VigRX Plus Reviews: Does it boost male sexual performance?

Men of all ages experience erectile performance issues, a lack of libido, and infertility for an assortment of reasons. Prescription drugs offer one well-trod avenue of assistance, but men who are wary of pharmaceuticals or those who don’t think their problem is that bad yet may be seeking another option.1 VigRX Plus aims to offer a supplement as an alternative to prescription medication for men to improve not only their erections but their overall sexual health, as well.

It’s possible that VigRX Plus may help some men with specific forms of sexual dysfunction, especially those with benign prostatic hyperplasia or other prostate issues that contribute to their problems in the bedroom. Unlike many rivals, VigRX put its formula to the test in a clinical study, which is impressive but not without caveats. For one thing, that study used a higher dose of the VigRX formula than what’s recommended to consumers. And, compared to outside research, several of its ingredients appear in suboptimal doses, though their combined effect may be worth considering. Visit our guide to male enhancement pills to learn about options we’d sooner recommend.

This research into VigRX Plus is just one piece of our massive undertaking to study the breadth of the men’s sexual health marketplace; we rigorously analyze men’s health supplements, services, and devices to inform you about which ones are worth your consideration and which ones aren’t. We become customers ourselves to test that experience to the greatest possible extent, and we interview other customers and experts in various specialties. Our team has read more than 200 scholarly articles regarding men’s sexual health and the various drugs and other supplemental ingredients companies employ to treat things like ED, low testosterone, hair loss, and more. We measure our time dedicated to this effort not in hundreds of hours but in thousands.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review of VigRX Plus was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy. We’ll continue to monitor the landscape to determine where VigRX Plus sits and to keep this review up-to-date.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions to improve their health.

In evaluating VigRX Plus, we considered several criteria that we typically apply to any supplement in the men’s sexual health space. This approach allows us to compare a product fairly to the best of its competitors.

We put the greatest emphasis on effectiveness here, as that should outweigh just about every other consideration; if VigRX doesn’t work, why would you consume it? Safety is a close second, but if the efficacy is too low to be worthy of consideration, then safety becomes a moot point. That isn’t to understate the importance we place on potential adverse effects and contraindications, however.

Finally, we look at factors like cost and convenience. Most of the supplements in this space are similarly priced, usually falling between $30 and $80 for a single month’s supply. Their business models often resemble one another’s, as well, with basic websites, bulk ordering discounts, free shipping, and some kind of money-back guarantee.

Let’s take a closer look at each criterion to give you a better sense of how we arrived at our conclusions.

Effectiveness

When we set out to rate a product’s effectiveness, we consider everything from available scientific research to customer feedback. We certainly give more weight to the research, but rarely are there studies performed looking into a particular company’s formula. When that’s the case, we study the research into its constituent parts to determine its potential.

VigRX Plus is relatively unusual among male enhancement pills in that it has a research study that looks into the effects of its formula.2 Parts of the study’s methodology were well-designed. It’s placebo-controlled and triple-blind, two aspects that lend credence to its findings, and participants self-reported erectile performance based on several well-regarded questionnaires. Based on the results of those questionnaires, it would be easy to assume a rating closer to 9/10 than 6/10, but there’s a little more to the study than meets the eye.

For starters, VigRX Plus’ parent company, Leading Edge Health, funded the study, which almost certainly introduces some bias. Additionally, the study only used 75 participants, a number too low to develop anything near statistical significance. And finally — and most importantly — the formulation and dosage used in the study differ from the pills as sold. Granted, the study is over a decade old, and VigRX may have made some changes to the formula, but it still doesn’t provide solid findings about the current formulation.

Here’s a look at how the daily doses of the study compare to the doses you’ll receive:

As you can see, doses in the study run anywhere from 2-4 times the amount delivered in the VigRX Plus that ships to your home. The individual capsules in the study were stronger than the ones sold to the public, and the daily dose was four capsules in the study compared to two, as listed on the box.

Aside from all of this, we also have to consider effective doses of these ingredients as indicated by various other studies looking at their impacts on sexual performance in men. Some of those doses are even larger than what VigRX Plus used in its study, which makes it less likely that the strength of VigRX Plus sold to consumers will be effective unless you’re willing to take twice the recommended daily serving or you have a relatively low body weight compared to most men.

Safety

Looking at the chart above, you’ll find a little good news from a safety perspective: the lower doses in the VigRX Plus formula sold to the public should reduce the potential for adverse effects. In the company’s internal study, those effects ranged from mild fever to moderate “sticky discharge” in the urine. But the total number of adverse effects was relatively low, and as we saw, some ingredients in the study appeared at eight times the dose delivered to consumers.

We also have to look at studies performed on VigRX Plus’s individual ingredients to get a more comprehensive understanding of the product’s safety profile, especially since the VigRX-funded study involved only 75 people. For example, a review of ginseng’s potential adverse effects conducted in 2002 revealed potential contraindications with certain prescription drugs,3 including warfarin and phenelzine.4 5

One of the few ingredients to appear close to a clinically relevant dose in VigRX Plus is Ginkgo biloba. Studies looking at ginkgo’s potential for memory enhancement are probably the most well-known and typically use between 80mg and 120mg per day. On the men’s sexual health side, one prominent study that found success using ginkgo to treat men with antidepressant-induced erectile dysfunction employed an average daily dose of 209mg.6 Side effects associated with that dose were headache, gastrointestinal issues, and general central nervous system activation. VigRX’s ginseng dose is 200mg, which may induce some of those side effects.

We want to give VigRX Plus credit for revealing the specific doses in its formula; many brands — even some made by the same parent company — obscure their dosages within proprietary blends. Ultimately, we have reason to believe VigRX Plus is one of the safer male enhancement products around, though some others still boast superior safety profiles.

Cost

We look at cost from multiple angles, not just standard pricing. We take things into account like bulk or subscription savings opportunities, return policies, money-back guarantees, and shipping costs. VigRX doesn’t offer subscriptions, so it relies instead on bulk savings. You also get a relatively middling money-back guarantee as compared to some of its competitors.

Given the low doses of some ingredients found in VigRX Plus, you might expect it to be less expensive than those competitors. This is not the case. VigRX Plus is among the most expensive male enhancement pills in its class. One box will cost you $70, and that will last you a month. So it’s a good thing that VigRX provides bulk purchasing discounts, which can bring your cost per month down to about $49. Still, some of VigRX Plus’ competitors offer better prices for single-month orders and similar bulk purchasing discounts.

Here’s a quick look at how VigRX Plus prices compare to its top competitors:

Just below VigRX Plus in our chart is Performer 8, which currently ranks as our top-rated male enhancement pill. At every level, it has a better price than VigRX Plus. It also has a superior money-back guarantee, offering a lifetime promise compared to VigRX’s 67 days.

Convenience

Convenience can come from several aspects of a company’s offering. For a product like VigRX Plus, we look at things like website design and ease of ordering, as well as customer support, shipping logistics, and dosing schedule.

The first big knock on VigRX comes from its lack of subscription service. While some people might not like being billed automatically, there is something to be said for not having to think about how low you might be running on a given pill. With VigRX Plus, you have to keep track of your stock and order more in time to avoid going several days without taking it. And without the opportunity for subscription discounts, that leads us to another inconvenient point: bulk purchasing.

It’s nice to be able to save money by buying in bulk, but having to store a year’s worth of anything — even something relatively small like boxes of VigRX Plus — can be a pain. Ordering is easy enough, as just about every aspect of the company’s website drives you toward the ordering page. We just wish the company offered the convenience of a subscription. To be fair, the typical VigRX competitor sets up the same kind of bulk purchasing, non-subscription platform, but a few options out there make automatic shipments possible.

Manufactured, marketed, and sold by Leading Edge Health, VigRX Plus is a nutritional supplement that claims to improve various aspects of men’s sexual health, including:

• Libido
• Erectile performance
• Testosterone levels
• Energy
• Orgasm intensity

It isn't as fast-acting as some of the prescription drugs available on the market that can increase testosterone or treat erectile dysfunction, and its ultimate effects pale in comparison to these pharmaceutical advances. And with practical barriers to entry for prescription sexual health medications vanishing in the age of telemedicine, these medications are less expensive and more accessible than ever.

Still, not all men want to start their journey with a prescription. You may be wary of potential side effects from what seems like a more intense treatment. There may also be some concerns about sexual dysfunctions ending up in health records. Whatever the reason, there are still plenty of men who prefer to seek treatment with nutritional supplements before heading to the pharmacy.

But from an efficacy standpoint, no nutritional supplement will likely work as well as the available prescription drugs for men's sexual dysfunction. A quick look at VigRX's ingredient list reveals a product with relatively low doses for all its included ingredients. The company would argue that the smaller doses work in concert with one another to create an overall effect that's greater than the sum of its parts. We're a little skeptical of that approach, especially with minimal clinical evidence supporting this specific combination. And the fact that the VigRX study used a higher dose than what comes in the box only compounds our skepticism.

Here’s a quick look at VigRX Plus’ ingredients. We’ll dive deeper into each one a little further down the page:

• Asian red ginseng: 200mg
• Saw palmetto: 200mg
• Hawthorn berry: 200mg
• Ginkgo biloba: 200mg
• Damiana: 200mg
• Tribulus terrestris: 150mg
• Muira pauma bark extract: 100mg
• Cuscuta extract: 50mg
• Epimedium leaf extract: 30mg
• Catuaba bark extract: 25mg
• Bioperine: 10mg

One potential cause for performance issues is low testosterone, which is why VigRX includes some ingredients designed to boost testosterone levels. If you want to find out whether you have low T, at-home testing has expanded to include reputable companies that deliver accurate results. Our comprehensive guide to at-home testosterone tests breaks down your best options and provides you with exclusive discount codes.

It’s hard for us to say that VigRX will work for most men or that it will provide no positive effect. There just isn’t enough clinical evidence in humans that these ingredients at these doses will make a meaningful difference in men’s sexual health. That said, if your issues in the bedroom stem from multiple sources, you might be able to use VigRX Plus as part of a multi-pronged approach to address the problem.

• Common underlying causes for sexual dysfunction include:
• Cardiovascular problems
• Obesity
• Fatigue
• Diabetes
• Low testosterone
• Depression
• Anxiety

VigRX Plus won't be a complete remedy for any of those issues. Still, combined with improved diet and exercise, talk therapy, and other lifestyle changes, it could function as a supplemental aid. (Keep in mind, as far as supplemental aids go, this one is more expensive than others you could consider.)

Clinical study results from VigRX Plus

In 2010 VigRX’s parent company commissioned a clinical study on 75 men between the ages of 25 and 50.2 The study relied on the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) standards as a measure of success. That questionnaire covers overall erectile function, orgasmic function, sexual desire, intercourse satisfaction, and overall satisfaction. The study employed other questionnaires in conjunction with this one to help round out the survey data; those included the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory and Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS). Researchers examined semen parameters and measured serum testosterone, as well.

One group of men took an enhanced dose of the supplement for 84 days (roughly twice the recommended dose of two capsules a day for a total of four capsules), while another group took a placebo. As a triple-blind, placebo-controlled study, the participants, the experimenters overseeing the study, and the researchers analyzing the data were all ignorant of who took what.

All men in the study were heterosexual, in monogamous relationships, and reported mild-to-moderate erectile dysfunction but were otherwise healthy. None of the subjects had any known underlying condition that could adversely affect their sexual health.

The study showed VigRX to be relatively safe, with incidents of side effects no higher in the VigRX group than in the placebo group. This is noteworthy because, as described above, the men in the test group received higher doses of many VigRX Plus ingredients, as compared to consumers today. Men in both groups experienced fever, but two men in the VigRX group reported a sticky discharge accompanying their urine by day 84. A correlation between this effect and VigRX was not established.

According to the study results, the VigRX group experienced:

• A 62.82% increase in their ability to maintain an erection
• Around a 22.49% increase in the quality and frequency of orgasms
• A 59% increase in their ability to easily penetrate
• A 47% increase in sexual desire and sex drive
• A 71% increase in satisfaction from sexual intercourse

Overall erectile function improved by 56%, and 90% of the participants wanted to continue with treatment after the study.

These look like pretty promising results, but there are major caveats to the study. One red flag is that Leading Edge Health, the company that makes VigRX, funded the study. There’s a clear statement of ethics at the top, and the triple-blind design should have shielded the study from too much bias, but we still prefer independent third-party studies. And perhaps more importantly, the study also used a population that was too small to draw any statistically significant conclusions.

But the biggest problem with the study is the difference in the doses provided to participants and the doses sold to the general public. Study participants received between two and eight times the dose strength of what you see on the back of the box. That doesn’t quite bring the doses of individual components in line with what researchers use when studying them in isolation, but the combination of those higher doses would have a greater chance of efficacy than the dose levels in VigRX Plus.

Unlike a few other sexual-performance-enhancing supplements, VigRX Plus doesn’t conceal its ingredients within a proprietary blend. This is a level of transparency that many other products fail to provide. Unfortunately for the company, that also makes it clear that some of its ingredients are underdosed. To better understand how its ingredients perform in individual studies (and what doses clinicians prefer to use), let’s take a look at each ingredient individually.

Safety is one of VigRX Plus’ strong points, particularly for men who are otherwise healthy. Most male enhancement pills seek to improve blood flow to the penis and often achieve this by vasodilation, a widening of the blood vessels. This is akin to what a prescription PDE-5 inhibitor like Viagra can do, albeit at a very different intensity.

While that’s generally good news from an efficacy standpoint, mimicking PDE-5 inhibitors exposes users to many of the same risks. The most dangerous of these involves a potential drop in blood pressure resulting from the widening of blood vessels. That’s why any consultation for a PDE-5 prescription requires a blood pressure measurement. Men with blood pressure or other cardiovascular issues and those taking prescriptions like warfarin could put their lives at risk by taking PDE-5 inhibitors and may endure similar hazards using male enhancement pills, including VigRX Plus.

However, most of VigRX’s doses are on the low side compared to those used in clinical studies. And the only data we have concerning the safety profile of VigRX’s specific ingredients and doses working in concert comes from the company’s self-funded study, which was small.

There are several side effects in addition to blood pressure issues you should watch out for when you start using VigRX, based on data from studies of its individual ingredients. They include:

• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Elevated heart rate
• Abdominal pain
• Insomnia

You should talk to your doctor before introducing VigRX Plus into your diet, and definitely give them a call if any of these symptoms or anything else concerning occurs after you start taking it.

VigRX is available in one-, three-, and six-month supplies for the following prices:

• One-month supply: $69
• Three-month supply: $177
• Six-month supply: $295

VigRX used to offer a 12-month supply, as well, but the company has since limited its options to what you see here.

Because of the 67-day money-back guarantee, if you're dissatisfied, it makes sense to order larger quantities if you can afford them. That keeps your cost as low as possible if you experience results, though it does require a larger investment up-front.

But when many of the ingredients included in VigRX Plus and other male enhancement pills work in studies, they do so after a period of about 8-12 weeks. That 67-day period might not be long enough for you to notice those results. Other companies offer longer guarantees, like Ultraload’s 100-day guarantee or the lifetime coverage you get from Performer 8 (our top male enhancement pill).

Given the sensitive nature of its offering, VigRX needs to have good privacy policies that start on the website and extend into the physical world. Leading Edge Health, VigRX Plus’ parent company, does a good job on most of its branded sites spelling out their privacy practices in plain English. The privacy policy pledges not to mine your contact information and spam you with offers, a claim we can verify after spending countless hours on the site.

We’d prefer it if the site had a more prominent button for a “do not sell my information” request. You actually have to call a company rep to opt-out, which is more than most people are willing to do. Other companies have simpler systems with a “do not sell my information” button somewhere at the bottom of almost every page. One or two even let you opt out with one click — no phone call or email required.

VigRX ships its product in plain brown packaging with no company branding in sight. The return address on the shipping label will refer only to a “shipping manager” or similar term — not VigRX or Leading Edge Health — so no one can ascertain what’s in the box just by looking at the outside. This is pretty standard practice for most supplements in this space, but we appreciate it nonetheless.

Men struggling in the bedroom have a lot of ways to tackle the problem. Some of them can even work together to increase the odds that you can return to full function in short order. VigRX Plus is rarely where men should start, both because it’s ultimately less effective than prescription options and because it’s neither the cheapest male enhancement pill nor the one likeliest to make a positive difference.

In order to give you a complete view of your options, we’ll need to look at several product categories and treatment approaches in a little more depth.

Prescription ED medication

There may have been a time a couple of decades ago when it would make sense for men to consider supplemental treatment before reaching for prescription interventions. But as sildenafil (Viagra’s active ingredient) and tadalafil (Cialis’s active ingredient) have undergone year after year of testing and public use, it’s clear that they represent a safe and effective means to treat erectile dysfunction.

To be clear, these pills aren’t a silver bullet for all sexual dysfunctions. They can’t address issues with libido and infertility. But if your main problem in the bedroom is sustaining an erection of sufficient strength to enjoy penetrative sex, then they’re probably your best bet.

Prescription erectile dysfunction medication has also become a lot easier to obtain in the age of telehealth. There are several reputable companies that can provide you with a doctor’s consultation, the prescription itself, and even medication delivery for extremely low costs. And since you only need to take most ED medications shortly before intercourse — as opposed to a daily supplement — the generic pills end up costing most men a lot less money.

We have a comprehensive guide that goes over everything you need to know to get a prescription online, but here are a few highlights:

• BlueChew is our top choice for most men interested in ED medication. The service is inexpensive and private, and the medications come in convenient chewable tablets that are individually wrapped for added portability.
• Hims has a specific way you can order tadalafil as a tablet or chewable for daily use and take it as needed. This method makes it one of the least expensive ways to obtain tadalafil, so long as you need 5mg or less per tablet or exactly 8.5mg in a chewable.
• Rugiet delivers three ED medications — namely sildenafil, tadalafil, and a less common offering called apomorphine — in one sublingual lozenge. The combination seems like it might be effective, but it’s one of the pricier options out there.20

Other male enhancement pills

VigRX Plus belongs to a category of supplements often referred to as male enhancement pills. These are nutritional supplements that aim to improve men’s sex lives by doing the following:

• Boosting libido
• Improving erectile performance
• Elevating testosterone
• Bolstering semen parameters
• Increasing energy

That’s a lot of potential benefit from what are often mixtures of poorly studied botanical ingredients and a few vitamins and minerals. But anecdotal evidence suggests some degree of efficacy, which spurred on the examination of the male enhancement landscape you can find in our complete guide.

VigRX has a lot of competition, and it doesn’t rise to the top of any of our rankings. It’s routinely surpassed by offerings that are less expensive, contain more or better ingredients, or both. Our top-rated male enhancement pill is Performer 8. It costs less than VigRX Plus ($65 for one month, $195 for five months) and contains some of the same ingredients as VigRX Plus but in much higher doses. It also contains ashwagandha, which we like seeing thanks to its testosterone-boosting21 abilities and its anxiolytic and adaptogenic effects.22

Testosterone boosters

Testosterone boosters are a subset of male enhancement pills that focus on elevating testosterone levels rather than improving blood flow to the penis. They’re particularly useful for men whose testosterone levels are lower than normal, which grows more likely after age 40 when those levels typically drop at a rate of 1-2% per year.29 There’s a lot of ingredient crossover between them and traditional male enhancement pills, but some of the ingredients you regularly see in testosterone boosters that are rarer among male enhancement pills include:

Lifestyle changes

Because various underlying conditions can impact erectile performance and libido, there are a lot of things you can do in your daily life that can improve your sexual health. We recommend you investigate them in conjunction with supplemental or prescription therapies to maximize the odds you’ll return to your old form sooner rather than later.

Common lifestyle changes that can improve sexual health include:

• Improved diet
• Increased exercise frequency
• Cessation of bad habits (drinking, smoking)
• More time in the sun (with appropriate sunscreen)
• Open communication with your partner(s)
• Talk therapy

Of course, this is just a preliminary list. You should talk to your doctor about your goals and perhaps order some tests that can determine potential nutritional deficiencies or low testosterone. Together, you can make a plan to get you back on track.