How We Review GLP-1 Providers: Our Price & Trust Transparency Score
From Jun to August 2025 we ran a survey to figure out what people, like yourself, look for and care about the most when it comes to choosing a GLP-1 provider for your needs.
52% of people said finding an affordable GLP-1 provider is their biggest challenge. Another 31% said their biggest struggle was figuring out which providers are trustworthy.[1]
We discovered that these aren’t actually two separate problems though. They’re part of what we call “The Price-Safety Trap.”
Most people get stuck choosing between providers that seem affordable but sketchy, or providers that seem trustworthy but expensive.
Traditional review sites make this worse by only showing surface-level comparisons that don’t reveal the real costs or safety standards.
To solve the Price-Safety Trap, we developed a unique scoring methodology called the Price & Trust Transparency Score.
The Price & Trust Transparency Score
We’ve developed the only evaluation system that identifies GLP-1 providers who are both genuinely affordable AND completely trustworthy, because we’ve discovered these qualities aren’t opposites when you know how to measure them correctly.
Our Price & Trust Transparency Score evaluates providers across three critical dimensions:
1. True Cost Analysis
What you’ll actually pay, not just what’s advertised
- Total Cost Calculation: We add up ALL costs including hidden fees, required add-ons, lab work, consultations, and long-term maintenance
- Price Transparency Assessment: We evaluate how clearly providers communicate their full pricing structure upfront. Price transparency is one of the biggest issues when it comes to online telehealth companies. Here are a couple of things we look out for and how we monitor it.
a) Bait and Switch: This might be our least favorite tactic of them all. Companies will advertise on Facebook, Instagram, their homepage, and elsewhere a “Starting at” price of $119. But once you go through their intake form, you realize the only way you’re going to pay $119 is if you sign up for a year subscription and pay all upfront ($119 x 12) = $1,428
Dropping $1,500 just isn’t feasible for many of us and we think it’s cruel to bait you in with this pricing you think you can afford only to realize you can’t. Then you find out that the cost increases drastically depending on what subscription plan you use. For example:
- 12 months: $1,428 upfront (equivalent to $119 per month)
- 6 months: $1,194 upfront (equivalent to $199 per month)
- 3 months: $747 upfront (equivalent to $249 per month)
- Month to month: $299 per month
Now, we don’t fault companies on using a tiered pricing structure. Most subscription businesses do this these days e.g. you get a discount on Spotify if you pay for a year instead of monthly. But what we do hate is when they aren’t transparent and honest about these price increases.
At the very least a telehealth company can (and should) show this information directly on their product pages, not just after you go through their intake flow. You can see how Friday’s Health does a good job at being transparent in the image below.
We verify price transparency in a couple of different ways. First we look at their website, review their advertised price, go through the intake flow, and then see what the cost is at checkout. In addition, we will look up the company in the Meta Ads Library to review advertisements they’re running on major social media platforms owned by Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc). Example below.
If we see inconsistencies between advertised prices and price at checkout (without transparency) then we reduce their score accordingly.
b) Increase cost per dose: Another way telehealth companies like to increase prices without telling you is increasing the price when you go up in dosage. As an example, when you first get on GLP-1s you’re typically placed on the lowest dose e.g. 0.25mg per week for semaglutide. The doctor then gradually increases that dose and titration overtime.
Below is a general timeline.
Increasing the dosage and titration is all perfectly normal but what we hate to see is when you’re 12 weeks in, you’ve lost some solid weight, you’re feeling confident again, and now it’s time to go from 1mg per week to 1.7mg per week. Then all of a sudden they hike the price and you’re now paying $299 per month instead of $199.
Now let us be clear here before moving on. We’re not against this pricing structure entirely. From a business standpoint it makes complete sense. The higher the dose and titration, the higher the cost to create the medication because of the additional ingredients required.
However, we loathe this sort of pricing structure when they aren’t transparent about the upcoming price increase. When you’re finally starting to feel confident about yourself again and you’ve dropped three inches around your waist, they take advantage of you. They know you want to continue and see results but now you have to cough up an additional $100 to get there.
If they’re upfront and honest about this increase from the beginning, then all is well. Or, if they don’t increase the price at all based on dose, even better! Again, we entirely understand the companies having to increase price due to cost increases, but they need to be transparent about the price increase upfront, if it does come.
To check for this price increase we go through their intake flow two times and answer the questions in a way that will get us a low dose and high dose. Almost all companies have a question within their intake flow that asks about taking weight loss medication over the past 12 months.
To figure out the Starting Out price i.e. 0.25mg per week for semaglutide, we’ll say we’ve not taken any weight loss medication in the past 12 months. Then to figure out the higher dose price, we’ll say we’ve taken semaglutide at 1.7mg per week. This typically will trigger their intake form to show us the pricing of the higher dosages at checkout and we can compare this to the dose cost at 0.25mg
Note: This strategy doesn’t always work. In general, if you’ve taken a higher dose before (and it’s been less than two weeks since your last injection) doctors will prescribe you that same dose straight away. But, since you have to legally speak to the clinician first, sometimes the intake form doesn’t show the increased dosage price right away. You won’t know until after you talk to the clinician.
If that’s the case, we’ll search their website to see if they address this issue head on and also review what others online are saying. Trust Pilot is where we search first and, oddly enough, Reddit is an amazing place to get answers. There are thriving GLP-1 communities on there and it’s a honey hole of information for real users.
Last but not least, we’ll email into customer support and straight up ask them if there is an increase on pricing based on dosage.
2. Safety & Legitimacy Verification
When it comes to safety & legitimacy, we hired Dr. Samantha Ottavi, Ph.D., a pharmaceutical scientist with deep expertise in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry to help us come up with a 7-point safety framework to identify red flags that signal a provider cuts corners on your health:
✓ Pharmacy Credentials: Verified PCAB-accredited or state-licensed pharmacies with full disclosure
✓ Medical Screening: Comprehensive health assessments with proper contraindication checking
✓ Provider Credentials: Licensed MDs, DOs, NPs, or PAs with verifiable NPI numbers
✓ Legit Script certified: Medical certificate which verifies they comply with all health regulations set fourth
✓ Ongoing Medical Support: Access to your care team for side effects and questions
✓ Comprehensive Care: Nutrition coaching, fitness guidance, and behavioral support included
✓ Transparent Operations: Clear policies, honest marketing, and verifiable patient outcomes
A couple of important notes to dig deeper into the above.
Pharmacy credentials: If you’re not aware, telehealth companies (Hims, Hers, Shed, Remedy Meds, etc) don’t actually make GLP-1s or any sort of medication. You can think of telehealth companies like a hospital. Their website and customer portal is their version of a building and doctors office. They then employ customer service team members to help with appointment scheduling, payments, etc. And the doctors on staff are just like the doctors you’d see in person but for telehealth companies, it’s all done online.
We say all this because just like a hospital and in-person doctors, they prescribe you the medication which you then go and pick up at a pharmacy. They do not give it to you at the doctor’s office. In the case of telehealth, you don’t go to a physical pharmacy but rather the pharmacy ships it straight to your door in discreet packaging (nice!)
The bad thing about this is you don’t know what pharmacy it’s coming from. If you were seeing a doctor in-person, you’d just drive down to your local Walgreens and pick up the medication. But for telehealth it could be coming from any pharmacy in the world.
Now this is not a bad thing in and of itself. But with the rise of compounded medication, you want to verify the telehealth company you work with is using a safe and trusted partnered pharmacy.
To find who the partnered pharmacy is they’re working with, we will check throughout the telehealth companies website and make sure the pharmacies have the below credentials:
- 503A or 503B compounding pharmacy
- PCAB-accredited or state-licensed
- Follow USP <797> sterile compounding protocols
- Has a physical address and phone number in the United States
Now the biggest issue we run into here is again, transparency. Companies should have partnered pharmacy information easily accessible on their website for all to see. A good example of this is Peak Wellness. On the homepage you can clearly see the partnered pharmacies they work with along with the pharmacies name, website, phone number, email, and address.
This would score a 10/10.
An example of a 5/10 would be Hims. On the Quality and Safety company page, which is relatively easy to find because it’s in the menu nav and footer of their website, they clearly state that all their pharmacies comply with the regulations we look for. However, they do not have the actual pharmacies themselves listed.
Now this isn’t an immediate 0/10 from us because Hims is addressing the concerns head on and we know a lot of telehealth companies don’t like to put this information on their website because they’re afraid of competitors coming in and trying to make deals with the pharmacies they work with. We know this first-hand because if we can not find the partnered pharmacies information on the website, we will email support to ask who they work with for clarification.
A lot of the times they’ll tell us who they work with (good!) and if we ask why they don’t share this info on their website, it’s because of the above reason. We’re somewhat sentimental and understanding to this but still believe companies should at least have it somewhere on the website.
An example of a 0/10 would be Remedy Meds. No matter where we looked on their website, we could not find any information about the pharmacies they work with. The only thing we could find is the one sentence shown in the screenshot below.
In addition, when we emailed in asking who they work with, they never got back to us. So they get 0/10 in this category.
Now we don’t stop there… just because they show the pharmacy information, doesn’t mean the pharmacy itself is good. We look up the pharmacies company and website to make sure they have the above credentials and we verify they are safe and legitimate.
3. Long-Term Success Tracking
Providers that help you keep the weight off for good
- Maintenance Program Quality: How well providers support the transition off medication (if ever)
- Patient Outcome Tracking: Real success rates at 12+ months, not just initial results
- Support System Depth: Access to dietitians, coaches, workout plans, and behavioral support
- Program Sustainability: Whether the approach builds lasting lifestyle changes
How We Score Each Provider
Price Transparency Rating (40%)
- A+ (90-100): Complete cost breakdown upfront, no hidden fees, competitive total value
- A (80-89): Mostly transparent pricing with minor unclear areas
- B (70-79): Some hidden costs or unclear pricing elements
- C (60-69): Significant pricing gaps or misleading advertised rates
- F (Below 60): Major hidden costs, bait-and-switch pricing, or refuses to disclose total costs
Safety & Trust Rating (40%)
- A+ (90-100): Passes all 7 safety checks, exceeds medical standards
- A (80-89): Passes 6/7 safety checks with minor concerns
- B (70-79): Passes 5/7 safety checks, some red flags present
- C (60-69): Passes 3-4/7 safety checks, multiple concerns
- F (Below 60): Major safety red flags, potentially dangerous
Long-Term Success Rating (20%)
- A+ (90-100): Comprehensive maintenance support, proven long-term results
- A (80-89): Good long-term support with some gaps
- B (70-79): Basic maintenance support
- C (60-69): Minimal long-term planning
- F (Below 60): No maintenance support, high rebound rates
Our Overall Scoring System
90-100: Exceptional – Genuinely affordable, completely trustworthy, excellent long-term support
80-89: Excellent – Strong in all areas with minor weaknesses
70-79: Good – Solid choice with some limitations
60-69: Fair – Significant concerns in one or more areas
Below 60: Poor – Major red flags, not recommended
Why This Changes Everything
Traditional reviews focus on features and initial pricing. We focus on total value and long-term success.
When you use our Price & Trust Transparency Score, you’ll discover:
- Which “expensive” providers actually cost less when you calculate the real numbers
- Which “cheap” providers have hidden costs that make them more expensive
- Which providers have the medical oversight to keep you safe
- Which providers actually help you maintain your results long-term
Meet Our Medical Expert
Our safety framework was developed by Dr. Samantha Ottavi, Ph.D., a pharmaceutical scientist with deep expertise in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry. Dr. Ottavi earned her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and currently conducts postdoctoral research at West Virginia University.
As a member of the American Medical Writers Association with formal training in science communication, Dr. Ottavi is committed to helping everyday people make informed, empowered decisions about GLP-1 therapies.
An Important Note
Keeping this site thoughtful, ad-light, and freely accessible takes time, energy, and resources. To help cover the costs of writing, editing, and research, we sometimes use affiliate links within our content.
We never recommend a product or service unless it meets our editorial standards. If you choose to make a purchase through one of our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It’s a simple way to support our work while keeping the content honest, useful, and independent.
You can read our entire Affiliate Disclaimer here. Again, we will never compromise our beliefs or values just because some brand offered us money.
- This methodology was developed after surveying 500+ people about their GLP-1 provider selection challenges and analyzing the actual pain points that lead to poor outcomes and wasted money. You can see the full data here.
