Guides

    Paying for prescriptions without insurance

    Plain-English explanations of how pharmacy pricing works and what you can do about it. None of these pages show a price; prices come from pharmacies responding to your actual prescription.

    Understanding cash pricing

    Cash pay prescription guide
    How a cash price is set, why it varies, and when it is worth asking for.
    Cash pay vs insurance
    When paying cash can beat a copay, and when it cannot.
    Transferring a prescription
    How to move a prescription to another pharmacy, how long it takes, and the limits for controlled medicines.
    How to save on prescriptions
    The levers that actually move a pharmacy price, in order.
    What is a PBM?
    The middleman in most prescription transactions and why cash pay bypasses it.
    Therapeutic substitution
    When a different drug in the same class is the cheaper conversation to have with your prescriber.

    Programs and coverage

    Patient assistance programs
    Manufacturer programs for brand-name drugs, and how to apply.
    Medicare Part D
    How Part D phases work and where cash pay fits for Medicare patients.
    HSA and FSA for prescriptions
    Paying for prescriptions with pre-tax money, including cash-pay fills.

    Medication guides

    GLP-1 medications: the complete guide
    Every GLP-1 medicine and brand, results, side effects, compounding rules and every way to pay in 2026.
    GLP-1 side effects
    What to expect, how to manage each side effect, and the warning signs that need care.
    GLP-1 coverage by insurance type
    What employer plans, marketplace plans, Medicare and Medicaid cover in 2026.
    Getting a GLP-1 covered
    Prior authorization, appeals, Medicare and Medicaid, and what to do if the answer is still no.
    Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus)
    What it is, how it is supplied, and why cash prices differ between pharmacies.
    Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound)
    The two brands, the self-pay vial route, and what to ask before you fill.
    Metformin
    Why the extended-release type matters more than the pharmacy for this generic.
    Insulin glargine
    Brand, biosimilar and unbranded versions of the same insulin.
    All medications
    Every drug in the catalogue, with full cash-pay guides for the most prescribed ones.

    Pets

    Filling your pet’s prescription
    Your right to a written prescription, what a pharmacy can fill, pet safety rules and paying less.
    Pet prescriptions
    How pharmacies quote on your vet’s prescription.
    Pet medication guides
    Guides to the medicines vets prescribe most for dogs and cats.

    How Script Unlock works

    How it works
    Upload, pharmacies respond, you pay the pharmacy.
    What happens after you upload
    The steps between posting a prescription and collecting it.
    What we cannot do
    The limits of the service, stated plainly.
    How we verify pharmacies
    What is checked before a pharmacy can quote.
    For pharmacies
    The offer, the price and the rules for pharmacies that want to join.

    For veterinarians and pharmacists

    Writing pet prescriptions a pharmacy can fill
    For veterinarians: what to include, doses pharmacists question, and formulations to rule out.
    Filling veterinary prescriptions
    For pharmacists: verifying, dosing, xylitol, insulin syringes, controlled substances and counseling.
    Cash prices and PBM contracts
    For pharmacy owners: the 2018 gag clause laws, how usual and customary price is defined, and what to check before quoting cash.

    Have a prescription?

    Upload it and licensed, verified pharmacies will respond with their own cash price.

    Upload a prescription