Pricing mechanics
Membership fees: the shadow price in GLP-1 programs
A membership fee is the most reliably under-reported number in GLP-1 pricing, because it sits outside the figure programs advertise and inside the one you pay. 7 of the 37 programs in this database charge one.
Who charges what
- LifeMD — $149 a month, $1,788 a year on top of the medication.
- Hims & Hers — $149 a month, $1,788 a year on top of the medication.
- Ro (Ro Body) — $149 a month, $1,788 a year on top of the medication.
- Eden — $99 a month, $1,188 a year on top of the medication.
- Mochi Health — $79 a month, $948 a year on top of the medication.
- Ivim Health — $75 a month, $900 a year on top of the medication.
- Lavender Sky Health — $25 a month, $300 a year on top of the medication.
Every all-in figure on this site already includes these, amortised monthly. That is the whole reason the all-in basis exists: comparing one program's medication-only price against another's bundled price is the most common arithmetic error in this market, and it flatters exactly the programs that charge the most in total.
Why a membership is worse than a higher price
A membership is not simply a price increase in a different envelope. It has three properties a higher medication price does not.
It continues when you pause. Skip a month, wait on a back-order, or take a break between titration steps, and the medication charge stops while the membership does not. It is charged whether or not you receive anything.
It survives cancellation timing. Memberships typically renew on their own cycle, which may not align with your shipment cycle, so cancelling after a shipment can still catch one more membership charge.
And it is usually excluded from the advertised comparison. A program quoting "$199 a month" with a $99 membership is a $298 program, and it will be compared against a $250 all-inclusive program as though it were cheaper.
When a membership is defensible
Sometimes it buys something. Where a membership genuinely covers clinical contact, lab work or a support programme you would otherwise pay for, the bundled price can be fair. The test is whether the program will tell you, specifically, what the membership entitles you to and what happens to it if you pause. Vague answers here usually mean the membership is a pricing device rather than a service.
How this site handles it
The Value Score awards five points for carrying no membership fee, and the seventy-point price term uses the all-in figure with the membership already folded in — so a membership is penalised twice, once in the price it inflates and once directly. That is deliberate.
Questions
Do GLP-1 telehealth programs charge membership fees?
7 of the 37 programs in this database do, ranging from $25 to $149 a month on top of the medication.
Is a membership fee included in your prices?
Yes. Every all-in figure on this site includes the membership amortised monthly, because comparing a medication-only price against a bundled one systematically favours whichever program charges more in total.
Do I still pay the membership if I pause?
Usually yes. That is the practical difference between a membership and a higher medication price: the medication charge stops when shipments stop, and the membership generally does not. Confirm the specific terms in writing before enrolling.