The obvious problem with NovoCare's $149 is that it only helps people who already have a prescription. Sesame closes that gap at the same price.
Published: the Wegovy pill at 1.5 mg and 4 mg for $149 a month, the higher 9 mg and 25 mg pill strengths at $299, and the Wegovy pen at $199 a month for a new patient's first two months before reverting to $349. Ozempic follows the same $199-then-$349 structure.
Because Sesame is a marketplace of clinicians rather than a dispensing channel, you are buying a consultation alongside the medication. That is the entire difference from NovoCare, and for a first prescription it is the difference that matters.
Read the reversion, not the headline
The pill pricing has no such cliff. At $149 for 1.5 mg and 4 mg it matches the manufacturer, and for anyone who would prefer not to inject, it is the cheapest approved oral semaglutide route with care included that we found.
The higher pill strengths at $299 are worth noting if your prescriber intends to escalate — the 9 mg and 25 mg tablets double the cost of the lower ones.
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 Wegovy is, and what it costs at source
Wegovy is semaglutide, approved by FDA for chronic weight management. In its registrational programme adults reached a 2.4 mg weekly maintenance dose and lost an average of about 15% of body weight over 68 weeks, with roughly one in three achieving 20%. It is also approved to reduce cardiovascular risk in adults with established cardiovascular disease, which is the narrow route by which Medicare can cover it at all.
The number that should anchor every Wegovy quote is Novo Nordisk's own self-pay price. NovoCare publishes tablets at $149 a month, the 0.25 mg and 0.5 mg injections at $199, the 1 mg to 2.4 mg maintenance doses at $349, and the 7.2 mg at $399 — with no membership and no prior authorisation.
Before you buy branded from a reseller
- Check the manufacturer's own price first — NovoCare for Wegovy, LillyDirect for Zepbound. Resale prices range across an order of magnitude.
- Establish whether a membership or programme fee is charged on top of the medication.
- Ask what the price is at your expected maintenance dose, since branded pricing usually rises with dose.
- If you have type 2 diabetes, ask about Ozempic or Mounjaro through insurance before paying cash for anything.
- Confirm whether the provider will submit a prior authorisation, and what happens if it is denied.