MEDVi vs. PlushCare: prices, fine print, and the honest verdict

Tirzepatide pricing

MEDVi: $399 a month all-in at the 10 mg maintenance basis, flat at every dose from 2.5 to 15 mg, no membership fee. Prepaid terms bring the effective rate to $249/mo (12-month plan). PlushCare offers tirzepatide without a published price we could capture.

Semaglutide pricing

Only MEDVi publishes a semaglutide price here: Semaglutide runs $299 a month all-in at the standing rate ($179 on intro/plan terms). PlushCare offers semaglutide without a published price.

Different products, not just different prices

PlushCare fulfills the FDA-approved product — reviewed manufacturing, verified identity and sterility, stable legal status — while MEDVi sells compounded medication: pharmacy-prepared, not FDA-reviewed, and operating under the narrower post-shortage pathways our legal guide tracks. The compounded discount is partly a risk premium; whether it's worth taking depends on the pharmacy behind it and your tolerance for regulatory turbulence.

Transparency

MEDVi: Source-verified (verified 2026-08-05); dispensing pharmacy not publicly named. PlushCare: No price published (verified 2026-08-05); dispensing pharmacy not publicly named. In this market, a named pharmacy and a dated, source-verified price are worth real money — they are what let you check the claim instead of trusting it.

Commitment & cancellation

MEDVi: 12-month plan for the lowest rate; 12-month plan applies to lowest rate. PlushCare: none stated; membership terms apply.

Two ladders, side by side

The 2.5-to-10 mg climb is the honest stress test: MEDVi holds $399 on every rung (four-month titration: exactly $1,596). A flat ladder makes dose decisions purely clinical; a scaled one attaches an invoice to every escalation — including the post-plateau bump from 10 to 12.5 mg that many patients eventually face. Full framework: the titration cost guide.

The semaglutide board

Only MEDVi fields a verified semaglutide price here — $299/month all-in (#16 of 19) — while PlushCare routes semaglutide demand to brand Wegovy at $349 flat. For a buyer starting on the cheaper molecule with a likely upgrade later, single-molecule programs mean a future re-shop; dual-molecule ones price the whole arc.

The five normalizations, applied to this pair

1 · All-in, not advertised. MEDVi's ranked figure is $399, with no membership to add; PlushCare bills at manufacturer/insurance rates plus any stated program fee. 2 · Maintenance basis. MEDVi is dose-flat, so its entry and 10 mg figures coincide. 3 · Terms separated. MEDVi: standing $399, prepaid $249 effective (12-month plan) — standing rates rank, prepaid effectives are labeled beside them. 4 · Evidence tiered. MEDVi: source-verified, read 2026-08-05; PlushCare: no price published, read 2026-08-05. 5 · Pharmacy weighed. MEDVi names no pharmacy; PlushCare names no pharmacy — in a pharmacy-variance market, disclosure is a scored asset. Run the same five on any roundup you read and most published “cheapest” lists reorder themselves.

Fine print, itemized

MEDVi: no membership — the medication figure is the billed figure; prepaid 12-month plan at $249/mo effective; 12-month plan applies to lowest rate; commitment: 12-month plan for the lowest rate. PlushCare: no membership — the medication figure is the billed figure; membership terms apply; commitment: none stated. The pattern to police on both sides is the same: memberships that outlive the medication order, renewal-relative cancellation deadlines, and prepaid terms whose refund language matters more than their discount in a year of live litigation. Cancel in writing; screenshot everything.

Transparency, audited

MEDVi carries source-verified pricing (last read 2026-08-05); its dispensing pharmacy is not publicly named, so the five pharmacy questions (name, 503A/503B status, state licensure, certificate of analysis, formulation) are your pre-purchase homework. PlushCare carries no price published pricing (last read 2026-08-05); its dispensing pharmacy is not publicly named, so the five pharmacy questions (name, 503A/503B status, state licensure, certificate of analysis, formulation) are your pre-purchase homework. Our weighting is unapologetic: in a market of identical molecule names, a dated source-verified price and a named pharmacy are the two claims a buyer can actually check, and they carry 25 of 100 formula points between them — the methodology shows the math, and the pharmacy guide decodes every answer the five questions can return.

Switching between them

Neither program locks the door: a MEDVi-to-PlushCare move is a new intake, a new prescription at the new pharmacy, and a written cancellation at the old shop — typically a one-to-two-week overlap if you time the last fill. What does not move with you: prepaid months, membership balances, and any dose paperwork, so re-state your current rung clearly at the new intake.

Refills, shipping, and the week-to-week reality

Past the pricing page, the operational facts are what a subscriber lives with: MEDVi: shipping included; consultation included; async visit model. PlushCare: shipping n/a (retail pharmacy); consultation per-visit or membership; video visit model. Cold-chain shipments run 3–7 days across the market; the recurring failure modes are refill-timing gaps and pharmacy backlogs, so whichever program wins here, order refills a week early and confirm the pharmacy’s current turnaround at intake.

Who should pick which

Pick MEDVi if you want a price that survives titration; you'll prepay for the $249 effective rate. Pick PlushCare if only the FDA-approved product will do; you want the insurance paperwork done for you. Neither answer is universal — which is the argument for choosing from data with dates on it rather than from whichever ad loaded first.

What verification would take

For PlushCare, ranking would require: any published price at all, on a page we can capture and date; the dose structure (flat or scaled, with the 10 mg tier stated); the pharmacy's name, 503A/503B status, and state licensure; commitment and cancellation terms verbatim. We publish the checklist because the gap is fixable — providers that clear it get ranked on the same arithmetic as everyone else, and readers who ask these questions get the answers this page can't yet print.

If neither one fits

Two programs never exhaust the market — the nearest substitutes on the verified board are Remedy Meds at $399 (flat, no membership); Eden at $408 (dose-scaled, $99 membership included); Fridays at $359 (flat, no membership) — or skip straight to the rankings page, where every standard “cheapest / best / no-commitment” question is answered in one sourced sentence.

The verdict

This one is a product decision more than a price decision — cheapest-possible compounded versus FDA-approved brand. Both records, with dates and sources, live in the pricing database.