Juvederm
A filler injection along the jaw. Hyaluronic acid filler adds volume where it is placed, and it can be dissolved later if needed.
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Dermapedia / CompareProcedures
Juvederm vs Botox
Juvederm adds volume. It is a family of hyaluronic acid gels injected to fill a hollow or build up a feature. Botox Cosmetic relaxes a muscle. It softens lines that appear when you move your face, and no trial has ever tested one against the other.
At a glance
| The difference | Juvederm | Botox |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | No current published price | No published figure at all |
Botox
An injectable treatment being placed in the face. A neurotoxin is given with a very fine needle in small amounts, and each spot takes only a few seconds.
Side by side
The differences that matter
What you actually do
Juvederm
A gel injected under the line or hollow
A gel made of cross-linked hyaluronic acid goes into the skin or deeper.
Botox
Small shots into the muscle
Several small shots of a prescription botulinum toxin go into the muscle that makes the line.
Conditions treated
Botox
Hyperhidrosis
A grid of small injections that block the nerve signal reaching the sweat glands in that patch of skin. It starts working within a few days to a week and lasts several months before it needs repeating. Underarm injections are well tolerated; palms and soles hurt more and are usually done with numbing, and palm injections can cause temporary weakness of grip. It is an approved medical treatment for severe underarm sweating, not a cosmetic one, and insurance often covers it once antiperspirants have been tried and documented.
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Rosacea
Very small amounts injected into the surface of the skin, not the muscle, to reduce flushing and background redness. Early studies are encouraging and dermatologists do use it for stubborn flushing. It is off-label for rosacea, it is not usually covered, and it wears off in a few months.
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Wrinkles and Fine Lines
The reliable treatment for lines caused by movement — frown lines, forehead lines and crow's feet. It relaxes the muscle that folds the crease, so the line softens over about two weeks and returns as the effect wears off at three to four months. It does nothing for lines that are already there at rest, and nothing for sagging.
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What you can expect to see
Juvederm
More volume where it is placed
The gel takes up physical space, so the tissue above it is pushed out. Nothing about a muscle changes.
Botox
Lines that stop folding when you move
The treated muscle stops contracting fully, so the skin over it stops creasing. No volume is added.
What it will not do
Juvederm
Not for lines made only by movement
A line caused purely by movement keeps folding, because the movement is still there. Crow's feet are one example.
Botox
Not for hollows or thin lips
It occupies no space, so it cannot plump a lip or lift a cheek. Depth already etched into the skin at rest is not what it targets.
How soon you see it
Juvederm
The same day
Swelling makes the first few days unreliable, then the result settles.
Botox
Days, peaking at about two weeks
The effect is not there straight away, and it builds.
How long it lasts
Juvederm
Months to a couple of years, by product
Each product has its own number. Voluma XC in the cheeks: 85.6% of treated people still met a one-grade improvement at 6 months and 67.1% at 24 months.
Botox
Temporary, with no number on the label
Published trials measured the result at day 30 and day 60. One comparison of three brands followed people for 180 days.
If you want it undone
Juvederm
It can be dissolved
An enzyme called hyaluronidase breaks the gel down. It works within minutes to hours. Juvederm gels resist that enzyme more than some other brands do in lab tests, so they need a higher dose.
Botox
Nothing reverses it
You wait for it to wear off.
Cost
Juvederm
No current published price
The last average fee a professional society published for hyaluronic acid fillers was $715, for 2023. That is a physician fee only, counted per procedure rather than per syringe. A crowdsourced patient figure of $944 comes from 88 reviews last updated in June 2023.
Botox
No published figure at all
There is no equivalent figure for Botox Cosmetic.
Who tends to be happy with it
Juvederm
- Best for — Someone whose complaint is a hollow, a flat area or a feature they want more of, and who can point to it in a mirror while holding their face still.
- The mindset — Adding structure, in one named area at a time, with a plan for how it will be maintained.
Botox
- Best for — Someone whose complaint disappears when they relax their face and reappears when they frown, raise their brows or smile.
- The mindset — A repeatable maintenance treatment aimed at movement, not at shape.
The fine print
Juvederm
Juvederm is not one product. Each gel has its own FDA approval, its own area and its own trial, and a number from one does not transfer to another. Ultra XC — facial wrinkles and folds, and the lips and perioral area in adults over 21. Ultra Plus XC — facial wrinkles and folds, with no US lip indication. Vollure XC — facial wrinkles and folds. Voluma XC — cheeks (2013), chin (2020) and temples (2023). Volbella XC — lips and perioral lines (2016) and the infraorbital hollow (2021). Volux XC — jawline definition (2022). Skinvive — skin smoothness of the cheeks (2023) and neck lines (2026). Syringes are supplied at 1.0 mL, and several products also come as a 0.55 mL fill.
Botox
Label doses are given in Botox Cosmetic Units, which do not convert to any other brand. The label gives 20 Units for glabellar lines, 24 Units for lateral canthal lines, 40 Units total when forehead and glabellar lines are treated together, and 26, 31 or 36 Units for platysma bands. Every botulinum toxin label says its units are not interchangeable with any other brand's.
Common questions
Questions Patients Ask
Can you have Juvederm and Botox at the same appointment?
Clinics routinely do both, and the randomised evidence on combining a toxin with a hyaluronic acid filler is about adding them together rather than choosing between them. In the lower face, a three-arm trial of 90 women found the combination beat either treatment alone. Ask your injector what is going where, and in what order.
Which one do I need for the frown line between my eyebrows?
Start with the toxin. Botox Cosmetic has been FDA-approved for glabellar lines since 2002 at a label dose of 20 Botox Cosmetic Units. If the line is still clearly visible when your face is completely relaxed, there is a static component that toxin alone tends to under-treat, and that is the one place where adding a small amount of filler has randomised support.
Which one lasts longer?
Each product has its own measured window, and neither has ever been followed against the other, so there is no comparative answer. Juvederm Voluma XC in the cheeks was still meeting a one-grade improvement in 67.1% of treated people at 24 months, where its trial stopped. The Botox Cosmetic label puts no number on duration at all and simply calls the improvement temporary.
Is one better than the other?
The question does not have an answer, because they do not do the same thing. No trial has ever compared a filler against a botulinum toxin for any indication. What matters is whether your complaint is a movement line or a missing volume.
Can either one be undone?
Juvederm can. Hyaluronic acid is broken down by hyaluronidase, an enzyme that works within minutes to hours, and repeat dosing is normal. In laboratory testing Juvederm products were among the most resistant, needing around 300 units of enzyme for degradation within an hour. Botox Cosmetic has no reversal agent — it wears off.
Will Botox do anything for thin lips or flat cheeks?
No. Botulinum toxin adds no volume and takes up no space. Lip fullness and mid-face volume are what Juvederm Ultra XC, Volbella XC and Voluma XC are approved for, each in its own named area.
Will Juvederm smooth crow's feet?
Not as a first choice. Crow's feet are lateral canthal lines. No Juvederm or Restylane product carries an indication for that area, and filler used there is off-label - which is legal and routine, but it means no pivotal trial was run there. Botox Cosmetic has held the lateral canthal line indication since 11 September 2013, at a label dose of 24 Botox Cosmetic Units.
Which is more expensive?
There is no current published price for either. The last average fee a professional society published for hyaluronic acid fillers was $715 for 2023, and that is a per-procedure physician fee across all products and areas, not a per-syringe price. No equivalent current figure is published for Botox Cosmetic.
Safety to keep in mind
The two go through different FDA routes. Juvederm was approved through the premarket approval route as a Class III device, which required trial evidence for a named area of the face. Botox Cosmetic is approved as a drug, with a label that names the muscle group for each area. Its four cosmetic approvals, all in adults, are glabellar lines (12 April 2002), lateral canthal lines, which are crow's feet (11 September 2013), forehead lines (2 October 2017) and platysma bands (18 October 2024).
The temple approval for Voluma XC comes with required training. The injector has to complete an FDA-approved, device-specific programme.