OBJECTIVES: To Analyze the cost-effectiveness of using oral hypoglycemic agents (linagliptin, saxagliptin, sitagliptin, vildagliptin, glimepiride and glibenclamide) each associated with metformin, to control type-2 diabetes mellitus in patients with inadequate glycemic control, from a third-party’s payer perspective. METHODS: A Monte Carlo-type Markov model was used to simulate disease natural history. The outcomes of interest were fatal infarct, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, nephropathy, moderate or severe hypoglycemia and changing of treatment, expressed in years of life (LY). Drug costs were taken from market average at prices for 2012 expressed in Colombian pesos. Direct medical costs were taken from insurers and individual health benefit records (SISMED). A discount rate of 5% was applied both to cost and outcomes. RESULTS: As a main outcome the measures of life years (LY) are nearly similar for each combined treatment. However linagliptin is barely a most effective treatment with 13.71 life years discounted, followed by sitagliptin and vildagliptin with 13.70 and 13.60 life years discounted respectively. Similarly, linagliptin is the least expensive (COP$69,396,763 discounted annually) while saxagliptin and vildagliptin have a cost of COP$71,941,693 and COP$71,713,900 discounted, respectively. It was found that linagliptin, vildagliptin and sitagliptin are nearly similar with respect to life years (LY) and each one is placed below the efficient frontier. Among the oral hypoglycemic agents analyzed, only three (linagliptin, vildagliptin and sitagliptin) are cost-effectives, being linagliptin the most. Glibenclamide is the only technology included in the Colombian health-care benefits plan and is the least effective and the most expensive one. CONCLUSIONS: Linagliptin, sitagliptin and vildagliptin each one added to metformin is nearly similar with respect to life years (LY) and to cost-effectives. Linagliptin appears to be an advisable option due to its lower cost and its fewer macro and micro vascular events, for diabetic patients with inadequate glycemic control in Colombia.