Brand Name vs. Generic Viagra (Comparison)

Brand name Viagra refers to the authentic drug that is manufactured by Pfizer Inc and approved by the FDA. Generic Viagra is supposedly the same drug with the same Pfizer-patented, active ingredient (sildenafil citrate), but marketed under different trade names. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Pfizer often refer to generic Viagra as fake and illegal.

The following table compares genuine Pfizer Viagra with the generic counterparts of this drug.

Criteria\Version	Brand Viagra	Generic Viagra
Approval	FDA approved since 1998.	None of it is (yet) approved by the FDA or any other official health authority.
Manufacturer/s	Pfizer Inc.	Made by many manufacturers worldwide, especially by unlicensed, third-world drug companies.
Active ingredients	Sildenafil citrate - 25mg, 50mg and 100mg	Sildenafil citrate (allegedly). However, many clinical studies found that generic Viagra often contains unknown, unapproved, and undeclared ingredients that could pose a health risk to the users.
Form & Color	Solid, diamond-shaped, blue pills.	Comes in different unapproved forms and colors, like blue pills, white pills, pink pills, capsules, jelly, cream, liquid, etc.
Effectiveness	Proven to be quite effective on men with ED.	Some of it is as effective as the original drug. However, many of it was found to be totally ineffective (mere rip-off).
Safety	Pretty safe for "most" users. A doctor can decide whether this drug is safe for a specific individual or not. Read more about Viagra safety at the official Viagra site.	Since it is made illegally and mostly by bad drug makers, generic Viagra could be unsafe, dangerous, or even deadly.
Price	You can hardly find a pharmacy that sells cheap Pfizer Viagra anywhere in the world. The price of the branded Viagra starts from $8/pill and goes up to crazy $40/pill in some online pharmacies.	Generic Viagra is cheap and usually costs about $1-$3 per pill. But keep in mind that any generic version of Viagra is not medically approved and could even be dangerous to your health.