Best Vitamin C Supplements 2026: Cost per Effective Dose
A day of vitamin C costs $0.08 to $0.67 at brand prices; our pick, Nature Made Vitamin C 500 mg, is the cheapest day and USP Verified. Adults need 75 to 90 mg a day, so 500 mg is plenty.
By Erin Rose Updated October 19, 2026 How we score
What a day of vitamin C costs, cheapest first
| Product | Per day |
|---|---|
| Nature Made Vitamin C 500 mg 500 mg, 1 tablet; USP Verified; $7.99 for 100 servingsCheck price | $0.08 |
| Nature’s Bounty Vitamin C 1000 mg 1,000 mg, 1 caplet; $11.50 for 100 servingsCheck price | $0.12 |
| Solgar Vitamin C 1000 mg 1,000 mg, 1 tablet; $10.42 for 90 servingsCheck price | $0.12 |
| NOW C-1000 with Bioflavonoids 1,000 mg plus 100 mg bioflavonoids, 1 capsule; $31.99 for 250 servingsCheck price | $0.13 |
| Nature Made Vitamin C 1000 mg 1,000 mg, 1 tablet; USP Verified; $16.19 for 100 servingsCheck price | $0.16 |
| Doctor’s Best Vitamin C 1000 mg 1,000 mg, 1 capsule; $19.99 for 120 servingsCheck price | $0.17 |
| NOW C-1000 Buffered 1,000 mg as calcium ascorbate (buffered), 1 tablet; $35.99 for 180 servingsCheck price | $0.20 |
| Codeage Liposomal Vitamin C+ 1,500 mg liposomal, 3 capsules; NSF/ANSI 173; $39.99 for 60 servingsCheck price | $0.67 |
Per 1,000 mg, Nature’s Bounty Vitamin C 1000 mg and Solgar cost least, about $0.12. Ranked on testing and labels as well as cost in the best vitamin C supplements.
Why a bigger tablet is not better value
Adults need 75 mg (women) to 90 mg (men) a day, and smokers 35 mg more (NIH). The body absorbs most of a dose up to about 200 mg, less of bigger doses, and less than half above 1,000 mg a day (NIH; Levine 1996). So a 500 mg tablet already gives more than you need. Pay more for a less acidic form only if plain vitamin C upsets your stomach; see vitamin C forms compared.
These doses are for adults; the upper limit is 2,000 mg a day, and lower for children (NIH). Had kidney stones or have kidney disease? Ask your doctor before any vitamin C supplement; in men, 1,000 mg or more a day came with a higher stone risk (Ferraro 2016). Getting chemotherapy or radiation, or have hemochromatosis? Ask your doctor first.
Sources
- Prices: each brand’s own regular price, checked October 19, 2026; Nature’s Bounty and Solgar at Vitacost, where their own pages show no price.
- Testing lists: USP Verified and NSF/ANSI 173.
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin C fact sheet for health professionals. ods.od.nih.gov
- Levine M, et al. “Vitamin C pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: evidence for a recommended dietary allowance.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1996. PubMed 8623000
- Ferraro PM, et al. “Total, Dietary, and Supplemental Vitamin C Intake and Risk of Incident Kidney Stones.” Am J Kidney Dis. 2016. PubMed 26463139