Dysport vs Botox
The toxin itself is the same molecule in both products. It does not travel through your skin naked, though. It comes wrapped in a set of helper proteins, and that wrapper makes them different:
Botox's protein wrappers are heavy and uniform (~900 kDa). So when you inject a heavy molecule, it tends to stay right near the injection site. This is better for treating small areas with tiny muscles (like around the eye).
Dysport's protein wrappers vary in size (~500 to 900 kDa). This makes Dysport smaller and lighter. It is able to spread farther in the skin. This is better for treating large areas (like the forehead).
What it is
The same active protein as Botox. Different company, different recipe.
The original. It has been used for wrinkles since 2002.
How the units work
Five small injections.
Also five small injections.
How fast you see it
How long it lasts
How much it spreads
Helpful across a wide forehead. Less helpful right above the brow, where spread is how you end up with a droopy eyelid.
Easier to keep inside one small muscle.
What it costs
You need about two and a half times as many units, so the lower unit price mostly cancels out.
Measured in bigger units, so the number looks bigger for the same treatment.
Who should not have it
Dysport may contain traces of it. Also skip either one if you have an infection where the shot would go.
No milk protein.
Who tends to be happy with it
What that means for your face
A 2025 trial measured it. One side of each person's forehead was treated with each product, and Dysport covered the larger area.
Neither behaviour is better on its own — but it is worth asking your injector which product they plan to use, and why. Close to the eyebrow, spread is exactly how you end up with a heavy or droopy lid.
An experienced injector matters more than the name on the vial.
Why "cheaper per unit" is not really cheaper
This is the number that trips up the most people.
A unit of Botox and a unit of Dysport are not the same amount of anything. They are two separate measuring systems, and both companies say so on their own FDA labels. Dysport's says its units cannot be converted into the units of any other botulinum toxin.
You can see the gap in the approved doses. For the same frown lines, on the same face, the dose is 20 units of Botox or 50 units of Dysport. Injectors work at roughly two and a half to three Dysport units for every one Botox unit.
So a clinic advertising Dysport at a third of the price per unit is not giving you a discount. It is quoting a smaller unit. Once you do the math, the two visits usually cost about the same.
Ask one question instead: what does the whole treatment cost? Any clinic should be able to tell you before you sit down.
Worth asking before you book
- What does the whole treatment cost? Not the per-unit price.
- How many units, and of which brand?
- Have you injected this area with this brand before?
- What happens if one side looks higher at two weeks?
That last one matters. A small difference between the two sides is common, and it is usually fixed with a few more units at the two-week mark. A clinic that includes that visit is worth more than one that is slightly cheaper.
Call your injector if
- One eyelid starts to droop, or your vision changes
- You have trouble swallowing, speaking, or breathing
- You feel weakness somewhere you did not have treated
The last two are rare. Both products carry an FDA warning about the toxin travelling beyond the injection site, and symptoms can start hours or even weeks later. Get help the same day.