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The medicines

Liraglutide vs semaglutide

Liraglutide was the first GLP-1 approved for weight management; semaglutide came later and is taken weekly rather than daily. They have been compared directly in a trial, and the result was clear-cut.

By the Cafeity teamUpdated 2 min read

The short answer

Liraglutide is a daily injection with a half-life of about 13 hours; semaglutide is a weekly injection (or daily tablet) with a half-life of about a week.12 In the STEP 8 trial of 338 adults with overweight or obesity without diabetes, average weight change at 68 weeks was −15.8% on weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg and −6.4% on daily liraglutide 3 mg.3 Both have mainly gastrointestinal side effects. Generic liraglutide is FDA-approved, for type 2 diabetes since December 2024 and for weight management since August 2025.45

Bar chart from the STEP 8 trial: average weight change at 68 weeks of minus 15.8% on semaglutide 2.4 mg weekly and minus 6.4% on liraglutide 3 mg daily.
STEP 8 (338 adults without diabetes, 68 weeks). Averages, not predictions.

How they differ

From the US prescribing information.
LiraglutideSemaglutide
How it is takenDaily injectionWeekly injection; daily tablet
Half-lifeAbout 13 hoursAbout 1 week
Nausea in weight trials (placebo)39.3% (13.8%)44% (16%)
Stopped for side effects (placebo)9.8% (4.3%)6.8% (3.2%)

Sources: prescribing information.12

The STEP 8 trial

STEP 8 randomised 338 adults with overweight or obesity and without diabetes to weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg, daily liraglutide 3 mg, or a matching placebo, all with diet and activity counselling, for 68 weeks. The comparison between the two medicines was open-label. Average weight change was −15.8% with semaglutide and −6.4% with liraglutide, a difference of 9.4 percentage points.3 In liraglutide's own placebo-controlled trial, people lost an average of 8.4 kg over 56 weeks against 2.8 kg on placebo.6

Daily versus weekly

A daily injection gives a much flatter level across the week and a medicine that leaves the body within a few days of stopping; a weekly one means fewer injections and a level that rises and falls across the week. Which suits someone is personal. Generic liraglutide has been FDA-approved since December 2024 for type 2 diabetes and since August 2025 for weight management, which can matter for cost and coverage.45

Common questions

Is semaglutide stronger than liraglutide?
In the STEP 8 head-to-head trial, average weight loss was −15.8% with semaglutide against −6.4% with liraglutide at 68 weeks.3
Is liraglutide available as a generic?
Yes. The FDA approved the first generic liraglutide for type 2 diabetes in December 2024, and the first for weight management in August 2025.45

Sources

  1. Liraglutide 3 mg injection for weight management — US prescribing information DailyMed, US National Library of Medicine, version published 15 June 2026
  2. Semaglutide injection and tablets for weight management — US prescribing information DailyMed, US National Library of Medicine, version published 30 June 2026
  3. Effect of weekly subcutaneous semaglutide vs daily liraglutide on body weight in adults with overweight or obesity without diabetes (STEP 8) Rubino DM et al. JAMA 2022;327(2):138–150
  4. FDA approves first generic of once-daily GLP-1 injection to lower blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes US Food and Drug Administration, 23 December 2024
  5. FDA approves first generic GLP-1 indicated for weight loss Healio, 29 August 2025
  6. A randomized, controlled trial of 3.0 mg of liraglutide in weight management (SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes) Pi-Sunyer X et al. New England Journal of Medicine 2015;373:11–22

Written by the Cafeity team from the sources listed here. Figures from prescribing information are quoted as the label states them; trial results are averages from those trials, not predictions for any one person. This page has not yet been reviewed by a clinician — see the editorial policy for how pages are researched and corrected.