There is no one-size-fits-all budget that will work for all men who need the assistance of erectile dysfunction drugs to maintain relatively active sex lives. Your budget will depend on a very large extent on the ED drug you prefer and the approximate number of times you plan — or hope — to be sexually active each month.

As it now stands, in early 2017, the only ED medications legally available to Americans are brand-name products, all of which carry fairly hefty price tags. Hopefully, that will begin to change in December 2017, a topic to be addressed later in this article.

What follows is an overview of current ED drug prices from both brick-and-mortar pharmacies and a reliable online supplier. While you’ll be able to get your drugs immediately from the former, the latter offers some distinct advantages over its local competitors. These advantages may make online vendors more appealing to men who would prefer not to share details of their sex problems with their regular doctors or local pharmacists.

Viagra

The granddaddy of them all, Pfizer’s iconic blue pill has been on the market since 1998, and it remains one of the best sellers among all ED medications. The Recommended Starting Dose for Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is a 50-Milligram tablet. Some men may find that 50 milligrams is more than enough and can make do with a 25-milligram dose, while others may need 100 milligrams to achieve and maintain an erection. The prices we’ve gathered are for six 100-milligram tablets, which when split yield 12 50-milligram doses.

According to GoodRX, the current cash price for six 100-milligram tablets at chain pharmacies such as CVS, Rite-Aid, and Walgreens ranges from $350 to $400. That brings the price per 50-milligram dose to somewhere between $29 and $33.50. You’ll need a prescription from your doctor to buy Viagra from your local pharmacy.

If you opt to get your Viagra from an online vendor, Arizona-based eDrugstore.com is among the most reliable suppliers in that category. Its current price for six 100-milligram Viagra tablets is $418.50, but for that price you get a complimentary online consultation with a licensed U.S. doctor who can prescribe the drug if you don’t already have a prescription as well as a free pill-splitter. This brings the price per 50-milligram dose to $34.88.

Cialis

Cialis (tadalafil) comes in two distinct formulations: one that must be taken daily to ensure that you are ready for romance whenever the moment is right and an on-demand version that can be effective for up to 36 hours, by far the longest lasting of any on-demand ED drug.

A month’s supply (30 5 milligram pills) of daily Cialis costs between $325 and $375 from the chain pharmacies. This compares with $412.50 for the same order from eDrugstore.com. For the on-demand formulation of Cialis, the recommended starting dose is 10 milligrams. The cash price for six 20-milligram tablets of Cialis on demand — equivalent to 12 10-milligram doses — from chain pharmacies hovers around $400, or about $33 per 10-milligram dose, compared with $423, or $35.25 per dose, from eDrugstore.com.

Levitra

Like Viagra and on-demand Cialis, Levitra (vardenafil hydrochloride) is an ED drug designed to be taken 30 to 60 minutes before the anticipated start of sexual activity. Its duration of action ranges from four to six hours. The recommended starting dose for Levitra is 10 milligrams.

The current cash price for six 20-milligram tablets (equal to 12 10-milligram doses) of Levitra at chain pharmacies averages from $330 to $350, or $27.50 to 29.15 per 10-milligram dose. If you order Levitra from eDrugstore, six 20-milligram tablets will cost you $388.50, or $32.38 per 10-milligram dose.

Staxyn

Staxyn is the only currently available ED medication that dissolves in your mouth and thus can be taken without water. Its active ingredient is vardenafil hydrochloride, the same as in Levitra, and the recommended starting dose is 10 milligrams.

The average cash price for 12 10-milligram tablets of Staxyn at chain pharmacies is roughly $425, or about $35.42 per dose. If you buy the orosolubile drug from eDrugstore, you’ll pay $480, or $40 per dose.

Stendra

The most recent ED drug to win Food and Drug Administration approval is Stendra (avanafil). Its recommended starting dose is 50 milligrams. For six 100-milligram tablets — 12 doses of 50 milligrams each — the price at chain drugstores ranges from $380 to $420, or $31.67 to $35 per 50-milligram dose. The same size order from eDrugstore is priced at $480, or $40 per 50-milligram dose.

Generics on the Way

A downtrend in ED drug prices is likely to begin as the patents on these brand-name medications expire and generic competition begins. Pfizer’s patent on Viagra won’t expire until April 2020, but the pharmaceuticals giant struck a licensing deal with Teva Pharmaceuticals that will allow the latter to begin marketing its generic formulation of sildenafil citrate in December 2017. The patents on both Levitra and Cialis are scheduled to expire in 2018, which will open the door to additional generic competition.

Ordering from eDrugstore

Ordering from eDrugstore is easy and can be done from the comfort of your home. Part of the Secure Medical family of online drugstores, eDrugstore sells only FDA-approved medications that are sourced from licensed U.S. pharmacies. If you already have a prescription from your doctor, you can fax or scan and email it along with your order. If you don’t have a prescription, eDrugstore can set up an online consultation with one of its team of physicians who can authorize a prescription if it’s deemed appropriate. To learn more about these ED medications and to place an order, get started with a visit to eDrugstore’s ED Medication Guide.