| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| • Highly effective | • Bleeding side effects |
| • Coitally independent | • Weight gaina |
| • Possible to use without partner's knowledge | • Reduced bone density (temporary) |
| • Lasts a full 3 months | • Not advised during early breastfeeding by WHO |
| • 1-month grace period for reinjection | • Delayed return to fertility |
| • Safe and suitable for nearly all women | • Higher initial blood dosage than needed for efficacy |
| • Relatively low cost | • Requires repeated visits |
| • Easy for providers | • System burden (eg, supply chain, staff time) |
| • Somewhat easy and convenient for clients | • Provider bias (eg, reluctance to offer it to young women) |
| • Amenable to community-based distribution | • Poor continuation |
| • Implicated for possible increased HIV risk |
↵a Weight gain may be perceived as positive by some women.