Can You Buy Generic Contacts to Save Money? What to Know About Contact Lens Brands

Anyone who wears them knows that contact lenses are expensive. However, there's no shortage of retailers selling contacts online and in person these days. With the right approach, you can boost your vision and not break the bank when ordering your next batch of contact lenses. 

But can you choose a generic brand of contact lenses instead of the brand your doctor prescribes? The answer is a little tricky because of the way contact lens prescriptions work. While you may be able to switch contact brands, doctors prescribe certain lens brands based on the anatomy of your eye or your specific vision needs.

Here's what to know. 

Why doctors prescribe specific brands of contacts 

If you look at your contact box, you should see a display of a few sets of numbers that make up your prescription for contact lenses.

There's the "power," or the strength of your prescription, which is a negative number if you need correction seeing at a distance and positive if you need correction seeing up close.

You'll also see a base curve (how deep the curve of the lens is) and a diameter (width of the lens) of your eyes. If you have astigmatism, you'll also see a cylinder and axis measurement. 

This is where it gets complicated. While the actual strength of your prescription may be easily transferable from one brand to the next, brands may only be suited for certain contact lens measurements. For example, one brand may only sell contact lenses with a base curve of 8.8 and 8.4, but you need a higher or lower curve. 

In addition to other concerns like comfort, cost and whether you want daily contacts or longer-lasting sets, this is why eye doctors prescribe specific contact brands. 

Do they make generic contact lenses? 

Buying store-brand or generic contacts isn't as easy as buying generic contact solution – or generic anything, for that matter, since contacts are prescription-dependent and are only considered identical if they're not only manufactured by the same company, but have the exact same measurements.

Still, there are a few generic options available so it's worth shopping around to see if there's a contact lens option that is the "same" as your prescribed brand of lens. For example, Scout, the Warby Parker's brand of daily contacts, costs $52 for a 90-pack if it's your first time ordering through the company. Miru daily contacts, which 1-800 Contacts says is the same lens as Scout and comes from the same manufacturer, costs $44 for a 90-pack with the first-time discount. 

Another generic or store-brand contact lens on the market is Costco's Kirkland contact lenses, which cost $59 for a 90-pack box. These lenses are the same as MyDay daily disposable lenses from CooperVision, according to Lens.com, which cost $71 per box. 

If you wanted to shop around online to see if there's an identical and cheaper version of your preferred lens, you can poke around an online retailer (1-800 Contacts, for example), and type "same as" in the search box. The best way to get a "generic" version of your contact lenses, then, may be to ask your doctor if there is one while you're in the office and they're writing out your prescription. 

How to make sure you're getting the best deal on contacts 

The first step to finding a better price for contact lenses is to find an affordable vision exam to get your prescription. Retailers like Sam's Club, Walmart and Target may offer more reasonable rates if you don't have vision insurance and going to an optometrist's office is too pricey.

Then, during your eye exam, tell your doctor you're interested in finding a cheaper brand of contacts. If you've already asked about a generic version for the current brand you've been using, see if they'd be able to prescribe a different but similar brand that's more in your budget. (You can also ask for a "test" pair of contact lenses, which most optometrists' offices should have in stock, depending on your prescription.) 

If you want to be prepared before your eye exam, here is a convenient list of (what appears to be) the majority of contact lens brands produced by the major contact lens manufacturers: Alcon, Bausch and Lomb, CooperVision and Johnson & Johnson. You can see each brand and which contact lens measurements they serve. (We found this list in a Reddit answer from five years ago, however, so it's just a jumping-off point.) You can also peruse online contacts retailer sites like 1-800 Contacts, Warby Parker, Walmart and Lens.com to compare prices.

Where to buy affordable contact lenses 

Another big part of the contact lens cost is where you buy them. Again, take time to compare prices between the online retailers selling contacts or eyewear specifically against traditional brick-and-mortar stores. In writing this article, for example, I realized that I could have saved about $50 on my most recent Biofinity prescription order if I'd ordered them from Sam's Club and not 1-800 Contacts. However, a first-time buyer from contact lens sites like 1-800 Contacts and Warby Parker would get an automatic discount applied to their initial order, so it really does depend on your individual circumstances. Adding a few extra minutes to your order time will help you see the bigger-cost picture more clearly.