Every ranking on this site comes out of the same documented rubric. There is no curated list, no “best for you” quiz that bends the result, and no provider that can pay to climb. Here is the full methodology in plain language.
Why this exists
The GLP-1 telehealth market changes month to month. New providers enter, pricing flexes, dose-titration policies are re-written, and one or two operators quietly stop dispensing. A reader who arrives looking for an answer cannot tell which articles were updated this quarter and which were last touched two years ago. Our methodology — the same rubric applied across every brand, in the same order, in the same week — is the only honest way to compare moving targets.
The five pillars
Each provider is scored on five weighted pillars that together sum to 100 points:
- Clinician quality — 25 points. Credentialing, U.S. licensure, average response time to patient messages, dose-titration discipline, willingness to manage side effects rather than push you back to your PCP.
- Medication options — 20 points. Whether branded GLP-1 (Wegovy, Zepbound) is offered, the named pharmacy partners, whether compounded options are sourced from FDA-registered 503A pharmacies, and what is done if a shortage hits.
- Pricing transparency — 20 points. Whether the headline number is the real number; the existence (or absence) of mandatory bundled fees, lab fees, “activation” fees, and titration upcharges.
- Patient experience — 20 points. Intake length, mobile dashboard quality, reorder friction, refill reliability, and the speed of getting a real answer to a real question.
- Regulatory standing — 15 points. State coverage, business filings, public complaint history, and any active enforcement actions.
How we collect data
For each candidate provider one of our researchers opens a fresh account, completes the intake from scratch, and goes all the way through to a real prescription handoff. Pricing screenshots are dated. Clinician messages are timed. Pharmacy partners are confirmed in writing or, where the partner is undisclosed, the call is recorded with the patient’s permission and transcribed.
For data that cannot be verified inside the patient account — complaint volume, regulatory filings, third-party pharmacy registrations — we cross-check public state databases, FDA registries, and BBB filings.
Scoring & weighting
Within each pillar there are between four and eight scored sub-criteria. Each sub-criterion is rated on a 0–5 scale by the lead reviewer and then independently sanity-checked by a second reviewer. Discrepancies of more than one point trigger a third review. The final composite is calculated automatically from the rubric, not adjusted by hand.
This is the part that surprises new readers: we do not write the conclusion first and reverse-engineer the score. The score is generated, then the review copy is written from it.
How often we re-rank
Pricing and policy data is re-verified monthly. Full re-scoring happens quarterly, and any provider that materially changes its program (new pharmacy partner, new pricing tier, change in clinician model) is re-scored within two weeks of the change. The “Last verified” date you see on each provider profile reflects the most recent monthly check.
Independent rankings
We earn affiliate commissions on some outbound links. This is disclosed at the top of every relevant page. Our reviewers are blinded to commercial terms during scoring — the rubric application is done by people who do not see, and cannot influence, partner agreements. No provider can pay for placement, change a published rank, or remove negative findings.