Warby Parker vs Liingo Eyewear Comparison

Quick Look

Both Liingo Eyewear and Warby Parker are great options for buying glasses online. 

We recommend Warby Parker over Liingo Eyewear due to the higher quality of their frames, in-store options, more complete services, and faster turnaround times.

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Warby Parker & Liingo Eyewear Overview

Warby Parker is a premium eyewear retailer founded in 2010. Since then, they’ve become a leading name in the eyewear industry.

The company designs, manufactures, sells, and distributes all its products in-house. They also use high-quality materials, and their prices are generally lower than the competition.

Liingo Eyewear is a relatively new online glasses retailer, launched in 2016. 1-800 contacts acquired it in 2018.

Liingo is making a name for itself by providing contemporary designs at a reduced price. They work directly with manufacturers, own their lab, and use an online model. This helps keep their prices lower than their competitors.

Warby Parker has been around for over a decade, but Liingo is still relatively new. Many people are comparing these two companies because they have similar models.

But how do they stack up side by side? We’ll go in-depth and compare the pros and cons of each company.

Compare Costs

Pricing and return policy are the only categories where Liingo objectively beats Warby Parker. Their pricing model is designed to give lower total prices than Warby Parker.

The frames and lenses you pick out on Liingo may cost more than a comparable model on Warby Parker. However, Liingo’s frames, lenses, and add-ons are cheaper across the board.

Insurance

Warby Parker is an in-network provider for many vision plans, including: 

• Spectera
• VSP
• EyeMed
• UnitedHealthcare
• Cigna
• Humana
• DavisVision
• Anthem
• Aetna
• NVA
• An out-of-network provider for more carriers

You can also use your HSA or FSA to pay for prescription glasses or sunglasses.

Use their insurance page or check directly with your insurance provider to find your benefits.

Liingo is an out-of-network provider on most vision plans. Additionally, they accept HSA or FSA to pay for prescription glasses or sunglasses.

Costs Winner: Liingo Eyewear, by about 20%.

Compare Frames & Lenses

Liingo is slightly cheaper than Warby Parker. But what about quality?

Frame Material

Warby Parker takes pride in their high-quality materials.

From custom-designed cellulose acetate sourced from a family-run Italian factory to ultra-lightweight titanium, we use nothing but premium materials for our frames.

— Warby Parker, “How Our Glasses Are Made”

And I certainly can vouch for them. I have two pairs from them, the Burke and the Caldwell. The Burke is made from hand-polished cellulose acetate, while the Caldwell is made from stainless steel and cellulose acetate. 

Both of my WP frames are incredibly lightweight and durable. My Burke’s have lasted 4+ years, and I’m sure my Caldwell’s will too.

Liingo Eyewear doesn’t mention their frame materials anywhere on its site. I reached out to customer service and asked what materials they use. Here’s what they said:

We use acetate plastic, metal, and titanium! It just depends on the frame. 🙂

— Liingo Eyewear Customer Service

If you want to know what materials they use in the frame you want, I guess you’ll have to reach out to customer service each time. 

My metal Liingo frames are much more lightweight (borderline flimsy) than my titanium Warby Parkers.

After wearing both frames for over a year, my Warby's have much more life in them. The frames will outlast the lenses.

My Liingo frames feel like they could fall apart at any moment. They still work, but I only wear them for reading.

Frame Material Winner: Warby Parker, by a long shot.

Comfort

Liingo's metal frames may be less durable than Warby Parker's titanium frames, but this works in their favor for this category.

My Warby Parker frames are heavy-duty. My Burke's have already lasted me several years, and my Caldwell's feel like they will outlast my Liingo Addison frames.

However, my Liingo Addison's are super lightweight, making them more comfortable for all-day wear. I should note that they are also a bit looser, so if I'm going to exercise, I'll take my Warby's.

Comfort Winner: Liingo

Lens Material

Both Warby Parker and Liingo Eyewear offer polycarbonate lenses as the standard. They also offer upgrades to 1.67 high-index lenses for higher prescriptions (at extra cost). 

Both of them provide scratch-resistance, anti-glare, and 100% UV protection for free. Water and smudge resistance are free on most lenses, though sometimes it costs $39 on certain Liingo glasses. 

However, I’ve never found water and smudge resistance to do much to actually reduce smudges.

Warby Parker offers 1.74 high-index lenses for extremely high prescriptions. This is the only option that sets them apart from Liingo. Otherwise, both options provide excellent, high-quality lenses.

Warby Parker Single Vision Polycarbonate Lenses

Liingo Eyewear 1.67 High Index Lenses

Lens Material Winner: Draw. Unless you have an extremely high prescription, then Warby Parker wins.

Style

Both companies offer a variety of stylish, modern designs, as well as classic styles. I think Warby Parker and Liingo have the best contemporary designs of any affordable eyewear company. 

My personal preference is Warby Parker, because they have seasonal collections.

Style Winner: True style is a personal preference, so I’ll let you decide. I choose Warby Parker.

Selection

Warby Parker used to win this by a long shot. However, they have scaled down their selection, while Liingo has scaled up.

Warby Parker curates seasonal collections based on fashion trends. Liingo doesn't feature seasonal collections.

Warby Parker also has a kid's section, while Liingo doesn't.

Selection Winner: Warby Parker.

Customer Service

Customer service is a strong point for both of these companies. I’ve never had any trouble getting through to their customer service (and I ask a lot of questions).

Both companies offer online chat (my favorite way to communicate), email, and phone support. Warby Parker also offers SMS messaging (texting) support, while Liingo doesn’t. 

However, both companies quickly connect you to real people and provide super-friendly and helpful customer service. 

Customer Service Winner: Draw. 5/5 stars for both companies in this category.

At-Home Try-On Program

Both companies offer a home try-on program. Their offers are virtually identical. Both companies allow you to:

• Choose up to 5 frames to try on
• Ship the frames to your house in 5 to 7 business days
• Let you try the frames on for 5 days
• Provide free shipping both ways

At-Home Try-On Winner: Draw. These programs are virtually identical.

Virtual Try-On

Both companies offer virtual try-on tools. These show you a preview of what the frames will look like on your face. 

Each brand has developed an effective tool.

Warby Parker has a virtual try-on tool on their app (only available for iPhone X users and above).

Android users rejoice! They also finally added a new virtual try-on tool that works on their website. This one works on desktop, tablet, and mobile - so you can finally use it regardless of your  operating system.

The tool is awesome. Just point the camera and It gives you a live, high-quality, realistic selfie image of any frame on your face. It’s like an Instagram or Snapchat filter, but for their glasses.

Liingo Eyewear’s virtual try-on technology is quite different. You record a quick video and check your PD (optional). Then you can see an animated image of yourself wearing any pair of glasses.

The quality of the image is lower, and it’s not as fun as a selfie filter. But the major upside is that anyone can use it. You can use your computer or phone camera.

Virtual Try-On Winner: Warby Parker - their new virtual try-on tool on their website is the best I've seen.

Additional Services

Warby Parker is miles ahead in terms of additional services. They offer:

• Children’s glasses
• Contact lenses
• Digital eye exams (for prescription renewals)
• A well-designed app (for iPhone X or above, sorry Android users)
• Over 100 retail locations fully staffed with sales representatives and eye doctors
• Eyewear accessories

Liingo only offers adult glasses and sunglasses (for now). Maybe their smaller overhead is what allows them to keep their prices low. 

However, Warby Parker triumphs if you want an IRL experience or a fully developed range of services.

Additional Services Winner: Warby Parker, by far.

Shipping

Again, Warby Parker prevails in this category. The total turnaround time for a pair of glasses is 7 to 10 business days once your prescription and billing info are approved. Expedited shipping is $20 extra.

For Liingo, the total turnaround time is 14 to 21 days once you receive your prescription. Expedite shipping is an additional $12.95.

Shipping Winner: Warby Parker, but not by too much.

Return Policy

Warby Parker offers a 30-day hassle-free return and exchange program.

Liingo Eyewear gives you 60 days for a full refund or exchange.

Return Policy Winner: Liingo Eyewear.

App

Warby Parker’s app is awesome. It’s well-designed in terms of aesthetics and functionality. In my opinion, it was an even better shopping experience than the website.

I had a blast trying on glasses virtually and organizing my favorites. It was simple to send screenshots to my friends for a second opinion. 

The only downside is I had to borrow my roommate’s phone to do it. As an Android user, the app is unavailable in the Play Store. It’s only available on the Apple App Store, and only for iPhone X or above.

Liingo only offers an Rx reader app. The app is supposed to be able to tell your prescription by using your phone camera and a computer screen. It didn’t work for me because my prescription is too high.

But even if it does work, Liingo's app is virtually useless in my opinion. It only reads your prescription. It doesn’t provide you with a new prescription. 

You could get this same information from your eye doctor or wherever your current prescription is stored. If you need a new prescription, you should schedule an appointment with your eye doctor. 

Unless Liingo has some plans for this technology that I don’t see, this was a bad spend of their tech budget (in my humble opinion). You can’t even shop on the app.

App Winner: Warby Parker (it's not even close).

Summary

Overall Scores:

Warby Parker: 9.5/10

Liingo Eyewear: 8/10

We recommend Warby Parker over Liingo Eyewear due to their better selection, in-store options, more complete services, and faster turnaround times.

• Both Warby Parker and Liingo Eyewear are great options to purchase prescription or non-prescription glasses online
• Liingo is slightly cheaper than Warby Parker
• Both companies provide high-quality lenses
• Warby Parker’s frame materials are much better than Liingo’s
• They both have great designs, but Warby Parker has a much larger selection
• Both companies have 5-star customer service
• Warby Parker offers many more additional services Liingo
• Warby Parker’s turnaround times are a little faster than Liingo’s
• Liingo offers a 60-day return policy, Warby Parker’s is only 30-days

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