What is the difference between Mounjaro and Zepbound?

Cost

Mounjaro and Zepbound are the same drug. Your plan does not treat them that way

Mounjaro and Zepbound are both tirzepatide, and both are made by Eli Lilly. The molecule is identical and the label is not: Mounjaro is approved for type 2 diabetes, Zepbound for chronic weight management and for obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity.

What that is based on

Payers act on the label rather than the molecule, and the gap that opens is large. Georgia Medicaid carries Mounjaro on its preferred drug list while neither weight-loss brand appears on that list at all. New York excludes GLP-1 agonists, naming Mounjaro among them, when the indication is weight loss. The Medicare BALANCE model covers all formulations of Mounjaro and only the KwikPen formulation of Zepbound. Cash-pay tells the same story from the other side rather than contradicting it: the telehealth provider we have read most recently sells branded Zepbound at the same price as Lilly charges for its starting dose, and sells no Mounjaro at all.

By John Weeks Updated August 26, 2026

Cash price · per month

$299 to $699

Lilly self-pay for the Zepbound KwikPen, the starting dose at the low end and the doses people stay on at the high end. The telehealth provider we have read most recently sells the same drug at the bottom of that range, medication only, on top of a membership. We have not read a manufacturer self-pay price for Mounjaro.

What it costs at each dose

What Mounjaro and Zepbound are the same drug. Your plan does not treat them that way costs at each dose, with the caveat on each figure.
Brand and channel	Per month	Note
Zepbound, Lilly self-pay KwikPen	$299	2.5 mg. Lilly states this is a starting dose and is not approved as a maintenance dose. $399 to $699 at the doses people stay on
Zepbound, branded, through a telehealth provider	$299	The KwikPen or the vial, either one. Medication only: the membership is $39 the first month and $149 a month after that, and there is no medication without it
Zepbound, Lilly self-pay, the doses people stay on	$699	$399 to $699 depending on the dose. The $449 offer on 7.5 mg and above holds only while every refill lands within 45 days of the last one

Zepbound, Lilly self-pay KwikPen $299

2.5 mg. Lilly states this is a starting dose and is not approved as a maintenance dose. $399 to $699 at the doses people stay on
Zepbound, branded, through a telehealth provider $299

The KwikPen or the vial, either one. Medication only: the membership is $39 the first month and $149 a month after that, and there is no medication without it
Zepbound, Lilly self-pay, the doses people stay on $699

$399 to $699 depending on the dose. The $449 offer on 7.5 mg and above holds only while every refill lands within 45 days of the last one

Lilly self-pay read from Lilly’s own savings page, and the telehealth price from the provider’s own product cards on 16 September 2026. The telehealth figure is medication only and does not include the membership that is required to buy it. There is no Mounjaro row because there is no Mounjaro price to put in one: no manufacturer publishes a self-pay price for it, and the telehealth provider that listed one three weeks ago has stopped selling it.

The short version

The molecule: Tirzepatide in both. Mounjaro and Zepbound are the same medicine under two labels
The labels: Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes. Zepbound for chronic weight management and obstructive sleep apnea
Georgia Medicaid: Mounjaro is on the preferred drug list. Neither Wegovy nor Zepbound appears on it
New York Medicaid: Excludes GLP-1 agonists, naming Mounjaro, where the indication is weight loss
The Medicare BALANCE model: All formulations of Mounjaro. Of Zepbound, the KwikPen formulation only
Cash price, one provider, one month: $299 for branded Zepbound. The same provider sells no Mounjaro at any price. Medication only
What this page does not do: It does not say which one to ask for. A prescriber writes the label the diagnosis supports

Referral fee from some of these. It never changes what you pay. How we make money

Providers offering this medication

Hims & Hers
Medication $299/mo Zepbound KwikPen or vial, medication only. Hims sells no Mounjaro Care $149/mo
LifeMD
Medication $299/mo Zepbound vial Care $149/mo
Ro
Medication $299/mo Zepbound KwikPen, against a $1,087 list price Care $74/mo
Pallas Health
Medication $299/mo Compounded, billed every 12 weeks after the first month
Sesame
Care $99/mo Medication charged separately, not published
WeightWatchers
Care $149/mo Medication charged separately, not published
Counsel Health
Care $29/visit Medication charged separately, not published
General Medicine
Care $30/visit Medication charged separately, not published
Form Health
Care $299/mo Medication charged separately, not published
knownwell
Care $299/visit Medication charged separately, not published
SkinnyRx
First month $99 Compounded injectable, first month. No monthly rate published
MEDVi not checked
TrimRx
Compounded $179 to $259 /mo
Mochi Health
Care $79/mo Medication charged separately, not published
Noom
Medication $149 /mo
Found
All in $99 to $169 /mo
PlushCare
Care $19.99/mo Care $129/visit Medication charged separately, not published
Alloy
Medication $70 /mo Care $99/mo
Midi Health
Care $250/visit Medication charged separately, not published
Maven Clinic not checked
Brello Health
Compounded $79 to $247 /mo
Fella Health
Medication $10/day Weight program. No monthly rate published
Zealthy
Medication $151 /mo
Sprout Health
Compounded $199 /mo
Direct Meds
Compounded $249 to $297 /mo

Sources

Every claim above is checked against the primary text, and the date is the day we last opened it.

5 cited records

1
Zepbound savings and self-pay pricing
Eli Lilly and Company Primary text read and checked Checked August 25, 2026
2
Weight Loss Care for Men, Built to Last
Hims & Hers Health, Inc. Primary text read and checked Checked August 26, 2026
3
Georgia Medicaid/PeachCare Preferred Drug List by drug name, effective July 1, 2026
Georgia Department of Community Health Primary text read and checked Checked August 26, 2026
4
NYRx Drug Class Coverage Overview: GLP-1 Receptor Agonists, Type 2 Diabetes
NYRx, the New York State Medicaid Pharmacy Program Primary text read and checked Checked August 25, 2026
5
BALANCE (Better Approaches to Lifestyle and Nutrition for Comprehensive hEalth) Model
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS Innovation Center Primary text read and checked Checked August 25, 2026