Last updated August 27, 2026
How we rank providers
A provider score is a weighted sum of twelve measured factors. The weights are published here, the inputs are in each provider's record, and a category leader is chosen by a single metric, not by the overall score.
Weights
| Factor | Weight | How it is scored |
|---|---|---|
| True recurring monthly price (starting dose) | 14 | Lower is better; ranked within medication |
| First-year cost at the reference maintenance dose | 12 | Cost of a first year following the label to the reference maintenance dose (10 mg tirzepatide, 2.4 mg semaglutide) on the provider's cheapest plan, every published required charge included; pending when a charge is unconfirmed, the price is a floor, or no tier covers the dose |
| Dose-price stability (start → maintenance dose) | 10 | Percentage increase between the starting tier and the reference maintenance tier; dose-stable = full marks |
| Pricing transparency | 12 | Rubric: all required charges published; intro vs recurring stated; dose tiers published; pharmacy named |
| Commitment flexibility | 8 | Month-to-month or per-order = full marks; prepaid terms score by length and early-termination terms |
| Cancellation and refund clarity | 8 | Policy published, notice period stated, refund terms stated |
| Pharmacy transparency | 8 | Pharmacy named, 503A/503B type stated, licence verifiable, formulation and additives disclosed |
| Clinical support | 8 | Prescriber type, synchronous visit availability, follow-up cadence, support channels |
| State availability | 6 | Share of states served, as published |
| Formulation evidence disclosure | 4 | Whether the provider says plainly which formulations lack trial evidence |
| Consumer protections | 5 | Terms accessible before checkout; auto-renewal disclosed; no dark patterns in cancellation |
| Data freshness | 5 | Days since our last verification; stale records score zero and are removed from rankings |
| Total | 100 |
Rules
- Only records verified within 30 days are scored. A stale record scores zero on freshness and is removed from every list.
- Category leaders (lowest starting-dose recurring price; lowest first-year cost settling at 5, 10 or 15 mg of tirzepatide or 1, 1.7 or 2.4 mg of semaglutide; lowest dose-stable price; most flexible commitment; widest state availability; most transparent pharmacy disclosure; best for brand medication with insurance) are chosen by that single metric and require at least 3 verified providers in the category. A price range that overlaps the leader's range is a tie.
- Ties are shown as ties.
- The true 12-month cost factor is scored only when every required charge is published and the price is not a "from" floor; otherwise it is pending and the provider's score is marked provisional, so an incomplete total can never rank above a complete one.
- No provider is placed first by default, by relationship to this site, or by editorial preference. Any provider with an ownership, sponsorship or affiliate relationship to this site carries that badge wherever it is named, and its score is computed by the same code as everyone else's.
- Weights change only with a dated entry on this page and a note in the corrections and changes log.
What the score does not measure
Clinical quality, outcomes and patient experience are not scored, because we cannot verify them from public sources. The score describes price, terms and transparency.