How we rate providers
The Peptide Foundation rates licensed telehealth providers on safety, legality, and price. This page is the whole method: the rubric we score against, where prices come from, and how we keep ratings separate from revenue.
The rating rubric
Every provider is scored against these five criteria, the same way, from public information. The criteria are about safety and transparency, things we can verify. We do not rate how well a treatment works, because that is a question for research and a provider, not a directory.
- 1Licensed pharmacy sourcing
Medication is dispensed through a state-licensed 503A pharmacy or FDA-registered 503B facility, not a research-chemical vendor.
- 2Prescription and provider evaluation
A licensed provider evaluates the patient and writes a prescription before anything is dispensed.
- 3Price transparency
Prices are published publicly, not hidden behind a consult or an account wall.
- 4Fee transparency
Consult fees, membership fees, and what is included are disclosed up front, with no surprise charges.
- 5Stated coverage and support
The states served and the ongoing clinical support included are clearly stated.
Where prices come from
Every sticker price is taken from a provider's own public pages. We do not invent prices or blend different providers together. To compare plans billed differently, we average each provider's own cost to a standard 3-month protocol and show the total for that protocol, including any one-time consult or provider-review fee and three months of any membership. Where a provider sells only by the vial, that figure is an estimate (about one vial per month), marked "est." with the per-vial price shown alongside. Where a fee is not published we fold in what is known and flag that other fees may apply. When a provider sells a drug but posts no price at all, the table says "pricing not published" rather than guessing.
Verification dates
Providers change prices without notice, so every price carries the date it was last checked. If a date looks stale, treat the number as a starting point rather than a quote.
Who is included
Only providers that dispense through a licensed pharmacy (503A or 503B) with a prescription are listed. Websites selling compounds labeled "research use only" without a prescription are a different market and are deliberately excluded. Those products involve no pharmacy and no clinician, and their identity and purity are not verified. Price is not a meaningful comparison when the product is not made for people.
Independence and funding
We take no money from the providers we rate: no commissions, no referral fees, no paid placement. Scores are set from public information against the rubric, and no provider can pay for a better score, buy a higher spot, or preview and negotiate its result. The full funding statement is on the about and funding page.
We anchor on value, not price
The cheapest sticker price is not the best deal. Providers bill differently, some monthly, some by a 3-month program, some per vial, so we average every cost to a standard 3-month protocol. Our medical advisors consider a 3-month protocol the right window to judge both cost and value, so it is the basis we compare on. Monthly plans are multiplied by three, 3-month programs are taken as billed, and per-vial pricing is averaged at roughly one vial per month (three vials per protocol) and marked as an estimate, since the exact vial count depends on your dose and protocol.
The figure we show is the total cost of that protocol, not just the medication. It folds in any one-time consult or provider-review fee (for example RxPepsDirect's $39) and three months of any membership fee. Where a provider does not publish a fee, we add what is known and flag that other fees may apply. A low sticker price with a separate consult fee, a membership, or an unlicensed source is not a bargain. The cost calculator on each drug page lets you change the length and see the same total broken out.
Verified vs. under review
A provider is marked verified only after we have checked it against the full rubric. Providers still under review appear without a score rather than with a guessed one, the same way we show "pricing not published" instead of inventing a number. We would rather show less than show something we have not confirmed.