Our Picks for the Best Online Pharmacies Supreme Suppliers is a group company

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People turn to online pharmacies to get prescriptions that are cheaper than what traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies offer, according to an article published in April 2022 in the journal Pharmacy. But not all websites that offer low-priced prescription medication are safe places to shop. About 95 percent of the websites selling prescription drugs online operate illegally, according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).

We researched the best online pharmacies to help you find safe and trustworthy options for filling prescriptions online. All our top picks offer free standard shipping and are licensed and NABP-accredited to ensure safe pharmacy practices over the internet.

• Best for price matching Blink Health
• Most affordable Honeybee Health
• Best for buying insulin online Optum Store
• Best for brand-name drugs Amazon Pharmacy
• Best for filling multiple prescriptions DiRx

* For select medications

† For select specialty medications through BlinkRx

‡ OptumRx plans only

• Accepts insurance Only for specialty medications with BlinkRx
• Shipping options Free standard shipping that takes three to five business days

Pros

• Will refund the difference if you find a lower price at another online pharmacy
• Licensed pharmacists available to answer patient questions
• Option for local pharmacy pickup or home delivery

Cons

• Can’t use insurance for generic medications
• No option for express shipping
• Not up-front about prices for brand-name medications

Blink Health is an online pharmacy that delivers low-cost generic medications to fill valid prescriptions from your existing doctor. If you order your prescription from Blink Health and find a lower cost at a competing U.S.ru pharmacy for the same drug and the same dosage, you can submit a claim for a refund of the difference, making it our pick for the best online pharmacy for price matching.

If you need a prescription, Blink Health offers a subscription option for online consultations with board-certified doctors who can prescribe certain medications for the following conditions: erectile dysfunction, birth control, hair loss, cold sores, high cholesterol, and acid reflux. You have to meet its eligibility requirements for online doctor's visits and commit to a 30-, 60-, or 90-day subscription for your medication. You can message your doctor anytime you have questions about your medication, such as if you're experiencing side effects. The subscription costs $10 for the first month, which covers the cost of the doctor's visit, medication, and delivery. After the first month, Blink charges $9.95 plus the cost of the prescription medication, which is based on the type of medication, prescribed quantity, and dosage.

Blink Health offers the option of home delivery or local pickup through more than 35,000 participating pharmacies. Our reviews team explains how to get your order through local pickup and other details about the online pharmacy in our review of Blink Health.

Although Blink Health doesn’t take insurance and dispenses only generic medications, its separate digital pharmacy, BlinkRx, accepts insurance and prescribes certain brand-name specialty medications — including those that require special handling, administration, or monitoring. To use this service, you will first ask your doctor to transfer your prescription to BlinkRx, and BlinkRx will apply available manufacturer discounts to secure the lowest price. It will also analyze your insurance benefits to help you decide whether to pay your pharmacy copay or the BlinkRx price. You can see the BlinkRx price only after you transfer your prescription, and BlinkRx does not share which specialty medications it dispenses on its website. BlinkRx also does not prescribe schedule C medications like Adderall.

Blink Health Reviews

Blink Health has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) but a customer review score of 1.54 out of 5 stars from an average of 50 reviews at the time of this writing. On Trustpilot, it gets 1.7 out of 5 stars based on more than 55 reviews.

Negative reviews of Blink Health mention billing problems, poor customer service, and unreliable prescription fulfillment. Positive reviews mention good experiences with customer service and ease of getting discounted medication.

Blink Health has a mobile app that gets 4.2 out of 5 stars from an average of 10,700 reviews on the Google Play Store. On the Apple App Store, it has 4.5 out of 5 stars from close to 500 reviews. Blink Health app users share complaints about the app being poorly developed but praise the simple user interface.

• Accepts insurance No
• Shipping options Free standard shipping that takes 7 to 10 business days; $12 for FedEx priority shipping that takes three to five business days; $35 for FedEx express shipping that takes one to two business days

Pros

• Choose from multiple generic medication manufacturers
• Platform recommends supplements based on your prescriptions
• Offers over-the-counter pharmacy products

Cons

• Doesn’t accept insurance

Honeybee Health is an online pharmacy that provides up-front pricing on generic medications from different manufacturers. It lists the ingredients of each formulation so that customers can choose the price and formulation that best suits their needs. Our reviews team found the starting costs for most common medications to be the lowest on Honeybee Health compared with the competition, making it our pick for the most affordable online pharmacy.

The site also offers OTC pharmacy items, such as its branded Honeybee Health supplements and generic acetaminophen (Tylenol). Honeybee Health has a feature that suggests supplements depending on the prescription medications in your cart. For example, the website recommends a coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) supplement if you have atorvastatin (Lipitor) in your cart. A meta-analysis in the October 2018 Journal of the American Heart Association found that CoQ10 supplementation can help treat pain, weakness, tiredness, and cramps caused by statin drugs.

Honeybee Health doesn’t accept insurance.

Honeybee Health Reviews

On the BBB, Honeybee Health has 4.88 out of 5 stars from an average of 700 reviews at the time this article was written. On Trustpilot, it has 4.7 out of 5 stars based on more than 4,100 reviews. Honeybee Health does not have a mobile app.

Negative reviews of Honeybee Health mention slow prescription delivery, high prices for medication, and lack of communication from customer service regarding refunds and missed shipments. Positive reviews mention reliable shipments, positive interactions with customer service, and low prices.

• Accepts insurance Yes
• Shipping options Free standard shipping that takes two to seven business days; $9.99 for two-day express shipping

Pros

• Sells discounted insulin through its insulin savings program partnership
• Offers online consultations for select medications
• Sells OTC items in addition to prescriptions
• Accepts insurance

Cons

• Insulin savings program is only for the uninsured

The Optum Store is an online marketplace for telehealth appointments, online pharmacy, and OTC pharmacy products. Its online pharmacy is a partner of the insulin savings program from the drug manufacturer Sanofi. If you qualify for the program, you'll pay $35 for a 30-day supply of specific insulin medications, including insulin glulisine (Apidra) and insulin glargine (Lantus, Toujeo Solostar). By ordering your insulin through the Optum Store and its insulin savings program, you can save between $106 and $454 for a 30-day supply, depending on the medication.

To apply, choose your medication from your insulin options. Then choose the "affordable insulin" price and click the “See if You Qualify” button. You'll be asked to create an account and answer a brief questionnaire that asks your age, whether you have a prescription for insulin, and whether you have insurance. You'll receive an immediate notification stating that you qualify for the insulin savings program if you answer that you:

• Are 18 years old or older
• Are a resident of the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands
• Don’t have commercial insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare

The Optum Store will ask you to reapply for the program every 360 days.

Shipping is free only if you order at least a three-month supply of insulin. If you order less than a three-month supply at a time, you'll be charged $29 for shipping.

The Optum Store offers free online consultations for birth control, eyelash growth, erectile dysfunction, and men’s hair loss prescriptions. For prescriptions and refills outside of those needs, you can pay a flat fee of $55 for a video consultation with a prescriber licensed in your state. You'll also have to pay for the cost of the medication refill, which depends on the medication and whether you're using insurance. The Optum Store accepts only UnitedHealthcare for virtual doctor's visits.

The Optum Store accepts only OptumRx, a pharmacy benefits manager that's an affiliate of UnitedHealthcare.

Optum Store Reviews

The Optum Store does not have a BBB profile. On Trustpilot, it has only three reviews and 2.8 out of 5 stars. The Optum Store does not have a mobile app.

• Accepts insurance Yes
• Shipping options Free standard shipping that takes four to five business days; $5.99 for two-day delivery, which is free for Amazon Prime members

Pros

• Sells brand-name drugs, not just generic
• Amazon Prime members get discounted pricing and free two-day shipping
• Accepts insurance

Cons

• You need an Amazon Prime membership to get the lowest price
• RxPass annual membership includes only 53 eligible medications

The Amazon Pharmacy is an online pharmacy that offers discounted prices and free two-day shipping for members of Amazon Prime. Anyone can use the Amazon Pharmacy and pay retail prices for their medications, but to get discounted Prime prices, you need an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $139 per year. Amazon Pharmacy is one of only two online pharmacies on our list that dispense brand-name drugs; BlinkRx also dispenses brand-name medications but is not up-front about which drugs it sells and how much they cost.

In addition to discounted pricing for Prime members, Amazon Pharmacy offers a Prime Rx savings card. This allows you to pick up your prescription from your preferred pharmacy but pay the Amazon Prime price instead of the pharmacy price. Amazon partners with more than 60,000 local pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS.

Amazon also offers an RxPass membership, which gives Prime members access to unlimited medications and refills for certain prescription medications. At the time this article was written, there were 53 eligible medications. RxPass costs $5 per month on top of the Prime membership cost, which is $139 per year.

Those without a Prime membership still get free standard shipping but do not get discounted prices on medications. Non-Prime members can expect to pay the listed retail price if paying out of pocket. Both prices are listed on the product page for each medication, along with an estimated insurance price, which is based on what customers have paid for the medication when using insurance at the Amazon Pharmacy.

The Amazon Pharmacy accepts all major insurance plans. Although the site has a Check Your Insurance feature for medication pricing, this only gives an estimate based on general information about your plan. The Amazon Pharmacy recommends contacting your insurance plan administrator if you want to know the exact amount you'll be charged before you place your order.

Amazon Pharmacy Reviews

The Amazon Pharmacy sells medication through the Amazon e-commerce site and does not have a dedicated website or mobile app. All online customer reviews are for the e-commerce site and don't specifically mention Amazon Pharmacy.

• Accepts insurance No
• Shipping options Free standard shipping that takes two to seven business days; $15 for UPS second-day shipping that takes two to five business days; $30 for Next-Day Service shipping

Pros

• Offers annual savings plans to help you save on select medications
• One flat fee covers the cost of multiple medications

Cons

• Doesn’t accept insurance

DiRx is an online pharmacy that offers discounted generic prescription medications. It offers an Annual Savings Plan that is similar to the Amazon RxPass and covers the cost of an unlimited number of prescriptions and refills for certain medications. The membership starts at $119 per year and has 500 eligible medications. A DiRx Annual Savings Plan offers an affordable way to order and refill multiple prescriptions if you take more than one type of medication.

There are two DiRx savings plans. The $119 per-year Annual Savings Plan has 500 eligible medications, while the $299 per-year Annual Savings Plus Plan has 1,000 eligible medications. If your medications are eligible for either plan, you'll pay one flat fee for the year. Without the savings plans, you'll pay the DiRx everyday low price.

Although Amazon Pharmacy also has an annual membership, the RxPass, the Annual Savings Plan by DiRx is a better value. The RxPass membership on Amazon Pharmacy costs $199 per year ($5 per month plus $139 per year for an Amazon Prime membership) and has only 53 eligible medications as of this writing.

Compare DiRx Pharmacy Savings Plans

DiRx does not accept insurance.

DiRx Reviews

DiRx has an A+ rating from the BBB. There were no customer reviews on BBB at the time this article was written. On Trustpilot, it has 4.5 out of 5 stars and close to 2,100 reviews. Negative reviews mention slow order fulfillment, a lack of follow-up from customer service, and a limited number of medications to choose from. Positive reviews mention cheap medication and helpful customer service. DiRx doesn't have a mobile app.

If you’re interested in medication support for specific health concerns, Sesame Care and Nurx are alternatives to consider. These platforms aren’t online pharmacies but can offer specialized telehealth support from providers who can prescribe medication online.

Sesame

Sesame is a telehealth platform that offers on-demand appointments for primary care, specialist care, therapy, psychiatry, urgent care, dentistry, bloodwork, and imaging. Sesame doesn’t accept insurance, but it shares up-front pricing for its online provider visits. Select providers can prescribe medications for $5 per month through SesameRx, its medication delivery service. You can read more about the platform in our Sesame Care Review.

Nurx

Nurx is a telehealth platform that offers consultations, prescriptions, and medication delivery for specific health concerns. Nurx providers can prescribe medication for birth control, sexual health, skin-care concerns, general health, and mental health. It accepts insurance and offers unlimited messaging with providers.

We compared the costs of a 30-day supply of five common prescription medications with home delivery.

* 28-day supply

† No extra cost for medication if you pay $199 per year for the Annual Savings Plan or $299 per year for the Annual Savings Plan Plus

There are a few factors to consider when choosing a legitimate online pharmacy to fill your prescription medications.

• Third-party accreditations The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) vets secure and credentialed online pharmacies through its Safe Pharmacy program, where you can check online pharmacy sites to see if they are legitimate. In addition, Sophia Yen, MD, MPH, a clinician at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health in Sunnyvale, California, suggests looking for LegitScript and URAC badges on the website that demonstrate compliance with digital healthcare standards.
• State licensure Although Mexican and Canadian online pharmacies may offer international medication delivery, only state-licensed online pharmacies meet each state's safety and regulatory requirements. Dr. Yen suggests checking with your state board of pharmacy to verify whether your preferred online pharmacy is licensed.
• Brand-name versus generic prescriptions Not all online pharmacies dispense brand-name medications. Amazon Pharmacy can fill your brand-name prescription orders. Honeybee Health, Optum Store, and DiRx carry only generic versions of medications. Blink Health dispenses generic medications but has a separate online pharmacy, BlinkRx, that dispenses discounted brand-name specialty medications.
• Prescription transfers Those using an online pharmacy for the first time need to transfer their existing prescriptions to the pharmacy. All the online pharmacies we reviewed can call your provider or previous pharmacy to transfer the prescription for you. Prescription transfer and verification can take one to two business days.
• Urgency Because it can take time for online pharmacies to process and ship prescriptions, they may not be the best choice for medications that require timely administration, such as antibiotics for an infection or medications for mental health conditions.
• Access to professional support In retail pharmacies, a pharmacist is available to consult on questions about prescriptions. The online pharmacies we mentioned all list ways to contact a licensed pharmacist to answer customer questions.

We recommend the best platforms and services we believe will serve the needs of our readers. We do this by conducting in-depth research into accredited online pharmacy platforms and consulting with health professionals in the industry. Readers can trust what’s behind our recommendations because we:

• Engaged in more than 150 hours of collective research
• Mystery shopped the platforms to understand real user experiences
• Developed an in-house scoring system that considers cost, customer service, professional support, user experience, breadth of services, and unique features that the platforms offer
• Read hundreds of verified customer reviews on trusted third-party review sites such as the BBB and Trustpilot.
• Submitted our article for medical review and fact-checking for accuracy

Online pharmacies can provide a convenient and affordable way to get your prescription medications delivered at home.

Blink Health offers a price matching guarantee so you get the best prices on generic prescription medications.

Honeybee Health is our choice for the most affordable online pharmacy. It offers the lowest prices for its generic prescription medications without a membership.

If you’re looking for affordable insulin, consider the Optum Store, which partners with a manufacturer savings program to offer insulin for $35 per month if you qualify.

Amazon Pharmacy is our pick for brand-name medications online. Prime members get added benefits of Prime discounts and free two-day shipping. Amazon also offers access to a pharmacy savings program and an optional RxPass for unlimited medications for an added cost.

If you take more than one medication and want to pay a set price each year, consider DiRx, which has two annual membership options for unlimited prescription orders. DiRx may be an affordable option for ordering and refilling your generic prescriptions if your medications are included in its membership plans.