Prices · Verified July 27, 2026
How to get a GLP-1 for $25 — and when you can't
Every manufacturer advertises the same number. Two conditions decide whether you ever see it, and one of them is almost never printed alongside the offer.
The short answer
$25 is a copay reduction, not a price. You need commercial insurance that already covers your specific brand — the card reduces a copay, so without one there is nothing to reduce. And the card pays a capped amount: $100 a month on the Novo offers. If your plan leaves you $250, you pay $150. Government insurance is barred from these cards by federal law, and being uninsured does not qualify you either — that route is manufacturer self-pay, which is a different program.
Key takeaways
- $25 is a copay reduction, not a price. It only exists if you have commercial insurance that already covers the drug — the card reduces a copay, so with no copay there is nothing for it to reduce.
- Every card has a ceiling. The Novo cards pay at most $100 a month. If your plan leaves you $250, the card takes $100 off and you pay $150.
- Government insurance is excluded by law. Medicare, Medicare Part D and Advantage, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA and state assistance programs cannot use any manufacturer card — federal anti-kickback rules, not company policy.
- Being uninsured does not qualify you either. The cards require commercial coverage; the uninsured route is the manufacturer self-pay price instead, which is a different program with different numbers.
- January is when people are surprised. Before a deductible is met the plan often pays nothing, so the card offsets a capped amount of the full price and the rest is yours.
- Caps and terms differ per card. Zepbound pays at most $100 per fill and $1,300 across the year over no more than 13 fills; Trulicity stops at $150 per fill and $1,950 a year; the Novo cards at $100 a month. Read the card you were handed.
- If your copay is larger than the cap plus $25, run the manufacturer self-pay price as well — for some doses the cash route is genuinely cheaper than insurance.
The cap, worked through with real numbers
This is the arithmetic that decides your actual price, and it is missing from most pages that advertise the offer. The card contributes up to $100 a month; you owe the remainder.
| Your plan leaves you | Card pays | You actually pay |
|---|---|---|
| $125(the advertised case) | $100 | $25 |
| $200 | $100 | $100 |
| $250 | $100 | $150 |
| $400(specialty tier with coinsurance) | $100 | $300 |
Before a deductible is met, many plans pay nothing at all — the card then offsets its maximum against the full price, which is why the January bill so often differs from the advertised figure.
Who qualifies, and who cannot
- You have commercial insurance — employer, marketplace or private — that lists your specific brand on its formulary.
- You have a valid US prescription for an approved use of that brand.
- You are 18 or older and a US or Puerto Rico resident.
- You are on Medicare, Medicare Part D or Advantage, Medicaid, TRICARE, VA or a state pharmaceutical assistance program. Barred by federal law, without exception.
- You are uninsured. The cards need a copay to reduce; the manufacturer self-pay programs are the route instead.
- Your commercial plan excludes the drug. Coverage of the brand is the condition, not merely having insurance.
- Your plan runs an alternative funding program that requires you to apply to the manufacturer card as a condition of coverage. Lilly’s terms disqualify this explicitly.
The cards, and what each one really caps at
All six lead with the same headline. They differ in the number underneath it, which is the one that decides your bill.
| Drug | Program | Headline | What it actually caps at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ozempic | Ozempic Savings Offer (NovoCare) | As little as $25/mo | Pays up to $100/month, for up to 48 months |
| Ozempic tablets (formerly Rybelsus) | NovoCare diabetes savings offer | As little as $25/mo | Pays up to $100 per 1-month fill; Novo counts a month as 30 days |
| Wegovy | Wegovy Savings Offer (NovoCare) | As little as $25/mo | Pays up to $100/month; text SAVE to 83757 is the genuine sign-up |
| Mounjaro | Mounjaro Savings Card (Lilly) | As little as $25/mo | Per-dose monthly maximum set in Lilly’s terms; card expires 12/31/2026 |
| Zepbound | Zepbound Savings Card (Lilly) | As little as $25/mo | Pays up to $100 per 1-month fill, $200 per 2-month, $300 per 3-month — and a separate $1,300 per calendar year across at most 13 fills. A month is 28 days and up to 4 pens. Card expires 12/31/2026 |
| Trulicity | Trulicity Savings Card (Lilly) | As little as $25/mo | Pays up to $150 per 1-month fill and $1,950 per calendar year; 13 fills max; a month is 28 days |
One card that used to appear on lists like this no longer exists: Novo Nordisk closed the Saxenda Savings Offer to new enrollees on June 30, 2023, and activated cards stopped working after that December. There is no replacement for Saxenda.
If you do not qualify, what is actually available
- Manufacturer self-pay. No insurance needed. Oral semaglutide from $149/mo (1.5 mg), the pens at $199/mo for the first 2 fills, then $349, Zepbound vials from $299/mo (2.5 mg). See every self-pay price.
- Patient assistance programs. Income-based charitable programs, separate from the cards and with their own applications. Lilly Cares is one — it is not the same thing as the Lilly savings card, and the two are frequently confused.
- Appeal the exclusion. If your plan covers the drug but denied prior authorization, that is an appealable decision with defined deadlines rather than a final answer.
- Compounded routes. $69–$300/mo for semaglutide, with the caveat that these are not FDA-approved finished drugs and carry a different risk profile.
Providers that handle the prescription side
SponsoredIf you need a prescriber before any of this applies. We earn a commission if you sign up — it does not change your price.
Advertising disclosure: we may earn a commission if you sign up through these links, at no extra cost to you — it never affects our rankings. How we make money
Common questions about this medication
How do I get Ozempic for $25 a month?
You need commercial insurance that covers Ozempic, plus a valid prescription for an approved use. Activate the Ozempic Savings Offer through NovoCare and present it at the pharmacy with your insurance. What you actually pay is your plan's copay minus what the card contributes, and the card contributes at most $100 a month. So $25 is what happens when your copay is around $125 or less. If your plan leaves you more than that, you pay the difference. If you have Medicare or any government plan, or no insurance at all, the card cannot be used and the route is NovoCare's self-pay pricing instead — $199/mo for the first 2 fills, then $349 (0.25/0.5/1 mg) or $499 (2 mg).
How do I get Mounjaro for $25?
The same structure: commercial insurance that covers Mounjaro, a valid prescription for type 2 diabetes, and Lilly's Mounjaro Savings Card activated before you fill. Lilly sets a maximum monthly saving per dose rather than one flat figure, so read the terms for your strength. The card expires 12/31/2026. Government beneficiaries are excluded by law, and so is anyone whose plan routes them through an alternative funding vendor — Lilly disqualifies that case by name. Without commercial coverage, the comparable route is Lilly's self-pay pricing rather than the card.
Can I get a GLP-1 for $25 without insurance?
No. Every $25 offer in this category is a copay reduction and needs an underlying copay to reduce. Uninsured patients have a different and genuinely useful route: manufacturer self-pay. Oral semaglutide starts at $149/mo (1.5 mg), the Wegovy and Ozempic pens run $199/mo for the first 2 fills, then $349, and Zepbound self-pay vials start at $299/mo (2.5 mg). Those are real prices with no insurance involved — just not $25.
Why am I being charged more than $25 with the card?
Almost always the cap. The card pays a fixed maximum per fill — $100 a month on the Novo cards — and you owe whatever your plan leaves above that. Three common cases: a high copay ($250 leaves you $150 after the card); an unmet deductible, where the plan pays nothing and the card offsets only its maximum against the full price; and a plan that covers the drug but places it on a specialty tier with coinsurance rather than a flat copay, which can leave a much larger balance. None of these mean the card failed — they mean the advertised figure describes the best case.
Does the $25 card work at any pharmacy?
At participating pharmacies, which is most retail chains, and the card must be activated before the fill rather than applied afterwards. It is processed as a secondary payer after your insurance, which is why the pharmacy needs both. Mail-order and manufacturer-direct pharmacies have their own arrangements — the manufacturer-direct route usually prices on the self-pay ladder instead of the card, so compare rather than assume one is the other.
How long does the $25 price last?
Until one of three things happens: the card hits its annual maximum, the printed expiry passes, or your circumstances change. The Novo offers run up to 48 months for eligible patients; the current Lilly cards expire 12/31/2026; Trulicity caps at $1,950 per calendar year and 13 fills. Moving onto Medicare mid-year ends eligibility immediately — the terms require you to stop using the card at that point.
Is the $25 card the cheapest option?
Not automatically, and this is worth ten minutes of arithmetic. If your plan leaves a large balance the card cannot cover, the manufacturer's self-pay price may be lower than your post-card copay. Someone facing a $400 specialty-tier balance pays $300 after a $100 card, while the same drug self-pay might be ~$349/mo for maintenance doses. Ask your plan for the exact copay figure, then compare it to the published self-pay price before assuming insurance wins.
Are there $25 offers for compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide?
No. Manufacturer savings cards exist only for FDA-approved branded products, and compounded preparations have no manufacturer behind them to issue one. Compounded routes are priced directly by the telehealth provider or pharmacy — currently $69–$300/mo for semaglutide and $99–$450/mo for tirzepatide. Any site offering a "coupon" for compounded GLP-1 is offering its own discount, not a manufacturer program.
Related
Card terms read from NovoCare, ozempic.com, trulicity.lilly.com and the manufacturers' published savings-program terms on July 27, 2026. Programs change without notice and every card's own terms govern — confirm yours before relying on a figure here. GLP1Zoom is not a pharmacy, issues no coupons and does not prescribe. Educational only, not medical advice.