What is your GLP-1 actually costing you?
Enter your pen, your pharmacy price and where you started. You get your monthly and annual spend, what each pound has cost so far, what carrying on to target would cost, and a plain checklist for stopping well if that is where you are heading.
Your numbers
Prices are pre-filled with the manufacturer self-pay price for that dose (LillyDirect and NovoCare, September 2026). Change it to what you pay, especially if you use insurance, a coupon or a telehealth program.
What it costs
If you carry on
A straight-line projection at your current pen price and your rate of loss so far. Real progress slows as you get closer to goal, so treat this as a floor, not a forecast.
If you stop
Nobody selling the medication writes this part. Here is what stopping saves, what the evidence says about regain, and a checklist to work through with your prescriber so the transition is planned rather than abrupt.
Regain figure: BMJ meta-analysis of 37 trials, 9,341 adults (Oxford, January 2026), reporting an average of about 0.8 kg (1.8 lb) a month after stopping GLP-1 medication and a return towards baseline over roughly 18 months. It is a population average across people who stopped without a plan. It is not a prediction for you, and it is the reason the checklist exists.
Before your last dose
- Tell your prescriber you intend to stop and ask how they recommend doing it. Some step down, some stop outright. That decision is theirs and yours, not this page's.
- Ask what regain would prompt them to see you again, and write the number down. A threshold agreed in advance is easier to act on than a feeling.
- Record your last-dose date, your weight, your waist measurement and, if you have them, your recent blood results. This is your baseline for the next twelve weeks.
- Write down the three meals you eat most weeks on the medication. Those are your maintenance defaults, not something to redesign later.
- Decide now where the freed-up money goes each month, and keep one month's worth aside as a restart buffer so a return is a decision, not a scramble.
Weeks 1 to 4
- Keep the meal structure you already have: same times, same protein-first plate, same portion you are used to. Change nothing for four weeks; the point is to notice, not to react.
- Expect hunger and food thoughts to come back. That is the medication leaving, not a failure. Have your planned snacks in the house before it happens.
- Weigh once a week, same day, same conditions. Daily weighing in this window produces noise and anxiety in equal measure.
- Keep water and fibre where they were. Both did quiet work while the medication was in the picture.
- Note any digestive changes. Most settle; anything that worries you is a call to your prescriber or pharmacist, not a forum.
Weeks 5 to 12
- Add one movement habit you can keep on a bad week. Resistance work twice a week protects the muscle you kept; a daily walk protects the routine.
- Sleep and alcohol both move appetite more than most people expect. If weight is creeping, look there before looking at food.
- Compare your week-12 weight with your baseline and with the threshold you agreed. If you have crossed it, book the appointment you already planned.
- Decide what maintenance looks like for the next year, in writing: the meals, the weigh-in day, the movement, the number that triggers a conversation.
How the planner works
How much does Zepbound cost per year without insurance?
Through Lilly's own self-pay program, Zepbound costs US$299 a month at 2.5 mg, US$399 at 5 mg and US$449 a month from 7.5 mg upward if you refill on time, which is about US$3,887 to US$5,837 a year. Lilly defines a month as 28 days and one pen or four vials, so a full year is thirteen fills, not twelve. Miss the 45-day refill window on the higher doses and the price steps up to $499 to $699 a month. Mounjaro is the same drug, tirzepatide, sold under the diabetes label; self-pay Mounjaro without a diabetes diagnosis is usually priced far higher than Zepbound.
| Zepbound dose | Typical pen price | Per year (13 pens) |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5 mg (starter) | US$299 | US$3,887 |
| 5 mg | US$399 | US$5,187 |
| 7.5 mg | US$449 | US$5,837 |
| 10 mg | US$449 | US$5,837 |
| 12.5 mg | US$449 | US$5,837 |
| 15 mg | US$449 | US$5,837 |
How much does Wegovy cost per year without insurance?
NovoCare's self-pay price for the Wegovy pen is US$349 a month at every dose from 1 mg to 2.4 mg, or about US$4,537 a year on thirteen four-week pens, with a US$199 introductory rate for the first two months on the starter doses. The 7.2 mg high-dose pen is $399. Telehealth subscriptions bundle the same pen with a consultation and typically run $370 to $450 a month; a retail pharmacy without a savings card can be close to $1,000.
| Wegovy pen dose | Typical pen price | Per year (13 pens) |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 mg (starter) | US$199 | US$2,587 |
| 0.5 mg | US$199 | US$2,587 |
| 1 mg | US$349 | US$4,537 |
| 1.7 mg | US$349 | US$4,537 |
| 2.4 mg | US$349 | US$4,537 |
How much does the Wegovy pill cost per month?
The Wegovy pill, once-daily oral semaglutide, launched in the US in January 2026. NovoCare's self-pay price is US$149 a month for the 1.5 mg starter, US$199 at 4 mg and US$299 a month at the 9 mg and 25 mg maintenance doses, so a year at maintenance is about US$3,588 on twelve monthly packs. The starter price gets the headlines; the maintenance price is the one to plan around. In trials the tablet produced somewhat less weight loss than the weekly injection; that is a conversation for your prescriber, not a reason to choose on price alone.
| Wegovy pill dose | Typical monthly pack | Per year (12 packs) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5 mg daily (starter) | US$149 | US$1,788 |
| 4 mg daily | US$199 | US$2,388 |
| 9 mg daily | US$299 | US$3,588 |
| 25 mg daily | US$299 | US$3,588 |
Manufacturer self-pay list prices in September 2026: LillyDirect for Zepbound (KwikPen or single-dose vials; the $449 tier for 7.5 mg and above requires refilling within 45 days, otherwise $499 to $699) and NovoCare for Wegovy (the $199 pen price is an introductory rate for the first two months). Telehealth programs and retail pharmacies commonly charge more; insurance copays are usually far less. These tables are US reference prices; in other currencies the planner works from the price you type in. Refreshed quarterly.
How is cost per pound lost calculated?
Cost per pound is your total spend so far divided by the weight you have lost so far, in whichever unit you chose. If you leave the spend field blank, the planner estimates it as months on treatment multiplied by your current monthly cost: thirteen four-week pens a year for Mounjaro and Wegovy pens, twelve monthly packs a year for the Wegovy pill. That estimate runs high for anyone who spent months on cheaper starter doses, which is why you can type in your real total.
How is the "if you continue" projection worked out?
The planner takes your average loss per month so far and extends it in a straight line to your target weight, then multiplies the months that would take by your current monthly cost. Loss almost always slows as people approach goal, and many people step down in dose, so the real figure is usually higher in months and can be lower in pounds. It is a planning number, not a promise.
What happens when you stop taking a GLP-1 medication?
Appetite and food thoughts typically return within a few weeks of the last dose. In the largest pooled analysis to date, published in The BMJ in January 2026, people regained an average of around 0.8 kg (1.8 lb) a month after stopping GLP-1 medication, faster than after ending a diet programme, with weight tending back towards baseline over about eighteen months. That average includes many people who stopped with no plan at all. How to stop, whether to step down, and when to restart are decisions for you and your prescriber.
Who made this, and why is it free?
The planner is published by The Reset Edit Ltd (company 16430780, England and Wales) as part of GLP Reset™, an independent set of companion guides for people using or coming off GLP-1 medication, wherever they live. This edition is priced for the US; the other edition is linked at the top of the planner. We do not sell or prescribe medication, we take no referral fees from pharmacies, manufacturers or telehealth companies, and the planner does not require an email address. We make our money from the paid guides, which is why the free tool can be honest about stopping.
Not medical advice. This planner provides cost arithmetic and organisational support only. It does not recommend starting, stopping, tapering or changing the dose of any medication. Decisions about your treatment belong with your prescriber, pharmacist or doctor. If you experience symptoms that concern you, contact them.
Prices: see the tables above, September 2026. Regain evidence: West S. et al., The BMJ, 8 January 2026 (Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford). Last reviewed 12 September 2026.