Is Edessa really $135 a month?

On a six-month plan. The plan table shows all three lengths for compounded semaglutide — $179/month on one month, $160 across three, $135 across six — so the month-to-month price a first-time buyer pays is $179. Tirzepatide runs $239, $219 and $209 on the same lengths. Because the whole table sits on the product page, the $135 is checkable in a glance, which puts Edessa ahead of the services that publish a single figure and no table.

Why does Edessa's site mention acarbose?

It should not. Its adverse-event paragraph on the GLP-1 product pages instructs readers to report suspected reactions to acarbose — an oral alpha-glucosidase inhibitor for type 2 diabetes — to the FDA. Edessa does not sell acarbose; the sentence is template text from another product left unedited. It is not a safety hazard by itself, but it appears inside the reporting instructions, which is the paragraph most worth getting right, and it suggests the compliance copy was assembled rather than written.

Who prescribes, and which pharmacy dispenses?

The prescriber is named and the pharmacy is not. Edessa identifies OpenLoop Health as the clinician network and is specific that OpenLoop's clinicians retain the prescribing decision and meet the patient after checkout, and that completing the assessment creates no doctor-patient relationship with Edessa. The pharmacy side is only ever "multiple USA certified pharmacies." If a named facility matters to you, Rx.com names Manifest Pharmacy and Idgie Health names VialsRX, both with street addresses.

Is the $1,349 brand-name comparison fair?

Directionally, yes; precisely, no. Edessa sets its $135 against "$1,349+/mo" for the branded equivalent, which is roughly the cash list price of an FDA-approved GLP-1 bought without insurance. The gap is real and it is the reason compounded services exist. But the comparison puts an FDA-approved product against a compounded one that has not been assessed by the FDA for potency, purity or consistency, and it ignores insurance and manufacturer savings programs that many buyers can use — so it overstates the like-for-like saving.

Edessa is a GLP-1 telehealth service you reach through an online questionnaire and an online intake a clinician reviews. The medications it names are Compounded semaglutide and Compounded tirzepatide. What it publishes up front: Semaglutide $179/mo on 1 month ($135 on 6); tirzepatide $239 ($209). OpenLoop clinicians; pharmacy unnamed. It is cash-pay and states it does not bill insurance. It displays a LegitScript certification claim, which we record as a claim and not as a verified fact: LegitScript's public checker is gated and returns the same page for any domain put into it, so no one can reproduce a check from it. What our record does not establish: which states it serves. Ask for those in writing before you pay.

Is Edessa expensive compared with other GLP-1 telehealth providers?

Edessa publishes a starting figure of $179/mo. Across the 52 GLP-1 telehealth providers we review that publish a single monthly figure, those run $49 to $269 with a median of $179, which puts Edessa right at the median. The other 31 GLP-1 telehealth providers we review quote only after an intake or price by dose, so they are not in that comparison. A starting figure is not a bill — labs, consultations and shipping are often charged separately, so confirm what your own quote includes.

Updated September 2026

Edessa review

Tabled plainly, pharmacy unnamed

A short, honest price table and a named clinician network — with a safety notice about a drug it does not sell.

Our verdict

Edessa is a focused GLP-1 service that gets the basics right: a three-row plan table for each medication, the clinician network named as OpenLoop Health, and an unusually direct statement that completing its assessment creates no doctor-patient relationship. Its month-to-month price sits on the table beside the six-month rate, so the $135 headline is checkable at a glance. Two things undercut it. The dispensing pharmacy is never named — "multiple USA certified pharmacies" is as specific as it gets — and its own safety paragraph tells readers to report reactions to acarbose, a diabetes drug it doesn't sell, sitting unedited inside the disclosure that matters most.

Disclosure: Aminoscope is reader-supported. Some links below are affiliate links — if you start care through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Partners are listed first; a commission never changes what we write about a provider. How we make money.

Check availability →Semaglutide $179/mo on 1 month ($135 on 6); tirzepatide $239 ($209). OpenLoop clinicians; pharmacy unnamed

At a glance

Category: GLP-1 telehealth
Access: Semaglutide $179/mo on 1 month ($135 on 6); tirzepatide $239 ($209). OpenLoop clinicians; pharmacy unnamed
Medications: Compounded semaglutide · Compounded tirzepatide
Insurance: Cash-pay, no insurance
Visit: Quiz intake / Async intake
Availability: Not published
LegitScript: Claimed by provider
Updated: September 2026

What it is

Edessa Health, Inc., an online clinic for medical weight management selling compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide. It describes itself as a managed services provider that does not offer medical advice, fill prescriptions or operate as a licensed healthcare facility or pharmacy, and states that it provides technology and administrative support around consultations and prescription logistics. Its LegitScript seal id resolves against the issuer.

How it works

Asynchronous. You complete an online health assessment, a provider reviews it — the site states within 24 hours — and medication ships from a US-licensed pharmacy. ★ The clinician layer is named and the boundary is stated more carefully than most: OpenLoop Health is identified as the provider network, its exclusionary criteria are described as screening out ineligible patients at the assessment stage, and the site states that an OpenLoop clinician meets the patient after checkout and retains the decision to prescribe. ⚠ The dispensing pharmacy is not named anywhere, described only as "multiple USA certified pharmacies," and no list of states served is published.

Pricing transparency

Short and legible. Compounded semaglutide: $179/month on a one-month plan, $160/month across three, $135/month across six. Compounded tirzepatide: $239/month on one month, $219 across three, $209 across six. Both tables show the per-month figure for each plan length on the product page, so the $135 the site leads with is visible as the six-month rate rather than concealed. Medication is cold-shipped at no extra cost. ⚠ Its comparison framing is less careful: the About page sets "$1,349+/mo" against $135 and "$1,086+/mo" against $209, which are brand-name list prices for FDA-approved products bought without insurance — a real contrast, but not a like-for-like one, since the compounded product is a different thing under a different regulatory regime.

Branded vs compounded

Compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide. The compounded disclosure itself is thorough and correctly worded — not FDA-approved, not evaluated for safety, efficacy or quality, prescribed at the provider's judgment. ⛔ One paragraph inside that disclosure is wrong: readers are told to report suspected reactions to acarbose, an oral alpha-glucosidase inhibitor for type 2 diabetes that Edessa does not sell, to the FDA. It is plainly copied from another product's template and never edited. Nothing about it is dangerous on its own, but it appears in the adverse-event reporting instructions, which is the last place boilerplate should go unread. On the evidence: the semaglutide and tirzepatide outcome data belongs to the branded products, not to compounded copies.

Pros and watch-outs

What we like

Three-row plan table for each medication, with the month-to-month price shown alongside the prepay rates
Clinician network named (OpenLoop Health), with the prescribing boundary stated clearly
States explicitly that completing the assessment creates no doctor-patient relationship
LegitScript seal id resolves against the issuer
Cold-shipped at no extra cost, with self-reported outcome claims properly qualified

Watch-outs

Dispensing pharmacy never named — "multiple USA certified pharmacies" is the only description
Its adverse-event reporting paragraph names acarbose, a drug it does not sell
No list of states served published anywhere
Brand-name price anchors ($1,349+/mo) compare a compounded product against a different product bought differently

Best for

Buyers who want a short, checkable GLP-1 price list and care that the clinician network is named.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone who needs the dispensing pharmacy identified, or who wants anything beyond semaglutide and tirzepatide.

The evidence behind what Edessa prescribes

We grade the molecules, not the marketing. Here is what the human data actually shows for each thing on their menu.

What the semaglutide weight-loss trials actually showed
STEP 1, STEP 4, and SELECT — the efficacy, the rebound, and the cardiovascular signal, read straight from the primary literature.
Tirzepatide vs semaglutide for weight loss: what the trials actually support
Most comparisons are cross-trial. Only SURPASS-2 and SURMOUNT-5 randomized one drug against the other — here's the precise distinction.

How Edessa compares

A few alternatives worth a look, depending on what you’re optimizing for.

Idgie Health
One menu covering GLP-1, NAD⁺, sermorelin and hair care with the pharmacy named
See Idgie Health →
No BS RX
Readers who want the month-to-month price first and every plan length beside it
See No BS RX →
Science & Co
The cheapest GLP-1 here if a twelve-month commitment is realistic for you
See Science & Co →

Compare all providers side by side →

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Nadia Feldman

Access & cost · Reviewed and last verified September 2026

How we assessed this. This review reflects Aminoscope’s own read of Edessa’s publicly-stated model — pricing transparency, clinical oversight, medication clarity, and access — against our editorial methodology. We publish no fabricated ratings or first-hand outcomes. A partnership never changes the assessment — see how we make money.

Frequently asked

Is Edessa really $135 a month?: On a six-month plan. The plan table shows all three lengths for compounded semaglutide — $179/month on one month, $160 across three, $135 across six — so the month-to-month price a first-time buyer pays is $179. Tirzepatide runs $239, $219 and $209 on the same lengths. Because the whole table sits on the product page, the $135 is checkable in a glance, which puts Edessa ahead of the services that publish a single figure and no table.
Why does Edessa's site mention acarbose?: It should not. Its adverse-event paragraph on the GLP-1 product pages instructs readers to report suspected reactions to acarbose — an oral alpha-glucosidase inhibitor for type 2 diabetes — to the FDA. Edessa does not sell acarbose; the sentence is template text from another product left unedited. It is not a safety hazard by itself, but it appears inside the reporting instructions, which is the paragraph most worth getting right, and it suggests the compliance copy was assembled rather than written.
Who prescribes, and which pharmacy dispenses?: The prescriber is named and the pharmacy is not. Edessa identifies OpenLoop Health as the clinician network and is specific that OpenLoop's clinicians retain the prescribing decision and meet the patient after checkout, and that completing the assessment creates no doctor-patient relationship with Edessa. The pharmacy side is only ever "multiple USA certified pharmacies." If a named facility matters to you, Rx.com names Manifest Pharmacy and Idgie Health names VialsRX, both with street addresses.
Is the $1,349 brand-name comparison fair?: Directionally, yes; precisely, no. Edessa sets its $135 against "$1,349+/mo" for the branded equivalent, which is roughly the cash list price of an FDA-approved GLP-1 bought without insurance. The gap is real and it is the reason compounded services exist. But the comparison puts an FDA-approved product against a compounded one that has not been assessed by the FDA for potency, purity or consistency, and it ignores insurance and manufacturer savings programs that many buyers can use — so it overstates the like-for-like saving.
Is Edessa legit?: Edessa is a GLP-1 telehealth service you reach through an online questionnaire and an online intake a clinician reviews. The medications it names are Compounded semaglutide and Compounded tirzepatide. What it publishes up front: Semaglutide $179/mo on 1 month ($135 on 6); tirzepatide $239 ($209). OpenLoop clinicians; pharmacy unnamed. It is cash-pay and states it does not bill insurance. It displays a LegitScript certification claim, which we record as a claim and not as a verified fact: LegitScript's public checker is gated and returns the same page for any domain put into it, so no one can reproduce a check from it. What our record does not establish: which states it serves. Ask for those in writing before you pay.
Is Edessa expensive compared with other GLP-1 telehealth providers?: Edessa publishes a starting figure of $179/mo. Across the 52 GLP-1 telehealth providers we review that publish a single monthly figure, those run $49 to $269 with a median of $179, which puts Edessa right at the median. The other 31 GLP-1 telehealth providers we review quote only after an intake or price by dose, so they are not in that comparison. A starting figure is not a bill — labs, consultations and shipping are often charged separately, so confirm what your own quote includes.

Check availability →

Or compare every GLP-1 provider.