Cost reference
Tirzepatide cost without insurance
The same Zepbound injection has two published acquisition costs, more than two to one apart, depending only on the device it arrives in. Here is what the federal file actually says.
- Reviewed by
- Alpha Health Finder Editorial Team
- Last reviewed
The short answer
In the CMS NADAC file dated 16 September 2026, a 5 mg dose of Zepbound cost a retail community pharmacy $263.01 as a single-dose pen and $120.54 as one of four doses in a KwikPen — 2.18x for an injection section 3 of the label describes identically, or $7,408 a year. That is the single largest cost difference in this dataset that has nothing to do with the drug. Across every approved presentation, a month of tirzepatide at acquisition runs $522 to $1,167, the low end being Zepbound injection 7.5 mg in the KwikPen and the high end Mounjaro injection 2.5 mg in a single-dose pen. Now the ceiling: the 10 telehealth GLP-1 monthlies recorded in our directory run $79.99 to $260.00 a month, and every one is BELOW the floor — the dearest by $262 a month. A subscription priced under what a pharmacy paid is not supplying the branded product at that price. Neither figure is a price you can pay, and this page does not pretend otherwise.
The figures, and where each one comes from
Zepbound 5 mg, one injection from a single-dose pen
$263.00694per injection
The NADAC rate of $526.01388 per mL multiplied by the 0.5 mL fill section 3 gives for this strength, in a pen that delivers one injection. An acquisition cost — what a retail community pharmacy reported paying on invoice — not a cash price and not a copay.
Source [2]
Zepbound 5 mg, the same injection from a KwikPen
$120.54097per injection
The NADAC rate of $200.90161 per mL multiplied by the 2.4 mL device fill, divided by the four doses the label says it contains. Identical molecule, identical dose, identical weekly schedule — 2.18x cheaper per injection than the single-dose pen above, at acquisition. Nothing here says a pharmacy passes that on, and the two devices are not interchangeable at the counter.
Source [2]
Cheapest approved tirzepatide month in the file (Single-patient-use KwikPen)
$521.80726a month
Zepbound injection 7.5 mg in the Single-patient-use KwikPen, at $120.42 per injection across 4.33 injections a month. The floor across every approved tirzepatide presentation, and still an acquisition cost rather than a price anyone is charged.
Source [2]
Dearest approved tirzepatide month in the file
$1,167.05751a month
Mounjaro injection 2.5 mg in a single-dose pen, at $269.32 an injection. The spread between this and the floor is $645 a month for the same molecule on the same weekly schedule, driven by the brand on the box and the device it comes in rather than by the dose. Neither end is a dose artefact: the six Mounjaro pens sit within $0.08 of each other per injection and the three lower KwikPens within $0.15, so which row lands at each end barely moves the figure.
Source [2]
Lowest recorded telehealth GLP-1 monthly in our directory
$79.99a month
Maximus, "Semaglutide Weight Loss", as listed by the provider and recorded by us. It sits $442 a month below what a pharmacy paid for the cheapest approved tirzepatide presentation, which means it cannot be that product at that price.
Source [7]
Highest recorded telehealth GLP-1 monthly in our directory
$260.00a month
MangoRx, "Weight Loss (Slim)", as listed by the provider and recorded by us. Even the dearest subscription we have recorded is $262 a month short of the cheapest branded tirzepatide at acquisition cost, so the conclusion applies across the whole recorded range rather than to one end of it.
Source [7]
What this page will not tell you
Each of these is missing because it could not be sourced, not because it was overlooked. Where a figure is unpublished, this page says so rather than estimating it.
What your pharmacy will charge you in cash.
NADAC is an acquisition cost — what the pharmacy paid its wholesaler, before the dispensing fee and before margin. No federal or commercial dataset publishes what pharmacies then charge a cash payer for a GLP-1, and the same NDC is quoted hundreds of dollars apart by two counters in the same town. We can cite the first number and decline to average the second into something that would read as a fact.
A NADAC rate for the Mounjaro KwikPen.
Section 3 of the Mounjaro label is word for word the Zepbound one: pre-filled single-dose pens, single-dose vials, multi-dose vials and a single-patient-use KwikPen, with "The multi-dose vials and single-patient-use KwikPen each contain 4 doses". Only the Mounjaro single-dose pens carry a rate in the 16 September 2026 file. So the device comparison this page can make for Zepbound cannot be made for Mounjaro, and we are not going to assume a saving of the same size transfers to a device whose acquisition cost nobody has published.
A rate for the single-dose or multi-dose vials.
Both labels list vials alongside the pens — single-dose vials at every strength and multi-dose vials holding four doses. Neither appears anywhere in the 16 September 2026 NADAC file for either brand. A vial route exists, it is the route several manufacturer direct-pay programmes have used, and this page can put no number against it. The tables below cover pens and KwikPens only, and say so in their captions.
A second, independent federal reference price.
Our TRT cost page leans on two federal datasets agreeing by unrelated methods, which is what makes that page convincing. That check is unavailable here. We searched the October 2026 Medicare Part B Drug Payment Limit file for this page: it carries HCPCS J1071 for testosterone cypionate and carries no code for tirzepatide, Mounjaro or Zepbound at all, because Part B pays for drugs a clinician administers and tirzepatide is self-administered under Part D. One federal source here, not two, and we will not dress a single source up as corroboration.
What compounded tirzepatide costs, at any point in the chain.
Compounded preparations have no National Drug Code, so they appear in no NADAC file and in no other published acquisition dataset, and there is no labelled container to divide a rate by. Substituting a branded figure would overstate what a compounded vial costs to produce by a wide margin, and inventing a compounding cost would be worse. Nothing on this page implies a cheaper equivalent of an approved product exists.
A manufacturer direct-pay or savings-programme price.
Manufacturer cash-pay programmes for tirzepatide exist, are usually tied to a specific presentation, and change their terms and their eligibility rules without much notice. We could not source a figure and a set of conditions we would still stand behind in a month, so none is printed. Get the price and the conditions from the manufacturer directly on the day you intend to buy.
A discount-card or GoodRx price.
Those resolve per ZIP code, per pharmacy and per card, and change without notice. A single figure printed here would be wrong for most readers on the day they read it and stale a week later. We print none, and we do not average several of them into one.
What tirzepatide costs with insurance.
This page is the cash case, by name. With coverage the bill turns on which indication is being treated, on a specific plan's formulary tier, on prior authorisation and step therapy, and on whether weight management is an excluded benefit at all — which for many employer plans it is. None of that is a national number and we will not invent an average copay.
Why the device costs more than the dose
There is no authoritative public retail price for tirzepatide. Cash prices move by pharmacy and by week, manufacturer programmes change their terms, and a telehealth subscription folds a consultation, a prescription and sometimes the medication into one figure without saying how it splits. One number in this market is published on a schedule with a methodology document: CMS contracts a monthly survey of what retail community pharmacies paid on invoice and publishes the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost weekly, per NDC. Every figure on this page is read from the file dated 16 September 2026, and the date is repeated in every caption because NADAC is republished every week and a citation to a moving dataset without a date is not a citation.
The container is the unit here, not the milligram. A tirzepatide dose is not a volume you draw — it is whatever the device is built to deliver — so the arithmetic is the NADAC rate multiplied by the fill section 3 of the label states, divided by the number of administrations the same section says the container delivers. A single-dose pen is 0.5 mL and one injection. A KwikPen is 2.4 mL and, in the label's own words, "The multi-dose vials and single-patient-use KwikPen each contain 4 doses".
Do that and the finding falls out immediately. Zepbound 5 mg is $263.01 an injection as a single-dose pen and $120.54 as one of four in a KwikPen: 2.18x, for an injection the label describes in identical terms. Over a year that is $7,408 of acquisition cost. The saving is widest at the three lower doses and narrows to about 1.55x from 10 mg upward, because the KwikPen's own published rate steps up there while the single-dose pen's does not.
Two cautions before anyone acts on that, and they matter more than the number does. First, an acquisition cost is not a price: nothing in this file says a pharmacy, a plan or a manufacturer programme passes the difference on, and the multi-dose device has been in shorter supply than the single-dose pens. Second, the two devices are not a menu — which one you get is a function of what was prescribed and what the pharmacy has in stock. The useful version of this finding is a question to ask your prescriber and your pharmacist, not a number to expect on a receipt.
The second pattern is the brand. Mounjaro and Zepbound are the same molecule at the same six strengths on the same weekly schedule, and in this file Mounjaro's single-dose pens are the dearer of the two at every strength — $269.24 against $262.85 at 15 mg. Nothing in either label explains it: the escalation schedule, the increment, the interval and the maximum are identical, and what differs is the indication each was approved for. It is worth knowing chiefly because it is the kind of gap that does not survive into what anyone is charged — the two are not substitutable and a prescription for one cannot be filled with the other.
There is no generic and the file says so in a column nobody reads. NADAC prints a "Corresponding Generic Drug NADAC Per Unit" beside any brand row with a generic on the market. It is empty on all 18 Mounjaro and Zepbound rows in the 16 September 2026 file. Which brings the two halves together: the 10 telehealth GLP-1 monthlies we have recorded run $79.99 to $260.00, and the cheapest approved tirzepatide month in the file is $522. Every listing sits below the floor rather than above it. That permits exactly one conclusion and it is arithmetic rather than accusation: the subscription price is not buying the branded product at that price. It may be a compounded preparation, the medication may be billed separately, or the fee may cover consultation and membership only. Ask which before you compare two subscriptions on the monthly.
Every approved tirzepatide presentation at pharmacy acquisition cost
What a retail community pharmacy reported paying, from the CMS NADAC file dated 16 September 2026, joined to the container facts in section 3 of each FDA label. Pens and KwikPens only — the vials both labels list carry no rate in this file. Not a price you can pay.
| Product and dose | Deviceas the label names it | Per containerNADAC rate x fill | Per injectioncontainer divided by doses | Per month4.33 injections | Per yeardrug only | Per milligramderived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mounjaro injection 2.5 mg2.5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $269.32per 0.5 mL | $269.32one per container | $1,167once weekly | $14,005drug only | $107.73per mg of drug |
| Mounjaro injection 5 mg5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $269.30per 0.5 mL | $269.30one per container | $1,167once weekly | $14,003drug only | $53.86per mg of drug |
| Mounjaro injection 7.5 mg7.5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $269.31per 0.5 mL | $269.31one per container | $1,167once weekly | $14,004drug only | $35.91per mg of drug |
| Mounjaro injection 10 mg10 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $269.32per 0.5 mL | $269.32one per container | $1,167once weekly | $14,004drug only | $26.93per mg of drug |
| Mounjaro injection 12.5 mg12.5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $269.24per 0.5 mL | $269.24one per container | $1,167once weekly | $14,000drug only | $21.54per mg of drug |
| Mounjaro injection 15 mg15 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $269.24per 0.5 mL | $269.24one per container | $1,167once weekly | $14,000drug only | $17.95per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 2.5 mg2.5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $263.06per 0.5 mL | $263.06one per container | $1,140once weekly | $13,679drug only | $105.22per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 5 mg5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $263.01per 0.5 mL | $263.01one per container | $1,140once weekly | $13,676drug only | $52.60per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 7.5 mg7.5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $262.89per 0.5 mL | $262.89one per container | $1,139once weekly | $13,670drug only | $35.05per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 10 mg10 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $262.89per 0.5 mL | $262.89one per container | $1,139once weekly | $13,670drug only | $26.29per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 12.5 mg12.5 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $262.89per 0.5 mL | $262.89one per container | $1,139once weekly | $13,670drug only | $21.03per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 15 mg15 mg/0.5 mL single-dose pen | Single-dose pen | $262.85per 0.5 mL | $262.85one per container | $1,139once weekly | $13,668drug only | $17.52per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 2.5 mg10 mg/2.4 mL KwikPen, 4 injections | Single-patient-use KwikPen | $482.28per 2.4 mL | $120.574 per container | $522once weekly | $6,270drug only | $48.23per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 5 mg20 mg/2.4 mL KwikPen, 4 injections | Single-patient-use KwikPen | $482.16per 2.4 mL | $120.544 per container | $522once weekly | $6,268drug only | $24.11per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 7.5 mg30 mg/2.4 mL KwikPen, 4 injections | Single-patient-use KwikPen | $481.67per 2.4 mL | $120.424 per container | $522once weekly | $6,262drug only | $16.06per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 10 mg40 mg/2.4 mL KwikPen, 4 injections | Single-patient-use KwikPen | $675.26per 2.4 mL | $168.814 per container | $732once weekly | $8,778drug only | $16.88per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 12.5 mg50 mg/2.4 mL KwikPen, 4 injections | Single-patient-use KwikPen | $678.03per 2.4 mL | $169.514 per container | $735once weekly | $8,814drug only | $13.56per mg of drug |
| Zepbound injection 15 mg60 mg/2.4 mL KwikPen, 4 injections | Single-patient-use KwikPen | $672.06per 2.4 mL | $168.024 per container | $728once weekly | $8,737drug only | $11.20per mg of drug |
12 single-dose pens and 6 KwikPens. Reading down the "per injection" column, those single-dose pens sit within $6.47 of each other across a 2.5 mg to 15 mg range — the dose changes sixfold and the figure does not move, which is why the per-milligram column falls from $107.73 to $11.20 across this table while the thing being bought stays the same. The KwikPen rows are the exception and they are the next table. One oddity worth naming rather than smoothing over: among the KwikPens the 12.5 mg rate is $169.51 an injection and the 15 mg rate is $168.02, so more drug costs slightly less. That is what the file publishes and we have not averaged it away.
The same Zepbound injection, in two devices
Identical molecule, identical dose, identical weekly schedule. The only difference is whether the drug arrives as one single-dose pen or as one of four doses in a KwikPen. Acquisition costs, not prices.
| Dose per injection | Single-dose pen0.5 mL, one injection | KwikPen2.4 mL, four injections | Differenceper injection | Multiplesingle divided by multi | Over a yearat the labelled cadence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 mginitiation only, per the label | $263.06$1,140 a month | $120.57$522 a month | $142.49$617 a month | 2.18xper identical injection | $7,409acquisition cost only |
| 5 mga labelled maintenance dosage | $263.01$1,140 a month | $120.54$522 a month | $142.47$617 a month | 2.18xper identical injection | $7,408acquisition cost only |
| 7.5 mga titration step | $262.89$1,139 a month | $120.42$522 a month | $142.47$617 a month | 2.18xper identical injection | $7,409acquisition cost only |
| 10 mga labelled maintenance dosage | $262.89$1,139 a month | $168.81$732 a month | $94.07$408 a month | 1.56xper identical injection | $4,892acquisition cost only |
| 12.5 mga titration step | $262.89$1,139 a month | $169.51$735 a month | $93.38$405 a month | 1.55xper identical injection | $4,856acquisition cost only |
| 15 mga labelled maintenance dosage | $262.85$1,139 a month | $168.02$728 a month | $94.84$411 a month | 1.56xper identical injection | $4,931acquisition cost only |
This is the largest difference in the dataset that has nothing to do with the drug, and it is invisible on a per-milligram axis. It is widest at 2.5, 5 and 7.5 mg, where the KwikPen is 2.18x cheaper per injection, and narrows to about 1.55x from 10 mg upward because the KwikPen's own NADAC rate steps up there. Three cautions. An acquisition cost is not a price and nothing guarantees the difference reaches a patient. The devices are not interchangeable at the counter — which one you get depends on what was prescribed and what is in stock, not on a choice at checkout. And section 2 puts the widest row at the start of treatment rather than across it: "The recommended starting dosage is 2.5 mg injected subcutaneously once weekly for 4 weeks."
Mounjaro against Zepbound, strength for strength
Single-dose pen to single-dose pen at each of the six shared strengths, from the same 16 September 2026 file. Same molecule, same device, same once-weekly schedule. What differs is the indication the label was approved for.
| Dose per injection | Mounjaroper injection | Zepboundper injection | Differenceper injection | Over a yearat the labelled cadence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5 mg0.5 mL single-dose pen | $269.32 | $263.06 | $6.26 | $326 |
| 5 mg0.5 mL single-dose pen | $269.30 | $263.01 | $6.29 | $327 |
| 7.5 mg0.5 mL single-dose pen | $269.31 | $262.89 | $6.42 | $334 |
| 10 mg0.5 mL single-dose pen | $269.32 | $262.89 | $6.43 | $334 |
| 12.5 mg0.5 mL single-dose pen | $269.24 | $262.89 | $6.35 | $330 |
| 15 mg0.5 mL single-dose pen | $269.24 | $262.85 | $6.39 | $332 |
Mounjaro is the dearer of the two at all six strengths in this file, by a margin that barely varies with dose. Nothing in either label accounts for it — the escalation schedule, the increment, the interval and the maximum dosage are identical, and the products differ in the conditions they are approved to treat. Two things this table is not. It is not a reason to ask for one rather than the other: they are not substitutable, a prescription for one cannot be filled with the other, and which is appropriate depends on what is being treated. And it is not a prediction about your bill, because an acquisition cost is not a price.
What our recorded telehealth listings charge against the published floor
Every GLP-1 monthly in our provider directory that states a per-month period, ordered by price because that is how a price is looked up. The floor is $522 — what a pharmacy paid for a month of Zepbound injection 7.5 mg in the Single-patient-use KwikPen, the cheapest approved tirzepatide presentation in the 16 September 2026 file.
| Provider and plan | Listed monthlyas the provider states it | A yeartwelve of the same | The floorZepbound injection 7.5 mg | Differencelisting minus floor | Covers the branded drug?on arithmetic alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MaximusSemaglutide Weight Loss | $79.99pricing tier | $960at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$442below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| MaximusTirzepatide Weight Loss | $132.00pricing tier | $1,584at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$390below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| DudeMedsGLP-1 programme | $149.00category listing | $1,788at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$373below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| PeterMDGLP-1 Weight Loss | $149.00pricing tier | $1,788at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$373below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| Strut HealthSemaglutide (Weight Loss) | $149.00pricing tier | $1,788at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$373below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| HimsGLP-1 Weight Loss | $199.00pricing tier | $2,388at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$323below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| ShedSemaglutide Injections | $199.00pricing tier | $2,388at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$323below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| ShedTirzepatide Injections | $199.00pricing tier | $2,388at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$323below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| ShedGLP-1 Drops/Lozenges | $199.00pricing tier | $2,388at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$323below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| MangoRxWeight Loss (Slim) | $260.00pricing tier | $3,120at the listed rate | $522pharmacy acquisition | −$262below the floor | Nothe listing is below acquisition |
| Romanlisted under weight loss | No monthly recordeddirectory holds "$15" | Not computednothing to annualise | $522pharmacy acquisition | Not computedno listing to subtract | Unknownno price to reason from |
| Sesame Carelisted under weight loss | No monthly recordeddirectory holds "$19" | Not computednothing to annualise | $522pharmacy acquisition | Not computedno listing to subtract | Unknownno price to reason from |
Ordered by listed price because that is how you look a price up, and the difference column measures distance from a published acquisition cost rather than quality. The same per-month period guard our cost tooling uses everywhere is applied: a listing is charted as a monthly only where it states a per-month period, which is why Roman and Sesame Care appear with no figure — Roman's only price-shaped field in this category is "$15", an entry price for a different treatment, and charting it here is exactly the error the guard was written after. Note also that the floor used is the KwikPen rate, the lowest in the file; against a single-dose pen month the shortfall would be larger still. Two of these listings name tirzepatide in the plan itself — Maximus "Tirzepatide Weight Loss" and Shed "Tirzepatide Injections" — and the rest state only that a GLP-1 is included. Our directory records what each provider states and does not record whether the product is branded or compounded. Verify the current price and what it covers with the provider before you buy.
This is a price reference, not a recommendation
This page ranks nothing and recommends nobody. The providers in the last table are ordered by listed price because that is how a price is looked up, and the difference beside each one measures distance from a published acquisition cost rather than quality — the cheapest listing is not thereby the one to choose, and these are not all the same product. Only Maximus ("Tirzepatide Weight Loss") and Shed ("Tirzepatide Injections") name tirzepatide in the plan at all; the others state that a GLP-1 is included without saying which molecule or whether it is branded. The device table is not a recommendation either: which container you receive is set by the prescription and by stock, not chosen at a checkout. Our scored assessment of which GLP-1 provider is worth paying, with the affiliate disclosure and the criteria printed above the first entry, is at /best/best-glp1-telehealth. For the arithmetic run against your own monthly, that is /tools/glp1-cost-comparison.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does tirzepatide cost without insurance?
- There is no single number and anyone who gives you one has quoted one pharmacy on one day. What can be stated is the floor. In the CMS NADAC file dated 16 September 2026, a month of tirzepatide at pharmacy acquisition cost ran $522 to $1,167 depending entirely on the brand and the device — Zepbound injection 7.5 mg in the KwikPen at the low end, Mounjaro injection 2.5 mg in a single-dose pen at the high end. Your cash price is above that range, and how far above depends on the pharmacy's markup, your plan and any manufacturer programme.
- Is the Zepbound KwikPen really cheaper than the single-dose pen?
- At pharmacy acquisition cost, substantially, and for an injection the label describes identically. In the 16 September 2026 file a 5 mg dose is $263.01 as a single-dose pen and $120.54 as one of four in a KwikPen — 2.18x, which works out at $7,408 a year. The gap narrows to about 1.55x at 10 mg and above. Two cautions: an acquisition cost is not a price, so nothing guarantees the difference reaches you, and the devices are not interchangeable at the counter — which one you get depends on the prescription and on stock.
- Why does Mounjaro cost more than Zepbound for the same molecule?
- On the acquisition side it does, consistently: $269.24 against $262.85 for a 15 mg single-dose pen in the 16 September 2026 file, and the same ordering at every strength. Nothing in either label explains it — the ladder, the increment, the interval and the maximum are identical, and what differs is the indication each product is approved for. That is a pricing decision rather than a clinical one, and it is worth knowing mainly because it is the kind of gap that does not survive into what anyone is charged: the two are not substitutable and a prescription for one cannot be filled with the other.
- Why can you state an acquisition cost but not a cash price?
- Because one is published and the other is not. CMS contracts a monthly survey of invoice prices paid by retail community pharmacies and publishes the average weekly, per NDC, with a methodology document. What a pharmacy then charges a cash payer is set counter by counter, reported to nobody, and varies by hundreds of dollars within one town for the same NDC. We can cite the first and we decline to average the second into a figure that would look like a fact — which is why this page prints a list of what it will not tell you rather than filling those gaps in.
- Is a telehealth tirzepatide subscription a discount on Zepbound?
- No, and the arithmetic settles it without speculating about any particular company. The cheapest approved tirzepatide month in the 16 September 2026 file cost a pharmacy $522, and that is the KwikPen rate — the lowest figure in the file. Every GLP-1 monthly recorded in our directory, from $79.99 to $260.00, is below it. A price below what a pharmacy paid cannot be buying that product. It may be a compounded preparation, the medication may be billed separately, or the fee may cover the consultation and the membership. Ask which before comparing two subscriptions on the monthly.
- Is there a generic Mounjaro or Zepbound?
- No. NADAC prints a "Corresponding Generic Drug NADAC Per Unit" column beside any brand row with a generic on the market, and it is empty on all 18 Mounjaro and Zepbound rows in the 16 September 2026 file — 0 of them carry a generic rate. In the same file that column is populated for liraglutide, which does have one, so the blank is a real signal rather than missing data. Compounded tirzepatide is not a generic: a generic is an approved product that has demonstrated bioequivalence to the brand, and compounded preparations are neither approved nor required to demonstrate it.
- Does Medicare publish a second price for tirzepatide the way it does for testosterone?
- No, and we checked rather than assumed. Our TRT cost page leans on two federal datasets agreeing: CMS NADAC puts testosterone cypionate at $0.0183 a milligram at acquisition and the Medicare Part B payment limit for HCPCS J1071 puts it at $0.023. The October 2026 Part B Drug Payment Limit file carries that J1071 line and carries no HCPCS code for tirzepatide, Mounjaro or Zepbound at all, because Part B pays for drugs a clinician administers and tirzepatide is self-administered under Part D. So this page rests on one federal source rather than two, and says so in the refusals rather than implying a corroboration it has not got.
- What does this page not tell me?
- Eight things, printed under their own heading rather than quietly omitted: what your pharmacy will charge in cash, a rate for the Mounjaro KwikPen, a rate for the single-dose or multi-dose vials (both labelled, neither in the 16 September 2026 file), a second independent federal reference price, what compounded tirzepatide costs, a manufacturer direct-pay figure, a discount-card price, and what any of it costs with insurance. Each is missing because it could not be sourced, and each entry names the dataset that does not exist rather than leaving a blank.
Sources
- [1]CMS / Medicaid.gov — Retail Price Survey, the programme that produces the NADAC files every figure on this page is computed from
These pricing files, entitled the NADAC (National Average Drug Acquisition Cost) files, provide state Medicaid agencies with covered outpatient drug prices by averaging survey invoice prices from retail community pharmacies across the United States.
Retrieved
- [2]NADAC weekly reference file, 16 September 2026 — the tirzepatide rows charted above (CSV, about 92 MB; the quoted line is the Zepbound 5 mg KwikPen, filtered on an As of Date of 09/16/2026)
ZEPBOUND 5 MG/DOSE (20 MG/2.4 ML) KWIKPEN,00002355501,200.90161,08/19/2026,ML,C/I,N,"1, 5",B,,,09/16/2026
Retrieved
- [3]ZEPBOUND (tirzepatide) injection — full US prescribing information, Eli Lilly and Company, NDA 217806. Section 3 Dosage Forms and Strengths, the source of every container fill and dose count above. DailyMed set id 487cd7e7-434c-4925-99fa-aa80b1cc776b
Injection: Clear, colorless to slightly yellow solution in pre-filled single-dose pens, single-dose vials, multi-dose vials, or single-patient-use KwikPens, each available in the following strengths. The multi-dose vials and single-patient-use KwikPen each contain 4 doses:
Retrieved
- [4]ZEPBOUND (tirzepatide) injection — section 2 Dosage and Administration, for the once-weekly cadence every monthly figure is computed at and for the initiation dosage noted beneath the device table
The recommended starting dosage is 2.5 mg injected subcutaneously once weekly for 4 weeks.
Retrieved
- [5]MOUNJARO (tirzepatide) injection — full US prescribing information, Eli Lilly and Company, NDA 215866. Section 3, which lists the same four presentations as Zepbound, including the KwikPen this page cannot price. DailyMed set id d2d7da5d-ad07-4228-955f-cf7e355c8cc0
The multi-dose vials and single-patient-use KwikPen each contain 4 doses
Retrieved
- [6]CMS — October 2026 Medicare Part B Drug Payment Limit File (ZIP). Searched for tirzepatide, Mounjaro and Zepbound in the section 508 CSV: the file carries no HCPCS code for any of them. The quoted line is the testosterone cypionate entry that does exist, which is the corroboration this page declines to claim
J1071,Inj testosterone cypionate,1 MG,0.023,20.000
Retrieved
- [7]Alpha Health Finder online GLP-1 provider directory — the listed monthly plans charted above, recorded by us from each provider and filtered by a per-month period guard
Maximus "Semaglutide Weight Loss" $79.99/mo through MangoRx "Weight Loss (Slim)" $260.00/mo, as recorded in src/data/online-providers.ts
Retrieved
- [8]U.S. Food and Drug Administration — FDA’s Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs Used for Weight Loss, on compounded tirzepatide and on what a price far below the approved product implies
However, compounded drugs are not FDA approved. This means the agency does not review compounded drugs for safety, effectiveness or quality before they are marketed.
Retrieved
Next steps
- Semaglutide cost without insurance
- GLP-1 cost comparison tool
- Semaglutide vs tirzepatide
- Tirzepatide units converter
- TRT cost without insurance
Other cost references
- Semaglutide cost without insuranceThe published acquisition floor for every approved semaglutide product, the recorded telehealth ceiling, and the gap that runs the wrong way.
- TRT cost without insuranceThe published floor for testosterone cypionate, the listed ceiling for online TRT, and the gap between them.
- ED medication costThe published floor for all four ED tablets, the recorded listings, and the fact that generic does not mean cheap.
- Finasteride costThe published floor for finasteride, the brand rate beside it, and what eight recorded hair-loss plans actually charge.
- Testosterone lab panel costThe published federal rate for each test on a men’s panel, and why no marketed panel can be compared to it.
Educational reference, not medical advice. Costs, not advice. Nothing here is a reason to change a product, a dose, a device or a provider. Mounjaro and Zepbound are not substitutable, the two devices are not chosen at a checkout, and a cheaper acquisition cost is never a reason to alter treatment that is working. Whether tirzepatide is appropriate at all belongs to your clinician.