Tirzepatide Cost Without Insurance: Zepbound, Mounjaro, Compounded

Eli Lilly sells brand-name tirzepatide for cash through LillyDirect, its direct-to-patient service. These were the prices without insurance on October 3, 2026:

• Zepbound, Lilly's tirzepatide for weight management: $299 for a 28-day supply at the 2.5 mg starting dose, $399 at 5 mg and $449 at 7.5 to 15 mg, as vials or a KwikPen (one pen holding four weekly doses). The $449 price applies only when you buy each refill no more than 45 days after the previous delivery. If you are late, you pay $499 or $699.^{1, 2}
• Mounjaro, Lilly's tirzepatide for type 2 diabetes: $499 for a 28-day supply at every dose. Lilly offers that price only for Mounjaro's approved diabetes uses.^{3, 4, 5}
• Compounded tirzepatide (mixed by a pharmacy to fill one patient's prescription): $129 (Eden) to $399 (Willow) a month on a sample of seven companies' websites. (One lists the medicine from $100 plus a $99 monthly fee.) It is not FDA-approved, and no compounded drug gets FDA review for safety, effectiveness or quality before it goes on sale.^{6, 7, 8, 9, 10}

Lilly lists no membership fee; you pay per fill. Every route needs a prescriber, though, and on the brand route the prescriber bills separately.^{1, 11} Compounded sellers often fold the prescriber into one monthly price with "no membership fees," which can still renew every month (membership fees compared).^{7, 12}

Each Lilly supply lasts 28 days, so a year takes 13 fills. A first year of Zepbound vials costs $5,087 to $5,637 if every refill is on time, before needles and prescriber fees.^{1, 2} The dated year below shows the math.

Membership fees and what the prescriber costs

No route skips the prescriber. Lilly requires a valid prescription from a licensed provider. FDA also names a seller that ships medicine without a licensed doctor's screening and prescription as a warning sign.^{1, 3, 10} What differs is how you pay that clinician.

Brand route. You pay Lilly for each fill. The prescription can come from your own clinician or from an independent telehealth service listed on LillyDirect; Lilly says it does not endorse them. On October 3, 2026, LillyDirect's list showed self-pay rates, as the services reported them, of $29 to $299 a visit (the $29 service also offers annual pricing at $25 a month), or $99 to $149 a month for membership-based care ($59 or $74 a month on an annual plan). None of these rates include the medicine.¹¹

Compounded route. Most sellers charge one monthly price that includes the prescriber.^{13, 14, 15, 16} Eden, NexLife and Curex say they charge no membership fees, but that does not mean no recurring charge: Eden, for one, bills its plan as a subscription you cancel. Willow's single monthly price also renews automatically.^{7, 14, 13, 12} Others charge a separate monthly program fee, or bill several months at a time; see the table of compounded offers.^{9, 15, 16}

If a plan bills several months at once, find out before you pay what you would get back for months not yet delivered if you stop. Our GLP-1 telehealth program comparison explains what to check on renewal, cancelling and refunds, and what to get in writing first. For PlexusDx, see "Charges and stopping" in the PlexusDx section; for the other sellers here, read each company's own terms before you pay.

Zepbound and Mounjaro prices at LillyDirect

LillyDirect fills orders through four pharmacies: Amazon Pharmacy, Fuze Health, Gifthealth and Walmart Pharmacy. Lilly says the price is the same whichever one fills yours.³

Mounjaro pens cost $499 for a 28-day supply of 4 pens at every dose, plus any taxes and fees.^{3, 4}

• "On time" means within 45 days of your last delivery; the year below shows an example. The first fill at 7.5 mg or more gets $449 automatically.²
• $299 buys only the starting dose. Lilly notes that 2.5 mg is only for starting treatment, not for maintenance (the dose people stay on long term).¹
• The form on your prescription sets the price you can get. Single-dose vials, 4 to a 28-day supply, are sold only by LillyDirect and only for cash. The KwikPen's self-pay price works through a Lilly card that covers at most 11 fills in a calendar year and expires December 31, 2026. Single-dose pens, each used for one injection, are the form Lilly's $25 insurance card covers.^{1, 2}
• Each form needs its own training. Vials, the KwikPen and single-dose pens are used differently, so if you start on one, or switch to save money, have your prescriber or pharmacist train you on it first. The Zepbound and Mounjaro Medication Guides say self-injection is not recommended for people who are visually impaired.^{17, 5} Our pen and vial guide covers changing from one form to another.
• Some prices need an FDA-approved use. The KwikPen card and Mounjaro's $499 price both require a prescription for a use on the drug's label. Lilly's vial offer terms say only "Eligibility required and restrictions apply," without spelling out the conditions, so ask LillyDirect first.^{2, 4}
• Supplies cost extra. Vials need a fresh needle and syringe for each shot, and the KwikPen needs a new pen needle for each dose. You can buy them at LillyDirect checkout or a pharmacy.^{1, 17} Do not share a KwikPen, even with a changed needle: both labels warn that a shared pen can spread infections carried in blood.^{5, 17}

Which brand fits which use.

• Zepbound is approved, in combination with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, for two uses: reducing excess body weight and keeping it off long term in adults with obesity, or adults with overweight and at least one weight-related condition; and treating moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Its main weight-loss trial counted a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or more as obesity. A BMI from 27 to just below 30 counted as overweight when it came with high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease or another weight-related condition.¹⁷
• Mounjaro is approved, alongside diet and exercise, to improve blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes, adults and children from age 10. For adults with type 2 diabetes at high risk, it is also approved to reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular causes.⁵

Taking Mounjaro only to lose weight is an off-label use (one outside its FDA-approved uses), and Lilly's $499 terms do not cover it.⁴ If you have type 2 diabetes along with obesity, or overweight and a related condition, Zepbound's label may fit you too, at lower prices; which drug suits your goals is your prescriber's call. If neither label fits you, start with your own doctor before you buy tirzepatide from PlexusDx or any other seller, and read our page for readers who don't have obesity or overweight.

How to buy at these prices. Ask your clinician to send the prescription to LillyDirect Pharmacy, naming vials or the KwikPen for Zepbound.^{1, 2, 3} CVS and Walgreens are not among LillyDirect's four pharmacies. Ask them for their own price on a 28-day supply, and whether they take Lilly's KwikPen self-pay card, before you compare. To pay with HSA or FSA money, see using an HSA or FSA for GLP-1 costs.

Prices over $1,000 that you may see quoted are Lilly's list prices, which Lilly describes as what wholesalers pay: $1,112.16 per fill for Mounjaro and up to $1,086.37 for Zepbound.^{18, 19} TrumpRx.gov shows Lilly's self-pay prices and sends buyers to LillyDirect; it does not sell drugs itself.^{20, 21, 22} For Novo Nordisk's drugs, see semaglutide prices without insurance.

A year of Zepbound vials, with every fill dated

Zepbound's approval covers keeping weight off long term, in combination with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, so budget for a year, not a month. Lilly's supplies last 28 days, so a year takes 13 fills; 12 cover only 336 days.^{2, 17}

The table starts on Monday, October 5, 2026, buys each refill 28 days after the last and follows the label's start: 2.5 mg for 4 weeks, then 5 mg, one of the label's maintenance doses.¹⁷ From fill 3 it prices two paths, staying at 5 mg or moving to 7.5 mg or more, where every dose costs $449. Your prescriber decides your dose; these are price examples, not dosing advice.

In one line: $299 + 12 × $399 = $5,087, or $299 + $399 + 11 × $449 = $5,637. Of that, $1,496 or $1,596 falls in 2026. A second year at the same dose is 13 more fills: 13 × $399 = $5,187, or 13 × $449 = $5,837.

Keeping the $449 price. The 45 days count from delivery: if fill 3 is delivered on December 2, 2026, fill 4 must be bought by January 16, 2027. A refill bought later costs Lilly's regular price instead, $499 at 7.5 mg ($50 more) or $699 at 10 mg or more ($250 more). Lilly's terms say you must refill on time "to continue to be eligible" but do not say whether a later on-time refill gets $449 again, so ask LillyDirect before you let a refill slip.²

The 45 days are a price rule, not a dosing schedule. Each fill holds four weekly doses, so a refill that arrives after you run out means missed doses. Order so the next supply arrives before your current one is used up, and ask your prescriber what to do if you miss a dose.^{2, 1, 17}

Not in the table:

• The prescriber. On LillyDirect's list, a year of care runs from $300 on the cheapest annual plan ($25 a month) to $1,788 at $149 a month. Per-visit services charge $29 to $299 each time.¹¹ With one of those monthly or annual plans, a first year of vials comes to $5,387 to $7,425.
• Needles and syringes, sold separately. Ask LillyDirect or a pharmacy what a year's supply costs.
• Taxes and fees, which Lilly says may apply.²
• 2027 prices. Fills 5 to 13 fall in 2027, and Lilly can end or change its vial offer at any time. Check the price before each refill.²

Other brand-name routes, 13 fills a year:

• Mounjaro self-pay, for type 2 diabetes uses only: 13 × $499 = $6,487.³
• Mounjaro at list price: 13 × $1,112.16 = $14,458.08.¹⁸
• The KwikPen costs the same per fill as vials, but Lilly has not published KwikPen self-pay prices for after December 31, 2026, when its card ends. Ask LillyDirect before you plan a year of pens.²
• The Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, if you have Part D and qualify: the KwikPen at a $50 copay for each one-month supply, or 13 × $50 = $650 a year plus pen needles, while the program runs through December 31, 2027.^{22, 23, 24}

Why budget past year one. SURMOUNT-4, a Lilly-sponsored trial of brand-name tirzepatide in which no compounded product was tested, enrolled adults without diabetes who had obesity, or overweight plus a weight-related condition. Everyone took the highest weekly dose they tolerated (10 or 15 mg) for 36 weeks, with diet and activity counseling throughout, and then half were switched to a placebo. Over the next 52 weeks, weight went up 14.0% on average in the placebo group and down another 5.5% on average in the group kept on tirzepatide.^{25, 17}

For trial results over time, see expected weight loss on tirzepatide. The drug also carries a boxed warning, the most prominent kind of warning on an FDA label, for thyroid tumors, and it can cause pancreatitis, gallbladder problems and low blood sugar (see the boxed warning and other risks).

Compounded tirzepatide offers, totaled for 12 months

A compounded product is never Zepbound or Mounjaro, which are the names of Lilly's approved drugs, and FDA has said companies may not market a compounded drug as a generic of an approved one or as the same as one.²⁶ No compounded tirzepatide has FDA approval or FDA review before sale, and FDA's position is that compounded drugs belong only with patients whose needs no approved drug can meet.¹⁰

Since the tirzepatide shortage ended in late 2024, a pharmacy may not routinely copy Zepbound or Mounjaro unless the prescriber documents a change that matters significantly for that one patient. FDA's guidance rules out a lower price as a reason.^{6, 27} How that rule works, and how to look up a pharmacy's license, is in our guide to picking a compounded tirzepatide provider. If your own doctor might prescribe it, see our page on doctors prescribing compounded tirzepatide.

We picked these seven as examples of each common way of billing, and two of them, Curex and Fifty 410, are companies readers searched for by name. The list is a sample, not every seller, and not a ranking; prices change. PlexusDx, which publishes this page, has its own last row.

Some prices can run higher than the figure shown: Curex and Alloy list "from" prices without saying what raises them, Willow says medication costs vary by dosage, and Fifty 410 prices its programs by dose tier. The Fifty 410 paths above are assumptions; your prescriber decides your dose.^{13, 9, 12, 16} Six of the seven say their price includes a provider's review or consultation, while Alloy lists its doctors' care under the separate $99 fee.^{13, 7, 14, 12, 16, 15, 9} LillyDirect's prices cover only the medicine, so compare these totals with the vial year plus prescriber fees above.

If several months arrive at once, ask how the medicine is packaged. For a vial holding several doses, FDA says to throw it away 28 days after its first use, even with medicine still in it and even if the compounder's instructions allow longer. For every injection, FDA advises a fresh, sterile needle and syringe, and it says an injectable GLP-1 shipment that arrives warm should not be used.¹⁰ Our pen and vial guide explains why medicine left in a vial is not an extra dose.

Some adverse event reports FDA has received, including hospital stays, may be tied to dosing mistakes with compounded semaglutide injections or to compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide prescribed above label doses.¹⁰ Before the first injection, have your prescriber or pharmacist show you how to measure a dose. If a measuring mistake means you inject more than prescribed, the Zepbound and Mounjaro Medication Guides say to call Poison Help (1-800-222-1222) or your provider at once, or head to the nearest emergency room.^{17, 5}

FDA's tally passed 730 reports of adverse events involving compounded tirzepatide by May 31, 2026. FDA notes that it is not always possible to tell whether a reported problem came from the drug, and it expects the true number is higher, because most compounding pharmacies are not required to report. FDA also urges people not to buy tirzepatide sold "for research purposes," which it calls a product of unknown quality.¹⁰

Added ingredients and tablets. Neither Zepbound nor Mounjaro contains vitamin B12 or glycine, and both are approved only as injections, so no tirzepatide tablet is FDA-approved.^{5, 17} Lilly wrote in a June 2024 open letter that no regulator had evaluated whether tirzepatide taken by mouth or nose is safe or effective.²⁸

An added vitamin or a tablet form does not make a compounded product approved, and FDA reviews none of these products before sale.¹⁰ That includes anything prescribed through PlexusDx, whatever its form or added ingredients. What B12, glycine or a tablet form means for safety is covered in our provider guide's section on added ingredients.

If insurance or Medicare might pay

Lilly does not publish what people with insurance typically pay for Mounjaro. Its pricing page says data on specific plan pricing is not yet available, and that your cost will largely depend on your drug plan.¹⁸

Check your own plan. Start with your plan's drug list (formulary) on its website or app, then confirm with the member services number on your insurance card. Ask whether Zepbound or Mounjaro is covered for your use, which form it covers (vials, KwikPen or single-dose pens), what one fill would cost you, and whether your prescriber needs the plan's approval first. The same questions work for a Medicare drug plan. Our Zepbound prior authorization page lists more questions to ask your plan.

The card terms below are as Lilly posted them on October 3, 2026. When a commercial plan (insurance through an employer or bought on your own) covers Mounjaro or Zepbound single-dose pens, Lilly's savings card can bring a fill covering 1, 2 or 3 months to as low as $25. But the card pays at most $150 a month and $1,950 a year toward Mounjaro; for Zepbound pens the limits are $100 a month and $1,300 a year. You pay the rest.^{2, 29}

If your plan does not cover them, the card brings a 1-month fill down to $499 at best. If Zepbound's label fits you, its vials or KwikPen at self-pay prices can cost less; which drug suits you is your prescriber's call. Both cards require a prescription for a use on the label, and both end December 31, 2026.^{2, 29}

People with Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA care or another government plan cannot use these insurance cards. They can still buy Zepbound vials, the KwikPen or Mounjaro at Lilly's self-pay prices. To do so, they pay cash, bill no plan and do not count the cost toward the plan's deductible or out-of-pocket maximum.^{2, 4, 21, 22, 29, 30} For vials, confirm eligibility with LillyDirect first.²¹ Our GLP-1 cost page sets out the drugmaker offers open to each type of coverage.

For Zepbound, the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, priced over a year in the year section, covers only the KwikPen, not vials or single-dose pens.^{22, 24} Some people are excluded, including anyone already getting a GLP-1 through Part D and anyone with type 2 diabetes (Mounjaro's use) or moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (a Zepbound use).^{24, 22} The full list of exclusions, the Bridge's BMI tiers and its approval steps are in the Medicare section of our UnitedHealthcare guide.

If your Part D plan covers Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes, Part D caps your costs. After a deductible of up to $615 (2026) or $700 (2027), you pay a quarter of the cost of covered drugs. Once your out-of-pocket spending on covered drugs reaches $2,100 in 2026 or $2,400 in 2027, covered drugs cost you nothing for the rest of that year.³¹ Cash purchases at Lilly's self-pay prices, and purchases at prices found through TrumpRx or with another discount card, do not count toward those limits.^{2, 4, 30, 22}

Medicaid and military coverage have their own pages: Medicaid and GLP-1s and TRICARE and the VA.

The boxed warning and other tirzepatide risks

Who must not use it. Anyone who has had, or has a family member who has had, a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), and anyone who has MEN 2 (multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2), a condition of the body's hormone-making (endocrine) glands. That rule comes from the boxed warning: rats given tirzepatide developed thyroid C-cell tumors, and no one knows whether it does this in people. A past serious allergic reaction to tirzepatide or any other ingredient in the product also rules it out, and Zepbound is approved only for adults.^{17, 5}

These rules and the risks below come from the Zepbound and Mounjaro labels and their Medication Guides, which describe Lilly's approved products. Compounded tirzepatide has no FDA-reviewed label, so take this list to whoever prescribes yours.¹⁰ It covers the main risks, not all of them.

Tell your prescriber before you start if you:

• Have had pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) or other pancreas problems.
• Have severe stomach problems, such as very slow stomach emptying (gastroparesis). Both labels say tirzepatide is not recommended with severe gastroparesis.
• Have diabetic eye disease (retinopathy).
• Take insulin or a sulfonylurea (one kind of diabetes pill), which makes low blood sugar more likely.
• Take birth control pills. Tirzepatide can make them work less well, so both labels advise a non-pill method, or adding condoms or another barrier method, during your first 4 weeks on it and the 4 weeks following each dose increase.
• Take warfarin or another medicine where small changes in the amount absorbed matter. Tirzepatide slows the stomach's emptying and can alter how pills are absorbed.
• Use another tirzepatide product, compounded tirzepatide included, or any other GLP-1 drug. Zepbound's label advises against combining them.
• Are pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding (see below).^{17, 5}

Before you start, also ask how to spot and manage low blood sugar. If you have surgery or a procedure planned, make sure every doctor and dentist involved knows you take tirzepatide: rarely, people taking GLP-1 drugs have had food or liquid enter their lungs under anesthesia or deep sedation. Do not share a KwikPen or needles, even with a fresh needle.^{17, 5}

Other serious risks on both labels:

• Pancreatitis, which has sometimes been severe or fatal.
• Gallstones and other gallbladder problems, which Zepbound's label says are more common with treatment.
• Severe stomach and bowel side effects.
• Sudden kidney injury from losing fluids through vomiting or diarrhea, in some cases needing dialysis.
• Low blood sugar, which Zepbound's label says can happen even without diabetes. It is more likely if you also take another medicine that can cause it, such as insulin or a sulfonylurea.
• Serious allergic reactions.
• In people with type 2 diabetes, diabetic eye disease getting temporarily worse when blood sugar improves quickly.^{17, 5}

Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Tirzepatide may harm a developing baby. Zepbound's label says to stop when a pregnancy is recognized, because losing weight in pregnancy offers no benefit and may harm the baby. If you are breastfeeding, talk with your prescriber before starting either drug.^{17, 5}

Mounjaro's label takes a different line: use it in pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the baby, and it points out that poorly controlled diabetes carries risks of its own during pregnancy. If you are taking Mounjaro for diabetes when you learn you are pregnant, don't simply stop: call your prescriber.⁵

To report a side effect to FDA, use MedWatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.¹

Buying compounded tirzepatide through PlexusDx

This section describes PlexusDx's own offer, and we make money if you choose it. PlexusDx's terms here are as of October 19, 2026, and its tirzepatide plans and prices are in the last row of the compounded offers table.

The tirzepatide that independent prescribers order through PlexusDx is compounded: it has no FDA approval, and FDA has not reviewed its safety, effectiveness or quality. FDA notes that many side effects reported for compounded products resemble those of the approved drugs. Go over the label warnings above, and the compounding cautions earlier on this page, with your prescriber before you start.¹⁰

• What you would receive. PlexusDx offers compounded tirzepatide, priced in the table above, and Microdose GLP-1, made with tirzepatide or semaglutide. Microdose GLP-1 costs $99 a month on a 1-month plan, charged monthly, or $267 for 3 months ($89 a month), $474 for 6 months ($79 a month) or $828 for 12 months ($69 a month), charged up front. Its plans also renew automatically, with no separate membership or program fee. Microdosing means taking smaller doses than the label sets, or taking them less often, and it is off-label: Zepbound's label approves 2.5 mg a week only to start treatment, then 5, 10 or 15 mg a week for ongoing use.¹⁷ You can be prescribed compounded tirzepatide as a once-a-week injection or a once-a-day ODT (orally disintegrating tablet), at the same price; no tirzepatide tablet is FDA-approved. There is no tirzepatide injection without an add-in: each one in the catalog has vitamin B12 or glycine, and outside California the intake does not ask which you want and the checkout screen does not show it; the dispensing pharmacy settles it. Lone Star says any reason a prescriber gives that depends on the add-in has to be backed by the patient's clinical needs. The tablets' complete ingredients have not been published. A Microdose tirzepatide injection, again with B12, uses weekly doses of 1 mg to 4 mg, under Zepbound's lowest maintenance dose of 5 mg; ask what daily dose a Microdose tablet would use. Any allergy you report goes to the physician for review, and since the intake's list of allergies skips B12 and glycine, mention them yourself.
• What the price covers. PlexusDx's Terms of Service list what the plan price leaves out, unless stated otherwise: outside laboratory testing, emergency or specialist care, in-person services, "patient-caused replacement medication, extraordinary early-fill costs," and taxes or government charges. For the same medicine and plan, the price does not go up just because your provider changes your dose, but switching medicines moves you to the new medicine's price. A 3-, 6- or 12-month plan is charged at once, but how often medicine ships can vary with the prescription, medicine, dose, formulation, pharmacy and clinical instructions. A prescription lasts up to 6 months, so a 12-month plan includes a renewed clinical review; if it is not completed, shipments pause and unused prepaid time is kept.
• Who it is for. You must be 18 or older. Lone Star's physicians apply the same rules to every PlexusDx GLP-1 plan, Microdose GLP-1 included: the BMI floor is 25 to start, or 22 for someone continuing a GLP-1 taken within two months. The starting cutoff is lower than Zepbound's approved use, so a new patient below 30, or below 27 with a weight-related health problem, would be treated off-label. The intake covers main warnings on Zepbound's label, from thyroid cancer and MEN 2 in the family to pancreatitis and gallbladder disease, but skips diabetic retinopathy, upcoming surgery or sedation, and B12 or glycine allergies. Twelve jurisdictions need a live visit before a first prescription under Lone Star's policy; our provider guide names them and lists every intake question. If Zepbound's label does not fit you, the advice above applies here too: see your own doctor first.
• Who prescribes. PlexusDx itself does not practice medicine or fill prescriptions. An independent, U.S.-licensed clinician reviews your medical history, decides whether you are eligible, prescribes only if you are, and must approve before any medication ships. These clinicians come from Lone Star Virtual Health, which covers all 50 states. Our provider guide gives PlexusDx's answers to the guide's checks, including why a compounded product is prescribed.
• Which pharmacies fill it. The prescriptions are filled by state-licensed 503A compounding pharmacies, which compound medicine for individual patients' prescriptions, and these pharmacies also cover all 50 states. Unless you ask for a specific pharmacy, you won't know which one fills your prescription before you pay: its name shows up in the patient portal once a clinician approves treatment, and the card is charged when the prescription is sent to the pharmacy.
• Charges and stopping. PlexusDx may verify your card when you enroll, but the treatment charge is taken only if a clinician approves treatment; otherwise you owe $0. Each plan renews for the same length at your existing price unless you cancel or pause it in the patient portal before the renewal charge; to cancel by email or support instead, allow at least 3 business days before the renewal. Cancelling a prepaid plan stops the next renewal but does not create a prorated refund (money back for the unused part) of the current term; the treatment you paid for stays available while it remains clinically appropriate. If your provider stops treatment for medical reasons, unused months not yet dispensed are refunded at the monthly rate you paid. PlexusDx's Refund & Cancellation Policy covers the rest, such as refunds before the prescription goes to the pharmacy, delayed shipments and pauses, and our telehealth program comparison shows how other programs handle renewals and refunds. The checkout screen names the purchase your plan and sets out its price, how it renews and the Refund & Cancellation Policy, and card statements say PlexusDx. You reach it after a handful of first questions (your goal, any current GLP-1 and your BMI), before the bulk of the medical questions; the product pages list prices earlier still.
• Insurance and brand-name drugs. Compounded medication through PlexusDx is cash pay; no insurance is billed. PlexusDx does not sell or ship brand-name medications, such as Zepbound or Mounjaro. If you would prefer a brand-name, FDA-approved medication, your provider may write a prescription you can fill at the pharmacy of your choice.

An FDA-approved option is open to you if insurance covers Zepbound or Mounjaro, if you qualify for the Bridge's $50 copay, or if you can afford Lilly's self-pay price for a use on the drug's label. FDA's view, set out above, is that compounded drugs are for needs an approved drug cannot meet. Whoever prescribes, ask what makes a compounded drug a better medical fit for you than an approved one. Starting on a compounded product and moving to Zepbound later? See how that switch works.

PlexusDx, Inc. is at 6110 McFarland Station Drive, #604, Alpharetta, GA 30004 (email support@plexusdx.com).

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24. Medicare GLP-1 Bridge: Information for Providers (page last modified August 6, 2026), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, accessed October 3, 2026.
25. Continued Treatment With Tirzepatide for Maintenance of Weight Reduction in Adults With Obesity: The SURMOUNT-4 Randomized Clinical Trial, Aronne LJ, et al., JAMA, 2024, accessed October 3, 2026.
26. FDA Intends to Take Action Against Non-FDA-Approved GLP-1 Drugs (February 6, 2026), U.S. Food and Drug Administration, accessed October 3, 2026.
27. Compounded Drug Products That Are Essentially Copies of a Commercially Available Drug Product Under Section 503A of the FD&C Act: Guidance for Industry (January 2018), U.S. Food and Drug Administration, accessed October 3, 2026.
28. An Open Letter From Eli Lilly and Company Regarding Certain Practices Related to Mounjaro and Zepbound (June 20, 2024), Eli Lilly and Company, accessed October 3, 2026.
29. Savings and Coverage | Mounjaro (tirzepatide), Eli Lilly and Company, accessed October 3, 2026.
30. Savings & Insurance Options | Zepbound, Eli Lilly and Company, accessed October 3, 2026.
31. How much does Medicare drug coverage cost?, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Medicare.gov), accessed October 3, 2026.

How we made this page

AI tools read the sources listed above as they stood on October 3, 2026, chiefly Lilly's price pages and offer terms, the Zepbound and Mounjaro labels, Medicare and CMS pages, FDA's compounding statements, the SURMOUNT-4 report and seven sellers' price pages, and drafted this page from them. A tirzepatide budget hangs on small dated conditions, such as the 45-day refill window, the 28-day fill and each card's end date, so the tools recorded each one with the exact wording of its source.

A script recalculated every total and the 13 fill dates. Automated quote checks confirmed that each quote in our evidence file appears in the source it came from. Later AI review passes compared the page's statements with those quotes and looked for clinical, regulatory, factual, search-policy and readability problems, and an AI editor revised the draft in response. None of these automated steps is a medical or legal review.

The page also replaces three earlier PlexusDx posts about tirzepatide and Mounjaro prices. None of their text was reused, and every figure was taken again from the sources listed; a few, such as Mounjaro's $1,112.16 list price, have not changed. For this page, no one at PlexusDx enrolled with, bought from or tested LillyDirect or any of the seven sellers, and there are no affiliate links. Each competitor price is cited to that company's own page, and PlexusDx's terms come from its own records, dated October 19, 2026.

Jay Hastings, PlexusDx's CEO, read this version and approved it on October 19, 2026; he is responsible for its content. Dr. Asad K. Niazi, MD, MPH, reviewed the medical content on October 17, 2026. He is co-founder and CEO of Lone Star Virtual Health, the company that provides PlexusDx's prescribing clinicians, so he has a business relationship with PlexusDx. PlexusDx sells compounded GLP-1 treatment, so we have a financial interest in this topic. Our editorial policy applies to this page.

Correction, October 28, 2026: PlexusDx's Microdose tirzepatide plan ranges from 1 mg to 4 mg a week, not 0.5 mg to 1.5 mg as this page first said, and the card is charged when the prescription is sent to the pharmacy, not at approval. Jay Hastings confirmed both points for PlexusDx on October 28, 2026.