Have you heard of GoodRx? This free and easy-to-use card can help you save a lot of money on prescription medications. In fact, you’ll often pay less with their coupons than you would if you used insurance!
I remember when I found out that my husband could save 90% on his medications if he used this card. It was lifechanging for us. I highly recommend it!
What is GoodRx?
GoodRx is an American health care company that offers a free prescription discount card that anyone can use, whether or not they have insurance. The card simply ensures that you will receive the best possible price on your medications regardless of where you fill them.
Doug Hirsch, the founder and CEO of GoodRx, created the company to solve the problem of pricing transparency. He once needed to buy a prescription that was going to cost $450 even after his insurance paid. He tried to compare prices and found that another pharmacy would provide the same medication for just $200. A third pharmacy said it would be $400. He realized that each pharmacy set different prices and they were all much too high.
As a result, Doug created this company to help people compare the prices of their medications easily and ensure that they are always getting the best possible price.
How does GoodRx work?
For users, GoodRx is simple and straightforward. You just visit their website, search the name of your prescription and you’ll be able to compare drug prices in less than 90 seconds. You’ll also be able to save up to 80% on the medication through their discount program! It’s all free for the users.
On the back end, it’s much more complicated. The company is constantly gathering current prices and discounts from pharmacies to ensure that you’re able to get the best possible price. As explained below, the program makes money from a variety of sources including a premium subscription plan called GoodRx Gold that costs users $10 per month for an individual or $20 per month for up to five members.
Is GoodRx Gold worth it?
Whether or not GoodRx Gold is worth it to you depends on what medications you take and whether you’ll use their discounted online provider visits. The website lets you compare how much each medication will cost with a free coupon or the Gold plan, so you can clearly see how much you could save if you upgrade to the paid subscription.
Let’s consider the case of Sarah, a 62-year-old woman who takes Lyrica (pregabalin), losartan and metformin. At the time of this writing, a Gold plan would make a lot of sense for Sarah because she would pay $9.99 per month to GoodRx but save $5.26 per month on Lyrica, $7.67 per month on Losartan, and $6.69 per month on metformin. That means she’d pay $9.99 per month for $19.62 in monthly savings!
For people who do not have insurance, the access to discounted health care providers may also make the paid plan worth it even if they don’t regularly take medication.
You can use the Gold benefits as soon as you sign up and you can cancel at any time.
How do you use GoodRX?
It is actually very easy to use this service to save money on your medications. Here’s what you need to do.
- Visit the GoodRx website.
- Search for your medication.
- Click “see all pharmacies” to compare prices at pharmacies near you. If you choose a specific pharmacy, you may end up paying more than necessary.
- Find the lowest possible price. Click it.
- Read the pop-up.
In many cases, GoodRx will offer you a coupon that you can print or show on your mobile device to get a discounted price. However, sometimes the site will tell you that you don’t need a coupon. For example, when I searched for several common medications, the price at the Walmart Pharmacy was already lower than any available GoodRx discount.
The site is very transparent and clear. They will not force a coupon on you if you can save more money elsewhere without it.
Where can you use Good RX?
Any pharmacies that are listed as GoodRx participating pharmacies are required to accept these discount coupons through their pharmacy benefit managers. The only exceptions are for controlled medications, because it’s always up to the discretion of the pharmacist in those cases.
Participating pharmacies include:
- Albertsons
- Carrs Pharmacy (Alaska)
- CVS Pharmacy
- Costco
- Fred Meyer
- Fry’s Pharmacy
- HEB Grocery
- Jewel-Osco Pharmacy
- Kroger Pharmacy
- Publix
- Rite Aid
- Safeway
- Sam’s Club
- Target
- Walgreens
- Walmart
- Winn-Dixie
- …and more!
There are also coupons available that may work at other pharmacies that are not necessarily partnered with the service as well. If you don’t see your favorite pharmacy listed, look for the coupons at the very bottom of the pricing pages that work at unlisted pharmacies as well.
Other Frequently Asked Questions about Good RX
Of course, a service like this creates many questions. We’ve done our best to answer the questions we’ve received from our readers. Feel free to ask additional questions in the comments!
How does GoodRx make money?
This service makes money from website advertisements and referral fees. They also offer a premium subscription program called GoodRx Gold that can help you save even more money on your prescriptions, receive free home delivery and even access affordable online doctor’s visits.
Can you use GoodRx with insurance?
Yes! You can use the coupons and discounts from this service even if you already have insurance. I’ve done this with my family and we have saved a lot of money over what we would’ve paid with our insurance cards. I highly recommend comparing the GoodRx rates, even if you think you already have great insurance coverage.
How to cancel GoodRx?
Most users don’t need to worry about cancelling GoodRx because the majority of services on the site are free. However, if you signed up for GoodRx Gold and need to cancel your paid plan, you can cancel at any time by following these steps:
- Log into your account.
- Click into the Your Account menu.
- Click GoodRx Gold.
- Under Plan Details, click Cancel Membership.
- Follow the prompts to confirm that you want to cancel.
Alternatively, you can email [email protected] with the subject line “Gold Cancellation Request.” You’ll need to include your full name, Gold Member ID and email address in order for your request to be processed.
Nicole Thelin
Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.