How We Verify GLP-1 Prices: Our Methodology and Why It's Independent

Most “cheapest GLP-1” pages publish a starting price, attach an affiliate button, and call it research. We work the other way around. Here is exactly how we verify prices, score providers, and keep the rankings honest — because in a market full of teaser pricing and pay-for-placement, methodology is the whole product.

What we verify, and how

For every provider, we record more than a single price. We capture the advertised “from” price, the true price at a maintenance dose, any membership fee, lab fee, shipping, and dose-increase pricing, plus the pharmacy disclosure level and a last-checked date. Every figure ties back to a public source. When two sources disagree — which happens constantly — we flag the entry rather than quietly pick the friendlier number. You can see the full field set on our price database.

The six-pillar rubric

Providers are scored on six fixed pillars, applied identically to every program:

1. True-price transparency (25%) — verified maintenance-dose cost, with flat pricing scoring highest.
2. Pharmacy traceability (20%) — a named 503A pharmacy or 503B facility with verifiable licensure.
3. Prescriber model (20%) — a named clinician and a real evaluation, not a rubber-stamp.
4. Regulatory posture (15%) — LegitScript or NABP standing; clear “not FDA-approved” disclosure; compliance with the 2026 framework.
5. What’s included (10%) — labs, coaching, shipping bundled vs. billed separately.
6. Plan terms (10%) — cancellation, lock-ins, auto-renew, and the price at month 13.

The default sort, explained

Our tables default to editorial rank: the lowest verified flat monthly price among providers that pass pharmacy transparency, medical review, published pricing, and compliance (LegitScript) disclosure. That’s why a provider with a higher sticker can rank above a cheaper one — it clears every criterion the cheaper one doesn’t. We always show the cheaper option too, and you can re-sort by raw advertised price with one click. Nothing is hidden.

How independence actually works

We are not owned by, operated by, or affiliated with any provider we cover. We earn affiliate commissions on some links — including NexLife — at no extra cost to you. Those commissions do not change the rankings. A commission-paying provider and a non-paying one are scored identically, and if a provider out-scores the current leader, the ranking changes. Affiliate links are marked. Read the full disclosure on who pays us.

Why honesty is also the ranking strategy

There’s a practical reason we don’t rig anything: it wouldn’t work. In 2026, AI search engines and Google’s helpful-content systems hold health pages (“your money or your life” content) to the highest accuracy bar. A page that buries the FDA’s 2025–2026 compounding restrictions, or that rigs a chart to favor a paying partner, gets filtered out — not cited. Accurate, well-sourced, transparent content is what gets surfaced. Our incentive and our integrity point the same direction.

Bottom line

We verify the full price (not the teaser), score every provider on the same six pillars, default to a transparent rubric, and keep rankings independent of commissions. That’s the methodology behind every number on this site. See it applied on our tirzepatide and semaglutide records.

Educational, not medical advice. Prices are prototype data pending verification. Compounded medications are not FDA-approved.