If you need glasses but don’t like wearing them, contact lenses are amazing. They might be a pain at first, but once in place, it’s usually not hard to forget about them for most of the day. Nowadays it’s most popular to order contacts online through a subscription service that conveniently ships to your doorstep, often for less than buying through your doctor.
For many people who don’t currently wear daily lenses, the benefits of online contact subscription services — better long-term eye health at a lower cost — make it well worth “upgrading” from monthly or weekly lenses. For those who already wear dailies, you are well aware there’s no going back, it’s just a matter of choosing the best brand.
Avid wearers of Dailies® brand contact lenses can buy them at online contacts stores like ContactsCart, 1-800 Contacts, or other third-party marketplaces. Such online retailers typically offer a large selection of lenses, including Dailies® as well as dozens of other brands. They also make it exceedingly easy to set up a recurring subscription plan so that you never find yourself without a fresh pair.
In this article we’ll explore the difference between Hubble’s contacts and Dailies®, a more established brand that’s been around for a long time. How do Hubble’s contacts compare to Dailies®? Is the lens quality similar? And regardless of which brand you choose, how is the experience purchasing on ContactsCart, Hubble’s online lens marketplace, compared to ordering from 1-800 Contacts? Let’s take a deeper look.
How do Hubble and Dailies® compare to the optometrist?
Before modern online contact subscriptions, the way to get lenses was to see an eye doctor or optometrist in a physical eyeglass store. Of course, many still do that today, and we definitely recommend it if a) this is your first time procuring corrective lenses, OR b) your eye care needs are quite complicated or have noticeably changed.
The traditional process of buying contact lenses was often too:
- slow (since you have to visit an optometrist several times in person), and
- expensive (since you pay a copay or more each time depending if you have vision insurance), and
- opaque (since most people would just blindly buy whatever brand their optometrist recommended).
Consumers didn’t conduct much (if any) research on their own, wasted a lot of time in waiting rooms and in their car, and typically ended up with overpriced lenses.
Modern subscription services by Hubble, Waldo, Scout by Warby Parker, and 1-800 contacts changed this process dramatically. Those with a prescription still need to get an eye exam and contacts prescription from a local optometrist first, regardless of which online provider you choose. That part remains the same.
But after determining your prescription, you can either shop at an online marketplace and choose between hundreds of contact brands (including traditional brands like Dailies®), or buy a modern brand of lenses (like Hubble) directly from their website.
Both routes are great because they afford the convenience of regularly scheduled contact deliveries, all for a much lower price than via an optometrist.
They both allow you to go to the doctor less and set up a flexible delivery schedule once and forget about it forever. Hubble will even remind you when your prescription is about to expire and prompt you to take action. And as we keep alluding to, most Americans can save money by skipping the costs of extra doctor visits and finding cheaper daily lenses that feel just as good.
So how exactly do contact subscriptions work from Hubble vs Dailies®?
It’s a bit different getting a subscription to Hubble vs Dailies® contacts. Hubble is sold direct-to-consumer, meaning you can sign up directly on Hubblecontacts.com and start your contact subscription right away.
Dailies®, on the other hand, is a more traditional contact lens brand that does not sell its contact lenses directly on their website. Other than through optometrists, its contacts are distributed on third party marketplaces like ContactsCart.com and 1800contacts.com, which are both reputable and convenient retailers if you’re looking to get a Dailies® subscription.
Why buy from online contact marketplaces like ContactsCart or 1-800 contacts?
1-800 Contacts and ContactsCart aren’t lens manufacturers like Hubble or Alcon, the maker of Dailies® brand. Instead, they merely sell established contacts brands from top players (Alcon, Bausch & Lomb, CooperVision and Johnson & Johnson).
Like Amazon for contact lenses, they allow you to choose your favorite brand and then subscribe for recurring shipments, not unlike the experience of signing up directly on hubblecontacts.com for a subscription to Hubble lenses.
With either company, you’re able to sign up, pause or cancel shipments at any time. When your prescription expires, renewals can be fairly easy. 1 800 Contacts even offers an Express Exam, which is an online eye exam when renewing your prescription so long as you’ve been previously examined by an eye doctor in real life (IRL).
Basically it’s a way to take an eye exam online, which is similar (albeit slightly less robust) than the eye chart and questions you might remember from your in-person visit. The results of your virtual exam are then reviewed by a real optometrist and in most cases, they are able to renew your prescription within 24 hours. pretty neat, right?
So while 1 800 contacts may have made renewals easier than Hubble’s subscription plan, there are other benefits to Hubble that, for many, tip the balance in its favor. Let’s review them so you can choose the best option for your lifestyle.
Hubble vs Dailies®: Which subscription service is better?
While these subscription services are similar in terms of cost and structure, there are definitely a few key differences. Scan the following chart to quickly grasp the important nuances of Hubble vs Dailies.
We’ll point out that Hubble has a much better introductory offer (a month of free lenses for just $1!), so if you’re on the fence, you might as well take advantage and see how they fit for yourself.
Otherwise, the two subscriptions are very comparable in terms of price and user experience. If you have an astigmatism, or require multifocal correction, we recommend buying lenses from 1 800 contacts because Hubble can’t help you.
As you can see, there are pros and cons to each, but when it comes to contact lenses, you probably want to know about lens quality as well. We’re talking about your precious eyeballs after all….
So how does the quality of Hubble’s own proprietary brand compare to a well-known brand like Dailies®?