The maintenance dose is the steady dose a person stays on once titration is finished — the dose that gets held, rather than stepped up further.
It is the number that decides long-run cost. Compounded products are usually priced by the milligram, so the maintenance dose is normally the most expensive tier and the one paid for month after month. The annual figure that matters is the maintenance dose across twelve months, not the cheaper starting dose. For branded pens, US list price is roughly the same across dose strengths, so the maintenance dose changes the clinical picture more than the monthly price. The GLP-1 cost calculator prices compounded options by dose for this reason.
The trials behind these drugs studied specific maintenance doses: STEP-1 used 2.4 mg of semaglutide weekly[1], and SURMOUNT-1 used 5, 10, or 15 mg of tirzepatide weekly[2].
Which maintenance dose someone lands on is set by the prescriber, and it is not always the highest dose on the label.