Head to head
Wegovy vs Saxenda
This is the closest pairing of the three: the same mechanism, from the same manufacturer, at two different schedules. Which makes the temptation to read the newer one as simply a better version of the older especially strong — and worth resisting.
Semaglutide
Wegovy
1 a week
Around 52 injections a year
- GLP-1 receptor agonist
- Five strengths, 0.25mg to 2.4mg
- Around four months to the maintenance dose
- Licensed for weight management in 2021
- Also sold as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes — a different licence
Liraglutide
Saxenda
1 a day
Around 365 injections a year
- GLP-1 receptor agonist — the same class
- Five strengths, 0.6mg to 3mg
- About five weeks to the maintenance dose
- The longest track record of the three
- Also sold as Victoza for type 2 diabetes — a different licence
Same mechanism, different molecule
Unlike the other pairings on this site, there is no mechanism argument here. Both imitate GLP-1 and nothing else. Semaglutide simply stays in the body far longer, which is why one lasts a week and the other a day. Everything else follows from that single property.
On average weight loss the trials favour semaglutide, and we are not going to soften that. But the figures come from separate studies rather than a head-to-head trial, so the gap between two headline numbers is not a precise measurement of the gap between the medicines.
Where the difference is real
Weekly against daily
365 injections in a year against 52. The single most practical difference, and the one that most often decides whether someone is still taking it in six months.
How long it stays in you
Cuts both ways. Semaglutide’s long action is what allows weekly dosing; liraglutide clearing faster means that if it does not suit you, stopping takes effect sooner.
Two names each
Semaglutide is also Ozempic; liraglutide is also Victoza. Both of those are licensed for type 2 diabetes, not weight management — so a cheaper pen under a different name is not the same product at a discount.
Which should you choose?
Because the mechanism is identical, this comes down to schedule, tolerance and availability rather than to any argument about how the medicines work. A weekly injection is easier to keep to for most people, and that is a real advantage rather than a marketing one.
But the newer medicine is not automatically the right one for a given person, and liraglutide is still prescribed for reasons that have nothing to do with cost — a longer track record, and a shorter-acting drug when that matters. Supply has decided this more often than preference has. It is a prescriber’s call.
Take these to your consultation
- Realistically, could I keep to a daily injection?
- Is there a reason in my history to prefer one over the other?
- Which of these can you actually supply right now?
- What would a month cost me at my maintenance dose?
- If side effects are difficult, what would you try before stopping?
Compare a month, not a pen
Saxenda is often quoted per pen and Wegovy per month, and the two get set against each other as though they were the same unit. A daily pen empties faster than a weekly one, so a low price per pen can mean more pens. We have deliberately not printed prices here — each listing below shows the complete cost at a given strength, with the date it was last checked.
Sources
- Summaries of product characteristics for both products, electronic medicines compendium
- Wilding JPH and others, STEP 1, New England Journal of Medicine, 2021
- Pi-Sunyer X and others, SCALE, New England Journal of Medicine, 2015
PenCompare is an independent comparison platform, not a pharmacy or a prescriber. This page is information, not medical advice, and not a recommendation to take any medicine. Both products are prescription-only.