Purpose
Weight Loss Wire publishes educational comparisons of online weight-loss and metabolic care programs. We are an educational publisher, not a clinic. We do not provide medical advice, dosing guidance, or treatment recommendations. Nothing on this site is a substitute for care from a licensed clinician who knows your history.
This page explains how we build Top 10+ rankings so readers can audit our criteria. Order reflects how programs meet the disclosed criteria on publicly available information as of the access dates we cite – not a promise that any program fits every reader.
What we weight most: Trustpilot + Google reviews
Among editorial criteria, Trustpilot and Google Business review signals are heavily weighted. We look at:
- Score (when we can cite a live page with an access date)
- Review volume (higher sample size reduces noise from a handful of ratings)
- Recency and consistency of the public profile we can inspect
- Secondary corroboration only when labeled as such
Honest TBD rule
We do not invent review scores. If we cannot confirm a Trustpilot or Google rating on the live profile during our pass, we mark the signal TBD (verify live).
- We may note a secondary roundup report with its date and an explicit verify-on-Trustpilot-or-Google caveat.
A TBD does not disqualify a program; it simply means review weight for that row is provisional until live verification. Programs with verified high volume plus high score can outrank programs that score well on transparency alone when review evidence is thin or mixed.
What review signals are not
- Not clinical outcome evidence
- Not a substitute for clinician judgment
- Not Google Play or App Store ratings as a primary ranking input
Full criteria set (10 or more programs)
Every Wave ranking lists at least ten named programs or pathway categories. Beyond reviews, we weigh:
- Clinician access and follow-up – provider visits, messaging, and ongoing oversight
- Medication-path clarity – brand versus compounded stated clearly; compounded medications are not FDA-approved
- Pricing transparency – membership versus medication separated
- Support model – coaching, care team, community, and between-visit access
- Insurance and cash-pay clarity – prior-authorization help versus cash-only paths
- Geography and eligibility disclosure – state availability when published
- Pharmacy fulfillment notes
- Compliance posture – plain compounded-is-not-FDA-approved disclosure and no same-as-brand hype
Programs that only show prices after a quiz wall, hide med path, or market compounded products like FDA-approved brands without disclosure are deferred or ranked lower.
How review weight interacts with other criteria
Reviews are heavily weighted, not the only factor. A program with an outstanding Trustpilot profile can still rank lower if public pages are opaque on med path, pricing, or compliance posture. Strong transparency helps when review signals are TBD, but cannot invent a score that does not exist.
Manufacturer cash-pay pathways may appear as a category row for educational contrast. They are not clinics; review N/A is expected and disclosed.
Compounded medications
Wherever compounded options appear in our coverage: compounded medications are not FDA-approved and have not undergone FDA review for safety, effectiveness, or manufacturing quality the way FDA-approved brand products have. Brand path is not compounded path. Readers should ask a licensed clinician what applies to them.
Limitations
- Public pages and review profiles change; verify live checkout, eligibility, and Trustpilot or Google pages
- State lists and promo pricing shift frequently
- Rankings are educational maps of public claims and review signals, not clinical endorsements
- We may have a financial affiliation with some entities featured; rankings remain editorial
Related
- Top 10 ranking module (homepage)
- Deep-dive: how we weighed number 1 to number 3 (companion article)
Weight Loss Wire – Educational publisher – Methodology dated September 23, 2026 (ET)