What is the recurring cost at the maintenance dose rather than the starting dose?

Height, weight, and medical history, screened against the contraindications stated on the label, of which the firmest is a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2.

Getting a prescription

How to get tirzepatide

There is one route: a licensed clinician has to evaluate you and write the prescription. Everything else about getting tirzepatide comes down to where that visit happens, whether the clinic prescribes Zepbound, Mounjaro, or a compounded version, and what the monthly cost covers once the dose climbs.

Those three answers move the cost more than anything else, and a clinic that gives them plainly on the phone is usually the one to book with.

394
GLP-1 clinics: 33
States: 222
Telehealth: 160
License verified

What to know first

A licensed clinician has to evaluate you first. No lawful route to tirzepatide skips that step.
Zepbound and Mounjaro are FDA-approved. Compounded tirzepatide is not an approved generic, and that gap is about recourse as much as price.
394 clinics we checked prescribe it, and 222 of them offer telehealth visits.
160 of those have a prescriber matched to a state licensing registry.

How to get tirzepatide prescribed

The requirement is the same in a clinic or on a video call. What changes between programs is how fast the appointment happens, what it costs, and how much of the following four steps a clinic explains before taking payment.

1. Evaluation
Height, weight, and medical history, screened against the contraindications stated on the label, of which the firmest is a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2.
2. Laboratory work
Some programs require baseline bloodwork and some do not, so confirm both whether labs are needed and whether their cost sits inside the quoted price, because that single omission is one of the most common reasons an advertised figure and a final bill do not match.
3. Product selection
The prescription is written either for an approved brand or for a compounded preparation from a partner pharmacy, and the price difference between those routes is large enough to ask about before booking.
4. Titration and follow-up
The dose begins low and climbs over several months, so how often you are seen during that period and what each of those visits costs will shape the recurring price far more than whatever the first month was advertised at.

Which tirzepatide will you be prescribed?

All three contain the same active ingredient. They differ in approved indication, regulatory status, and what has been reviewed as a finished product.

Zepbound

An FDA-approved tirzepatide product indicated for chronic weight management in eligible adults. This is the approved product most weight-care prescriptions reference.

Mounjaro

An FDA-approved tirzepatide product with a type 2 diabetes indication. Prescribing it for weight management is off-label, which affects coverage more than it affects the medication.

Compounded

Prepared by a compounding pharmacy and not an FDA-approved generic. It has not been reviewed as a finished product for safety, efficacy, or manufacturing quality. The compounder, and whether it operates as a 503A or 503B facility, are worth confirming.

For how it works, its side effects, and how it compares with the alternatives, see the tirzepatide medication guide.

If a video visit suits you better than an office, the online programs prescribing it are compared on starting price at online tirzepatide providers.

What does tirzepatide cost?

Two clinics can advertise the same number and bill very differently, because that number rarely covers the same things twice. Only 135 of the 394 listings here publish a price at all, and four things move it more than anything else.

What a program fee usually excludes

A monthly fee often covers visits and the prescription rather than the medication. Whether medication is included, and at which dose, determines what the figure means once the dose increases.

Approved product or compounded

This is the largest single factor in price. Compounded preparations cost materially less than Zepbound or Mounjaro, which is why many cash-pay programs are built around them.

Insurance is two determinations

Coverage of the visit and coverage of the medication are decided separately, and a single plan may answer them differently. Ask which of the two a clinic is quoting before comparing it against anywhere else.

Introductory pricing

Introductory rates are common and the dose increases for months afterward. The cost at the maintenance dose, and the terms if treatment stops and restarts, describe the program better than the first month.

Where to get tirzepatide near you

394 clinics we checked prescribe tirzepatide, spread across 33 states.

Search clinics by city, ZIP, or name

Six questions worth asking before paying

Is the product Zepbound, Mounjaro, or a compounded preparation, and which pharmacy supplies it?
Does the published price include medication, or only the visits?
What is the recurring cost at the maintenance dose rather than the starting dose?
Are baseline labs required, and are they included in the quoted price?
Who performs the evaluation and writes the prescription, and what are their credentials?
If tirzepatide is not tolerated, can the program switch to semaglutide without restarting?

Sources: FDA Zepbound prescribing information · NIDDK, Prescription Medications to Treat Overweight & Obesity. Eligibility and prescribing decisions belong to a qualified healthcare professional. This page is informational and is not medical advice.