Brand vs Generic Drug Prices: What US Pharmacies Pay for Viagra, Cialis, Latisse and More (NADAC, October 2026)

A US pharmacy that buys one brand Viagra 100 mg tablet pays about $83.72 for it. The same pharmacy pays about 13 cents for a generic sildenafil 100 mg tablet. Those are not retail prices or website prices. They are the national average acquisition costs that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes every week from pharmacy invoices, known as NADAC.

This page sets out what US pharmacies paid for brand and generic versions of eight common medicines in the week of 14 October 2026: Viagra, three strengths of Cialis, Propecia, Latisse, Lumigan and Stromectol. It also shows how the generic prices moved during 2026, why the gap is huge for some drugs and small for others, and what NADAC does and does not tell you about the price you pay at the counter. The method is described in full so anyone can check or repeat it. We plan to refresh the numbers monthly.

Last updated: 19 October 2026, using the CMS NADAC 2026 file with an as-of date of 14 October 2026.

The short answer

For erectile dysfunction and hair loss tablets, generics cost pharmacies a tiny fraction of the brand. Generic sildenafil 100 mg was 0.16% of the Viagra price (Viagra cost about 635 times more per tablet). Generic tadalafil 20 mg was 0.31% of the Cialis 20 mg price (about 322 times more for the brand). Generic finasteride 1 mg was about 1.2% of Propecia.

For eye and lash products the gap is much smaller. Generic bimatoprost 0.03% eyelash solution cost 65% of the Latisse price per mL, generic bimatoprost 0.01% eye drops 41% of Lumigan, and generic ivermectin 3 mg 45% of Stromectol. Of the products compared here, these also have the fewest generic suppliers in the NADAC file: two labeler codes each for the two bimatoprost products, against 15 for sildenafil 100 mg and 20 for tadalafil 20 mg.

NADAC is what pharmacies pay to buy the drug, not what you pay. Your price adds a dispensing fee and the pharmacy's margin, and depends on insurance, coupons and where you shop.

Brand vs generic prices at a glance

Pair (same strength and form)	Brand NADAC per unit	Generic NADAC per unit	Brand costs	Generic as % of brand
Viagra 100 mg vs sildenafil 100 mg (tablet)	$83.71647	$0.13192	635 times more	0.16%
Cialis 20 mg vs tadalafil 20 mg	$53.82543	$0.16709	322 times more	0.31%
Cialis 10 mg vs tadalafil 10 mg	$53.68740	$0.15341	350 times more	0.29%
Cialis 5 mg vs tadalafil 5 mg	$9.20446	$0.10319	89 times more	1.1%
Propecia 1 mg vs finasteride 1 mg	$3.77668 (median of two package rates)	$0.04359	87 times more	1.2%
Lumigan 0.01% vs bimatoprost 0.01% eye drops (per mL)	$103.06335 (median of three)	$42.75200 (median of three)	2.4 times more	41%
Stromectol 3 mg vs ivermectin 3 mg	$4.45930	$1.99423	2.2 times more	45%
Latisse 0.03% vs bimatoprost 0.03% eyelash solution (per mL)	$36.23316 (median of two)	$23.46175 (median of two)	1.5 times more	65%

Ratios are calculated from the unrounded per-unit figures shown. Where a product has more than one NADAC rate in the same week (for the drops and lash solutions, because package sizes are priced separately), the table uses the median of those rates; the like-for-like package comparisons are further down.

What NADAC is, in plain terms

NADAC stands for National Average Drug Acquisition Cost. CMS describes it as "a national benchmark that is reflective of the prices paid by retail community pharmacies". It is built from voluntary monthly surveys in which retail pharmacies send in their invoices, and CMS publishes a new file every week.

Three details matter when reading it:

• It is ingredient cost only. The survey asks for the purchase price of the drug, described as "drug ingredient cost only". No pharmacist time, dispensing fee or profit is included.
• Off-invoice rebates are excluded. The CMS methodology says discounts or rebates "that are not reflected on the invoice at the drug line item level" are not counted. Manufacturer rebates paid to insurers do not appear either.
• Brands and generics are priced differently. The methodology says one generic rate applies to all generic products within a drug grouping, and brand products in a group generally share one brand rate. The methodology also allows separate rates by package size for products priced per mL or gram, which explains the eye and lash products below. A few per-tablet products (Propecia and generic tadalafil 20 mg) also showed two rates that week; the file does not say why. Since December 2024, CMS has calculated monthly generic rates using a three-month moving average, which it describes as a temporary, short-term measure; it smooths sudden swings.

That is why NADAC is useful for comparing brand and generic: both numbers come from the same kind of invoice, collected the same way, in the same week.

What NADAC does not tell you

NADAC is not a shelf price. When you fill a prescription, the amount charged is usually the ingredient cost plus a dispensing fee and the pharmacy's margin, or a price your insurer has negotiated, or a coupon or discount-card price. Many state Medicaid programmes use NADAC as a basis for paying pharmacies for the ingredient, and pay a separate professional dispensing fee.

So a generic tablet that costs a pharmacy 13 cents can still be charged at several dollars, and brand prices at the counter can be lowered by manufacturer savings cards. What NADAC shows is the floor: the real cost of the medicine itself to a US pharmacy. When the floor is 13 cents against $83.72, the gap you see at the counter comes mostly from the brand price, not from the work of dispensing.

Viagra vs generic sildenafil price

In the week of 14 October 2026, every brand Viagra 100 mg NADAC row (four package codes, from Pfizer and Viatris) carried the same rate: $83.71647 per tablet. Generic sildenafil 100 mg tablets carried $0.13192 per tablet across 33 package codes from 15 different labeler codes. The brand cost 634.6 times the generic.

Eight tablets, a common monthly quantity for as-needed use, came to $669.73 for brand Viagra and $1.06 for generic sildenafil at NADAC. Generic sildenafil 50 mg was $0.10675 and 25 mg $0.12199 per tablet the same week. No Viagra 50 mg rows appeared in the file after the week of 13 May 2026, when the rate was $84.56946.

Whether generic sildenafil works the same as Viagra is a separate question. In short, FDA-approved generics must show bioequivalence to the brand; our post on whether generic Viagra works as well as Viagra covers the studies, and generic Viagra in the US covers who makes it.

Cialis vs generic tadalafil cost

Cialis is sold by Lilly in four strengths. Three of them appear in the comparison:

• Cialis 20 mg: $53.82543 per tablet against $0.16709 for generic tadalafil 20 mg (39 package codes, 20 labeler codes; 30 rows carried $0.16709 and 9 carried $0.14633, so the median and the file's own matched generic rate are $0.16709). The brand cost 322 times the generic.
• Cialis 10 mg: $53.68740 against $0.15341, 350 times the generic. The 10 mg and 20 mg brand tablets cost almost the same per tablet.
• Cialis 5 mg: $9.20446 against $0.10319, 89 times the generic. The 5 mg tablet, used for daily dosing, is priced much lower per tablet.

For daily use, 30 tablets of Cialis 5 mg came to $276.13 at NADAC and 30 tablets of generic tadalafil 5 mg to $3.10. For as-needed use, 8 tablets of Cialis 20 mg came to $430.60, against $1.34 for generic tadalafil 20 mg. The daily and as-needed schedules themselves are compared in our generic Cialis guide.

Propecia vs finasteride cost

Propecia (finasteride 1 mg, now sold by Organon) had two NADAC rates that week: $3.96920 per tablet for the 30-tablet bottle and $3.58415 for the 90-tablet bottle. Generic finasteride 1 mg was $0.04359 per tablet across nine package codes from five labeler codes.

Thirty tablets, one month at the usual dose of 1 mg a day, cost a pharmacy $119.08 as Propecia (30-tablet bottle rate) and $1.31 as generic finasteride. The brand-to-generic ratio is 82 times on the 90-tablet rate and 91 times on the 30-tablet rate, or 87 times on the median used in the summary table.

Finasteride 5 mg, the strength used for an enlarged prostate, showed the same pattern: Proscar 5 mg at $5.70180 per tablet against generic finasteride 5 mg at $0.06881. Side effects by dose are covered in our post on finasteride side effects at 1 mg and 5 mg.

Latisse vs generic bimatoprost price

Latisse (bimatoprost 0.03% for eyelash growth) is priced per mL in NADAC, with a separate rate for each package size. Matching each package with its generic equivalent:

Package	Latisse per mL	Generic per mL	Latisse package cost	Generic package cost
5 mL bottle	$31.49063	$20.64928	$157.45	$103.25
3 mL bottle	$40.97569	$26.27422	$122.93	$78.82

Both pairs work out at roughly 1.5 to 1.6 times more for the brand. The generic eyelash solution rows come from two labeler codes, Sandoz and Alembic, which both list 3 mL and 5 mL packs in the FDA's National Drug Code directory. The Latisse label lists the 3 mL bottle with 70 applicators and the 5 mL bottle with 140.

One detail stands out. Generic bimatoprost 0.03% eye drops, approved for glaucoma rather than lashes, had a median NADAC of $6.96893 per mL that week across 16 package codes (rates ranged from $4.20713 to $8.85194). That is about 30% of the generic lash-solution rate for the same strength. The two are not interchangeable products: the lash version is approved for eyelash growth and comes with sterile single-use applicators, while the eye-drop version is approved for raised eye pressure and putting it on the lash line is off-label. Our comparison of Careprost and Latisse and the post on whether insurance covers Latisse go further into lash costs.

Lumigan vs generic bimatoprost 0.01% price

Lumigan 0.01% is the glaucoma eye drop from the same maker as Latisse. Generic bimatoprost 0.01% first appears in the 2026 NADAC file in the week of 17 June 2026, at $62.22811 per mL. By the week of 7 October it had fallen to $42.75200, a drop of 31% in under four months, while Lumigan stayed between about $101 and $103 per mL all year.

Matched by bottle size in the 14 October file, Lumigan cost $103.06335 per mL against $42.51553 for the 2.5 mL bottle, $102.99002 against $42.75200 for 5 mL, and $103.10858 against $43.41341 for 7.5 mL. The generic rows came from two labeler codes. FDA's Drugs@FDA lists two approved generic applications for bimatoprost 0.01% drops (Amneal and Mankind Pharma). How Lumigan, generic bimatoprost and Careprost relate is covered in Lumigan vs Careprost.

Stromectol vs generic ivermectin price

Brand Stromectol 3 mg (Merck) had a NADAC of $4.45930 per tablet, unchanged since its effective date of 19 November 2025. Generic ivermectin 3 mg was $1.99423 across four package codes from three labeler codes. The brand costs 2.2 times the generic.

Generic ivermectin is also the clearest price fall of 2026 in this group: $3.06184 per tablet in the first January file, $2.42127 in April, $2.06234 in August and $1.99423 in October, down 35% over the period. The approved uses and generic options are set out in Stromectol vs generic ivermectin.

How generic prices moved during 2026

Brand prices barely moved. Viagra 100 mg went from $83.56812 in the first January file to $83.71647 in October, and Cialis 20 mg from $53.71780 to $53.82543, both changes of about 0.2%.

Generic prices moved more. Generic tadalafil 20 mg fell from $0.20848 in January to a low of $0.15815 from late August to mid September, then rose to $0.16709 in October, still 20% below January. Generic sildenafil 100 mg drifted from $0.13620 to a low of $0.12603 in late July and early August and ended at $0.13192 in October, 3% below January.

Generic (per tablet or mL)	First file of January 2026	Week of 14 October 2026	Change
Tadalafil 20 mg	$0.20848	$0.16709	Down 20%
Sildenafil 100 mg	$0.13620	$0.13192	Down 3%
Ivermectin 3 mg	$3.06184	$1.99423	Down 35%
Bimatoprost 0.03% eyelash solution (median)	$25.19237	$23.46175	Down 7%
Bimatoprost 0.01% eye drops (median)	$62.22811 (17 June, first appearance)	$42.75200	Down 31%

What a typical supply costs a pharmacy

Per-tablet prices can hide how large the differences are over a month. Multiplying the NADAC rates by a typical quantity gives the ingredient cost of a supply:

Supply	Brand at NADAC	Generic at NADAC
8 tablets of 100 mg sildenafil	$669.73 (Viagra)	$1.06
8 tablets of 20 mg tadalafil	$430.60 (Cialis)	$1.34
30 tablets of 5 mg tadalafil	$276.13 (Cialis)	$3.10
30 tablets of finasteride 1 mg	$119.08 (Propecia, 30-tablet rate)	$1.31
5 mL of bimatoprost 0.03% eyelash solution	$157.45 (Latisse)	$103.25

Why the gap is huge for some drugs and small for others

The clearest pattern in the file is the number of suppliers. In the week of 14 October 2026:

Generic description	Package codes (NDC rows)	Labeler codes	Generic as % of brand
Tadalafil 20 mg tablet	39	20	0.31%
Tadalafil 5 mg tablet	32	19	1.1%
Sildenafil 100 mg tablet	33	15	0.16%
Finasteride 1 mg tablet	9	5	1.2%
Ivermectin 3 mg tablet	4	3	45%
Bimatoprost 0.01% eye drops	6	2	41%
Bimatoprost 0.03% eyelash solution	4	2	65%

A labeler code is the company part of the National Drug Code. It can belong to a manufacturer or to a repackager, so it is a rough count of suppliers, not an exact count of makers.

The FDA studied this link directly. In a December 2019 analysis of drugs whose first generic entered between 2015 and 2017, the median generic price, measured by average manufacturer price, was 39% below the pre-generic brand price with one generic maker, 54% below with two, 79% below with four, and more than 95% below with six or more. Invoice prices from IQVIA showed a similar pattern (31%, 44%, 73% and more than 95%).

The products in this comparison fit that pattern: the ED tablets, with 15 to 20 labeler codes, sit far below their brands, while the bimatoprost products, with two each, sit at 41% to 65% of theirs. Ivermectin 3 mg, with three labeler codes, sits at 45%. This is a pattern in one week of data, not proof of cause for any single drug; supply problems, demand and how recently generics launched also matter, as the falling bimatoprost 0.01% price shows.

Are the generics the same medicine?

All the generic prices on this page are for FDA-approved generics sold to US pharmacies. To be approved, a generic must contain the same active ingredient, strength and dosage form as the brand and show that it is bioequivalent, meaning it delivers the drug to the body at the same rate and extent within set limits. We cover that evidence in whether generic and brand-name medicines are the same, so it is not repeated here.

Brands made for non-US markets, such as the sildenafil, tadalafil and bimatoprost brands sold in India, are not FDA-approved for the US and are not part of NADAC. Some FDA-approved US generics in this data are made by Indian companies; the difference is the approval, not the country. Their prices and quality checks cannot be read from this data.

How we calculated this

1. We downloaded the CMS NADAC 2026 file (dataset fbb83258-11c7-47f5-8b18-5f8e79f7e704) from download.medicaid.gov on 19 October 2026. It holds 41 weekly as-of dates, from 7 January to 14 October 2026.
2. For each product we selected rows by the NDC description (for example "SILDENAFIL 100 MG TABLET" and "VIAGRA 100 MG TABLET") and kept the rows with the latest as-of date, 14 October 2026.
3. Where all rows for a description shared one rate, we used it. Where rates differed (package sizes priced separately), we report the median and also show the matched packages. Brand rows carry a "corresponding generic" rate in the file, which we used to match packages.
4. Package sizes come from the FDA National Drug Code directory.
5. Ratios and percentages use the unrounded rates. Supply costs are the per-unit rate times the quantity, rounded to the cent.
6. For the 2026 trend we took the median rate in the first weekly file of each month.

The calculation is simple enough to repeat with a spreadsheet. If you find a difference, the most common cause is picking up a different description (for example orally disintegrating tablets) or a different as-of week.

Limits of this comparison

• NADAC covers retail community pharmacies. Mail-order, specialty and hospital pharmacies may pay different prices.
• The survey is voluntary, and CMS currently smooths generic rates with a temporary three-month moving average, so a sudden market change can take weeks to appear.
• Off-invoice rebates and discounts are not included, so the brand's true net cost to some buyers may be lower than its NADAC.
• One week is a snapshot. The trend section shows how much generic prices can move in a year.
• NADAC tells you nothing about out-of-pocket costs under a particular insurance plan.

What this means if you are paying out of pocket

If a pharmacy quotes a price for a generic ED tablet that is many times its NADAC, the difference is mostly fees and margin, and prices between pharmacies can vary widely. Asking for the generic by name, comparing cash prices at several pharmacies, and asking about 90-day supplies are the usual ways to bring it down.

For the eye and lash products, the generic saves less, because the generic itself is still expensive. A prescriber can tell you whether a generic is suitable for your use, and whether the lower-cost glaucoma version is appropriate for you at all; for lashes, the approved product is the eyelash solution with its applicators.

For any of these medicines, a prescription and a check of your medical history come first. PDE5 inhibitors such as sildenafil and tadalafil must not be taken with nitrates, and bimatoprost can darken the iris, likely permanently.

Where SafeRxPills fits

This note is clearly separate from the data above. SafeRxPills is an online pharmacy that sells Indian-manufactured generics, including sildenafil, tadalafil, finasteride and bimatoprost brands such as Finpecia 1 mg and Careprost. These products are not FDA-approved, are not included in NADAC, and the prices on this page are not our prices. We do not claim our prices are lower than anyone's. We publish this page as a reference because the NADAC data is public and rarely explained. The condition pages for erectile dysfunction and eyelash growth list our related guides.

Sources

1. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) 2026 file, as of 14 October 2026. download.medicaid.gov, dataset fbb83258-11c7-47f5-8b18-5f8e79f7e704. Downloaded 19 October 2026.
2. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Methodology for Calculating the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC), December 2024.
3. Conrad R, Lutter R. Generic Competition and Drug Prices: New Evidence Linking Greater Generic Competition and Lower Generic Drug Prices. US Food and Drug Administration, December 2019.
4. US Food and Drug Administration. National Drug Code directory (openFDA), package listings for Latisse, Lumigan, Viagra, Propecia and generic bimatoprost (Sandoz, Alembic, Amneal; labeler 70756 rows matched through the NADAC file), accessed 19 October 2026.
5. US Food and Drug Administration. Drugs@FDA (openFDA), bimatoprost applications, accessed 19 October 2026.
6. LATISSE (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.03% prescribing information. AbbVie (Allergan), DailyMed SPL version 25, published 23 December 2025. Section 16 (how supplied).

This page reports public pharmacy acquisition cost data for information. It is not medical advice and not a price quote. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before starting or switching any medicine.