The Complete Guide to Prescription Discount Cards: GoodRx vs SingleCare vs Mark Cuban Cost Plus

1. How Prescription Discount Cards Actually Work

Before comparing specific services, it helps to understand the underlying mechanism. Prescription discount cards are not insurance. They do not replace your insurance, and they do not involve any risk pooling or coverage obligations. Instead, they work through a system of negotiated pharmacy rates.

Here is the chain: A Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) negotiates discount rates with pharmacies. The discount card company partners with the PBM and passes those negotiated rates to consumers. When you present a discount card at the pharmacy, the pharmacist runs it like a secondary insurance claim, and you pay the PBM’s negotiated rate instead of the pharmacy’s retail price.

The discount card company earns money by taking a fee from each transaction — typically a small percentage of the prescription price. The pharmacy still earns a profit because the negotiated rate is above their acquisition cost for the drug. And you pay less than you would at the retail cash price.

Key Facts About Discount Cards

• Free to use — no sign-up fees, no membership costs (with exceptions noted below)
• Not insurance — no deductibles, no networks (though prices vary by pharmacy)
• Cannot be combined with insurance at the point of sale — you use one or the other
• Payments do NOT count toward your insurance deductible or out-of-pocket maximum
• Available to anyone regardless of age, income, or insurance status
• Prices vary significantly between pharmacies for the same drug

2. GoodRx: The Market Leader

GoodRx is the largest and most well-known prescription discount service in the United States. Founded in 2011, it went public in 2020 and processes hundreds of millions of prescription discount lookups per year.

How GoodRx Works

GoodRx aggregates pricing from multiple PBMs — including Navitus, MedImpact, and others — and shows you the lowest available price at each pharmacy near you. When you search for a drug, you see a list of prices at different pharmacies (Costco, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, etc.), and you can select the cheapest option.

Pros

• Largest pharmacy network — accepted at over 70,000 pharmacies
• Aggregates multiple PBMs so prices are often the lowest available
• Easy-to-use app and website with price comparison
• GoodRx Gold ($9.99/month) offers deeper discounts on some drugs
• Telehealth services available through GoodRx Care

Cons

• Prices shown online are not always the price you pay at the pharmacy — they can vary
• GoodRx collects and shares user health data for advertising (controversial privacy practices)
• FTC fined GoodRx $1.5 million in 2023 for sharing health data with Meta and Google
• GoodRx Gold subscription is only worth it if you take multiple medications
• Not great for brand-name or specialty drugs — discounts mainly help with generics

3. SingleCare: The Strong Alternative

SingleCare is GoodRx’s main competitor in the traditional discount card space. While it has a lower profile, it sometimes beats GoodRx on price for specific drugs because it contracts with different PBMs.

How SingleCare Differs

SingleCare works with different PBM partners than GoodRx, which means the negotiated rates can differ — sometimes significantly. For certain drugs at certain pharmacies, SingleCare’s price will be lower than GoodRx’s, and vice versa. This is why we recommend checking both.

Pros

• Accepted at over 35,000 pharmacies
• No membership or subscription — completely free
• Sometimes beats GoodRx on specific drugs
• Straightforward privacy policy — less controversy than GoodRx
• Partners with CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and most major chains

Cons

• Smaller pharmacy network than GoodRx
• Fewer PBM partners means less price variety
• No premium tier for deeper discounts
• Website and app are less polished than GoodRx

4. Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs: The Disruptor

Cost Plus Drugs takes a fundamentally different approach from GoodRx and SingleCare. Instead of negotiating discount rates with traditional pharmacies, Cost Plus Drugs operates its own pharmacy and uses a radical pricing model: the drug’s actual manufacturing cost, plus a flat 15% markup, plus a flat $5 pharmacist fee, plus $5 shipping.

How the Cost Plus Model Works

Traditional drug pricing is opaque. A generic drug that costs $2 to manufacture might have a wholesale price of $50, a PBM negotiated price of $30, and a retail price of $100. Every intermediary takes a cut, and nobody knows what anyone else is paying.

Cost Plus Drugs eliminates this opacity. They publish the acquisition cost for every drug they sell and apply the same transparent formula: cost + 15% + $5 + $5 shipping. A drug that costs $10 to acquire would cost you $16.50 ($10 + $1.50 + $5). No hidden fees, no variable pricing.

Pros

• Radically transparent pricing — you can see the actual drug cost
• Often the cheapest option for generic drugs, sometimes dramatically so
• No insurance needed, no discount cards, no hidden fees
• Own manufacturing facility keeps costs low
• Growing formulary with over 2,500 medications

Cons

• Mail-order only — no local pharmacy pickup (3-5 business days shipping)
• Does not carry all medications — focused on generics
• No brand-name drugs or specialty biologics
• $5 shipping fee applies to every order
• Not accepted by insurance — cannot apply to deductible
• Currently only ships within the U.S.

5. Amazon Pharmacy and RxPass

Amazon entered the pharmacy space with its acquisition of PillPack in 2018 and launched Amazon Pharmacy in 2020. In 2023, Amazon introduced RxPass — a $5/month subscription that covers unlimited generic medications from a list of eligible drugs.

Amazon RxPass ($5/month)

For Prime members, RxPass covers over 60 common generic medications for a flat $5 per month total — not per drug. If you take three eligible generics, you pay $5/month for all three. Eligible drugs include common medications for blood pressure, cholesterol, acid reflux, anxiety, depression, allergies, and more.

Pros

• RxPass is an incredible deal if you take multiple eligible generics
• Free delivery for Prime members
• Can process insurance claims (not just discount pricing)
• Automatic refills and excellent app experience
• Competitive cash prices even without RxPass

Cons

• RxPass requires Amazon Prime ($139/year) — adds to total cost
• RxPass only covers about 60 generic medications — limited formulary
• Not available to Medicare or Medicaid patients
• Mail-order only — no same-day pickup
• RxPass is not available in all states

6. Head-to-Head Price Comparison

Prices change frequently, but here is a representative comparison for five commonly prescribed generic medications (30-day supply, as of early 2026):

Note: GoodRx and SingleCare prices vary by pharmacy. Ranges shown reflect typical low-to-mid pricing at major chain pharmacies. Cost Plus prices include the 15% markup and $5 pharmacist fee but exclude the $5 shipping fee.

Bottom line: For most common generics, Cost Plus Drugs tends to offer the lowest per-unit price. However, when you factor in the $5 shipping fee and the inability to pick up in person, GoodRx or SingleCare at a local pharmacy may be more convenient and competitively priced.

7. Limitations and Gotchas

Discount cards are valuable tools, but they come with important limitations that are easy to overlook:

• Payments do not count toward your deductible. If you use a discount card instead of your insurance, the amount you pay does not reduce your insurance deductible or out-of-pocket maximum. For patients who will eventually meet their deductible through other medical expenses, using insurance may be the better long-term strategy.
• Prices are not guaranteed. The price you see online or in the app may differ from the price the pharmacy charges. Always confirm the price at the register before finalizing the transaction.
• Brand-name drugs rarely have significant discounts. Discount cards work best for generic medications. For brand-name drugs, the discount is often minimal compared to the retail price, and a manufacturer copay card may save you far more.
• Privacy concerns. Some discount card companies track your prescription history and share data with third parties. Read the privacy policy before signing up, especially if this concerns you.
• Pharmacist time pressure. Some pharmacies push back on running discount cards because they reduce margins. If a pharmacist resists, politely remind them that they are contractually obligated to accept the card.

8. When to Use Which Service

Here is our practical recommendation based on your situation:

9. Beyond Discount Cards: Other Savings Options

Discount cards are just one tool in the prescription savings toolkit. Depending on your situation, you may save more through other channels:

• Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs)— Free medication from manufacturers for eligible patients. Read our full guide.
• Manufacturer copay cards— $0 or low copay for brand-name drugs if you have commercial insurance.
• 340B clinics— Community health centers with deeply discounted pharmacy pricing.
• Therapeutic alternatives— Your doctor may be able to switch you to a less expensive drug in the same class.
• Pill splitting— For certain drugs, a double-dose tablet costs the same as a single-dose, and splitting it in half halves your cost (ask your pharmacist first).
• 90-day supplies— Filling a 90-day supply is almost always cheaper per dose than three 30-day fills.

The best approach is to check all available options for each medication you take. Our drug database shows every savings channel — copay cards, PAPs, generics, discount pricing — in one place.