Shapely lists compounded tirzepatide at $166 cash-pay and branded Zepbound and Mounjaro as insurance accepted. For most people those two lines lead to very different outcomes.
Self-pay: $166 medication plus the $99 membership is about $265 a month. Against the flat-rate field — CoreAge Rx at $129, Ondra Health at $142 prepaid, SkinnyVIP at $232, Precision Telemed at $249.99 — that is expensive, and the gap buys you the dietitian and the scale rather than a better price on the drug.
Insured: Zepbound and Mounjaro billed in-network at a copay is a completely different economic proposition, and one worth pursuing properly before settling for compounded medication. Branded tirzepatide carries the trial evidence that compounded versions borrow.
What the membership funds
Monthly video visits with a weight-loss clinician, monthly dietitian visits, unlimited chat and app support, and a cellular-connected smart scale. For tirzepatide specifically — the fastest weight loss in this drug class — monthly dietitian contact is the most defensible part of that bundle.
Labs are excluded, at $75 if not covered. The scale is unavailable with Aetna or Cigna as primary insurance.
What it actually costs per year
Advertised prices in this category are usually medication only. Add the membership back in and the ranking changes. Pick a provider, or enter the quote you were given.
One-month semaglutide rate. Starting at $79/month equivalent requires a 12-month plan ($948 total); confirm payment and renewal terms.
- First month
- $139
- Every month after
- $139
- Total over 12 months
- $1,668
No membership on this plan, so every dollar goes to medication and care.
Figures are the providers' own published prices as of our last review of each. Promotional rates, multi-month prepayment and dose changes can all move these numbers — confirm at checkout.
What compounded tirzepatide actually is
Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound, both FDA-approved products from Eli Lilly. Unlike semaglutide, it acts on two receptors — GLP-1 and GIP — which is the basis for the larger average weight reductions seen in its trials. A compounded version is prepared by a pharmacy and is not FDA-approved or FDA-evaluated.
Compounded tirzepatide is consistently more expensive than compounded semaglutide, typically by $50 to $100 a month. That gap is real and reflects the raw material, so a provider pricing them identically is worth a question rather than a celebration.
Dosing usually starts at 2.5 mg weekly and escalates in 2.5 mg steps. As with semaglutide, dose-flat pricing is worth substantially more than a low starting price, because the starting dose is not the dose most people end up on.
Side effects mirror semaglutide's — predominantly gastrointestinal, worst after dose increases — though some patients report tirzepatide is better tolerated at equivalent efficacy. That is an individual matter and not something a telehealth intake form can predict for you.
Before you buy from anyone
- Get the total monthly cost in writing — medication plus any membership, not the headline figure.
- Ask whether the price changes as your dose increases. This is where most of the money is lost.
- Ask which pharmacy compounds it, and whether it is a 503A or 503B facility.
- Confirm what happens if you stop after one month, and whether there is an auto-rebill.
- Ask whether a refund is available if a provider declines to prescribe.
- Tell the prescriber every medication and supplement you take, including anything bought online.