Medication costs often result in significant financial burdens for patients. With an increasing number of drugs that are not covered by insurance, such as cosmetic/lifestyle drugs and GLP-1s, websites like Mark Cuban Cost Plus, GoodRx, and TrumpRx may lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs by offering cost savings separate from traditional health insurance. For people who are uninsured or have high-deductible plans, even generic drugs may cause financial stress. Patients may also need medications that are excluded from their prescription insurance benefit. Cash programs can help patents by scanning multiple networks, enabling patients to get the best deals.
Most of these programs operate outside of prescription insurance, but the insurance policy information for Mark Cuban Cost Plus says that that they accept prescription insurance for select providers and plan to expand the number of insurance companies providing service. The GoodRx website specifically states, “GoodRx cannot be combined with your insurance or any federal or state-funded program such as Medicare or Medicaid. GoodRx is not insurance.” For TrumpRx, patients can only use the pricing if paying cash. Read on for details about each of these programs and a comparison of their costs for some commonly used medications.
GoodRx
GoodRx was created to make medications more affordable for everyone. The pricing for the same medication may differ by pharmacy, sometimes by more than $100; the founder of GoodRx noticed this and wanted to create a way for consumers to be able to track the prices of drugs across a variety of retail pharmacies. GoodRx helps patients find the lowest cost option and also incorporates medication coupons. GoodRx does not sell medications directly to patients; it finds the best price at local pharmacies for that medication. Patients may then purchase the medication directly from the specific pharmacy using a GoodRx discount card.
TrumpRx
TrumpRx is designed to help Americans find discounted drug prices. It is a government-backed search engine that may help consumers find lower prices for brand and generic medications. However, TrumpRx is not a pharmacy and does not sell directly to patients. Instead, TrumpRx appears to collate pricing from other sources.
For generic drugs, TrumpRx displays pricing for Mark Cuban Cost Plus and for Amazon Pharmacy, with separate pricing shown for members with and without an Amazon Prime subscription. TrumpRx also shows the price “available for pickup” at local pharmacies; this price appears to align with GoodRx pricing. For brand drugs, pricing may be associated with manufacturer direct-to-patient programs or pricing available through a TrumpRx discount card.
Mark Cuban Cost Plus
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company is designed to help make drugs cheaper for Americans. The company proports to cut out the pharmacy middleman and directly negotiate with manufacturers to get the best possible prices. Once the cheapest option is negotiated, there is a 15-percent markup for company profit. Unlike GoodRx and TrumpRx, Mark Cuban Cost Plus is an actual pharmacy that sells both brand and generic drugs directly to patients.
It is important to note that the Mark Cuban Cost Plus pricing displayed does not include shipping charges. For standard shipping, rates are as follows:
- $5.15 for 1-2 prescriptions
- $7.50 for 3-4 prescriptions
- $9.50 for 5-6 prescriptions
- $16.00 for 7 or more prescriptions
- $55 per order for cold chain
The “cost plus” model is not unique to Mark Cuban. Other smaller pharmacies, such as Blueberry Pharmacy here in Pittsburgh, provide similar models of “cost plus pricing” for a variety of products, which can lead to patient savings.
Price Comparison
To give you an idea of how these programs compare, we reviewed the pricing for a selection of twenty commonly used medications including brands, generics, and biosimilars. Not all medications were available from all programs, but we have included the data where available.
For GoodRx, pricing shown below is the lowest price available for pharmacies at the PHSL office zip code. Pharmacies available generally include CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Giant Eagle, Kroger, Target, Walmart, and Sam’s Club.
The Mark Cuban Cost Plus pricing shown includes the prescription price without shipping; as a reminder shipping is an additional $5.15 for 1-2 prescriptions.
For generic medications, the TrumpRx pricing is either going to be the lower of Mark Cuban Cost Plus or Amazon. However, note that this Amazon pricing requires an Amazon Prime membership, which may not be available to all patients. Furthermore, when TrumpRx displays pricing for Mark Cuban Cost Plus, it appears that shipping costs are included within the quoted cost.
The chart above provides the prices of the medications displayed on each website. Note that the data was gathered July 21, 2026 and only provides a snapshot in time. This pricing should not be relied upon for any given product, as drug prices frequently change.
Key Observations and Takeaways
- When looking to fill a generic prescription, Mark Cuban Cost Plus generally offers the most competitive pricing; however, if only ordering a single prescription, shipping costs may offset cost savings.
- For many generic medications, if a patient has Amazon Prime, the free shipping benefit may result in a lower prescription cost (vs. Mark Cuban Cost Plus).
- Mark Cuban Cost Plus pharmacy offers a limited number of brand and biosimilar drugs, so finding direct manufacturer programs, either through GoodRx or TrumpRx, may help patients find better pricing for brands.
- Neither Mark Cuban Cost Plus nor Amazon Pharmacy appear to fulfill controlled substance prescriptions, evidenced by the lack of availability of either gabapentin or zolpidem. For controlled substances, GoodRx may still provide the lowest cost option.
Overall, drug discount websites offer patients support for researching affordable drug pricing. For those that are uninsured or lack coverage for certain medications, receiving these drugs at discounted prices can help increase access. For questions about how certain products are covered on these programs, and how these prices compare to third-party coverage, manufacturers should reach out to PHSL for more information.
PHSL Summer 2026 Newsletter: