The best places to buy glasses online with insurance, HSA, or FSA money

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at GlassesUSA.com:

• Eyeglasses for men, women, and children
• Sunglasses for men, women and children 
• Blue light blocking glasses

GlassesUSA.com is the largest online eyewear retailer, operating in over 92 countries, and sells designer and in-house brands making it one of the best places to buy glasses online. Though prices can run into the hundreds and even thousands because of the designer-leaning selection, it often runs sales and promotions that can help you save on a sleek new pair of glasses. There are multiple ways to provide your prescription: fill it out online, upload it, or have your doctor send it directly to the site. Use their virtual mirror and see guides for how to find your frame size and the best glasses for your face shape. GlassesUSA.com has a 30-day free return and exchange policy. 

Read our full GlassesUSA.com review.

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Zenni:

• Eyeglasses for men, women, and youth (including teen, pre-teen, children, and toddlers) 
• Sunglasses for men and women
• Blue light blocking glasses

Zenni is the most budget friendly option for glasses shopping, where you can find frames for as little as $7. Delving into Zenni's helpful resource library will demystify all your questions about the costs of wearing glasses, which lenses are best for your prescription, and measuring frame size. Zenni's video capture tool captures a 180° view for envisioning your ideal fit and they employ a 30-day return policy, where you can get 50% back directly or 100% back in store credit. 

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at YesGlasses:

• Eyeglasses for men, women and children
• Sunglasses for men, women and children
• Blue light-blocking glasses

Unless you're dedicated to flashing labels, YesGlasses is a great place to shop for eyewear. Many of its frames closely resemble popular styles from name-brand designs you're probably looking for, at a fraction of the cost. You can check out the latest styles using the YesGlasses virtual try-on. Glasses start as low as $19 with prescription lenses, but can be customized to include thinner lenses, polarized, or gradient lenses for sunglasses. 

Read our full YesGlasses review.

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Warby Parker:

• Eyeglasses for men and women
• Sunglasses for men and women

Most of Warby Parker's frames cost $95 including the cost of the lenses (as long as they're the classic, non-blue light, non-light responsive ones). This makes them pricier than other online glasses brands, but you get the benefit of a large variety of on-trend styles and access to their brick-and-mortar locations. However, Warby Parker's main attraction is the free Home Try-On, where you can try on 5 pairs for 5 days and decide which frames are your favorite. Once you send them all back, Warby Parker will send you a fresh pair. It has a 30-day free return and exchange policy and for every pair purchased at Warby Parker, the brand distributes a free pair of glasses to someone in need. 

Read our full Warby Parker review. 

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Overnight Glasses: 

• Eyeglasses for men, women and children
• Sunglasses for men, women, teens and children

Accidents happen, and sometimes you need a new pair of glasses stat. Overnight Glasses can get you your replacement pair quickly through their rush service. They boast some of the fastest delivery times in the online eyewear market, with single vision frames starting at $40 ready in 24 hours, and progressive lenses ready in just 3 days. Overnight Glasses offers 8 different lens types including blue light blocking and migraine glasses.  Their site's resources include a sales and promotions page and sizing guides. Orders sent back within 14 days can be eligible for return or exchange. 

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Covry:

• Eyeglasses for men and women
• Sunglasses for men and women

Size and shape inclusivity are just as important in eyewear as they are in clothing. However, the eyewear industry standards are not all-encompassing when it comes to diverse bone structures. Covry's Elevated Fit® frames are most notably the best for low-nose bridges and wide faces, making them a great choice when hunting for the best places to buy glasses online using insurance. They offer blue light-blocking lenses and an at-home try-on service, where you can test out 5 frames for 5 days before choosing your favorite pair. Covry has a 14-day return policy, excluding prescription lenses. 

Read our full Covry review.

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at eyeglasses.com:

• Eyeglasses for men, women and children 
• Sunglasses for men, women and children

With over 350 name brands, eyeglasses.com has the largest selection of designer eyewear collections out of any online retailer. They also carry many collaborations with celebrities and collections inspired by historical figures and movie franchises. Haute couture frames are available at a much more accessible price point via their site than you'll find in any store. Their comprehensive resource library lays out how to find the best fit, best style, and best lenses for your budget. If you need to return your glasses, send them back within 30 days and eyeglasses.com will refund 100% of the frame and 50% on custom lenses.

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Roka:

• Eyeglasses for men and women
• Sunglasses for men and women
• Blue light blocking glasses

Lens technology goes beyond correcting your vision deficit. Roka offers lenses made with quality materials like polycarbonate, Trivex, and a thin high-index material for strong prescriptions. Roka has a range of options for customizing according to specific needs— you can elect for photochromic and blue light blocking filters, and progressive lenses can be configured for expanded fields of view and computer use. Roka offers a 30-day return policy and a 2-year warranty on most items.

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Pair Eyewear: 

• Eyeglasses for men, women and children
• Sunglasses for men, women and children

Glasses may not seem like the most practical way to switch up your style on a whim, but Pair Eyewear has an innovative solution to the monotony of wearing the same frames each day. Their base frames start at $60, and you can add on lightweight magnetic top frames to layer for a completely new look. Pair offers blue light-blocking lenses and special occasion top frames with unique designs. What's even better is that for each pair purchased, Pair Eyewear partners with EYElliance to provide glasses and vision care to children in underserved countries. Pair Eyewear fully refunds glasses returned within 30 days of delivery. 

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Felix Gray:

• Blue light glasses for men, women and children
• Amber glasses for men, women and children

Felix Gray started primarily as a computer glasses company, highlighting the negative effects of our increasingly digital world. Felix Gray's blue light-filtered lenses provide relief from the harsh light of our computer and phone screens. They also carry amber glasses meant for before-bedtime scrolling. If you already know you want blue light glasses, Felix Gray is the most convenient place to get them since it bundles the feature directly into all its prescription glasses options. Their frames are hand finished in Italy and they have a 30-day free return and exchange policy.

Read our full Felix Gray review. 

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at SportRx:

• Eyeglasses for men, women and children
• Sunglasses for men, women and children
• Goggles for men, women and children

Sports and other extracurricular activities require a special kind of eyewear that can withstand an athletic lifestyle. SportRx has specialized glasses for 35 different activities, so there are likely prescription sports glasses just for you. Prescription snow, swim, and sport goggles are SportRx's main draw, though they do have athleisure eyewear collections. SportRx also supplies replacement sports lenses and inserts, including those made for brand-name frames. The SportRx site features a sales and promo page and virtual consultations with a trained sports optician. Most glasses are covered by a 1-year warranty and can be returned within 45 days for a refund or exchange. 

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at Zeelool: 

• Eyeglasses for men, women and children
• Sunglasses for men and women

Making eco-friendly glasses calls for both sustainable sourcing and innovative production methods. Zeelool's eco-friendly artsy frames are biodegradable and made with cellulose extracted from cotton. Zeelool sends you your frames in minimal packaging to decrease the brand's impact on the environment. The lowest-priced frames within the Eco-Glasses collection start at just $7.  Zeelool.com offers blue light-blocking filters and specialty lens coatings for UV protection and scratch resistance. They provide a 1-year warranty on all glasses and a 30-day return or exchange policy. 

What to try:

Types of prescription eyewear you can shop at DIFF:

• Eyeglasses for men and women
• Sunglasses for men and women
• Blue light-blocking reading glasses for men and women

Since glasses are an investment piece, it's a good feeling when you know your money is going towards a good cause. DIFF began in 2015 and has since gone on to donate over one million pairs of reading glasses to people in need across the globe. They've collaborated with the likes of the Star Wars and Marvel universes on character-inspired frames. DIFF partners with Sightsavers to help pay for eye exams, prescription glasses, medicine, and surgery in impoverished communities. DIFF offers a 1-year warranty on their products and a 10-day window for returns or exchanges.

What to try:

What is FSA/HSA?

A FSA, or flexible spending account, is an account provided by your employer in order to save on taxes and pay for qualified expenses. The IRS sets a limit on how much money you and your employer can add to your FSA. These funds expire at the end of each calendar year, so remember to use it or lose it. You can pay for qualified items with a debit or credit card linked to your FSA, or you may use your own money and later submit a receipt to your account manager for reimbursement. 

An HSA, or health savings account, is a type of flexible spending account geared towards qualified medical expenses. By enrolling in a High Deductible Health Plan and opening an HSA, your monthly insurance premium is usually lower, while tax exempt dollars from your HSA pay for higher deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and other health-related costs. Your HSA balance rolls over from year to year so you can save up to pay for eligible medical expenses. 

Read more in our personal finance explainer on the differences between HSA vs. FSA. 

What is pupillary distance? 

When ordering glasses online, you'll be prompted for your PD, or pupillary distance. Your PD is a key component of your prescription, as it aligns the power of your lens with the center of your eye and determines at what exact point you'll be looking through. You can measure your PD at home using a ruler as demonstrated in this helpful guide from GlassesUSA.com. The YesGlasses guide for measuring PD with a credit card is useful if you don't have a ruler on hand. 

What are the main differences between lens types?

When ordering glasses online, you have 3 main options for lenses: 

Single vision lenses hold one prescription and are used mostly for people with either myopia (nearsighted) or hyperopia (farsighted). 

Bifocal lenses are usually prescribed for presbyopia, or age-related farsightedness. Bifocals separate your distance prescription from your reading prescription with a distinct horizontal line. 

Progressive lenses accommodate your distance, mid-range, and reading prescriptions all in one lens, allowing you to smoothly transition between separate fields of vision.