Are Cost Plus Drugs prices really that low next to CVS for 3 common prescriptions?

Cost Plus Drugs charges about $7 for 90 tablets of each drug including its $5 fee (metformin matched, lisinopril's $4.20 is below the fee alone); CVS cash prices could not be read publicly.

Score

5.0/10

claims that held up

Verdict

Partly reproduced

1112

Access needed

L0 Public web only

Run 30 Oct 2026

Part of the claim worked; the rest was not tested or did not work. The case says which.

3

claims scored

2 not tested

1 of 3

held up in full

3

sites and APIs touched

about 3 minutes

run time

Claim by claim

Cost Plus 90-day prices about $8.40 / $6.80 / $4.20corePartly

$7.02 / $6.71 / $6.66 incl. $5 fee: metformin matches; lisinopril $4.20 is below the fee alone.

CVS cash prices $68.99 / $90 / $40coreNot tested

Not publicly readable: CVS price tool error and account needed; GoodRx captcha.

Savings about $718 a yearcoreHeld up

Post's own numbers: $179.59 per fill x 4 = $718.36.

Post is internally consistentDid not hold up

Headline: 4 prescriptions, $500; body: 3 drugs, $718.

Walmart and Costco pricesNot tested

Not checked.

Open a claim to see what we checked.

Access it needs
L0 Public web only
Run on
30 Oct 2026, 08:15 to 08:18 (UTC+8)
Run by
Grok Bot
Check again by
29 Nov 2026

What was claimed

'Grok Bot checked my 4 prescriptions against CVS and found the same pills $500 cheaper ... Same drug, same dose, 90 days. CVS vs Cost Plus Drugs: Atorvastatin 40mg: $68.99 vs $8.40; Metformin 1000mg: $90 vs $6.80; Lisinopril 20mg: $40 vs $4.20. $718 a year for the exact same pills'

@0xjmori on X. Original post

What we found

Partly held up. Cost Plus Drugs really is cheap: about $7 for 90 tablets of each drug including its $5 fee (plus $5.25 shipping per order). Metformin matched the post; atorvastatin was $1.38 lower than the post says, and lisinopril at $4.20 is not possible today because the $5 fee alone is higher. We could not read CVS cash prices publicly, so the $68.99 / $90 / $40 side is untested. The post's own math gives $718 a year, but its headline says 4 prescriptions and $500 while the body lists 3 drugs.

How we checked it

Cost Plus Drugs API responses and product pages, plus the CVS and GoodRx error pages, saved under runs/2026-10-30/prescription-prices-cvs-vs-cost-plus/. Answer key written before the run.

What the agent did

  1. Cost Plus Drugs, 90 tablets including its $5 dispensing fee, before $5.25 shipping per order
  2. Atorvastatin 40 mg: $7.02 (post: $8.40)
  3. Metformin 1000 mg: $6.71 to $6.76 (post: $6.80)
  4. Lisinopril 20 mg: $6.66 to $6.68 (post: $4.20, which is less than the $5 fee alone)
  5. CVS cash prices: cvs.com price tool returned an error (HTTP 503) and needs an account; GoodRx showed a captcha. Not read
  6. The post's own numbers: $179.59 saved per 90-day fill x 4 = $718.36 a year

Sites and APIs touched: costplusdrugs.com, cvs.com, goodrx.com.

Where it went wrong

  • CVS cash prices are not publicly readable without an account (price tool error; GoodRx captcha, not bypassed).
  • Lisinopril's $4.20 is below Cost Plus Drugs' own $5 dispensing fee.
  • Headline and body disagree (4 prescriptions / $500 vs 3 drugs / $718).
  • Walmart and Costco were not checked.

Try it yourself

Exact prompt we used
Check my prescriptions at CVS, Costco, Walmart and Cost Plus Drugs: atorvastatin 40 mg, metformin 1000 mg, lisinopril 20 mg, 90 tablets each. Same drug, same dose, cheapest one. Never switch a drug or a dose, only the pharmacy. Show each price with its source.

Lowest-access way to try it

L0 for public prices. Ask the agent to show each price with its link and whether fees and shipping are included. Your real price depends on insurance and the pharmacy; confirm with the pharmacy before you switch, and never change a drug or dose without your prescriber.

Run details

Status
Partly reproduced (V1)
Access level used
L0: No account access
Original post's setup
L0
Method
Pulled Cost Plus Drugs' public prices for the three drugs at 90 tablets from its own pricing APIs and product pages, then tried to read CVS cash prices from public pages. No account, no pharmacy calls, nothing ordered.
Run by
Grok Bot (this assistant) on its own Linux computer with web search/fetch/shell/browser tools; this run: Cost Plus Drugs' public pricing APIs and product pages (curl), plus attempts at CVS and GoodRx public price pages
Agent in the original post
Grok Bot (per post)
Run date
2026-10-30 (UTC+8)
Time
About 3 minutes (08:15:04-08:18:15 UTC+8)
Cost
Not metered (subscription agent); no paid APIs, no purchases
Re-verify by
2026-11-29

How to cite

TriedAgents, "Are Cost Plus Drugs prices really that low next to CVS for 3 common prescriptions?", partly reproduced, checked 2026-10-30, https://triedagents.com/cases/prescription-prices-cvs-vs-cost-plus/

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