The Absolute Cheapest Prescription Eyeglasses Online in 2023 (23 options from $5.95)

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While affordable luxury glasses from the likes of Warby Parker are incredible value, it’s nice to have a couple of online options for truly cheap eyeglass at your disposal.  Here are 15 places to buy the absolute cheapest prescription eyeglasses online (from $5.95) as well as a price comparison of the cheapest progressive lenses.

The Short Answer: The Best 5 Places to Buy Cheap Prescription Glasses Online

This is a deep-dive post with a ton of different options for ultra-cheap prescription glasses. Here are my favorites up top:

The Best Options for Extremely Cheap Eyeglasses: EyebuyDirect and Zenni

EyeBuyDirect and Zenni are well-established options for cheap eyeglasses in an increasingly crowded market. While you won’t find premium finishes at rock bottom prices, I have ordered from both companies repeatedly and their frames and, importantly, their lenses are always solid. Zenni is also one of my favorite options for cheap glasses with progressive lenses.

The Best Affordable Option for Luxury Designer Glasses: GlassesUSA.com

If you’re looking for luxury eyeglasses, GlassesUSA.com shines with an excellent selection of designer frames from the likes of Prada and Oakley.

The Best Affordable Luxury Options to Try-At-Home: Warby Parker and LiingoEyewear

Startup Warby Parker remains an outstanding option for affordable luxury glasses made from premium materials. Best of all, you can try on their glasses at home or via one of their stellar in-person showrooms.

Liingo Eyewear, backed by 1-800-Contacts, is an excellent alternative to Warby Parker that will also let you try on glasses at home.

Affordable luxury versus extremely cheap prescription eyeglasses

I love Warby Parker’s affordable luxury glasses (and I keep a pair at work).

And that there are at least 17 alternatives to Warby Parker that let you try on eyeglasses at home.

And that there are more than a dozen other relatively affordable online eyeglass options.

And that innovative companies like Felix Gray are offering tons of affordable options for prescription blue light blocking glasses.

Still, many “affordable” options cost $125 or more per pair of prescription glasses.

While that makes them eminently more affordable than your local designer eyewear boutique (where you could wind up paying $300 or more), that’s a lot of coin to drop for a backup pair of cheap reading glasses or a spare set of spectacles to keep in your car or suitcase.

This guide explores companies that offer really cheap eyeglasses. Like, starting-at-under-$10 cheap.

Now, you get what you pay for, and you won’t find Italian-made, hand-polished cellulose acetate frames with wafer-thin, super high index lenses for under $10.

But you might discover that you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles in a backup pair of cheap eyeglasses. You might also find, as I have, that you can get a lot of craftsmanship and quality for $60 or less from brands like Zenni, Eyebuydirect, and Liingo Eyewear.

Comparing the cost of the cheapest prescription eyeglasses online

In the chart below, I break down the absolute cheapest glasses I could find online. Following the chart, I dive deeper into several of the brands.

Chart: Where can you buy the cheapest prescription glasses online?

The price of the glasses reflects the cheapest available frames at list price and basic single-vision prescription lenses.

Some of the cheapest options for buying prescription glasses online include Zenni Optical, Eyebuydirect, Goggles4U, Liingo Eyewear, Diff Eyewear, Vint and York and Warby Parker. GlassesUSA.com is one of the cheapest places to buy designer prescription eyeglasses from brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada and Persol.

If you find cheaper prescription glasses — or if you have had a positive or negative experience with any of these companies — please share your perspective in the comments.

The Best Options to Buy Cheap Prescription Glasses Online

Price alone doesn’t tell the whole story. I’m focused on value-for-money prescription eyeglasses for under $100.

It’s critical to look beyond the initial price when considering where to buy your glasses:

• The cheapest online prescription eyewear options may charge extra for things like basic lens coatings and may try to upsell you to more expensive add ons like thinner lenses or blue light blocking technologies.
• Many ultra-cheap prescription eyeglasses companies tack on shipping fees, which generally add about $4-$8 to the total cost (though some companies offer free shipping with a minimum purchase).

Also, an ultra-low-priced eyewear company like Wherelight.com, which promises a complete set of prescription glasses for as little as $1.00, doesn’t exactly instill a lot of confidence with this mangled English from their About Us page:

Wherelight was founded in 2015, which is striving to provide premium glasses for person with affordable prices. Glasses are quite a regular thing comes to people’s life since they were invented. Many adults as well as children wear glasses since they are very young.

Wherelight.com – About Us

Below I review my best bets for buying the cheapest prescription eyeglasses online:

Liingo Eyewear from $59.25 (with free shipping and free returns)

My favorite online eyewear store isn’t the cheapest place to find eyeglasses, but it offers a tremendous balance of quality and value.

Utah-based Liingo Eyewear sells premium eyeglasses at a remarkably affordable price.

A complete pair of glasses at Liingo Eyewear including designer-quality frames and prescription lenses normally start at $79. Use coupon code MODERNFELLOWS to take 25% off your Liingo Eyewear order, bringing the total cost of a pair of glasses to as little as $59.25.

I love that Liingo doesn’t nickel-and-dime you on their lenses. Liingo’s free lenses are made of premium polycarbonate and are 20% thinner and 30% lighter than standard lenses. They include 100% UV protection as well as DuraSeal anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coatings included. (Some other low-priced eyeglass shops will charge extra for anti-reflective and UV coatings and thinner lenses.)

Liingo eyewear also offers a terrific home try on program, free shipping, free returns and a “60 day delight guarantee,” allowing you to send back your glasses for any reason.

I’m wearing their Murray eyeglass frames in tortoise slate as I type this. See my review of Liingo Eyewear or the video below for a deeper dive into the brand.

Zenni from $6.95

Zenni Optical has an entire page devoted to cheap glasses that cost just $6.95.

Zenni is my favorite destination to buy super-cheap prescription frames online.

The company has terrific filters that allow shoppers to narrow down their universe of glasses by frame color, frame material, lens width, lens height, temple arm, bridge width and frame width.  (Tip: scroll down to the bottom of their homepage and click on “shop all,” then fine tune via the filters that appear at the top of the page.)

Eyebuydirect maintains a page focused on their cheapest glasses, which start at just $6.00.

The company is one of my favorite places to shop online for their combination of attractive glasses, a virtual mirror and a super-affordable price-point. As an added bonus, Eyebuydirect lets you log in with your Amazon account, which means one less password to keep track of.

I keep a pair of Eyebuydirect’s $9 Soul eyeglasses in my car.

Founded in 2009 by entrepreneurs Daniel Rothman, Eldad Rothman and Roy Yamner, GlassesUSA sells a range of prescription glasses with prices that start at $39.00, but can be much less than that with sales and coupons.

GlassesUSA sells a range of designers including Ray-Ban, Versache, Ottoto, Persol, Costa, Muse, Starck Eyes, Spy Optic, Smith Optics, Progear, PO By Ron Arad, Miu Miu, Liu Jo, Linda Farrow, Kate Spade, Karen Walker Havaianas, Hemp, Eyres, Chloe, Champion, Arnette, Alain Mikli, and more.

GlassesUSA is one of the only companies around that offers a home try-on program that sends customers glasses to try at home with their own prescription lenses already included for 14 days. GlassesUSA also has a virtual try on program and inexpensive blue light blocking glasses.

Use coupon code BOGOFREE to get buy-one-get-one-free or DEAL60 to get 60% off frames at GlassesUSA.

Discountglasses.com offers a complete pair of glasses from $39, and includes free shipping and free returns, making the company a great value. 

(Also of note: They make glasses for kids as well as women and men.)

Discountglasses.com offers a pretty spectacular Happiness Guarantee, which gives you one year to change your mind about your purchase and free returns.

Coastal from $24.00

Coastal has super-attractive, unique, and cheap frames including prescription lenses that start at $24.00.  These frames include Coastal’s standard “air lenses” as well as free shipping over $50 and free returns. 

The free shipping and return policy is a significant upgrade from some of the lower-priced options on this list.

Abbe Glasses Co. from $3.95 for newcomers

Based in the Castro Valley in California, Abbe Glasses offers newcomers glasses frames for the astoundingly low price of $1 with coupon code NEWCOMER. 

Without the newcomer discount, frames are as low as $6.95 and occasionally even lower than that on sale.  Prescription lenses cost a minimum of $2.95 extra, with options to upgrade to anti-glare, blue light blocking and other coatings. 

Abbe also offers the option for adding a Prism lens correction. I like the selection of frames, and Abbe offers helpful information about the size of its frames on its website.

Payne Glasses from $5.95

At $5.95, San Francisco-area startup Payne Glasses (PG) clocks in at the absolutely lowest priced complete pair of glasses I could find online. This price includes includes 1.56 standard, single-vision prescription lenses, anti-scratch, anti-reflective / anti-glare coatings, and 100% UV protection.

Standard shipping adds $4.95 via USPS first class.

Glasses Shop from $6.95

Glasses Shop offers select frames on sale from $6.95. Their selection (which includes frames at much higher price-points) features a number of colorful and unique frames. Get 50% off you first order at this link.

Goggles4U from $6.95

Goggles4U sells eyeglasses from $6.95, which include free, clear standard 1.57 CR39 Lenses.

America’s Best: 2 pairs of glasses plus an eye exam for $69.95

If you prefer to buy your glasses in person, America’s Best offers a deal for 2 pairs of glasses plus an eye exam for $69.95. If you deduct the cost of an eye exam — let’s say $30 — it’s like getting two pairs of glasses for $39.95. That’s a pretty good deal.

Does Costco sell prescription glasses online?

I love Costco, but unfortunately they don’t sell prescription eyewear online. To purchase prescription eyeglasses from Costco, you have to go to a Costco Warehouse that includes an optical center.

Last I checked, frames only start at $49.99, and my local Costco charged an additional $65 for single vision lenses. Online brands like Zenni, Eyebuydirect, Liingo Eyewear and Warby Parker deliver better value for prescription eyeglasses.

Costco often has coupons for a $40 discount off a complete second pair of glasses.

I ordered cheap glasses with progressive lenses from Zenni and Eyebuydirect.

Progressive lenses price comparison

If you need progressive lenses with your prescription eyewear, you know that those specialty lenses can be extremely expensive.

In fact, some of the cheapest online options for single-vision prescription eyeglasses charge a high premium to add on progressive lenses.

Chart: Where to buy the cheapest progressive lenses online

This chart shows a price comparison for progressive lenses. It reflects the cost of a complete set of eyeglasses including frames and progressive lenses. It does not include shipping costs. (Many online eyeglasses retailers will provide free shipping with a minimum order, and the cost of progressive lenses may help you meet that minimum.)

Editor’s Choices for glasses with cheap progressive lenses: Zenni

After a trip to the eye doctor, who told me my prescription had changed and I should try progressive lenses, I went out and ordered several pairs of (relatively) cheap progressives from Eyebuydirect, Zenni Optical and Discountglasses.com.

I say relatively cheap because progressive lenses are not cheap at all.

Some discount eyewear stores, which sell cheap frames, charge $100 or more to install progressive lenses.

That said, progressive lenses are finicky things. While I like all of the pairs of glasses that I ordered from Zenni, Eyebuydirect and Discoutglasses.com, my experience with their progressive lenses has varied.

The progressive lenses from Zenni and Discountglasses.com have proven easier for me to get used to than Eyebuydirect’s.

I particularly like Zenni’s cheap glasses with progressive frames, which my eyes have had the easiest time adjusting to.

Happily, Zenni’s progressive lenses were also among the cheapest prescription glasses with progressive lenses I could find.

Where to buy cheap reading glasses and sunglasses online

This guide focuses specifically only on where to find cheap prescription eyeglasses online. 

If you’re looking for over-the-counter reading glasses, see my separate post on where to buy stylish readers online for as low as $5.

You can also see this separate guide to where to buy the cheapest prescription sunglasses online.

What’s your favorite option for buying cheap prescription glasses online?

About Jake

Jake is passionate about exploring entrepreneurs’ global journeys. He founded Modern Fellows in 2012 to get to know the entrepreneurs behind the innovative brands helping men dress sharp in the digital age. Jake has written about entrepreneurship, international business and/or fashion for outlets including Business Week, Forbes, Inc., Details Style Syndicate and Primer Magazine, and has provided analysis on international business for BBC Radio, NBC News, CNN and Time Magazine.

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