10 Best Online Pharmacies to Help You Get the Meds You Need

According to its website, Amazon entered the online pharmacy business “to reduce the barriers that prevent people from receiving the medication they need.” It gives customers access to a full-service online pharmacy that delivers medication quickly and efficiently. 

Amazon pharmacy dispenses the most popular drugs for every family member—even the four-legged ones—at rock-bottom prices. While you don’t have to be an Amazon Prime member to use Amazon Pharmacy, the subscription comes with additional benefits: Prime members get the same fast two-day shipping guarantee for medications that they get for other retail goods. Plus, Prime members save an average of 80% on generic versions of drugs and 40% on formulary or name-brand prescriptions.

Amazon also recently rolled out RxPass, exclusively for Prime members. For a flat $5 fee per month, RxPass dispenses all of your eligible prescriptions. It covers common medications for blood pressure, anxiety and cholesterol management. The downside is that RxPass is not available nationwide yet, and residents in large states such as California and Texas cannot participate in this program. 

Shipping is not free for those who do not have Amazon Prime, and non-members can expect to receive their packages in about four to five days instead of two. Amazon accepts insurance and flexible spending account (FSA) and health savings account (HSA) payments for prescriptions. You can check whether your plan is accepted and how much Amazon's price is to see whether you can save money by self-paying versus using your insurance benefits. Amazon also has a PillPack service for an additional fee. Users who have difficulty remembering what day and time to take multiple medications can have their medication packaged in easy-to-read individual packets every month.

For the 49 million people enrolled in the Medicare Part D plan, part of that coverage may involve getting vital prescriptions at a cheaper rate. This plan allows participants to access drugs in protected classes, such as those used to treat infectious diseases and cancer. Optum also administers your prescription plan if you are a UnitedHealthcare member. Going through its online pharmacy, OptumRx, may save you even more than using your benefits elsewhere. However, the downside to this system is that you have to be insured by Optum to use the services that OptumRx provides.

OptumRx also helps vulnerable patients stay on track with their medication regime by filling up to three months’ worth of a prescription at a time. Its research indicates that non-adherence is responsible for up to 50% of treatment issues and failings. OptumRx seeks to put an end to this with its home delivery in larger quantities. Shipping these medications every three months can keep patients who might be prone to skipping doses if they run out or run low supplied with the medication they need at all times. 

Ensuring medication is taken as prescribed is a crucial component of healthcare management. Some people find it difficult to juggle their medication regime and wind up skipping doses or not getting refills in a timely manner. If simplifying your monthly medication regime is the goal, SelectRx may be just what you need.

SelectRx can bundle and prepackage pills together by day and time of day you need to take them—a unique feature among companies we reviewed. These are then put in easy-to-read packages, so you don’t have to guess if you took your medication on a certain day or time. This pill bundling service is helpful for those who have many pills to take in a day or who are at risk of skipping doses if they get confused.

After a relatively easy sign-up process and brief phone consultation with a medical professional, SelectRx takes the reins on your medication management for both prescription and non-prescription drugs. The team at SelectRx coordinates with your prescribing physicians to ensure that it has all the orders needed to begin filling your medication. Next, it contacts your current pharmacies to stop all outstanding orders and make any transfers necessary. It then compiles your prescription medication and the over-the-counter pills you indicated you take (such as allergy pills and vitamins) and packages them for shipping. SelectRx does not charge for shipping and auto-delivers your box of medication every month, so you never have to worry about running out or skipping doses while waiting for refills to come in from different places. SelectRx accepts most major insurers, as well as Medicaid and Medicare Part D, and it also invites customers to call if they find a lower price on medication elsewhere.

The primary function of the birth control pill is to prevent pregnancy by providing a dose of estrogen, progesterone, or a combination of both to block ovulation. However, it also can help with other common conditions, such as acne, mood swings, painful cramps, and headaches. Some people may be reluctant or unable to make the trip to a doctor for a birth control prescription, so Hers takes that out of the equation. 

Anyone considering the birth control pill must have a free virtual consult with a Hers healthcare provider. After reviewing your medical history and symptoms, the provider decides what kind of pill might work and dispenses the prescription for the generic version. Hers offers users a flat monthly fee that starts at $12 and includes the cost of the prescription and its delivery. If you start to take the medication and need to follow up with your provider, you can do so. In some cases, it may take a bit of trial and error to find one that works. The monthly price of Hers depends on the type of drug you're on. Hers doesn't accept insurance or FSA/HSA payments.

One caveat: Not everyone who menstruates can take the birth control pill. Certain medical conditions and lifestyle factors make it risky for some. If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or cancer, you may not be able to take the pill. If you smoke, the birth control pill can result in the development of blood clots. Therefore, it is crucial that you are honest with the provider during the consultation and report all known conditions and lifestyle factors that make taking the pill risky. Hers has an easy cancellation policy if the service is no longer relevant.

Eighty percent of people assigned male at birth (and half of all people assigned female at birth) will experience hair loss during their lifetime. While there are many reasons for this, it can be a difficult process regardless of why it’s happening. Over the years, medical technology has made some strides in creating medication to help. Companies such as Ro have made it easier for those who may feel reluctant to go to their own physician for in-person treatment for hair loss. Ro was founded in 2017 to provide erectile dysfunction and hair loss care to men via online healthcare professionals and discreet packaging. It has since expanded its pharmacy and healthcare offerings to include weight loss, skincare, and fertility. 

Ro works like many other telehealth companies—you start by giving your medical history via a virtual appointment with a U.S. licensed provider (either a physician or nurse practitioner). If the provider determines that medication can help with hair loss during this virtual visit, a prescription will be dispensed through Ro and shipped for free to your home. You can contact Ro and get follow-up appointments with a provider as needed. Common treatments provided by Ro include over-the-counter strength minoxidil (generic Rogaine) for $16 a month, prescription-strength oral minoxidil for $30 a month, finasteride (generic version of Propecia) for $20 a month, and a combination of both for $35 a month. Ro also allows users to cancel their ongoing subscription and treatment at any time.

Over the last few years, prescription drug prices have climbed. In 2021, Americans spent $603 billion on prescription medication, and of that, $421 billion was for retail drugs. Generic drugs and manufacturer coupons can bring the cost of medication down substantially, but finding those discounts is not always easy or efficient. GeniusRx not only automatically finds the best deals on your prescription medication, but as a full-service online pharmacy, it dispenses and ships them as well. 

GeniusRx does not charge a fee to use its service and only asks users to register. You can pay $5 for expedited shipping or use the standard shipping service for free. You will need to contact your provider to have them send prescriptions directly to the online pharmacy via fax or a direct prescribing program. If you don’t do that, you must give GeniusRx permission to request your prescriptions from the providers you list. GeniusRx can dispense controlled substances, but only if your provider sends the prescription directly through an online system. Absent this, like many other online pharmacies, GeniusRx cannot fill these prescriptions.

While the company does not accept insurance, it claims that it often finds medication at lower prices than insurance copays, sometimes at savings of up to 80%. It accepts FSA and HSA payments; however, you must call and speak to a representative to use them. If you are worried about hitting your insurance deductible, even with lower prescription prices, your insurer might allow you to submit receipts to go towards that out-of-pocket maximum.

Insulin is a commonly prescribed medication for people with diabetes, and it is also one of a slew of prescription medications that need to remain cold. Since some medications can undergo substantial changes in chemical composition and effectiveness during a temperature change, they can actually end up doing more harm than good by degrading or becoming toxic. Other prescription medications, such as Humira and Ozempic, even require refrigeration upon receipt. HealthWarehouse has instituted special protocols to ensure all refrigerated medications remain cold during transport. 

Not only does it ship next-day air in a temperature-controlled cooler or cold box, but the company goes the extra mile and includes a monitoring temperature strip. If a cold-storage medication reaches you and that strip indicates the container temperature exceeded a pre-ordained threshold, you can contact the company for a free replacement.

HealthWarehouse also promises to provide medication at the lowest prices it can find. The service does not require a subscription or fee. All prescriptions need to be transmitted directly from providers electronically. Standard shipping is free for those who sign up for the HealthWarehouse newsletter, and expedited services are available for an additional charge. For those who need temperature-controlled medication, Healthwarehouse charges $30 for one-business-day shipping. The company does not accept any form of insurance, purporting that cutting out the “middleman” saves customers more money.

Medical support with an online service that dispenses prescriptions is important, especially when it comes to understanding how your prescriptions work and what side effects you might experience. Pharmacists at Honeybee are available Monday through Friday to answer your questions and concerns. 

This personalized service was one of the intentions of Honeybee’s co-founders, Jessica Nouhavandi and Peter Wang, when they started the online pharmacy in 2017. At the time, the two were running a small pharmacy in California, where they saw first-hand the disparity in medication prices for those with and without insurance. They decided a small-town pharmacy experience was becoming harder to come by, so they started Honeybee, aimed at helping customers to save money by purchasing generic medication direct from U.S. manufacturers. 

Honeybee doesn't take insurance but says its prices are lower than they would be with insurance copays and rates. Like other online pharmacies on this list, Honeybee allows users to search for their medication by name to get an idea of pricing.

Free shipping is a bit slow compared to other companies. Honeybee uses U.S. First Class mail which can take up to 10 days to deliver. For those who need their medication quicker, the company charges $12 for expedited shipping, which delivers in about three to five days. Honeybee cannot ship prescriptions to Montana, Indiana, Alabama, or Louisiana.

Getting erectile dysfunction medication is easy, private and expertly managed with Lemonaid Health. The telehealth and online pharmacy platform—now owned by DNA testing giant 23andMe—can prescribe medications for dozens of common conditions and health issues virtually, including four popular ED drugs. 

Lemonaid Health can fill your pre-existing prescription for these medications. Or, if you don’t have one, you can schedule a virtual consultation with one of its providers. If the prescriber deems it medically necessary for you to take ED medication, they will prescribe you generic Viagra (sildenafil), Cialis (Tadalafil), Levitra (vardenafil) or daily Cialis (also generically called Tadalafil), which can allow you to be more spontaneous, as opposed to other drugs that have to be taken 15 minutes to two hours prior to sex. 

Your initial consultation—often done through the review of a questionnaire, although some providers may request a phone or video meeting—will cost $25, but that single consultation covers your first prescription plus 11 refills, and any follow-up consultations in that period are free. You can also message your provider at any time, free of charge. Lemonaid Health doesn’t accept insurance, but prescription costs are low: Just $2 to $8 per fill. Your medications ship for free, and most will arrive in a couple of days

Access to abortion care is more challenging and critical than ever in the U.S. AidAccess is among the nonprofits trying to fill the gaps in care, especially in states where abortion providers’ hands are tied. 

AidAccess ships abortion pills to Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and all 50 states in the U.S., including those that have passed legislation to outlaw pregnancy termination. To get your medication mailed to you, you’ll fill out a questionnaire, which will be reviewed by a provider as your “consultation.” One drawback of the service: you will need to fill out a form with your own name. You will also need to provide a shipping address, but if you are concerned for your safety, you can have the pills shipped to a support person who does not live at your home address. In states where abortion is legal, your medication should come within days after the prescription is approved. But in states with trigger laws, it could take longer—one to three weeks—to receive your medication because the pills must be shipped from India. 

The online consultation and the medications cost between $105 and $150. Financial assistance is available through Aid Access’s own fund, which means that you don’t have to prove that you need assistance, making the pills more accessible to anyone. Aid Access also sets itself apart by allowing people to order abortion pills before they need them, so you don’t have to worry about rushing to acquire them in the future.