Choosing a telehealth provider for compounded tirzepatide or semaglutide can be overwhelming. In the past year, we’ve seen a massive surge in new providers. While this competition drives prices down, it also creates confusion. With so many options, it is difficult to differentiate between legitimate medical practices and opportunists.
When we compare telehealth companies, we evaluate five primary factors:
- Market Coverage
- Affordability (True Cost)
- Timeliness
- Customer Support
- Helpful Features
1. Market Coverage
We prioritize companies that can legally ship to all 50 states. At first glance, many ask: “Why does that matter? I only care if they ship to MY state.”
The answer is that a broad market coverage is one of the strongest proxies for quality, legitimacy, and stability in the telehealth space. Even if you never plan to leave your home state, choosing a national provider offers distinct protective benefits:
The California Barrier (A proxy for safety) Telehealth laws in the US are not federal. They are a patchwork of 50 different sets of complex regulations. To ship compounded medication nationally, a provider must navigate the strictest regulations in the country. One such strictly regulated state is California.
California has notoriously rigorous standards for “Non-Resident Sterile Compounding.” For a pharmacy to ship compounded injections into CA, they typically must:
- Hold a specific, hard-to-obtain license from the California Board of Pharmacy
- Pay for and pass an aggressive, in-person inspection by California regulators (even if the pharmacy is located in less-regulated states like Florida or Texas)
- Adhere to safety standards that often exceed federal minimums.
Why this matters to you: When a telehealth company serves all 50 states, it signals they are partnering with top-tier, “Gold Standard” pharmacies that have passed these detailed inspections. It effectively filters out the “fly-by-night” operations that can only find pharmacy partners in states with loose regulations.
Supply Resilience The compounded GLP-1 market has a volatile history. Telehealth companies that rely on a single pharmacy partner can face delays, shortages, or regulatory issues that disrupt your treatment.
National providers operate with a network of multiple pharmacy partners. This creates a more seamless experience to get you your medications on time, even if one pharmacy is backed up.
The Bottom Line: We weigh 50-state coverage heavily because it implies the provider has the financial stability, compliance teams, and pharmacy relationships to be here for the long haul.
2. Price
Price is naturally where most people start, as these medications often cost hundreds of dollars per month. While lower is generally better, it is important to understand the true cost, not just the sticker price.
The Membership Fee Trap
Be wary of companies that separate their pricing into “Medication Cost” and “Membership Fee.”
Why it’s tricky: A company might advertise semaglutide for $99/mo, but then charge a mandatory $79/mo membership fee just to access their portal.
Our Standard: In our comparisons, we combine the membership fee, medication cost, and shipping into a single “Monthly Effective Cost.”
The Risk of 12-Month Commitments
Companies often reserve (and promote) their absolute lowest prices for patients who prepay for a full year. Proceed with caution when considering a 12-month plan, especially if you are new to the medications.
- Medical Volatility – If you develop a severe side effect in Month 2 and need to stop, many 12-month contracts are non-refundable. You could be paying for 10 months of medication you cannot use.
- Market Volatility – The price of compounded GLP-1s is dropping rapidly. Locking in a price today might mean you are overpaying significantly six months from now.
- Company Volatility – If the provider goes out of business or their service quality deteriorates, a long-term contract makes it difficult to switch.
Our Suggestion: The 3-Month Bundle
To balance affordability with flexibility, we recommend 3-month bundles. Most top-tier providers offer a “Starter Bundle” that significantly discounts the monthly rate without locking you into a year-long commitment. It also reduces shipping stress, as you only need to track a package once every 90 days.
3. Timeliness
In general, we expect an “Order-to-Door” time of 5 to 10 business days for a new patient. The lifecycle of an order generally looks like this:
- Intake Review (24-48 hours): A licensed provider reviews your medical history. If approved, they write a prescription.
- Pharmacy Processing (2-5 days): The provider sends the script to a compounding pharmacy.
- Overnight Shipping (1-2 days): The medication will be shipped on ice packs via overnight or 2-day air.
Note: Many telehealth companies use the same network of pharmacies. It is not uncommon to see industry-wide delays during high-demand seasons. We rate companies lower that have consistent delays or those that refuse to refund customers during extended wait times.
4. Customer Feedback & Support
Customer service is often overlooked until you have a missing package or a dosing question. In the telehealth space, timely and quality support should be the standard.
The “Ghost Protocol” Test
GLP1Match staff regularly stress-tests the companies listed in our comparison tool. We send anonymous inquiries across different channels (Email, SMS, Phone) to measure response times.
The Standard: We rank providers higher if they respond with a satisfactory answer within 24 hours. An automated “we received your message” does not qualify. Providers that rely solely on automated bots or take 3+ days to reply are penalized in our rankings or not listed at all.
Green Flags We Look For:
- Phone Support: A listed phone number with real operating hours. Companies that list phone numbers but have a 0% answer or callback rate are not considered to have phone support, even if they list the number.
- SMS/Text Access: The ability to text a care team member for quick, non-urgent questions.
- Transparent Cancellation: The ability to request a refund or cancel a subscription without jumping through hoops.
5. Helpful Features
This category highlights companies that go above and beyond to ensure a successful journey. While medication is the tool, these features often determine long-term success.
Some things we consider helpful:
- Integrated Apps: We favor providers that offer a custom app to track shipments, log injection sites, and manage billing.
- Nutrition & Dietitian Access: Access to Registered Dietitians (RDs) or meal planning tools is a major value-add to prevent muscle loss.
- Community Support: Private Facebook groups or Circle communities moderated by the provider help users feel less isolated.
- Lab Work Access: Getting labs done on your own can be confusing and expensive. We value providers that integrate lab ordering directly into their checkout flow (or include it in the price).