Caring for your eyes often means wearing prescription glasses and contact lenses. That used to require an annual visit to your eye doctor, but modern virtual try-on (VTO) technology can now help you shop for glasses at home from online retailers like GlassesUSA. This GlassesUSA review breaks down the shopping and shipping experience as well as the quality of the glasses themselves.

Founded in 2008, GlassesUSA manufactures all of its eyewear orders in Atlanta. The company prides itself on “cutting the middleman,” meaning the glasses come straight to you instead of going through a distributor and reseller. To see how this process works, our testers ordered prescription glasses from the site. Our GlassesUSA review walks you through what we found, and explains how cutting the middleman might not always save you time.

GlassesUSA

9.9 out of /10

An easier-to-use website with hundreds of styles

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Why choose GlassesUSA?

Our testers found one reason many shoppers choose GlassesUSA is the sheer amount of eyewear options to choose from. They also liked GlassesUSA because the products are made in America. GlassesUSA manufactures all orders in its Atlanta facility.

“If someone is ordering online, a company that uses a U.S. lab is usually preferable to one that uses an overseas lab,” said Lisa M. Greene, OD, of Asheville Vision & Wellness in Asheville, North Carolina. “Some online companies use overseas labs that ship directly to the patient, so no final inspection is conducted to ensure compliance with U.S. quality standards. Others do use labs in the U.S., but without proper pupillary distance and seg height measurement, the lenses may not feel comfortable and vision may not be clear at all viewing distances.”

Another benefit of GlassesUSA is its user-friendly website. “There are lots of colors listed under every frame option,” our tester said. "Browsing through the frames options is a breeze, the virtual try-on (VTO) experience is straightforward, and the site is full of helpful tooltips or infographics to help you navigate each step. There are even guides for sizing and deciphering your prescription. GlassesUSA anticipated my every need."

GlassesUSA offers a 365-day warranty, one of the longer warranties of all the eyewear companies we tested. It also has the longest return or exchange period at 60 days compared to other companies’ 30-day return windows. All of these benefits helped GlassesUSA earn a 9.9/10 brand score in our testing.

GlassesUSA: American-made with a large selection

With thousands of frames, an industry-leading return window, and an easy-to-use website, GlassesUSA impressed our testers in nearly every area except delivery time. From virtual try-on to prescription input, the site is designed to help shoppers feel more confident in both their purchase and their final frames.

GlassesUSA

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• Longest return window of any optical vendor we tested
• Website guides you through every step

• Responsive customer service

GlassesUSA features

• Cost range: $19–$701
• Home try-on: No
• Virtual try-on: Yes
• Warranty length: 1 year
• Trial period: 60 days 

Pros and cons

Pros

• Wide selection of frames and lens options
• Helpful guides
• Attentive tracking info
• User-friendly site

Cons

• Lens type can lead to surprise production delays
• Certain coatings are required based on prescription
• Virtual try-on can’t remove the glasses you're already wearing

What our testers thought of GlassesUSA

Many other GlassesUSA reviews focus mainly on price, but our testers found ease of use mattered just as much. Our testers liked that the GlassesUSA website has a sleek look and inclusive imagery. They also found it straightforward to use. Instructive guides pop up exactly when you need them, which led our testers to rank GlassesUSA a 5/5 for confidence when entering prescription details. Our mystery shopper had a straightforward prescription, but if you have a more complicated one, GlassesUSA offers a prescription translation blog.

The site also earned a 5/5 for style availability. You could spend hours browsing the GlassesUSA homepage for frames. We found more than 3,400 pairs of glasses available to choose from on the site. "There was an overwhelming amount of options," one tester said. "So I sort of thought, 'What style do I not already have?' and narrowed it down from there." You can also filter by size, color, and price. Luxury pairs like Versace and Prada carry a "Premium" tag and icon to let you know when you've hit a pair that might be out of your price range.

You can try on any pair you want with GlassesUSA’s Virtual Try-On (VTO). Our testers gave this feature a 4/5. The site fell short of a perfect 5 because there's no photo-upload option, and the VTO doesn’t edit out your existing glasses like some other sites we tried. This can make it more challenging to see how the glasses look while not wearing your existing glasses if you have a strong prescription. The VTO works like a Snapchat, Instagram, or Zoom filter, overlaying glasses onto your face, even if you’re already wearing a pair. 

AI is an outstanding way to narrow your choices and arrive at the optical shop with a shortlist of frames you love. Once there, a knowledgeable optician can help you try on those frames, evaluate the fit, offer professional recommendations, and ensure the frames are properly adjusted for comfort and optimal vision. The ideal approach combines the convenience of AI with the expertise of a skilled optician."

– Optometrist Lisa M. Green

“I wish there was an option to upload a selfie instead of livestreaming my face,” said a tester. “A video feels more invasive somehow.” If you don't want to do the VTO, there is a Find My Size guide with a helpful diagram. There are also user-uploaded selfies of real people wearing the glasses, and separate reviews of each pair, so you can get a good sense of how the glasses look and feel without going on camera yourself.

The Glasses USA try-on updates quickly when you pick a new pair. “The pairs look cartoonish, but if you're checking to see if the shape complements your face, the tool does a solid job,” one tester said. If you’re very nearsighted, you may have to get creative, like taking a screenshot without your glasses on, then putting your real glasses back on to see how the virtual pair looked. 

The pair of frames our tester ordered had adjustable nose pads. They were the kind with screws, as opposed to models where the nose pad is a swoop of smooth plastic. This made the glasses more adjustable. The sturdy blue case the glasses arrived in protected the lenses from any damage in transit.

Beyond the "swimmy" feel that's normal when adjusting to a new pair of glasses, our tester had no complaints after trying on the glasses. "The frames look like what I ordered, and they don't feel too tight," the tester said. "They also aren't sliding off my face, like other online eyewear orders I've done in the past." GlassesUSA earned a 5/5 for the finished product.

Our GlassesUSA order arrived with:

• A glasses case
• Two lens cloths
• A backup set of nose pads and their screws
• A welcome/instructional brochure
• Two coupons
• One pair of glasses

How we tested GlassesUSA

We had our testers purchase eyewear as mystery shoppers. They did virtual try-ons and shipped the glasses to residential addresses, interacting with customer service when necessary. We chose testers who actually wear prescription glasses, so they could assess the final product for fit, pupillary distance, and prescription match.

Our testers scored GlassesUSA’s site on the following criteria:

• Styles
• Style availability
• Virtual try-on
• Prescription input process
• Upgrades
• Ordering

Once the glasses arrived, our testers scored them on:

• Packaging
• Damage in transit
• Fit
• Prescription match

Our testers played with GlassesUSA’s many filters. They didn’t take the Perfect Match quiz, preferring to narrow the options down on their own. But the quiz is available if you’re overwhelmed by GlassesUSA’s inventory. GlassesUSA runs frequent promotions, and our tester simulated paying via gift card. We did not test the financing option.

GlassesUSA add-ons and upgrades

When customizing your glasses, you can choose different lens tints, polarization, blue light filters, and mirroring. You can also opt for Transitions lenses, or hydrophobic lenses that repel water. GlassesUSA also offers four coating options for sunglasses.

But some features are not optional. “For GlassesUSA it was less of an upgrade, and more like certain prescriptions were not allowed to downgrade,” noted one tester. “My prescription wouldn’t let me remove the poly plus coating package.” You find out during the checkout process what lens options you’re limited to, which led our testers to give GlassesUSA a 4/5 for upgrade explanations.

GlassesUSA costs

Due to its large selection, prescription glasses on GlassesUSA can cost between $19–$701. GlassesUSA was running a promotion during testing, so our mystery shopper saved an extra $28.80 on a pair of frames that already cost less than buying directly from an eye doctor’s office. With vision insurance, you could shave up to $100 off your purchase.

GlassesUSA also offers designer and luxury brands, like Ray-Ban, Versace, and MiuMiu. A pair of designer frames can cost between $300–$701. If you want designer frames without paying the full cost upfront, GlassesUSA also offers financing through Klarna.

Comparison Features	GlassesUSA Visit Sitefor GlassesUSA	Zenni Optical Visit Sitefor Zenni Optical	Warby Parker Visit Sitefor Warby Parker	Eyebuydirect Visit Sitefor Eyebuydirect	FramesDirect Visit Sitefor FramesDirect
Cost range	$19–$701	$7–$59	$95–$195	$6–$499	$40–$1,740
Free shipping	Yes	Over $65	Yes	No	Yes
Returns	60 days	30 days	30 days	30 days	30 days

GlassesUSA customer experience

Our testers experienced an issue with the ordering process for GlassesUSA. “The day you check out, GlassesUSA is all over it: confirmation texts, emails, a tracking number, and then you never hear from them again,” said the tester who acted as our mystery shopper. 

GlassesUSA’s welcome email indicated production had started on our order the day we placed it, and because there was no guidance on the site to the contrary, our testers thought the glasses would ship three days after ordering. “It says ‘crafting your pair will take 3 business days’ and then I paid for three-day shipping on top of that,” said the mystery shopper. “If I ordered on Tuesday, the pair should’ve been crafted by Friday and mailed on Monday. And instead it’s still being built.” The glasses wound up shipping the following Tuesday, a full five business days after our mystery shopper placed the order. From order day to order fulfillment was eight business days.

With our mystery shopping order, it turns out the prescription (-5.00 in both eyes) required a special type of glazing that delayed the order. The GlassesUSA website chatbot was very responsive when our testers reached out, explaining the delay in less than five minutes. This led our testers to award a customer service score of 4/5, but an order fulfillment score of 3.5/5.

Your Glasses USA order will typically ship in three days. But depending on what kind of lenses you get, the time between order placement and order fulfillment can take up to a week. For all of the site’s useful guides and tips, it might have been helpful to see a prominent notice that certain prescriptions or glazes can delay production.

It might have also been helpful to know GlassesUSA uses Amazon to ship its orders. The glasses arrive in GlassesUSA-branded packaging, but if you're not expecting a Prime truck or a white delivery van to pull up to your house, the delivery can feel a little unexpected.

GlassesUSA's tracking emails also switch to Amazon emails partway through the production process, which some testers found jarring. "I almost deleted a tracking email because I thought it was a phishing attempt," one tester said. "My emails about my glasses had been coming from GlassesUSA, and then all of a sudden there's an email from Amazon when I hadn't ordered from Amazon recently."

The Amazon email does reference GlassesUSA, but for the smoothest experience, our testers thought GlassesUSA's first email with tracking and production details should address the Amazon handoff, too.

Is GlassesUSA right for you?

If you're a patient shopper, GlassesUSA is likely a good fit. The unexpected production delay was the only real issue we ran into. The website is easy to use and filled with helpful features like VTO, sizing guides, and user photos. Our tester was happy with the glasses once they arrived. Across the GlassesUSA reviews we found, this level of transparency about production timelines is rare—even with the delay, our testers appreciated knowing exactly what was happening and why. Our tester was happy with how the glasses turned out.

Placing an order with GlassesUSA is straightforward, and once you understand the timeline, the production pipeline is communicated well. The website's filters are easier to apply and toggle than on competitor sites, and everything is user-friendly and explained well.

GlassesUSA might be a good fit for you if:

• You want a large selection of frames
• You have your prescription information
• You can see well enough to participate in virtual try-on without your glasses on
• You don’t mind waiting up to a week or more for your glasses 

Frequently asked questions

Does GlassesUSA take insurance?

Yes, GlassesUSA accepts vision insurance, including popular providers like Aetna, Cigna, VSP, and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Is GlassesUSA legit?

Yes, GlassesUSA is legitimate. The site lets you try on glasses virtually and helps you understand your prescription. It also has a customer service team, an AI chatbot, and a Georgia-based manufacturing facility. Most GlassesUSA reviews, including this review, confirm it's an established, legitimate retailer.

Is it cheaper to buy glasses from GlassesUSA than in person?

This will depend on several factors, such as your prescription, type of frames, and if you use vision insurance. In our testers' experience, frames at a local eye doctor's office can cost close to $400 after insurance, while comparable GlassesUSA frames cost $156. If you buy designer brands from GlassesUSA, the cost will increase.

Can you get progressive glasses from GlassesUSA?

Yes, GlassesUSA offers progressive lenses.

Questions? Email us at reviewsteam@ncoa.org.