills through December 31, 2026, then $349. We use $349 because it is the Wegovy pen price after the two-month intro.
Novo Nordisk lists Wegovy self-pay prices on its Wegovy pricing page. Lilly lists Zepbound prices on its Zepbound coverage and savings page. Our Zepbound cost guide breaks that price down by dose and device.
What compounded users told us
4 of the 16 current users take a compounded GLP-1. At their lowest price, they paid $99, $125, $149, and $150 a month. Asked about a brand-name drug, their ceilings were $199, $200, $200, and $300. Not one reached $349. If their compounded supply ends, the $349 Wegovy pen sits above every one of their budgets.
What compounded users pay, and the most they would pay for a brand-name drug, n=4
A 2026 study by Katz, Gearhardt, and Griauzde in Obesity Science and Practice, of US adults on once-weekly injectable semaglutide or tirzepatide for three months or more, recruited through Prolific, had coders review photos of each medication. They classified 25.78 percent, 83 of 322 people, as using a compounded product. 65 percent of those 83 had told the survey they used a branded drug. Our 4 of 16 current users, 25 percent, is self-reported, so the true share of compounded users in this kind of sample may be higher.
Who would not pay even $149
The other half of the sample, 14 of 28, would not pay even $149. 11 of the 14 take or took a GLP-1, and all 11 paid $50 a month or less, a figure that looks like an insurance copay. The other 3 have not started. The survey did not ask about insurance, so we cannot confirm the copay reading. 2 of the 7 people who stopped a GLP-1 named a change in insurance or coverage as the reason. For anyone here who loses coverage, the cheapest maker price starts at $149 for the Wegovy pill, a price none of these 14 would pay. Prices checked October 5, 2026.
Price and coverage also show up in the reasons people gave for stopping or never starting. Of the 12 people who stopped or who want to start, 6 named a price or coverage reason as the main one. The other 6 named a goal reached, side effects, a prescription they could not get, or a source that stopped offering the drug.
Why people stopped, and what holds back people who want to start
How we ran the GLP-1 price survey
We ran the survey on Prolific on October 3, 2026, using Prolific's GLP-1 prescreener. Prescreener answers come from Prolific profiles, which can be months old. All 30 respondents live in the United States. 21 are women and 9 are men, aged 21 to 75. Each was offered $1.00. Two quality checks screened for careless answers: one question told people which answer to pick, and one list held an invented drug name. All 30 passed both. We removed no respondent. Three Prolific profiles conflicted with the form answers, and we kept those people. Two were not interested in a GLP-1, so the price results cover 28 people.
Who answered, n=30
The questions never mention the FDA or compounding rules. We drew the link afterward by reading each answer against the compounded and brand-name prices. This is a small sample of people already in the GLP-1 market, not a national poll. Results are unweighted. At 28 people a share near 50 percent carries a rough range of 19 points either way. A share near 11 percent carries about 12. A Prolific panel is not a random sample, so treat each share as a direction. A larger wave is planned, and this page will update with it.
Download the data and cite this survey
Download the anonymized answers (CSV). Prolific IDs removed. Age, sex, and pay come from Prolific's export and are not in the file. Columns: response, status, stop_reason, start_barrier, paid_per_month_usd, brand_ceiling_per_month_usd, and first_visit_ceiling_usd. The status values are takes_brand_name, takes_compounded, took_and_stopped, never_took_wants_to_start, and never_took_not_interested. paid_per_month_usd is the answer to "What did you pay per month for the medication, at the lowest price you had?" brand_ceiling_per_month_usd is the answer to "With no insurance help, what is the most you would pay each month for a brand-name GLP-1 such as Wegovy or Zepbound, for as long as you stayed on it?" first_visit_ceiling_usd is the answer to "What is the most you would pay for that first visit?" The form asked it about an online visit with a licensed clinician who can prescribe. A 0 there can mean nothing, or included in the drug price. This page does not use that column.
Cite as: glp·helper, "GLP-1 price survey," October 2026, https://glphelper.com/blog/glp1-price-survey
How many people in our survey would pay $149 a month but not $349 for the Wegovy pen?
Prices checked October 5, 2026. Our October 2026 survey covered 28 US adults who take a GLP-1, took one, or plan to start. Of those, 11 would pay $149 a month but not $349. That is 39 percent. The $149 is about the compounded price. The $349 is the Wegovy pen self-pay price. Only 4 of the 11 take a compounded GLP-1 today. All 11 named a ceiling above the $149 Wegovy pill. Only 3 of 28 would pay $349. The other 14 would not pay even $149. The sample is small and drawn from Prolific, so the shares are directional, with a rough range of up to 19 points either way. A larger wave is planned and will update these figures.
Is compounded semaglutide still legal in 2026?
Not as widely as before. The FDA declared the semaglutide shortage resolved on February 21, 2025, which ended the rules that allowed wide copying. Its grace period for state pharmacies ended on April 24, 2025 and for outsourcing facilities on May 22, 2025. A state-licensed pharmacy can still compound for one patient when a prescriber documents a significant difference from the approved drug. On April 30, 2026 the FDA proposed to keep semaglutide off the list that large outsourcing facilities may compound from. The comment period closed July 30, 2026, and no final decision had been published when we checked on October 5, 2026.
How much does a brand-name GLP-1 cost without insurance in 2026?
Prices checked October 5, 2026. Paying cash through the maker, Wegovy pens cost $349 a month, after a $199 intro price for new patients on the first two months at the two lowest doses. The Wegovy pill costs $149 for 1.5 mg, $199 for 4 mg, and $299 for 9 mg and 25 mg. Zepbound costs $299 for 2.5 mg and $399 for 5 mg. A first purchase or a refill within 45 days costs $449 for 7.5 to 15 mg. After that, 7.5 mg costs $499 and 10 to 15 mg costs $699. Our Wegovy dosage guide lists each step up. Our Wegovy vs Zepbound page sets the two side by side.
How reliable is a survey of 28 people?
It shows a direction, not a national rate. At 28 people a 50 percent share carries a rough range of 19 points either way. The sample came from Prolific, so it holds people who join online research panels and who passed Prolific's GLP-1 prescreener. Self-reported medication type can also be wrong. In a 2026 study by Katz, Gearhardt, and Griauzde of US GLP-1 users recruited on Prolific, 65 percent of people whose photos showed a compounded product had reported a branded drug. We plan a larger wave and will publish the new numbers on this page.