Accutane Cost: Monthly Price With or Without Insurance
How much does Accutane cost? Generic isotretinoin runs $30 to $500 a month depending on the pharmacy, a $20 to 00 copay with insurance, plus labs and visits.
What Accutane Costs Per Month
Accutane cost is a question about generic isotretinoin, because Roche stopped selling the brand in 2009 and every US prescription today is Claravis, Absorica, Zenatane, Amnesteem or a plain generic. A 30-day supply of 40 mg capsules runs from about 30 dollars at a mail-order cash pharmacy to 500 dollars at a chain counter with no discount, and with insurance it is usually a 20 to 100 dollar copay after prior authorisation. The capsules are only part of the bill. Monthly blood work, monthly prescriber visits and the iPLEDGE program add a second cost stack that the price of the drug alone does not show.
The cheapest and the most expensive way to fill the same 40 mg prescription differ by more than 400 dollars a month. Where the prescription is filled matters more than whether the patient is insured.
Accutane Cost Without Insurance
Isotretinoin 40 mg, 30 capsules, cash price by pharmacy
Cost Plus Drugs, mail order
30 to 60 dollars plus dispensing fee
Costco with GoodRx
80 to 130 dollars
Walmart with GoodRx
90 to 150 dollars
Kroger with GoodRx
110 to 180 dollars
CVS or Walgreens with GoodRx
150 to 280 dollars
CVS or Walgreens, no discount
350 to 500 dollars
Cost Plus Drugs is the largest saving available to a cash patient and the least mentioned. Isotretinoin 40 mg is listed at roughly 30 to 60 dollars per 30 capsules before the pharmacy fee, and it ships by mail, which works with iPLEDGE as long as the prescriber sends the script there and the 7-day pickup window is respected. GoodRx prices depend entirely on which pharmacy is selected; Costco and Walmart consistently come out lowest, and the quote must be run for the exact dose and quantity, since 40 mg and two 20 mg capsules are priced differently.
The dose sets the monthly accutane cost. Dermatologists target 120 to 150 mg per kilogram over the course, so a 90 kg patient on 80 mg a day pays roughly double what a 55 kg patient on 40 mg pays each month, and finishes in about the same time. A low dose Accutane protocol costs less per month and more in total, because the course runs three times longer with three times the labs and visits.
Accutane Cost With Insurance
Accutane cost with insurance starts with prior authorisation, which nearly every plan requires, with documented failure of two or three prior treatments, which the prescriber files; the how to get Accutane article covers what that record needs to contain. Once approved, isotretinoin sits on tier 2 or tier 3 of most formularies.
Monthly drug cost by insurance type
Tier 2 copay
20 to 50 dollars
Tier 3 or specialty copay
50 to 100 dollars
High-deductible plan, deductible not met
Full negotiated price, often 150 to 300 dollars, until it is
Medicaid
0 to 10 dollars in most states
Medicare Part D
Varies by plan, usually tier 3
Blue Cross and the other large commercial plans cover it routinely once authorised. Two traps come up. High-deductible plans make the first one or two months expensive until the deductible is met, and many commercial plans now run copay accumulator programs that stop manufacturer copay cards from counting toward the deductible. Before using any copay card, ask the insurer whether the plan has an accumulator or maximiser program.
The Cost Stack Beyond the Capsules
Every month on isotretinoin requires a blood draw, a prescriber visit and, for patients who can become pregnant, a pregnancy test, all logged in iPLEDGE before the pharmacy can dispense.
Monthly costs without insurance
Lipids, liver enzymes, CBC
50 to 150 dollars
200 to 400 dollars
Pregnancy test
10 to 30 dollars
50 to 100 dollars
Dermatologist visit
100 to 200 dollars
200 to 350 dollars
Telehealth platform fee instead of a visit
20 to 60 dollars
For an uninsured patient the non-drug accutane cost runs 200 to 700 dollars a month depending on where the labs are done. Federally qualified health centers run the same panel on a sliding scale, often under 50 dollars, and Quest and LabCorp self-pay prices are lower than their billed rates when asked for directly. Telehealth isotretinoin platforms such as Honeydew charge a flat monthly fee that replaces the office visit and usually includes lab ordering at a negotiated price, which is often the cheapest total route for an uninsured adult. With insurance, labs are covered as diagnostic tests and the visit is a specialist copay of 30 to 60 dollars. The Accutane blood work article lists what each test is for.
Total Cost of a 6-Month Course
Six-month totals, capsules plus labs plus visits
Uninsured, chain pharmacy, hospital labs
800 to 1,200 dollars
5,000 to 7,000 dollars
Uninsured, Cost Plus or GoodRx, community labs, telehealth
150 to 300 dollars
900 to 1,800 dollars
Insured, tier 2, specialist copays
80 to 150 dollars
500 to 900 dollars
Insured, high-deductible plan
300 to 500 dollars early, then copays
1,200 to 2,500 dollars
Is two months of Accutane enough to save money? No, and it is the worst accutane cost decision a patient can make. Stopping early leaves the cumulative dose far below 120 mg/kg and relapse follows within a year, at which point the whole cost repeats. The cheapest course is the one completed once. Four months is the minimum at standard dosing for a light patient; most adults need five to six. If cost rules out a full course, the realistic options are covered in Accutane alternatives.
How to Pay Less
- 1Fill at Cost Plus Drugs or a Costco or Walmart pharmacy with a GoodRx quote for the exact dose.
- 2Ask the prescriber for the capsule strength that is cheapest per mg; 40 mg capsules usually beat two 20 mg.
- 3Do labs at a community health center or use the lab's self-pay price.
- 4Use a telehealth isotretinoin service if uninsured and the state allows it.
- 5Check the insurer's accumulator policy before using a copay card.
- 6Finish the course. A second course costs as much as the first.
For generic isotretinoin 40 mg, from about 30 to 60 dollars at Cost Plus Drugs, 80 to 150 dollars at Costco or Walmart with GoodRx, and 350 to 500 dollars at a chain pharmacy with no discount. With insurance the copay is usually 20 to 100 dollars after prior authorisation.
The capsules cost 30 to 500 dollars a month depending on pharmacy and dose. Monthly labs, visits and pregnancy tests add 200 to 700 dollars more at hospital prices or under 150 at community clinics and telehealth services. A full six-month course runs 900 to 1,800 dollars done cheaply and 5,000 or more done carelessly.
Once prior authorisation is approved, most plans place it at tier 2 or 3, a 20 to 100 dollar monthly copay, with labs covered as diagnostic tests and a 30 to 60 dollar specialist copay per visit. High-deductible plans pay the full negotiated price until the deductible is met. Medicaid usually covers it for a few dollars.
Roughly 600 to 1,200 dollars uninsured using Cost Plus or GoodRx with community labs, 350 to 600 dollars insured at tier 2, and 3,000 dollars or more uninsured at chain pharmacy and hospital lab prices. Four months is the shortest standard course and only reaches the cumulative target for lighter patients.
For severe or scarring acne it is the only treatment with an 85 percent single-course cure rate, and a complete course costs less than years of antibiotics, topicals and scar treatment. The expensive outcome is a course stopped early to save money, which relapses and has to be repeated in full.
Yes. Isotretinoin is listed at roughly 30 to 60 dollars per 30 capsules of 40 mg before the dispensing fee, the lowest cash price available in the US. It ships by mail and works with iPLEDGE as long as the prescription is sent there and the pickup window rules are followed.
Accutane.org is an independent educational resource. We are not affiliated with any pharmaceutical manufacturer or healthcare provider. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Images on this site are illustrative artwork made for editorial purposes; they do not show real products, packaging or labels and are not an advertisement or an offer to sell.
Editorial Team
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