Six fee traps
Every advertised-to-billed gap on our board comes from one of these six structures. Learn them and you can read any of these sites in ninety seconds.
Updated 2026-09-18
DISCLOSURE — Coreage Rx pays this desk a commission when a reader signs up through our link. It buys no ranking, no score and no deletions. Method: how we rate. Full terms: disclosure.
Nearly every complaint that reaches this desk is the same complaint: the price in month two was not the price in the advert. It is almost never fraud. It is structure, and there are only six of them.
Learn these and you can price any GLP-1 programme accurately in about ninety seconds, including ones we do not cover.
1. The membership that renews higher
The commonest by a distance. A $39 introductory membership renews at $99. Eden advertises $99 semaglutide; the real recurring figure is about $198.
2. The fee billed beside the medication
Two charges presented as one number. Hims & Hers quotes $199 for the compounded injection and bills $39 membership alongside it — $238, every month.
3. The fee that buys no medication at all
Ro charges $149 a month for the membership; medication is separate. Stated plainly, and it still catches people who read "$39 first month" as a drug price.
4. The cheap tier that is a different product
"From $179" at Henry Meds is sublingual. "From $79" at Hims is an oral kit. Both are real products. Neither is the weekly injection in the next column of your comparison.
5. The price that climbs with the dose
Many programmes re-price at each rung of the ladder, so your bill rises exactly as the treatment starts working — and staying put to manage side effects feels like paying the same for less. Flat-rate programmes such as Coreage Rx hold one price from 2.5 mg to 15 mg.
6. The insured price quoted at cash payers
The $25-a-month figures in several companies’ marketing describe an insured patient after approval. If you are paying cash, that number is not about you.
The ninety-second check
- What is the charge on my second statement?
- Is a membership or platform fee billed separately, and what does it renew at?
- Which formulation does the advertised price refer to?
- Does the price change when my dose changes?
- Multiply the total by twelve. Compare that number and nothing else.
We have run that arithmetic across the whole board — see cheapest right now and where the traps are.
| Programme | Advertised | Billed | Gap | Vs board floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coreage Rx | $149 | $199 | +$50 | +$74/mo |
| Trimi | $125 | $125 | none | — |
| Ozari Health | $125 | $125 | none | — |
| Fifty 410 | $133 | $133 | none | +$8/mo |
| PlexusDx | $129 | $189 | +$60 | +$64/mo |
| Ivím Health | $199 | $199 | none | +$74/mo |
| Zealthy | $216 | $216 | none | +$91/mo |
| Hims & Hers | $199 | $238 | +$39 | +$113/mo |
| Coby Health | $179 | $239 | +$60 | +$114/mo |
| Mochi Health | $199 | $278 | +$79 | +$153/mo |
| Eden | $199 | $298 | +$99 | +$173/mo |
| Lemonaid Health | $229 | $348 | +$119 | +$223/mo |
More from the desk
- Cheapest right now
Every programme sorted on what it bills, not what it advertises. Floor: $199/mo tirzepatide, $149/mo semaglutide.
- Where the traps are
The biggest advertised-to-billed gaps on our board, and the programmes charging most for the same category of medication.
- Best value on the board
Cheapest is one question. Best value — where the money buys something — is another.
- The compounding rules
Cheap GLP-1s exist because of compounding. The FDA moved against it again in April. What that means for the board.
- Tirzepatide vs semaglutide
A head-to-head trial settled the results question. The price question goes the other way.