Every cost model on this site and elsewhere assumes a textbook escalation: four weeks per dose until you reach maintenance. Roughly a third of patients repeat at least one step, which changes the total at every program that prices by dose.
Set how long you expect to hold each dose, where you expect to stop, and over how many months. The ranking recomputes against every tracked program. A tick marks prices we verified at the provider.
cheapest total —
Why a slower climb changes the ranking
On dose-scaled programs a slower escalation is cheaper, because you spend longer at lower-priced tiers. On flat-rate programs it changes nothing. That difference is invisible in any single headline price.
Repeating a step is normal
It is the standard response to poor tolerance and it does not restart the schedule. Planning for it is more useful than assuming a textbook climb you may not follow.
What this excludes
Laboratory work, shipping surcharges and anything billed separately from medication and membership. Prepaid discounts are not applied.
Frequently asked questions
Should I escalate as fast as the label allows?
The four-week interval is a minimum, not a target. There is no evidence that a faster climb improves the eventual result at the same maintenance dose.
Why do some programs not change at all?
They charge one price at every strength. For anyone expecting a long or uncertain titration, that predictability is worth more than a lower entry price.
Primary sources
Clinical, dosing and regulatory statements on this page rest on the documents below. Links go to the publisher, not to a summary of it. Prices are not sourced here — they carry a verification date instead, and the reason is set out in the source ledger.
- ZEPBOUND (tirzepatide) full prescribing information — DailyMed, US National Library of Medicine. Dose ladder, contraindications, warnings, storage.
- FDA’s concerns with unapproved GLP-1 drugs used for weight loss — US Food and Drug Administration. Compounded GLP-1 risks, API import alert, cold-chain complaints.
- FD&C Act provisions that apply to human drug compounding — US Food and Drug Administration. Why a compounded preparation is lawful without being FDA-approved.
- Tirzepatide once weekly for the treatment of obesity (SURMOUNT-1) — N Engl J Med 2022;387:205-216. Registration NCT04184622. The weight-reduction and adverse-event figures used across this site.
- The full source ledger — every primary source, what it supports, the date we read it, and the claims we deliberately do not source.