Ventolin HFA vs. its authorized generic and generics

How to pay the least

Ask for the cash price

Generic albuterol

No pharmacy we check posts a price for it.

Ask your pharmacy for the cash price of generic albuterol.Find pharmacies near you
Ask one or two other pharmacies too. Cash prices for the same generic can differ a lot from store to store.

A regular generic has the same active ingredient as Ventolin HFA, and the FDA requires it to work the same way.

Compare every option

Brand nameVentolin HFA

Authorized genericalbuterol

Regular genericalbuterol

What you’d pay

Cash priceAsk the pharmacyUsually the highest price

Cash priceAsk the pharmacyUsually less than Ventolin HFA

Cash priceAsk the pharmacyUsually the lowest

Same as Ventolin HFA?

The original

Same medicine

Same active ingredientFillers and dyes can differ

Brand nameNo maker’s card

We didn’t find a savings card or cash price from Ventolin HFA’s maker. Ask the pharmacy for Ventolin HFA’s cash price. With insurance, ask what your plan charges.

Authorized genericThe NDC to ask for

The same medicine as Ventolin HFA, without the brand name. Give the pharmacy its NDC to get it.

albuterol

Sold by

Prasco LaboratoriesMade by GlaxoSmithKline, the company behind Ventolin HFA

NDC to ask for

90 mcginhaler
- 66993-019-6811-digit: 66993-0019-68200 puffs per inhaler

Source: FDA, updated October 30, 2026

What to say at the pharmacy

“Before you fill my Ventolin HFA, can you tell me what I’d pay for the brand, for the authorized generic from Prasco Laboratories (NDC 66993-019-68), and for a regular generic?”

Paying cash? Ask for each one’s cash price. With insurance, ask what your plan charges for each.

Brand and authorized generic labels

Official labels and ingredient lists from DailyMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine).

Same active and inactive ingredients as Ventolin HFA.

Ventolin HFA package label — BrandVentolin HFA

Authorized generic package label from Prasco Laboratories — Authorized genericPrasco Laboratories

See the ingredients

Active: albuterol sulfate 90 mcg

Inactive, on both labels:

Norflurane

Regular genericWho makes it

One company sells a generic of Ventolin HFA that the FDA rates a substitute. A pharmacy fills whichever one it stocks. To get a certain maker, ask for it by name; most pharmacies can order it in a day or two.

Cipla90 mcg

How it looks, what’s in it, NDCs

90 mcg

Package NDC
Carton of 200 69097-021-60

Inactive ingredients: norflurane
FDA label

Package	NDC
Carton of 200	69097-021-60

The FDA doesn’t rate Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Armstrong Pharmaceuticals, Exelan Pharmaceuticals, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Lupin Pharmaceuticals and Padagis’s versions of albuterol a substitute for Ventolin HFA, so a pharmacy can’t swap them in without your prescriber’s OK.

Who sells it: FDA and Medicaid records, updated weekly. Each maker’s page, card and program is from its own site.

What it’s used for

Airway tightening (bronchospasm)
Preventing airway tightening during exercise

What the FDA label says

VENTOLIN HFA is a beta2-adrenergic agonist indicated for:

Treatment or prevention of bronchospasm in adult and pediatric patients aged 4 years and older with reversible obstructive airway disease.
Prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm in adult and pediatric patients aged 4 years and older.

Source: the FDA label for Ventolin HFA (GlaxoSmithKline LLC), April 26, 2024. Full label on DailyMed

Good to know

It may look different from Ventolin HFA (color, shape, or markings). That’s normal for an authorized generic.
If your prescription says “dispense as written,” the pharmacy needs your prescriber’s OK to give you the authorized generic.
Cash prices can differ a lot from one pharmacy to the next, so it can pay to ask two. With insurance, what you pay depends on your plan.
If your pharmacy doesn’t stock it, they can often order it within a day or two.
Don’t stop or change a medicine without talking to your pharmacist or prescriber.

Prices change: confirm with the pharmacy before you fill. drugalt.com/drug/ventolin-hfa/