Before you pay extra for a name-brand pain reliever or allergy pill, turn both boxes over and compare the Drug Facts labels. If the active ingredient and the milligrams listed beside it match, the store brand does the same job for less. Buy it, unless you react to a specific dye or filler.
Pharmacists already shop this way. A 2015 study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics found that pharmacists bought name-brand headache remedies just 9% of the time, while the average shopper bought them 26% of the time.
The active ingredient is the part of a medicine that treats your symptoms, and the FDA requires every over-the-counter label to list it by name and amount. FDA rules also require a generic to match the name brand’s active ingredient, strength, and form, and to meet the same quality standards.
Store-brand versions of medicines like Zyrtec are FDA-approved generics. The extra money buys the name on the box.
Find the Active ingredient line on each box. Zyrtec’s says cetirizine HCl 10 mg, and Walmart’s Equate cetirizine lists the same 10 mg. In early October 2026, Walmart charged $12.88 for 90 Equate tablets, about a third of the $39.97 it charged for 90 Zyrtec tablets. When box sizes differ, divide each price by the pill count before you compare.
Cold medicine takes one more step. Combination formulas carry several active ingredients, so every ingredient and every amount has to match, whatever the front of the box promises.
The one real difference sits on the Inactive ingredients line, where binders, colors, and flavorings can vary. Costco’s Kirkland Signature Aller-Tec, for one, adds a blue dye that Zyrtec’s tablet doesn’t contain. For most people that changes nothing. If you react to a particular dye or filler, compare that line too or ask the pharmacist.
Start with what you restock most, like pain relievers, allergy pills, antacids, and cold medicine. Once the store brand is your default, the savings repeat on every box you buy.
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