Wegovy and Ozempic now cost the same amount for most patients paying out of pocket: $349 per month. Novo Nordisk, which makes both drugs, dropped prices to this level in November 2025. Before that cut, both had list prices well over $1,000 a month. What you actually pay, though, depends heavily on whether you have insurance, what condition you’re treating, and which dose you need.
Same Drug, Different Prices by Situation
Wegovy and Ozempic contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide. The key difference is their approved use: Ozempic is FDA-approved for type 2 diabetes, while Wegovy is approved for weight management (and more recently, for reducing heart attack and stroke risk in people with cardiovascular disease who are overweight or obese). Wegovy also comes in a higher maximum dose of 2.4 mg compared to Ozempic’s 2 mg.
At the standard self-pay price of $349 per month, they’re identical for most dose strengths. The one exception is Ozempic’s highest dose (2 mg), which stays at $499 per month. New customers starting either drug can get the two lowest doses for $199 per month for their first two months.
How Insurance Changes the Math
The sticker price matters far less than your insurance situation, and this is where the two drugs diverge significantly. Because Ozempic is a diabetes medication, most insurance plans cover it readily for people with type 2 diabetes. Wegovy, classified as a weight management drug, faces much steeper coverage barriers.
Many commercial insurance plans either exclude weight loss medications entirely or require prior authorization with strict criteria. To qualify for Wegovy coverage, you typically need a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI of 27 or higher with an additional health condition like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Even meeting those criteria doesn’t guarantee your plan will pay.
If your insurance does cover Wegovy, Novo Nordisk offers a savings card that can bring your copay down to as little as $25 per month, with a maximum savings of $100 per fill. That makes covered Wegovy potentially the cheapest option of all. But if your plan doesn’t cover it and you’re paying cash, you’re looking at $349 regardless of which drug you choose.
Medicare Coverage Is Complicated
Medicare has historically been prohibited by law from covering medications used specifically for obesity. That made Wegovy inaccessible to most Medicare beneficiaries. Ozempic, on the other hand, is covered under Medicare Part D as a diabetes treatment.
This landscape shifted after the FDA approved Wegovy for cardiovascular risk reduction. Following that approval, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued guidance allowing Part D plans to add Wegovy to their formularies for that specific indication. So if you’re on Medicare and have both obesity and cardiovascular disease, you may now have a path to coverage that didn’t exist before. Coverage still isn’t guaranteed, though, since individual Part D plans decide whether to include Wegovy on their formulary.
One important caveat: Medicare beneficiaries are not eligible for Novo Nordisk’s savings cards or self-pay discount programs, even if they choose to pay out of pocket.
The Off-Label Factor
Many people use Ozempic off-label for weight loss, since it contains the same ingredient as Wegovy. When prescribed this way, Ozempic may not be covered by insurance either, because the prescription doesn’t match its approved indication. In that scenario, you’d pay the same $349 self-pay price as Wegovy, eliminating any cost advantage.
If you have type 2 diabetes and your doctor prescribes Ozempic for that condition, your insurance copay could be far lower than the self-pay price for either drug. That makes Ozempic the clearly cheaper option for people who have both a diabetes diagnosis and insurance coverage.
Wegovy Tablets Offer a Lower Entry Point
Novo Nordisk now sells Wegovy in tablet form at prices that undercut the injectable versions. The lowest tablet doses (1.5 mg and 4 mg) cost $149 per month, while the higher doses (9 mg and 25 mg) run $299 per month. There is no tablet version of Ozempic available at comparable pricing. For someone paying out of pocket and starting treatment, the Wegovy tablet at $149 is currently the cheapest branded semaglutide option on the market.
Compounded Semaglutide Is No Longer Widely Available
During the semaglutide shortage that began in 2022, compounding pharmacies legally produced their own versions of the drug at significantly lower prices. The FDA declared that shortage resolved in February 2025, which effectively closed the door on most compounded semaglutide production. Compounding pharmacies are generally prohibited from making copies of commercially available drugs, and with supply now stable, semaglutide no longer qualifies for the shortage exception. Some limited compounding may still occur under narrow legal provisions, but the era of widely available, cheaper compounded semaglutide has largely ended.
Which Costs Less for You
The answer depends entirely on your medical situation:
- If you have type 2 diabetes with insurance: Ozempic is almost certainly cheaper, since your plan likely covers it with a manageable copay.
- If you want weight loss medication with commercial insurance that covers it: Wegovy with the manufacturer savings card can cost as little as $25 per month.
- If you’re paying cash for either drug: They cost the same at $349 per month for standard doses. Wegovy tablets start lower at $149.
- If you’re on Medicare: Ozempic is covered for diabetes. Wegovy may be covered if you have cardiovascular disease, but coverage varies by plan.
The list price gap between these two drugs has effectively disappeared. The real cost difference comes down to your diagnosis, your insurance plan, and whether you qualify for coverage of one drug but not the other.