DATA TRANSPARENCY
How prices work
Last updated
The value of a price comparison depends on where the numbers come from and how fresh they are. Here is exactly how BetterBuyRx collects, refreshes, and ranks prices.
Where the data comes from
For each medication we run source adapters that read publicly available pricing. We group them into a few categories:
Wholesale benchmark (reference only)
NADAC, the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost published by CMS. This is what pharmacies pay to acquire a drug, not a price you can buy at. We show it only as a reference and never as the headline price.
Store generic programs
Published discount lists such as the Walmart $4/$10 generics, Costco member pricing, Publix, H-E-B, Sam's Club, and Meijer's free-prescription program. These come from each retailer's own published catalog.
Transparent-pricing and mail-order pharmacies
Pharmacies that publish their prices directly, including Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy, Honeybee Health, Blink Health, HealthWarehouse, DiRx, and licensed international mail-order pharmacies.
Coupon / discount networks
Free coupon programs such as GoodRx, SingleCare, Optum Perks, RxSaver, and Hippo. When a coupon price is available we show it alongside the others so you can see which is lowest.
How often it updates
Static store programs, such as published generic lists, are refreshed on a weekly schedule. Adapter health is monitored several times a day so we can spot a source that stops responding. Live sources are queried at the moment you search, and every quote is stored with the source and the time it was fetched so you can judge its freshness.
How results are ranked
Results are ranked by price. No pharmacy pays for placement. Wholesale benchmark figures such as NADAC are shown only as a reference and never as a price you can buy at. When a pharmacy publishes a different pack size than the one you chose, we scale the price to your quantity and note what we scaled from. Read more on our methodology page.
Accuracy limits
We work hard to keep prices accurate, but they are estimates based on public sources. Pharmacies can change a price after we fetch it, and local taxes and eligibility rules can change the final total.
Prices vary by pharmacy, location, quantity, and eligibility, and they change over time.
Sources include CMS for the NADAC benchmark (Medicaid pharmacy pricing) and each pharmacy's own published pricing. Spotted an error? Email data@betterbuyrx.com.