Best Online Birth Control to Help You Plan Your Family on Your Terms

Best Availability: GoodRx Care

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Key Specs

• Cost: $59 single telehealth consult or $19 per visit with Gold membership (which costs $10 per month), plus cost of prescription
• Medical Consultation Required? Yes 
• Accepts Insurance? No
  

Why We Chose It

GoodRx Care offers same-day telehealth appointments for women, transgender men, and gender non-conforming people over the age of 18. Unlike some other services, it can prescribe birth control to first-time users as well as those who have an existing prescription.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

GoodRx has a reputation for finding the lowest prices on a huge variety of prescription drugs, but its GoodRx Care program takes its mission a step further by connecting patients with telehealth providers. Getting a prescription for birth control is easy. Simply request a consult with one of GoodRx’s telehealth providers. They’ll help you decide which form of birth control is right for you, even if you’ve never used birth control before. They can prescribe pills, the patch, the ring, or the shot, and you’re not limited to only generics. 

Your chosen birth control can be shipped to you discreetly or the prescription can be sent to your local pharmacy the same day, making it ideal for those times when you’ve forgotten to renew your prescription. GoodRx does not accept insurance, so all costs will be out of pocket and will vary based on the type of birth control chosen. 

Users can pay for a single telehealth visit or sign up for the Gold membership plan, which provides free home delivery, discounted telehealth visits, and additional savings on prescriptions, for $10 a month plus the cost of medication.

Best For Teens: Twentyeight Health

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Key Specs

• Cost: $20 annual fee, prescriptions starting at $16 per pack without insurance or $0 copay with insurance 
• Medical Consultation Required? Yes
• Accepts Insurance? Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

Unlike many online birth control companies, Twentyeight Health can provide birth control for teens over 13 (as allowed by state laws), accepts insurance, and offers a wide variety of medication options.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

Having a conversation with your teen about birth control can be awkward and intimidating, but it's important. With Twentyeight Health, teens as young as 13 can get a prescription for birth control. They can prescribe pills, the patch, the ring, and the shot. The company is available in 34 states and Washington D.C., and many states allow minors to consent to birth control themselves. In states with higher age limits, there may be certain qualifications in order to obtain birth control, such as already having a child or being married. In most other states, minors can get birth control prescriptions with parental consent.

Twentyeight Health offers a large variety of services encompassing more than just birth control including prenatal vitamins, herpes treatment, and the morning-after pill. Simply pay the $20 annual fee for the medical consult. After that, you and your telehealth doctor can decide on what birth control is right for you.

If paying with insurance, including Medicaid, more than 100 options are available. Without insurance, patients still have more than 60 brands to choose from starting at $16 per pack, making this an affordable choice for many. Prescriptions arrive in three to five days in discreet packaging if shipped to your home.

Most Affordable: Hers

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Key Specs

• Cost: Plans start at $12 per month
• Medical Consultation Required? Yes 
• Accepts Insurance? No
  

Why We Chose It

Hers believes that birth control should be available to everyone without a hassle. It offers more than a dozen birth control pill options and keeps costs low by not working with insurance. Prescriptions starting at $12 per month with no upfront fees.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

If you don’t have health insurance, birth control can seem expensive. Hers circumvents insurance entirely, offering low-cost monthly plans that automatically ship to your home. 

Unlike many of the other services we researched, Hers doesn’t charge any upfront fees—no annual fee or medical consultation fees are charged when starting a prescription. (A $5 fee applies to follow-up medical visits.) Instead, the company uses an online intake form to gauge your needs and preferences before connecting you to a licensed medical professional who will help you find the right birth control. 

Hers simplifies the process so much that there’s not as much information on the website as many of its competitors—and it doesn’t offer the same level of variety, either. Only pills are available, so if you prefer a patch or ring, consider another company might be better.

Best for Acne: SimpleHealth

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Key Specs

• Cost: $20 consult fee; birth control pills as little as $0 copay, $15/month self-pay
• Medical Consultation Required: No
• Accepts Insurance: Yes
  

Why We Chose It

SimpleHealth has generic versions of all four types of birth control pills approved by the FDA to treat acne and will prescribe to people as young as 13 (as allowed by state laws).

Pros & Cons

Overview

Research has shown that hormonal birth control can help reduce hormonal acne breakouts by reducing oil production in the skin. The best birth control pill for acne is the combination pill, which contains both estrogen and progestin. Four types of birth control pills have been approved by the FDA to treat acne: Ortho Tri-Cyclen (norgestimate, ethinyl estradiol), Estrostep Fe (norethindrone acetate, ethinyl estradiol, iron supplement), Yaz (drospirenone, ethinyl estradiol), and Beyaz (drospirenone, ethinyl estradiol, levomefolate calcium). SimpleHealth has generic versions of all four of these pills, as well as many other birth control options, including the patch and the ring. 

To receive care, you fill out your personal information, medical history, and medication preferences and pay a $20 consultation fee. Within 72 hours, a doctor will review your submitted information and write you a prescription, if appropriate. You should receive your medication in discreet packaging within four to seven business days from one of SimpleHealth’s partner pharmacies.

SimpleHealth accepts most major insurance companies, and birth control is typically a $0 copay with insurance. Without insurance, prescriptions start at $15 per month. While your consult fee is not covered by insurance, it does buy you a year of access to SimpleHealth’s doctors, whom you can message at any time with questions about your medication or its effect on your acne. 

Some telehealth services prefer that patients consult a physician in person when first accessing birth control to treat acne, so if this is your first time trying birth control to help manage breakouts, you may want to reach out to customer service to confirm SimpleHealth can help you before paying for an online consult.

Most Options: Pandia Health

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Key Specs

• Cost: $25 medical consult fee if prescription needed; prescriptions are free with most insurance, as low as $7 per pack without insurance 
• Medical Consultation Required: No
• Accepts Insurance: Yes
  

Why We Chose It 

Pandia Health offers more options than any of the other companies that we researched: 148 birth control pills, two patches, and two rings.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

Sometimes you just want options—and that’s when Pandia Health shines. With 148 pill options plus rings and patches, Pandia Health offers a huge variety of both name-brand and generic birth control options. If you already have a prescription, you can skip the $25 medical consult; the company will contact your doctor and handle ordering and delivery. No prescription? Your intake questionnaire will be reviewed by physicians who can recommend the best option. 

Pandia Health is the only company we researched that quoted rates as low as $7 with an active prescription even without insurance. In addition to low prices, the company also sends a goodie bag of extra items like candy, stickers, or tea with each shipment.

Best App: Planned Parenthood Direct

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Key Specs

• Cost: Free visit to request birth control pills or emergency contraception (EC) by mail; $15–$25 visit fee to request prescription sent to local pharmacy; birth control pills $15–$25 per pack, EC starts at $80 per pill
• Medical Consultation Required: In some cases
• Accepts Insurance: Medicaid accepted in three states
  

Why We Chose It

Through the Planned Parenthood Direct app, you can get a birth control pill prescription delivered to your home, arrange to pick up the patch or ring at your local pharmacy, or make an appointment to get an IUD, implant, or shot at a local Planned Parenthood health center.

Pros & Cons

Overview

Planned Parenthood Direct is operated by Kaleido Health Solutions, Inc. The Planned Parenthood Direct app makes requesting birth control quick and easy. First, you create an account and indicate your state to see the services available to you. To access care simply click on the button with the kind of care you’re seeking: birth control, UTI treatment, emergency contraception, or an in-person or virtual Planned Parenthood health care center appointment.

There’s also a button to read the extensive FAQs before requesting care if needed. Then, you answer a series of questions about your symptoms or situation. A medical professional will assess your request and respond to you in the app within 24 hours. In some cases, a telehealth appointment will be required, but not always. 

You can order a three- or six-month birth control pill supply, with automatic refills for up to a year. (Most birth control requires an annual check-in with a healthcare provider to continue use.)

Birth control pills cost about $15–$25 per pack, and EC starts at $80 per pill. There is no visit fee to request birth control pills or EC by mail. If you request pills, a patch, a ring, or UTI treatment prescriptions to be sent to your local pharmacy, the visit fee is $15–$25, and the prescription costs are dependent on the pharmacy. There are 10 pill options to choose from: nine combination pills and one progestin-only pill. You can read the list of options in the FAQs on birth control.

Best for Education: Nurx

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Key Specs

• Cost: $25 annual fee; prescriptions are usually free with insurance, or as low as $15 per pack without insurance
• Medical Consultation Required? Yes, but not in person
• Accepts Insurance? Yes

Why We Chose It 

The Nurx website offers a treasure trove of educational content, so you’re never in the dark about your care or options.

Pros & Cons

Overview 

If the world of birth control seems overwhelming, Nurx is happy to explain it to you. The provider, which has been operating since 2015, goes above and beyond to provide helpful information about your birth control options. With a blog that covers birth control, sex ed, dermatology, health news, and more, users can easily find answers to most of their questions on the website. Need more guidance? You can message the medical team anytime with questions. Nurx will also prescribe birth control to anyone over 13 within the guidelines of their state. 

Although Nurx offers pills, patches, rings, and shots, and accepts insurance, the service isn’t as cost-effective as some other services for those without insurance. Instead of offering discounted prices or lower-cost generics of rings, patches, and shots, its website says that it will instead prescribe lower-cost pills. If you’re looking for a specific birth control delivery system, discount services such as GoodRx or Blink Health might be a better choice.

Best for Convenient Renewal: Lemonaid Health

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Key Specs

• Cost: $25 annual fee, refunded if it can’t provide service; various prices for prescriptions
• Medical Consultation Required? Yes, but not always a telehealth visit 
• Accepts Insurance? No
  

Why We Chose It 

Lemonaid Health reliably delivers three months of birth control pills to your door, ensuring you never miss a pill. 

Overview 

Consistency is key when it comes to birth control. Lemonaid Health ensures you always have your birth control pills by sending a three-month supply to your home quarterly, after a successful medical consult, good for one year. It offers popular name brands as well as generics to fit your budget. The service keeps its prices low by not working with insurance.

Lemonaid Health is very pill focused—its automatic delivery option only applies to birth control pills. If you prefer the patch or ring, you’ll have to pick up your prescription from the pharmacy. Lemonaid Health also stipulates that patients who want to use birth control to treat acne or heavy cycles should consult with their doctor first.