Four dimensions.
Equal weight.
Every provider review on this site uses the same 4-dimensional grade. Same rubric every time, so two reviews are directly comparable. We complete every intake we publish. We update prices when they shift. We disclose every affiliate relationship. We say so plainly when a competitor is cheaper than a partner.
Four columns.
One score.
Each dimension is scored 1–10 and equally weighted in the overall grade. We show the dimension scores on every review so you can re-weight by what matters to you — if cost is all that matters, the cost column is yours; if regulatory certainty is non-negotiable, the sourcing column is yours.
Total 12-month cost
We publish the all-in 12-month math: intake fee, monthly subscription (every tier), dose-escalation surcharges, shipping fees, cold-chain charges, required follow-up consultations, and any cancellation or pause fees. The headline price is almost never the number you actually pay.
High score: low total cost + transparent pricing published before intake.
Intake honesty
We complete every intake at every provider we recommend. We document which fields are asked, which are required, which are disqualifying, and which are absent. A 60-second algorithmic intake is a different product than a 10-minute structured form reviewed by a US-licensed physician.
High score: structured intake + licensed-clinician review + safety-relevant screening (not just gating questions).
Sourcing transparency
503A patient-specific or 503B bulk compounding. Specific pharmacy partner identified. API source named. Certificate of analysis available on request. Lot traceability. For brand-name programs: dispensing pharmacy named, manufacturer relationship disclosed, distribution chain visible.
High score: pharmacy + API source + COA visibility on the marketing page, not buried in the order confirmation.
Screening rigor
Whether the program asks the questions that gate prescription approval and the questions that affect patient safety. For GLP-1: personal and family thyroid history, pancreatitis history, cardiac history, drug interactions, pregnancy/lactation. For ED: cardiovascular and nitrate history. For HRT: hormonal lab baselines. The legal minimum is rarely the patient-safety minimum.
High score: safety-relevant screening as required fields, not optional.
Equal weight, rounded to one decimal.
The overall grade is the equal-weighted average of the four dimension scores. We round to one decimal place (8.5/10 rather than 8.45/10) so the grade reads cleanly without false precision. Two providers within 0.3 of each other should be considered effectively tied — the dimension breakdown matters more than the overall.
Every review is a real intake.
- · Complete the intake at every provider before recommending
- · Publish the all-in 12-month cost math, not the teaser price
- · Update reviews when pricing, sourcing, or regulation shifts
- · Recommend the cheapest legitimate option even when it isn't a partner
- · Disclose every affiliate relationship clearly at the point of sale
- · Surface the regulatory tail risk when it's material (compounded categories)
- · Cite primary sources (FDA, NEJM, manufacturer published pricing)
We do not run the pharmacy.
- · Prescribe, dispense, or sell medications — that is the licensed-physician network and the dispensing pharmacy
- · Make personal health claims about specific products
- · Use brand-adjacent language ("Generic Zepbound," "contains the active in Wegovy") flagged by FDA
- · Recommend providers we haven't completed the intake for
- · Hide a partner's weak dimension just because they pay us
- · Recommend gray-market peptide vendors, ever
We earn commissions on partner programs.
VYTAL.RX is a paid partner of LegUpRx (Leg Up Recovery, LLC) and select other licensed telehealth programs. When you start an intake through a partner link on this site, we earn a referral commission. Partner links are marked with the rel="sponsored" attribute and disclosed on every page where they appear.
We recommend partners because they earn the grade — not because they pay us. Several non-partner programs are recommended in our cost guide (NovoCare Wegovy self-pay, LillyDirect Zepbound vials) where they're the right answer for a given patient situation. When a cheaper non-partner program exists, we say so on the review.
If a regulatory action or settlement changes a partner's standing, we update the review with the new ranking — even if the commercial relationship makes the update inconvenient.
Not medical advice
VYTAL.RX is an editorial consumer guide to telehealth and online prescription care. We are not a healthcare provider. Information on this site is general and educational; it is not a substitute for evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment by a licensed clinician. Individual results vary. Medications discussed require a prescription from a licensed provider after appropriate medical review.
VYTAL.RX LLC · 145 Tremont Street, Boston MA 02111 · Prescriptions dispensed by US-licensed pharmacies in our partner network.