How much does vitamin C cost?
Latest price check:
- Capsules, softgels and tablets: Nature Made Vitamin C Extra Strength 1000 mg (300 tablets).
- Gummies and chewables: Nature Made Chewable Vitamin C 500 mg (60 tablets).
Across the 27 capsules, softgels and tablets of vitamin C we track and can price, 1,000 mg costs between $0.083 and $1.73, before delivery. The median is $0.175, and the most expensive costs 21× the cheapest.
Across the 22 powders of vitamin C we track and can price, 1,000 mg costs between $0.027 and $0.574, before delivery. The median is $0.073, and the most expensive costs 21× the cheapest.
Across the 16 gummies and chewables of vitamin C we track and can price, 1,000 mg costs between $0.183 and $2.84, before delivery. The median is $0.967, and the most expensive costs 16× the cheapest.
Across the 11 liposomal products of vitamin C we track and can price, 1,000 mg costs between $0.244 and $1.00, before delivery. The median is $0.583, and the most expensive costs 4.1× the cheapest.
Each format is priced as its own range, never against another; capsules include softgels and tablets.
The brand, the package size and the format all move the price, and the formats are different purchases (a powder sold by the pound, a bottle of capsules, a jar of gummies, a liposomal product), so each is priced against its own kind only. The form each panel names is shown beside it and is not a ranking input. The cheapest row is a price, not a recommendation. Every figure is per 1,000 mg as each product's Supplement Facts panel (or, where a size has none published, another size's panel from the same line) states it, before delivery; each product page says whether its retailer publishes a delivery rate.
Capsules, softgels and tablets
| Product | Type | Per 1,000 mg, before delivery | Container | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nutricost Vitamin C with Rose Hips 1,000 mg (240 capsules) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints rose hip powder 25 mg | $0.083 | $19.97 | D |
| Sports Research Vitamin C 1,000 mg (240 veggie capsules) (last known price, Nov 4) | ascorbic acid | $0.096 | $22.95 | D |
| BulkSupplements.com Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) 1,000 mg (360 capsules) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.111 | $19.97 | D |
| BulkSupplements.com Vitamin C with Rose Hips 1,000 mg (360 capsules) | Ascorbic Acid; the panel also prints rosehip extract (Rosa canina) (fruit) 15 mg | $0.128 | $22.96 | D |
| Nature Made Vitamin C 500 mg (500 tablets) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.13 | $32.39 | A? |
| Nutricost Vitamin C 500 mg (240 capsules) | ascorbic acid | $0.133 | $15.97 | D |
| Nutricost Vitamin C with Rose Hips 1,000 mg (120 capsules) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints rose hip powder 25 mg | $0.133 | $15.97 | D |
| BulkSupplements.com Vitamin C with Zinc 1,000 mg (360 capsules) | Ascorbic Acid; the panel also prints zinc (as zinc glycinate) 15 mg | $0.133 | $23.96 | D |
| Nature Made Vitamin C Extra Strength 1000 mg (300 tablets) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.138 | $41.39 | A |
| Nutricost Vitamin C with Zinc 1,000 mg (240 capsules) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints zinc 45 mg | $0.141 | $16.97 | D |
| Nature Made Vitamin C 500 mg (250 tablets) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.144 | $17.99 | A? |
| Nature Made Vitamin C 500 mg (100 tablets) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.16 | $7.99 | A |
| Nature Made Vitamin C Extra Strength 1000 mg (100 tablets) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.162 | $16.19 | A |
| Micro Ingredients Pure Vitamin C 2,000 mg (240 capsules) | ascorbic acid + ascorbyl palmitate | $0.175 | $27.95 | D |
| Nature Made Vitamin C 500 mg with Rose Hips (130 caplets) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.188 | $12.19 | A |
| Nutricost Buffered Vitamin C 1,000 mg (120 capsules) | sodium ascorbate + calcium ascorbate + magnesium ascorbate | $0.25 | $14.97 | D |
| Nature Made Vitamin C 1000 mg Time Release with Rose Hips (60 tablets) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.27 | $16.19 | D |
| Thorne Vitamin C 1,000 mg (60 capsules) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.317 | $19.00 | C |
| BUBS Naturals BUBS Boost Vitamin C (90 capsules) | Ascorbic Acid; the panel also prints citrus bioflavonoid complex 75 mg | $0.356 | $16.00 | D |
| Nature Made Vitamin C 500 mg (60 softgels) | Ascorbic Acid | $0.466 | $13.99 | A |
| BulkSupplements.com Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Ester) 200 mg (240 capsules) | Ascorbyl Palmitate | $0.479 | $22.97 | D |
| Thorne Vitamin C with Flavonoids (90 capsules) | Ascorbic Acid; the panel also prints citrus bioflavonoids 75 mg | $0.511 | $23.00 | C |
| MegaFood Ultra C-400 mg (90 tablets) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints food blend 575 mg (organic orange, organic brown rice, organic cranberry, organic blueberry, organic broccoli head, organic parsley leaf, carrot, organic beetroot) | $1.06 | $37.99 | D |
| MegaFood Complex C (180 tablets) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints food blend 536 mg (organic brown rice, organic orange, organic amla fruit, organic rose hip fruit, organic cranberry, organic green bell pepper, organic wild blueberry) | $1.24 | $55.99 | D |
| MegaFood Ultra C-400 mg (60 tablets) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints food blend 575 mg (organic orange, organic brown rice, organic cranberry, organic blueberry, organic broccoli head, organic parsley leaf, carrot, organic beetroot) | $1.25 | $29.99 | D |
| MegaFood Complex C (90 tablets) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints food blend 536 mg (organic brown rice, organic orange, organic amla fruit, organic rose hip fruit, organic cranberry, organic green bell pepper, organic wild blueberry) | $1.47 | $32.99 | D |
| MegaFood Complex C (60 tablets) | ascorbic acid; the panel also prints food blend 536 mg (organic brown rice, organic orange, organic amla fruit, organic rose hip fruit, organic cranberry, organic green bell pepper, organic wild blueberry) | $1.73 | $25.99 | D |
Powder
Gummies and chewables
Liposomal
1,000 mg is the unit this site prices vitamin C against, so that packages of different strengths and forms can be compared at all; it is not a recommendation about what to take. The cheapest in each format, side by side: What is the cheapest vitamin C?
Where to buy: the vitamin C shortlist
The pick is the cheapest product that clears four bars:
- certified, and named at the exact package where the certifier names packages
- no adverse finding on record
- a price its retailer let us read recently
- no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving
It is ranked per delivered dose where the retailer publishes a delivery rate. Where none does, it is the cheapest such product before delivery, and it says how far the order is from free delivery. It is the same pick the category page shows. Any other answer beside it is the cheapest under a different rule, and its own line names that rule. Answers that cost more than the pick are folded into one line until you open it.
How these lines are chosen
Among 29 products and 29 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of 1,000mg, priced the same way as the figure beside it. It is worked out before that figure is rounded, so it can differ from thirty times it by a few cents. It is not thirty servings where a serving holds more or less than 1,000mg. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate. Every package we price, with its delivery terms, is on the Vitamin C page.
How these lines are chosen
Among 24 products and 24 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of 1,000mg, priced the same way as the figure beside it. It is worked out before that figure is rounded, so it can differ from thirty times it by a few cents. It is not thirty servings where a serving holds more or less than 1,000mg. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate. Every package we price, with its delivery terms, is on the Vitamin C page.
A pick has to clear four bars:
- independently certified, and named at the exact package where the certifier names packages
- no recall or failed test
- a price its retailer let us read recently
- no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving
Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
How these lines are chosen
Among 17 products and 17 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of 1,000mg, priced the same way as the figure beside it. It is worked out before that figure is rounded, so it can differ from thirty times it by a few cents. It is not thirty servings where a serving holds more or less than 1,000mg. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate. Every package we price, with its delivery terms, is on the Vitamin C page.
How these lines are chosen
Among 12 products and 12 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of 1,000mg, priced the same way as the figure beside it. It is worked out before that figure is rounded, so it can differ from thirty times it by a few cents. It is not thirty servings where a serving holds more or less than 1,000mg. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate. Every package we price, with its delivery terms, is on the Vitamin C page.
A pick has to clear four bars:
- independently certified, and named at the exact package where the certifier names packages
- no recall or failed test
- a price its retailer let us read recently
- no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving
Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. Each of these misses at least one bar, and says which:
Full comparison of every product in this category: Vitamin C. Every question we answer: the question index.
What this rests on: Prices are the last ones we recorded at the retailer named on each product page. Prices go stale, so each page says when it was checked. We track some products, not every one sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among our stores. Listings and labels are read at the source, and each page links to them. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.