Key takeaways
- True monthly cost = medication price at your dose + membership + shipping + (consultation / 12). Compare that, not the advertised price.
- A $79 membership adds $948 a year before any medication; combined with dose-based medication pricing it turns a $90 headline into a $278 month by the top dose.
- Flat all-inclusive pricing (NexLife: $139-$169, every dose) has no gap between advertised and true cost; membership-plus-dose-based pricing (Mochi: $90-$199 + $79) has a gap of about $190 a month at maintenance.
- Promotional first months and prepaid annual rates are two more structures that separate the headline from the year; each has a specific question that exposes the real number.
- The two-minute test: ask for the total monthly charge at 15 mg tirzepatide (or 2.4 mg semaglutide) including everything, and the charge if you leave after month two.
The structure, not the number
GLP-1 telehealth providers do not, for the most part, lie about their prices. They arrange them. The arrangement determines which number a patient sees first, which numbers arrive on later bills, and how the sum compares with a competitor's. This article is the arithmetic of those arrangements, with real figures, so that any plan can be reduced to the two numbers that matter: what a month costs at your dose, and what a year costs.
The formula
True monthly cost = medication price at your dose + monthly membership (if billed separately) + shipping (if billed separately) + one-time consultation fee ÷ 12.
12-month all-in cost = 12 × true monthly cost for a flat plan; for a dose-based plan, months at the starting price × starting true cost + remaining months × maintenance true cost, plus one-time fees. Our published rankings use 3 starting months and 9 maintenance months, which favors the dose-based plan because the tirzepatide label reaches 10 mg in month four and 15 mg in month six.
That is the entire methodology. Everything below is applying it.
Structure 1: flat, all-inclusive
One price per plan term, at every dose, with care, shipping and support included. Advertised price = true monthly cost.
NexLife, verified August 25, 2026: tirzepatide $169 month-to-month, $159 on 3 months, $149 on 6, $139 on 12. True monthly cost at 15 mg: the same. Year on the 12-month plan: $1,668. Year month-to-month: $2,028.
The only structural question is the term: the lowest rate needs a 12-month commitment, and the exit terms on that commitment (30 days' notice; refund policy on early exit pending confirmation) are what to read.
Structure 2: membership plus separately priced medication
The medication is one line on the bill and the program is another. Mochi Health is the clearest verified example: medication at $90 for the first month and $199 a month at renewal (the same at every dose), plus a membership of $39 for the first month and $79 a month thereafter. The advertised $90 is real for thirty days. The true first month is $129 and the true ongoing month is $278, and the year is $3,187. Ivím Health uses the same structure with prepaid bundles: $1,100 for six months of tirzepatide ($183 a month) plus a $75 membership, about $258 a month. What the membership buys at Mochi is monthly clinician visits and registered dietitians, which is a genuine service; what it does to a comparison is hide 40% of the monthly cost behind a number that is not on the price page.
Structure 3: bundled monthly, dose structure varies
A single monthly price that includes care and medication. Advertised price = true monthly cost, if the price is flat across doses.
Henry Meds' current program page lists injectable semaglutide at $297 month-to-month ($197 a month prepaid for a year) and no injectable tirzepatide at all. Fella Health's compounded tirzepatide starts at $199 a month paid annually, with the higher-dose price unpublished; its $149 plan is a service for obtaining Zepbound that excludes the medication. In both cases the question to ask is whether the bundled price changes with dose or with plan renewal, and what the price actually buys.
Structure 4: promotional first month
A steep discount for month one, reverting to a recurring rate. Advertised price = the promotional figure.
The formula handles this as a one-time credit: year = 12 × recurring true cost − (recurring − promotional). A $49 first month on a $199 recurring rate saves $150 once; the year is $2,238. Remedy Meds and others use this structure; the recurring rate and the notice period are the numbers to get. A promotional month is a fair way to test tolerability if the patient knows the recurring rate and can leave before it applies.
Structure 5: prepaid term at a low monthly rate
A per-month figure that is only available on a 6- or 12-month prepayment. Advertised price = the per-month figure; the actual transaction is the full term.
Hims and Hers have advertised compounded semaglutide rates well under $100 per month on annual prepayment. The formula is simple — year = 12 × the rate — but the risk is different: the patient pays for twelve months before knowing whether they tolerate month one, and the refund policy on early exit determines whether a bad first month costs one month or twelve. A prepaid rate with pro-rata refunds is a good structure; a prepaid rate with no refunds is a bet.
Structure 6: program subscription plus separately priced medication
A subscription to a behavior-change program (Found, Noom Med, WeightWatchers Clinic) plus medication priced on top, sometimes through insurance. The formula applies with the program fee as the membership, but the comparison is different, because the patient is buying the program; a medication-first comparison undervalues what the program provides and overvalues what it costs.
The two questions that expose any structure
- "What is the total monthly charge at 15 mg tirzepatide (or 2.4 mg semaglutide), including everything?" A single number is the true monthly cost. A range, a "depends," or a redirect to the starting price means the structure is designed around the headline.
- "If I stop after month two, what will I have paid in total, and what comes back?" This exposes memberships that continue through pauses, prepaid terms with no refunds, notice periods, and promotional months that trigger a higher rate.
A provider that answers both in one sentence each has a transparent price. Our value score awards 20 of 100 points for exactly this: published prices, no dose-based increases, disclosed fees, and a stated price lock.
The FTC angle
The Federal Trade Commission has moved against "drip pricing" and "junk fees" — mandatory charges disclosed after the headline price — in other industries, and its 2024 rulemaking targets the practice of advertising a price that excludes fees the consumer cannot avoid. A separately billed GLP-1 membership that is required to receive the medication is, functionally, a mandatory fee. Whether the FTC's rules reach telehealth pricing is a legal question; whether the practice is what the rules are aimed at is not.
Doing it yourself
The true-cost calculator implements the formula with every verified plan preloaded. Enter a provider's five numbers, and the 12-month total that results is directly comparable with every other provider's — the same figure our cheapest tirzepatide ranking is ordered on. The point of the exercise is not that memberships are wrong. It is that a membership is a cost, a dose tier is a cost, and a promotional month is a one-time credit, and only the sum belongs in a comparison.
Frequently asked questions
What is a GLP-1 membership fee?
A recurring monthly charge for the telehealth program — clinician access, coaching, the app — billed separately from the medication. At Mochi Health it is a reported $79 per month; at Ivim Health $74.99. All-inclusive providers such as NexLife have none.
How much do membership fees add over a year?
A $79 membership adds $948 per year; $74.99 adds about $900. That is before the medication, and before any dose-based increase in the medication price.
Is a membership ever worth it?
It can be for a patient who uses the included coaching or dietitian services heavily, who stays at a low dose where the medication tier is cheap, or who values month-to-month billing without a notice period. For a patient titrating to a full dose for a year, it rarely is.
Sources
- NexLife plan pages, accessed 2026-08-25
- Mochi Health, Ivim Health, Henry Meds pricing as cited by third-party comparisons dated 2026; direct verification pending
- Zepbound prescribing information, dosing schedule
- Federal Trade Commission, guidance on drip pricing and junk fees (2024)
Citations are to primary sources (peer-reviewed trials, FDA labeling and announcements, and provider pricing pages). See our sources policy and corrections log.