Cost Plus Drugs is an online pharmacy founded by Mark Cuban that markets itself on transparency and affordability. The brand advertises “Huge Drug Savings” in bold font right on its homepage.

But is Cost Plus Drugs really cheaper than other online pharmacies, or are these just marketing claims? Does the site accept insurance? Why did Mark Cuban start this company? And how do real users rate and describe the experience of buying medication on Cost Plus Drugs?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we compare drug prices between Cost Plus Drugs and Amazon Pharmacy (another leading online pharmacy brand) to see whether or not Cost Plus Drugs really offers industry-leading savings.

We’ll explain if the site takes insurance, discuss what the best option is for patients with and without health insurance, and feature real Cost Plus Drugs customer reviews.

Cost Comparison

Here’s a retail price breakdown of various randomly-selected medications between Cost Plus Drugs and Amazon Pharmacy, at the time of updating this article:

Metformin (diabetes med), 500 milligrams (mg)

• Amazon Pharmacy: $17.10
• Cost Plus Drugs: $5.60

Sildenafil (ED med), 100 mg

• Amazon Pharmacy: $319.02
• Cost Plus Drugs: $8.60

Nadolol (blood pressure med), 20 mg

• Amazon Pharmacy: $148.50
• Cost Plus Drugs: $8.90

Trazodone (sleep med), 50 mg

• Amazon Pharmacy: $25.80
• Cost Plus Drugs: $6.80

Levonorgestrel - Ethinyl Estradiol (birth control med), 0.03 - 0.15 mg 

• Amazon Pharmacy: $31.64
• Cost Plus Drugs: $8.09

Atorvastatin (cholesterol med). 20 mg

• Amazon Pharmacy: $214.78
• Cost Plus Drugs: $6.20

Cost Plus Drugs offers vastly superior retail prices to Amazon Pharmacy.

Medication prices at Cost Plus Drugs are often more than 90% cheaper than at Amazon Pharmacy.

Does Cost Plus Drugs Take Insurance?

Cost Plus Drugs does not accept most insurance plans at the time of updating this article.

The brand’s FAQ page lists a few insurers they accept such as Capital Blue Cross, Rightway and others. They do not appear to accept some major US insurers, but mention that they plan to be adding more insurance coverage in the coming months.

For individuals without health insurance, Cost Plus Drugs seems like the best option by far from a cost perspective. We haven’t come across any online pharmacies that come close to competing with their prices. 

As we documented in our review of another online pharmacy called For Hers, many competitors to Cost Plus Drugs have prices nearly 10x as high for the same medication.

For individuals with health insurance, which online pharmacy is the best option will depend on insurer, medication and coverage.

We recommend checking prescription prices with insurance across all major online pharmacies including Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy (which does accept insurance), Brightside and more.

Why Did Mark Cuban Start Cost Plus Drugs?

A YouTube video from the Wall Street Journal shows how Mark Cuban is trying to disrupt the healthcare industry with lower costs: 

Real People Review Cost Plus Drugs

A TikTok creator named Bridget Vivian Owen claims that Cost Plus Drugs made a medication she's prescribed more accessible:

@livesickdieslowly COST PLUS DRUGS FOR GENERIC MEDICATION!! This isnt an ad, this is accessibility. #sicktok #sicklife #disabledtiktok #disabled #disability #disabledtiktoker #gastroparesis #achalasia #spoonie #chronicillness #chronicillnessawareness #dyingforacure #tipsandtricks #costplusdrugs #markcuban #accessibility #medication #medicationaccess ♬ original sound - Bridget Vivian Oyen

Another TikTok user named “Aunt Buffie” seems happy about the potential cost savings for one of her medications:

@justbeingbuffie #costplusdrugs might be the new #crawlbeforeyouball #pharmacy #markcuban #blacktiktok @Mark Cuban ♬ original sound - Aunt🫖 Buffie

Does Cost Plus Drugs Have Insulin?

Many patients are curious about whether Cost Plus Drugs carries insulin, given that this is one of the most commonly-prescribed drugs.

The online pharmacy does not currently sell insulin.

However, according to NBC, Cost Plus Drugs may be currently testing a program that would offer insulin for under $60 per month.

We hope that the trial goes well, because according to a recent research review, the average monthly retail price of insulin is nearly 10x that amount.

Cost Plus Drugs Complaints

While most online reviews of Cost Plus Drugs appear to be very favorable, there are some customer complaints about the brand. 

Cost Plus Drugs currently has a 1.56 out of 5 star rating on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website.

While this sounds low, it’s important to consider that average review scores on that site are quite low in our experience.

A BBB user named “Debra I” claims that the company was frustrating to engage with about product issues:

“Oh how I wish I could give zero stars! Horrible delivery. HORRENDOUS customer service. Nothing but canned, robotic communication. Tell you you will be credited in 5- 10 days then backtrack and say there was ‘miscommunication’. Horrible.”

To the credit of Cost Plus Drugs, the brand replies to most of the negative reviews and tries to rectify the situation, which is the sign of a high-quality brand.

Cost Plus Drugs Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of Cost Plus Drugs in our opinion:

Pros:

• Best retail prices in the US
• Easy-to-use website
• Recently accepting more insurers
• Some highly positive customer testimonials
• Wide range of medication doses offered

Cons:

• Negative BBB rating
• Accepts fewer insurers than companies like Amazon Pharmacy

Conclusion

Cost Plus Drugs is the first place that patients looking to get a prescription filled should check out in our opinion.

The website is intuitive, the retail prices drastically outperform competitors, and many online reviews are favorable.

For patients without health insurance, we consider Cost Plus Drugs to clearly be the best option, because it’s much cheaper on average than any other online pharmacy we’ve reviewed to date on Illuminate Health.

For patients with health insurance, it may be worth comparing medication prices between Cost Plus Drugs and other online pharmacies like Amazon Pharmacy, which accept a wide range of insurers.

Cost Plus Drugs has recently started accepting insurance, but at the time of updating this article, they don’t yet appear to be working with most of the major insurers.

We commend Mark Cuban for using his money and influence to do something genuinely good for patients in the US, and we hope that the brand offers insulin soon.