First-Month Offer Audit: Intro Pricing vs. Month-2 Reality by Provider

Every GLP-1 telehealth provider leads with their best number. Telos Rx advertises $49. Embody headlines $79. SHED markets $199 "starting at." These are real prices — nobody's lying. But the number that actually matters is the one you'll pay on month two, month three, and month twelve. That's the number most providers bury in Terms of Service pages you'll never read.

We pulled the real pricing from provider websites, Terms of Service documents, checkout flows, and independent patient reviews. This audit covers semaglutide pricing at 10 platforms, comparing what the ad says versus what your credit card sees after the intro period expires.

The Price Jump Table

Sorted by the size of the gap between intro pricing and real ongoing cost. Providers with the largest jumps are listed first.

⚠️ = FDA Warning Letter on file. Required disclosure wherever this provider is featured.

The Jumpers: Intro ≠ Ongoing

Telos Rx — The biggest gap in the market

Telos Rx leads with a $49 first month for semaglutide and $99 for tirzepatide. Those are real — you genuinely pay $49 in month one. But the ongoing pricing depends on plan length: a 12-month commitment locks in microdose tirzepatide at $49/month, but standard doses on shorter plans can run $129, $249, or $449/month. The range is huge because Telos uses a tiered structure where plan duration, dose, and medication type all affect the price independently.

One additional note: at least one independent reviewer has flagged that Telos Rx does not display a LegitScript verification seal, which most comparable platforms show. That's not disqualifying, but it's worth noting for patients who use LegitScript as a trust signal.

Embody — The $300 refill nobody headlines

Embody's Summer Start promotion is aggressive: semaglutide injections at $79 for the first month, tirzepatide from $129. These are competitive entry points and the platform's intake is genuinely fast (see our intake speed ranking). But per Embody's own Terms of Service — reviewed June 2026 — semaglutide refills lock at approximately $299/month ongoing. Tirzepatide ongoing pricing starts at $199 and rises from there.

The jump from $79 to ~$299 is a 278% increase. If you're budgeting $100/month for GLP-1 medication, Embody works for month one but not for month six.

SHED — Price climbs with your dose

SHED's pricing model is dose-dependent: semaglutide injections start at $199/month and convert to $249/month after the initial multi-month term. But the bigger jump happens at maintenance doses — tirzepatide at 7.5mg and above runs $399/month. Sublingual drops are $229/month. SHED also offers brand-name Wegovy pen ($199/month) and the oral Wegovy pill ($149/month) through its Foundayo partnership.

SHED's guarantee changed in June 2026: it's now 120 days / 5% body weight loss or a refund (previously 9 months / 10%). That's a tighter window — make sure the terms work for your timeline.

The Flat-Raters: What You See Is What You Pay

GobyMeds — No tricks, no tiers

GobyMeds is the simplest pricing model in the space. Semaglutide 12-week starter bundle: $99/month ($299 total). Tirzepatide 12-week bundle: $133/month ($399 total). Single-month purchases: semaglutide $169, tirzepatide $299. No membership fees, no auto-renewal, no subscription. The price on the landing page is the price you pay, period.

Higher-dose bundles run $399–499 for semaglutide. Brand Zepbound is $1,399 and brand Wegovy is $1,695 — those are standard self-pay rates for FDA-approved products. Overnight refrigerated shipping is free.

Wellorithm — Lowest oral price, no games

Wellorithm's compounded semaglutide tablets cost $147/month. Tirzepatide tablets: $249/month. Those rates are flat — no intro discount, no post-promo jump, no dose-dependent increases we could identify. At $147/month for oral semaglutide, this is the lowest verified oral GLP-1 price in our tracking.

Gala — Flat across doses (but plan-conditional)

Gala's headline rate of $179/month for compounded tirzepatide is genuinely flat across all doses — whether you're on the starting dose or the highest maintenance dose, it's $179. That's rare and valuable for patients who don't want their bill to climb alongside their prescription. The catch: $179/month is the yearly plan rate. A 3-month plan is $597 total ($199/month effective). Gala also offers a $149/month microdosing track.

Cancellation requires 72 hours' notice before billing. Refunds are only issued for medical disqualification, not dissatisfaction. Brand Ozempic is available through Gala at $1,299/month, and an oral GLP-1 option is listed as "coming soon."

The Brand-Name Benchmark

Before evaluating any compounded provider's pricing, it's worth knowing what brand-name self-pay costs look like in late 2026 — because they've dropped significantly:

• Wegovy injection: $199/month through NovoCare self-pay
• Oral Wegovy pill: $149/month for the two lowest doses
• Ozempic: $199/month intro (new patients, 2 months), then $349–499 via NovoCare
• Zepbound vials (LillyDirect): $299/month at the 2.5mg dose, $449 at higher doses
• Medicare GLP-1 Bridge: $50 copay for Wegovy all doses (effective July 1, 2026)

At these prices, brand-name Wegovy injection at $199/month is now cheaper than several compounded providers' ongoing rates — and it's FDA-approved. Sesame Care is the only platform in our comparison that prescribes exclusively brand-name products.

How to Read Any GLP-1 Ad After This

Three questions that decode any pricing claim:

• "What happens after the intro period?" If the landing page doesn't answer this, check the Terms of Service or FAQ. If neither answers it, that's a red flag.
• "What happens when my dose increases?" Most patients titrate up over 2–4 months. If pricing is dose-dependent (SHED, Telos Rx, MEDVi), your month-6 bill may be double your month-1 bill.
• "Is this price conditional on a commitment?" Gala's $179 requires a yearly plan. Yucca's $146 requires a 6-month plan. GobyMeds' $99 requires a 12-week bundle. The rate is real, but it comes with strings.

Methodology

Pricing data verified against provider websites, Terms of Service documents, and independent patient-reported data as of July 2026. We re-verify all pricing quarterly. Where pricing is promotional, we note the promotion name and its terms. Where pricing is dose-dependent, we show the full range rather than cherry-picking the lowest number. See our full methodology.