Methodology · Updated November 2026

Methodology

How we collect pricing data, order provider listings and write reviews. Each section says what we check and what we do not.

Pricing Data Collection

We collect advertised cash-pay prices from official provider pages. We do not complete a checkout to confirm the final charge. When a review covers a signup flow we walked through, it says which steps we checked and where we stopped.

The price we record is the headline monthly fee a new patient sees on the program's main pricing page. Where a provider charges a separate consultation fee or labs fee, we capture each separately. Where pricing is dose-dependent, we record the starter-dose price and flag it.

We do not recheck every provider price on a fixed monthly schedule. When we recheck a price against the provider's page, the pricing index shows that date in its Last checked column and the CSV records the source URL. The full dataset is in the GLP-1 Cash-Pay Pricing Index.

What we exclude from pricing tables

• Programs without published cash-pay pricing.
• Programs priced below $50 per month, which usually reflect non-medication services (diet companion subscriptions, coaching-only memberships) rather than GLP-1 medication access.
• Promotional first-month-only discounts when the long-term steady-state price is materially higher.
• Insurance-billed pricing. List prices for branded medications run $900 to $1,400 per month before insurance.

Provider Order and Scores

We no longer publish a provider score. The old provider score relied on star ratings and review counts that had no stored source, so its inputs were not auditable. We removed the score, the star ratings and the review counts on November 4, 2026.

Directory listings show active affiliate partners first, then other providers by lowest published price. Providers without a published price appear last. This order is not a quality or clinical ranking. We compare published prices, terms and medications, and we link the official source wherever a price has been checked.

We do not estimate or synthesize star ratings or rating distributions. Structured aggregate-rating markup is withheld until the underlying source URLs, checked dates, counts and calculation are stored in an auditable record.

Review Process

Our provider reviews draw on these research steps. Not every review covers all five, and each review says which ones it covers:

1. Public-data pull: pricing, medications, states served, founding date, clinical leadership
2. Patient-review aggregation: Trustpilot, BBB, Reddit (r/Mounjaro, r/Zepbound, r/loseit), Google Business Profile
3. Where inspected, document the public signup steps without pretending to be a patient or inventing a treatment experience
4. Cross-reference with state pharmacy board records and 503A/503B status where compounded medications are involved
5. Editorial pass for accuracy and consistency

Public provider statements show what a provider advertises. They do not establish clinical quality, and we do not independently verify the pharmacy behind a program. We correct a review when a source shows it is wrong, and we do not claim firsthand use we did not have.

Compounded vs Branded Classification

We classify GLP-1 programs into three categories based on the medication delivered:

• Compounded semaglutide: a provider advertises a compounded semaglutide product. This label does not verify its legality, its pharmacy or its equivalence to an approved drug
• Compounded tirzepatide: the same advertising-based classification for tirzepatide
• Branded GLP-1: FDA-approved branded products (Wegovy, Zepbound, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Saxenda) prescribed and dispensed through the program

A program offering both branded and compounded options is counted in both categories where the comparison is informative.

Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved. A listing does not establish that a particular prescription meets current compounding requirements. See the FDA's explanation of unapproved GLP-1 drugs.

Updates and Versioning

The published date marks the original article. We change the updated date only for substantive edits, not for an automated build, a changed year or a cosmetic rewrite. An updated date does not mean a clinician reviewed the page. Corrections are logged on the corrections page with what changed and the supporting evidence.

Data Requests

Researchers and journalists are welcome to request custom data cuts (e.g. "all providers offering oral semaglutide", "median pricing in New York"). Email hello@clearmetabolic.com with the question. We typically respond within 48 hours and provide data free of charge with a citation request.