If you wear contact lenses, you have to update your prescription every year before you can get a new supply. You can usually order directly from your eye care professional, but that usually involves high costs and traveling to the office periodically to pick them up.

Ordering online can save you money on contact lenses, and it prevents you from having to make an extra trip. If you have a current prescription and purchase from a reputable online retailer, you can save money and gain convenience when ordering your next supply of contact lenses.

How to Order Contact Lenses Online

Ordering contacts online is just a few clicks away. Once you’ve selected the retailer, you’ll simply select the type of contact that you wear and the quantity and add it to your shopping cart. You’ll have to know some details about your prescription, which we will cover in the next section. Finally, you’ll enter your shipping and payment information and wait for the contacts to arrive in your mailbox.

Some brick-and-mortar vision professionals offer online portals through which you can buy contacts without having to drive to the store. Other companies that sell contacts online ship the products from the manufacturer. You may even come across smaller businesses with good prices but little selection.

You can compare prices for contacts by using websites such as Pricegrabber.com. Enter the brand of your contact lenses to pull up a comparison chart of different retailers that offer what you need. You might come across distributors that you aren’t familiar with, giving you additional options from which to choose. However, you may also want to do a general online search because comparison sites don’t always have a comprehensive picture of all your available options.

You might want to consider certain variables when buying contacts online, such as:

1. Shipping cost
2. Selection
3. How quickly your products will ship
4. Whether the company has a good Better Business Bureau rating
5. Whether the ordering process is secure
6. What the return policy entails

What Is Needed?

In the U.S., you can’t order contacts online from a reputable company without a prescription. Your prescription should show your eye measurements. Your current box of contacts should also include the information, which contains the following details:

1. Brand name
2. Base curve, or BC
3. Diameter, or DIA
4. Power, sphere, or prescription

You’ll have to enter this for the right eye, often abbreviated as OD, and the left eye, or OS. Remember that you need a box of contacts for each eye.

The information for each eye may be distinct. People with astigmatism will need to enter the numbers that correspond with their cylinder and axis.

You may need to forward the prescription to the company from which you purchase via email or fax. However, most online contact retailers can obtain your prescription themselves as long as you give them the name and contact information of your eye doctor.

The Cost

The cost of your contacts depends on your prescription, the brand, the company that you purchase from, and the number that you purchase at once. According to All About Vision, a box of six soft disposable contact lenses costs between $22 and $26.¹ These are usually replaced every two weeks, which means that you’ll need about five boxes to get you through a year. Daily disposable contact lenses are more expensive because you need to purchase more.

Other factors that can increase the cost of contact lenses include:

1. Astigmatism correction
2. Multifocal lenses
3. Material
4. Color contacts

You can reduce the cost of contact lenses by:

1. Purchasing a year’s worth at once
2. Looking for rebates that are offered by your contact lens brand
3. Comparing different retailers
4. Finding out whether your insurance provider covers the cost

Online Contact Lens Providers

1-800 CONTACTS

This company is one of the more well-known online contact lens retailers. It delivers more than 200,000 contacts to customers per day.² It offers a wide variety of contact lens types, including:

1. Disposables
2. Toric contacts
3. Contacts for astigmatism
4. Color and enhancing contacts
5. Multifocal and bifocal contacts

This company also offers a wide variety of major brands. They’re the same products that you would purchase at the eye doctor, which include:

1. A box of 24 Acuvue Oasys with HYDRACLEAR Plus contacts costs about $145, coming to a total of $290 per year.
2. A box of 90 Acuvue Moist daily contacts costs about $65, coming to a total of $520 per year.

1-800 CONTACTS is accepted by the majority of insurance providers.

Hubble Contacts

Hubble was launched in 2016 and partnered with St. Shine, an FDA-approved contact manufacture, to make its own line of contacts.³ The product is made from high-grade methafilcon A hydrogel, which contains 55 percent water and offers ultraviolet protection. There is only one contact lens option that you can purchase with Hubble. It may not work for you if you wear specialized contact lenses.

According to Newgradoptometry.com, Hubble contacts are made from a material that has been discontinued by some manufacturers.⁴ One of the biggest differences between Hubble contacts and other major brands is the breathability of the lenses. Hubble’s lenses let less oxygen pass through than Acuvue, Clariti, and Biotrue contacts.

When you sign up for Hubble’s subscription service, you’ll get a pack of 30 contacts as well as two spares every month. A one-month supply of Hubble daily disposable contacts costs $33, coming to a total of $396 per year.

Hubble doesn’t file claims with insurance company. Contact your provider to find out whether it covers this brand of contacts.

Simple Contacts

Especially when your prescription never changes, annual visits to the eye doctor can be a burden. With Simple Contacts, you can use an app to take an eye test that is sent to the company and reviewed by a licensed ophthalmologist in your state.⁵ The ophthalmologist can extend your prescription for another year for up to four years before you’re required to get an eye test in person as long as your eyesight with your current contacts hasn’t changed. An eye test with Simple Contacts costs $20.

Simple Contacts is a distributor and carries most major brand-name contacts. These include:

1. A box of 24 Acuvue Oasys with HYDRACLEAR Plus contacts costs about $79.99, coming to a total of $159.98 per year.
2. A box of 90 Acuvue Moist daily contacts costs about $49.99, coming to a total of $399.92 per year.

Contacts from this company are covered by many major eye care insurance providers.

Lens.com

Lens.com has been selling contacts online since 1995.⁶ The company offers a wide range of name-brand contact lenses, including:

1. A box of 24 Acuvue Oasys with HYDRACLEAR Plus contacts costs about $115, coming to a total of $230 per year.
2. A box of 90 Acuvue Moist daily contacts costs about $65, coming to a total of $520 per year.

You can also take an online vision test to renew an expired prescription that has no changes.

Lens.com doesn’t work directly with insurance companies, but you may be able to file a claim to cover your purchase as an out-of-network cost.