Botox, Dysport, and Jeuveau reach a similar peak effect on frown lines, and differ mainly in onset speed, unit dosing, and FDA-approved treatment areas. We carry Botox, Dysport, and Jeuveau at Synergy Aesthetics in Duluth, so the choice gets made around your face and your calendar at your consultation. Each one has a situation where it fits best.

Botox vs Dysport vs Jeuveau at a glance

What to know	Botox	Dysport	Jeuveau
FDA-approved cosmetic areas	Frown lines, crow’s feet, forehead lines, neck bands	Frown lines only, adults under 65	Frown lines only
Label dose for frown lines	20 units across 5 sites	50 units across 5 sites	20 units across 5 sites
Earliest measured effect (2025 trial)	Behind Dysport and Jeuveau at day 3	Day 3	Day 3
How long it lasts (FDA label)	About 3 to 4 months	Up to 4 months	No duration stated
Peak effect (2025 trial)	Similar across all three	Similar across all three	Similar across all three
Soonest repeat treatment	3 months	3 months	3 months

Is Botox or Dysport better?

Botox and Dysport produce a similar peak result on frown lines, so the better choice comes down to timing, dosing, and which areas you want treated. A University of Pennsylvania team compared Botox, Dysport, Jeuveau, and Xeomin in 143 women randomly assigned to one of the four toxins, tracking frown-line movement with 3D imaging at days 3, 30, 90, and 180. The study appeared in JAMA Dermatology in 2025, and the authors reported a similar peak effect across all four products.

The differences that hold up are practical ones. Dysport and Jeuveau start a few days sooner, Botox carries FDA approval for more areas of the face, and each product counts its units on its own scale. Several other claims repeated across med spa websites fall apart once you look for the research behind them.

What the evidence says about common Botox vs Dysport claims

The claim	What the evidence shows
Dysport works faster	Supported. Dysport and Jeuveau showed measurable effect at day 3 in the 2025 head-to-head trial, ahead of Botox.
One gives a stronger result	Unsupported. Peak effect was similar across products in the same trial.
Dysport spreads more, so it suits the forehead	Contested. A 2013 split-forehead trial found Botox spread wider at equal labeled units, and its authors concluded spread depends on dose.
Dysport is the cheaper option	Depends on the full plan. Each brand is priced per its own unit, and a Dysport treatment uses more units.
Jeuveau lasts longest	One trial found Jeuveau still measurable at day 180. Jeuveau’s maker funded that trial.
The label success rates show which works best	Unsupported. Each label scored success with a different method, so the percentages cannot be compared.

Does Dysport work faster than Botox?

Yes. In the 2025 head-to-head trial, Dysport and Jeuveau showed measurable effect at day 3, while Botox and Xeomin had not caught up yet. All four reached a similar peak by day 30. A two-day head start matters most when an event is close on the calendar, and our guide to how long Botox takes to work maps the full timeline.

How many units of Dysport equal one unit of Botox?

The FDA labels say Dysport units cannot be converted into Botox units, though clinicians commonly start from about 2.5 to 3 Dysport units per Botox unit. Each manufacturer measures potency with its own laboratory test. The Dysport prescribing information states its units cannot be compared to or converted into units of any other botulinum toxin, and the Botox and Jeuveau labels say the same about theirs.

Think of three thermometers in one room, one reading Celsius, one Fahrenheit, and one on a scale of its own. The room has a single temperature, and the three numbers disagree because the scales do. A frown-line treatment works the same way. The label dose is 20 units of Botox, 50 units of Dysport, and 20 units of Jeuveau, and the 20 on a Botox vial and the 20 on a Jeuveau vial come from different scales.

The 2.5 to 3 ratio comes from clinical research. A systematic review of head-to-head trials found that 1 unit of Botox to 2.5 to 3 units of Dysport gave comparable safety and results, though the trials in that review treated neurological conditions such as cervical dystonia. Injectors treat the ratio as a starting point and adjust from how your muscles respond.

Why does Dysport use more units?

Dysport uses more units because Ipsen, its manufacturer, defines a unit with its own potency test, and that test produces a bigger number for the same clinical job. The larger number says nothing about strength. A 50-unit Dysport frown-line dose and a 20-unit Botox dose are each the full label dose for the same five injection sites.

Is Dysport cheaper than Botox?

The price that matters is the total for your treatment plan, since a Dysport plan uses more units than a Botox or Jeuveau plan for the same area. Comparing per-unit prices across brands is the thermometer problem again, with two numbers measured on two different scales.

Nationally, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons put the average physician fee for a neuromodulator treatment at $435 in 2023, across all brands combined. Your own total depends on how many areas you treat and how strong those muscles are. We give you the total for your specific plan at a free consultation, so the number you compare is the number you would pay.

How is Jeuveau different from Botox and Dysport?

Jeuveau is the newest of the three, approved by the FDA in 2019 for frown lines only and dosed at 20 units like Botox. The Jeuveau prescribing information sets that dose at 4 units into each of 5 sites and states that its units are not interchangeable with any other botulinum toxin. Twenty units of Jeuveau and 20 units of Botox are two different measurements that happen to share a number.

Jeuveau’s label covers frown lines and nothing else, cosmetic or medical. Botox and Dysport also hold medical approvals, Botox for conditions including chronic migraine and Dysport for cervical dystonia and spasticity.

In the 2025 head-to-head trial, Jeuveau and Xeomin still showed measurable effect at day 180, and Jeuveau measured significantly stronger than Botox at that point. Evolus, the company that makes Jeuveau, funded the study through an investigator-initiated grant. A single trial of 143 women opens the duration question for Jeuveau without settling it.

Which lasts longer, Botox, Dysport, or Jeuveau?

Botox lasts about 3 to 4 months on frown lines and Dysport up to 4 months, according to their FDA labels, while Jeuveau’s label gives no duration figure. The Botox trial data shows how gradually the effect fades. In the Botox frown-line trials, 70% of patients were still rated as responders at day 60, falling to 48% at day 90 and 25% at day 120, so a quarter of patients held their result past four months.

A result that wore off early last time is useful information for your next visit. A higher dose, a switch of product, or both can be weighed once your injector knows what your muscles did with the last treatment.

Which areas is each neurotoxin FDA-approved to treat?

Botox Cosmetic holds four cosmetic approvals, while Dysport and Jeuveau are each approved for frown lines only. The Botox Cosmetic prescribing information covers frown lines between the brows, crow’s feet, forehead lines, and the vertical neck bands called platysma bands. Dysport is approved for frown lines in adults under 65, and Jeuveau for frown lines in adults.

Injectors also use all three products in areas outside their labels, a practice called off-label use. Off-label use is legal when a licensed provider judges it appropriate, and you can ask whether the area you want treated is on the label for the product being used. For wrinkles and fine lines across the forehead and around the eyes, the label question is one we answer with you at the consultation.

Botox for jaw clenching and TMJ-related headaches is offered through Dr. Zelen’s dental practice, Mount Royal Dental.

Are the side effects different between Botox, Dysport, and Jeuveau?

The side effect profiles are similar, and a drooping eyelid appeared in 2% to 3% of patients in each product’s frown-line trials. The labels report eyelid drooping at 3% for Botox, 2% for Dysport, and 2% for Jeuveau. All three list injection-site reactions such as pain, swelling, and bruising, and the Botox and Jeuveau labels note that most reactions show up within the first week.

All three labels carry the same boxed warning about toxin effects spreading beyond the injection site. The Botox Cosmetic label reports no definitive serious cases of distant spread at its labeled cosmetic doses, and the symptoms below are rare at those doses. They still call for fast action.

Red flags: get medical help right away if any of these appear in the hours to weeks after treatment.

• Trouble swallowing, speaking, or breathing
• Muscle weakness away from the injection site
• Double vision, blurred vision, or drooping eyelids
• Hoarseness or a change in your voice
• Loss of bladder control

Our guide to Botox aftercare covers the first hours after treatment, and your injector will tell you if anything differs for the product you receive.

How do we choose between Botox, Dysport, and Jeuveau for you?

We choose by weighing four things: your timeline, the area being treated, how you responded last time, and which expressions you want to keep. Timeline leads when a date is involved. A patient with a wedding nine days out may be better served by Dysport or Jeuveau, since both showed effect sooner in the head-to-head trial.

Area comes next. For crow’s feet or forehead lines, Botox is the one product of the three with those areas on its FDA label.

History matters most for returning patients. A patient who tells us her Botox wore off at ten weeks gives us two options to weigh: more units of the same product, or Dysport or Jeuveau at the next appointment. We would rather adjust to what her face did than to a brand’s reputation.

Injectables at Synergy Aesthetics are handled by Dr. Camille Zelen, who has worked with neuromodulators for over a decade, and by Natalie Noble, RN, our nurse injector.

Can you switch between Botox and Dysport?

Yes. Your injector recalculates the dose for the new product, since units do not carry over from one brand to another. Tell your injector exactly which product you had and when, because the Botox, Dysport, and Jeuveau medication guides all ask about any botulinum toxin received in the last four months.

If your last result faded early or you have a date to work back from, one consultation sorts out the product and the dose together.

Find out which neurotoxin fits your face Free consultation, with no obligation to book.