All products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The fact that we can even discuss where to buy glasses online is, in some ways, one of the small but real triumphs of the Internet. This may sound archaic depending on your age, but once upon a time (about 15 years ago), buying new prescription eyeglasses meant being limited to whatever frames you could find at your local shop. Now the near-sighted and far-sighted among us can sift throughs thousands of options, including shades, with a few clicks. Here in the Golden Age of Glasses—brought about, in some ways, by the launch of Warby Parker back in 2010—anyone can buy prescription eyewear online.
The Best Prescription Glasses Stores, at a Glance
- The Best Place to Buy Glasses Online, Overall: Warby Parker
- The Best Place to Buy Glasses Online with a Huge Selection: Eyebuydirect
- The Best Place to Buy Glasses Online for Designer Eyewear: GlassesUSA
- The Best Place to Buy Affordable Glasses Online: Zenni
- The Best Place to Buy Glasses Online for People with Low Bridges: Jins
- The Best Place to Buy Prescription Lenses Online: Lensabl
Sure, you still need to see an optician IRL to get an updated prescription—but once you've got that in hand (seriously, make them print it out for you before you leave, you'll need it), you're on your way. Many of the brands that sell glasses online have much gentler prices than the “name brand” frames you'll find in a shop, and they'll often let you test-drive frames at home before you hit the checkout button. No pushy upselling to pricy lens coatings or suspect feedback from the clerk wearing hunter orange frames.
When it comes to where to buy glasses online, we've sussed out the places to get the most stylish pairs, the biggest selection, or frames that'll fit your face just right.
What to look for in an online prescription glasses retailer
Try-on services: The only real downside to shopping for glasses online—and it's not a small one—is that it's harder to see the frames on your face. Glasses are a lot more complicated than a t-shirt, especially given there's no universal sizing. Some brands, like Warby Parker, will let you borrow a few frames to try on before you commit. Others will offer free returns, usually with a tight return window, so you can order frames and try them on at home. A lot of retailers will offer a “virtual try-on”, where you use a webcam or uploaded photo to see how a pair might look on your face. Frankly, we don't trust those very much, and would hesitate to commit to a prescription having only seen how a computer thinks a frame would fit.
Selection: You'll want a broad selection of styles: round and square; metal and acetate; classic and unexpected. You might also care about a designer brand, which a few online prescription glass retailers are beginning to carry.
Return policy: Maybe the frames look all wrong. Maybe the retailer messed up your prescription lenses and now things are even blurrier. Or your significant other actually lol'ed when you tried on your new pair. We weighted retailers that offered genteel return policies, even if they mandated a short window. We also factored the retailers' protection plans and warranties, and whether they covered common issues like a scratched lens or broken frame.
Now that you've seen the light, here are the best places to buy prescription glasses online.
The Best Overall: Warby Parker
The brand we once described as the “Netflix of glasses” when it first launched 12 years ago disrupted the eyewear business, both by shipping test-wear frames to potential buyers and by drastically cutting the price of prescription glasses. Warby still lets shoppers “borrow” five frames at a time for free (there's not even a shipping or return fee) to get a feel for the eyewear IRL. The brand also offers a VR option in which Apple and Android users seeking immediate gratification can see what they look like in Warby's frames for super-fast try-ons. Somewhat ironically, unlike a lot of other online glasses stores, Warby Parker now also has plenty of brick-and-mortar stores where you can not only try on frames, but get eye exams and glasses adjustments as well.
Prices start at $95 for acetate frames, while metal frames start at $145. Shoppers also have the option to pay for polycarbonate lenses, best for those with more compromised vision. Warby's never done sales before, but recently it has offered 15% off if you buy two prescription pairs at the same time.
All lenses come with complimentary anti-reflective and scratch-resistant lens coatings, and if you damage the lenses within the first six months, Warby Parker will replace them for free. The brand even does some interesting partnerships and collabs, like social media star Emma Chamberlain, artist Geoff McFetridge, and…Spider-Man.
The Biggest Selection: Eyebuydirect
Eyebuydirect has one of the largest selections of eyewear around, from its own in-house designs to brand-name options from the likes of Ray-Ban and Oakley. The prices are stunningly low: frames starting at just $6; lenses starting at $7. Of course, you'll probably want something nicer than the bargain basement, and the price tag goes up—though not painfully—if you opt for premium styles, better lenses, and upgraded lens coatings.
One way Eyebuydirect likely keeps prices down is that it doesn't offer an IRL try-on service—you're stuck with the virtual version based on your webcam or a photo you've uploaded.
Unlike Warby Parker, Eyebuydirect regularly features sales, letting you stretch a dollar even farther on a pair (or two) of prescription glasses.
The Best for Designer Eyewear: GlassesUSA
Like Eyebuydirect, GlassesUSA makes its own styles, but the company also stocks frames from brands like Ray-Ban, Gucci, Persol, and other reputable companies—but with a wider selection than what Eyebuydirect offers. The two presciption glasses retailers match up on return policies, warranty, and try-ons, too—as in, GlassesUSA also only offers virtual test-drives, nothing in-person.
That said, we liked the virtual try-on system for the way it used your computer's webcam to create an augmented reality experience—you can turn your head and the glasses move with you. The GlassesUSA app was also helpful for finding your prescription using the eyewear you own—though, of course, your prescription needs to be up-to-date (within the last year) for an online prescription glasses company to use it.
The Best for Affordable Eyewear: Zenni
Among online prescription glasses stores, Zenni has a strong rep for being the place to get budget-priced frames and lenses, so long as you don't mind that they're all the in-house brand. We're impressed by the assortment of frames, ranging from eyeglasses to sunglasses to blue-light blockers and options for kids. Returns are free, but unlike a lot of competitors, Zenni charges for shipping, so you can't order frames to try them on and then send them back without taking a hit.
There is, of course, the brand's typical virtual try-on—though oddly, not all of the frames are available. We're do like the broad selection of lens types, though, particularly the high-impact versions. It's nice to have the option for anyone who's a little rough with their eyewear.
The Best for Low-Nose Bridges: Jins
Best For: Fashion-forward eyewear built to fit a broader range of faces.
One issue with many glasses wearers is that their glasses just don't seem to fit right on their face. A lot of the time, it's because they have low nose bridges, which is the part of the schnoz most glasses rest on. Jins, a Japan-based brand founded in 2001, has frames that fit all face shapes—but uniquely, it specializes in eyewear for people with low nose bridges, a common characteristic for Asian people.
Jins' eyewear often features larger nose pads to prevent slipping, as well as a curved temple and wider lenses, both of which also help with overall fit.
The brand offers hundreds of stylish eyeglasses and sunglasses, and Jins regularly releases limited-collaborations, including one with Snow Peak. Prices are on the higher end, particularly for metal frames—though the designs tend to feel a bit more fashion-driven and thoughtful. Plus, if you're in Los Angeles or San Francisco, you can head to a brick-and-mortar store to try on the frames IRL.
The Best for Lenses: Lensabl
Lensabl can make prescription lenses for literally any piece of eyewear, which opens up a whole new world of specs: suddenly you can revive that favorite pair gathering dust because of the cracked glass, convert a pair of beloved sunglasses to glasses glasses, or pick up some vintage frames at a flea market.
Lensabl's lens options include everything from transitions to blue-light blockers, plus tinted options in a variety of colors and saturations. The price of prescription lenses starts at $77 and goes up depending on the type of lenses and coatings, though Lensabl regularly has sales to make things more affordable.
If you're not holding a pair of frames in hand already, Lensabl recently starting stocking its own glasses under the Everyday Eyewear brand. The selection is a bit limited, especially compared to Eyebuydirect and Zenni, with prices more in line with Warby Parker, but they're decent quality and—of course—offer more lens options than other brands.
