Choosing the best optical shop Singapore has usually gets treated as a question about frames and price. The more useful question is who is legally allowed to test your eyes, because the answer varies by shop and by your age, and no shopfront tells you.
Under the Optometrists and Opticians Act there are three tiers. An optometrist examines eyes, refracts, fits contact lenses and screens for disease. An optician qualified for refraction and dispensing can test sight, but only for patients aged 8 and above. An optician qualified for dispensing only fits glasses to a prescription someone else wrote, and does not test at all. So if you are taking a six-year-old for a first eye test, the person doing it must be an optometrist. Almost nobody knows that.
It matters here more than almost anywhere, because roughly 65 percent of Singaporean children are short-sighted by the age of 12 and up to a fifth of them are highly myopic. This guide covers seven shops, sets out what myopia control actually costs, and explains the difference between a shop that sells glasses fast and one that runs a clinical work-up. Nobody paid to be listed, and none of this is medical advice.
Key Takeaways
- 1 Not everyone in an optical shop is allowed to test your eyes, and the rules are specific. Under the Optometrists and Opticians Act, an optician qualified for dispensing only fits glasses from a prescription written by someone else and cannot refract at all. An optician qualified for refraction and dispensing can refract, but only patients aged 8 and above.
- 2 Which means a child under 8 must be seen by an optometrist, not an optician. In a country where roughly 65 percent of children are short-sighted by age 12, that is not a technicality. Ask who will be doing the test before you book, and check the Optometrists and Opticians Board register.
- 3 Singapore optometrists cannot prescribe medication or use diagnostic drugs, unlike their counterparts in the US or Australia. They examine, refract, fit contact lenses and screen for cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, then refer. For anything needing treatment you are going to an ophthalmologist.
- 4 Myopia control is a real clinical spend with a wide range. Stellest and MiYOSMART spectacle lenses run about S$400 to S$800 a pair. MiSight daily disposables are roughly S$1,400 to S$1,800 a year. Ortho-K night lenses are S$1,500 to S$3,000 in the first year and S$800 to S$1,500 a year after.
- 5 Nanyang Optical went into voluntary liquidation in January 2026 after 65 years, with at least one customer holding an unfulfilled S$1,800 order. Customers with prepaid orders can end up as unsecured creditors, which means refunds are not guaranteed. Pay by card, and be careful with large prepaid contact lens supplies.
Who is allowed to test your eyes, and what myopia control costs
Four things worth settling before you book.
- Three titles, three different scopes. The Optometrists and Opticians Board registers both professions under the Optometrists and Opticians Act, and maintains a separate register for each. An optometrist performs eye examinations, diagnostic refraction, colour vision assessment and contact lens fitting, and screens for cataract, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. An optician (refraction and dispensing) may refract patients aged 8 and above and dispense glasses. An optician (dispensing only) fits and dispenses to an existing prescription and does not refract.
- Under 8 means an optometrist, full stop. That age line is the single most practical consequence of the rules above, and it is invisible in a shop. If the appointment is for a young child, ask directly whether an optometrist will be doing the examination. It is a completely normal question and the answer takes a second.
- Singapore optometrists cannot prescribe drugs. Unlike optometrists in the United States or Australia, they are not permitted to use diagnostic pharmaceuticals or prescribe medication, so anything that needs treatment goes to an ophthalmologist. That is not a criticism of the profession, it is a scope boundary, and it tells you when a shop is the right first stop and when a hospital eye clinic is.
- Myopia control has a real price ladder. Stellest and MiYOSMART myopia control spectacle lenses run roughly S$400 to S$800 a pair, replaced when the prescription changes. MiSight daily disposable contact lenses are about S$1,400 to S$1,800 a year, ongoing. Ortho-K, the rigid lenses worn overnight to reshape the cornea, is S$1,500 to S$3,000 in year one and S$800 to S$1,500 a year thereafter. Executive bifocals sit lower at S$200 to S$450.
Context for why any of this is a national preoccupation: about 65 percent of children here are myopic by age 12, with up to 20 percent highly myopic, among the highest rates in the world. The Health Promotion Board has screened children from Kindergarten 1 to Primary 4 under the National Myopia Prevention Programme since 2001, so most parents meet this system before they ever walk into a shop.
Worth noting alongside my guides to the best podiatrists in Singapore and the best psychologists in Singapore: eye care sits with podiatry among the professions where titles are protected and registration is checkable, while psychology is only now being brought into that kind of framework. If you want certainty about who is treating you, this is one of the easier fields. And if you are weighing glasses against surgery entirely, the best LASIK clinics in Singapore is a different decision with a different price.
How the best optical shops in Singapore compare
| Shop | Type | Strength | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| W Optics | Clinical work-up | Ortho-K and children's contact lenses | Myopia control by contact lens |
| Better Vision | Clinical work-up | Two-year Stellest myopia package | A written guarantee on progression |
| Grand & Straits | Clinical work-up | Myopia control lenses for ages 6 to 12 | Spectacle-based myopia control |
| Eyecare Studio | Clinical work-up | Publishes myopia control costs openly | Comparing options before you commit |
| Spectacle Hut | Chain | Wide mall coverage and frame choice | A straightforward pair, conveniently |
| OWNDAYS | Fast chain | All-in pricing from about S$98 | A quick second pair at a known price |
| Lenskart | Fast chain | Volume pricing and frequent offers | Budget frames and spares |
1. W Optics: contact lens work, and Ortho-K done properly
W Optics is a homegrown vision care chain built around contact lenses, with optometrists carrying twenty years and more of experience and a genuine specialisation in Ortho-K, the rigid lenses worn overnight that reshape the cornea so a child can see without correction during the day.
Ortho-K is the treatment that most rewards choosing carefully. It is a fitted medical device sitting on a child's eye every night, so the fitting, the follow-up schedule and the hygiene teaching are the product, far more than the lens itself. At S$1,500 to S$3,000 in the first year and S$800 to S$1,500 annually after, it is also the most expensive of the myopia control routes, and the one where a poor fit shows up as a problem rather than merely a disappointment.
The shop also fits myopia control soft lenses for children with certified optometrists, which is the lighter alternative for families who are uneasy about overnight wear. Given the age rule, a practice organised around optometrists rather than dispensing opticians is the right shape for children's work.
Website: woptics.sg
Speciality: Ortho-K and myopia control contact lenses for children
Ortho-K cost: About S$1,500 to S$3,000 year one, S$800 to S$1,500 after
Team: Optometrists with 20+ years of experience
Best for: Contact lens myopia control, fitted by an optometrist
Contact W Optics: contact lens work, and Ortho-K done properly directly
2. Better Vision: a myopia package with a guarantee attached
Better Vision runs a two-year myopia management package for children built on Essilor Stellest lenses, and the terms are the interesting part: a second pair of spectacles within 24 months, and free lens replacement if the power increases by more than -0.75 within nine months.
That replacement clause is unusual and worth thinking about. Myopia control lenses are sold on the promise of slowing progression, and almost every provider quotes an efficacy range without committing to anything. A shop that will replace the lenses at its own cost if a child's prescription moves faster than a stated threshold is putting a number on that promise. It is a limited guarantee, and it is more than most offer.
Spectacle-based control also has a practical advantage that gets underrated: compliance. A pair of glasses is worn because a child cannot see without them. A contact lens regime depends on a child following a nightly routine, and the best treatment on paper is the one that gets used.
Website: bettervision.com.sg
Package: Two-year myopia management on Essilor Stellest
Includes: A second pair within 24 months
Guarantee: Free lens replacement if power moves more than -0.75 within nine months
Best for: Parents who want the promise written down
3. Grand & Straits Optical: myopia lenses for the 6 to 12 window
Grand & Straits Optical offers myopia control spectacle lenses aimed at children aged 6 to 12, which is precisely the window where progression is fastest and intervention counts for most.
The age framing is the useful part. Myopia in Singapore typically appears in early primary school and progresses through the years when children are reading and screen-working hardest, and the rate of change in that period is what determines how short-sighted an adult ends up. Slowing progression between 6 and 12 is not about the current prescription, it is about the final one.
Spectacle-based control at roughly S$400 to S$800 a pair is also the lowest-friction way in. There is no nightly routine, no lens hygiene to teach, and no daily handling of anything by a seven-year-old. For a family starting out, it is usually the sensible first step before considering contact lenses at all.
Website: grandstraits.sg
Speciality: Myopia control spectacle lenses for ages 6 to 12
Typical cost: About S$400 to S$800 a pair
Best for: Starting myopia control without a contact lens routine
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4. Eyecare Studio: the shop that publishes the costs
Eyecare Studio earns its place for something unusual in this trade: it publishes a straight cost comparison of the myopia control options, Stellest and MiYOSMART against MiSight against Ortho-K, with real Singapore price ranges rather than an invitation to enquire.
That transparency is the reason the numbers throughout this guide can be quoted at all. When one provider publishes and the rest quote on request, the published figures become the benchmark every parent should walk in holding. Ortho-K at S$1,500 to S$3,000 in year one is a materially different commitment from S$400 to S$800 for spectacle lenses, and a family deserves to see that before the consultation rather than after.
One honest caveat, and it applies well beyond this shop. Efficacy claims for myopia control lenses, commonly quoted as slowing progression by 40 to 70 percent, are usually published without a citation to the underlying trial. Ask which study a figure comes from and what the comparison group was. A practice doing this properly will tell you.
Website: eyecare-studio.com
Notable: Publishes myopia control costs across all the main options
Useful for: Walking into any consultation knowing the market rates
Best for: Comparing routes before committing to one
5. Spectacle Hut: mall coverage and a wide frame wall
Spectacle Hut is one of the larger chains here, with shops across a long list of malls and a broad frame selection, and it is the sensible answer to the most common eyewear problem, which is simply needing a decent pair without much fuss.
Frame choice is worth more than it gets credit for. Fit is genuinely physical: bridge width, temple length and how a frame sits on a particular face determine whether glasses are comfortable after six hours. A large wall of frames is not a luxury, it is what makes it possible to find one that actually fits, and it is the main thing an online purchase cannot give you.
For a routine prescription update on an adult, this tier is entirely appropriate. For a first examination on a young child, ask the specific question about who is doing the test, and if the answer is an optician rather than an optometrist, book somewhere set up for it.
Website: spectaclehut.com
Format: Chain, wide mall coverage
Strength: A large frame wall, which is what fit actually needs
Best for: A routine adult pair, close to where you already are
6. OWNDAYS: all-in pricing, and knowing what that includes
OWNDAYS built its position on all-in pricing, with glasses from about S$98 including lenses, and enhanced progressive lenses included rather than charged as an upgrade.
All-in is a genuine improvement on how this category traditionally worked, where a low frame price was followed by a series of lens decisions, each carrying an increment, and the final total bore little resemblance to the sign in the window. A single number you can plan around is worth something.
Understand what the model is optimised for. Fast chains like this run quick standard refraction and get you out with glasses the same day, which is exactly right for a second pair, a spare, prescription sunglasses or a straightforward update. It is not the format for a first paediatric examination or for myopia management, which need a longer appointment-based work-up. Use each for what it is good at, and there is no reason not to use both.
Website: owndays.com
Pricing: All-in from about S$98, progressive lenses included
Format: Quick standard refraction, often same-day collection
Best for: A spare pair or a routine update at a known price
Contact OWNDAYS: all-in pricing, and knowing what that includes directly
7. Lenskart: the budget end, and the case for a spare
Lenskart competes hardest on price, with frequent offers and volume pricing that puts a complete pair well below what the clinical practices charge.
The argument for shopping here is the spare pair, and it is a better argument than it sounds. Anyone who wears glasses full time is one accident away from a genuinely bad week, and a second pair kept in a drawer costs less than the inconvenience of not having one. Buying that spare at the cheapest tier is entirely rational.
Where price alone should not decide is a first prescription, a child's eyes, or any myopia management. Those are clinical, and the difference between a fifteen-minute refraction and a proper work-up is not something you can see in the finished product. Keep the two purchases separate in your head and you will get the best of both.
Website: lenskart.sg
Position: Budget frames and lenses, frequent offers
Best use: The spare pair you keep in a drawer
Not for: A first prescription or any myopia management
What is the difference between an optometrist and an optician?
They are separately registered professions with different scopes, both under the Optometrists and Opticians Act and both maintained on their own register by the Optometrists and Opticians Board.
An optometrist is a primary eye care provider: eye examinations, diagnostic refraction, colour vision assessment, contact lens fitting and dispensing, and screening for cataract, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. In Singapore, optometrists may not use diagnostic pharmaceuticals or prescribe medication, so anything requiring treatment is referred to an ophthalmologist, who is a medical doctor.
An optician comes in two registrations. Dispensing only means fitting and dispensing glasses against a prescription written by someone else, with no sight testing. Refraction and dispensing means they may also perform refraction, but only on patients aged 8 and above. That age limit is the practical one for parents: a child under 8 needs an optometrist. Ask, and check the register if you want to be certain.
How much does myopia control cost in Singapore?
It depends entirely on the route, and the range across them is roughly sevenfold.
Myopia control spectacle lenses, such as Essilor Stellest or Hoya MiYOSMART, run about S$400 to S$800 a pair, replaced when the prescription changes rather than on a schedule. MiSight soft daily disposable contact lenses are around S$1,400 to S$1,800 a year, every year. Ortho-K overnight lenses are S$1,500 to S$3,000 in the first year, which includes the fitting and follow-up, then S$800 to S$1,500 annually. Executive bifocal glasses, an older approach, sit at S$200 to S$450 a pair.
Two things to ask at the consultation. First, what the total looks like over three years rather than today, because spectacles are a repeated one-off while contact lenses are a subscription and the ranking changes. Second, where the efficacy figure comes from. The commonly quoted 40 to 70 percent reduction in progression is usually presented without a citation, and a practice that can name the trial and the comparison group is a practice that has actually read it.
What happens if an optical chain closes with my order unfulfilled?
You may become an unsecured creditor, which in practice means a refund is not guaranteed. This is not hypothetical. Nanyang Optical announced voluntary liquidation on 28 January 2026 after 65 years in business, with a creditors meeting set for 13 February.
One customer had ordered a year of contact lenses on 23 December 2025 for S$1,800. The company acknowledged the order over WhatsApp, asked her to wait another month, gave no refund guarantee, and subsequent calls went unanswered. Four company-operated stores closed, at Northpoint City, Kovan, Parkway Parade and the Alexis Eyewear Boutique at Wisma Atria, while the Junction 8 and Clementi Mall shops continued under separate franchise arrangements.
The lesson is not that optical shops are risky, it is about how you pay. Buy a year of contact lenses on a credit card so a chargeback is available, and be wary of very large prepaid supplies bought purely for a bulk discount. A 65-year-old chain with shops in major malls looked as safe as anything in this category, right up until it was not.
My verdict on optical shops in Singapore
Split the decision in two, because these are two different purchases. For anything clinical, a first examination, a child's eyes, or myopia management, go to a practice built around optometrists and a proper work-up. W Optics if the route is contact lenses or Ortho-K. Better Vision if you want the promise in writing, with that replacement clause on a power change beyond -0.75 in nine months. Grand & Straits for spectacle-based control in the 6 to 12 window. And read Eyecare Studio first whatever you choose, because it publishes the numbers everyone else quotes on request.
For a routine adult pair, Spectacle Hut for the frame wall, OWNDAYS for all-in pricing from about S$98, and Lenskart for the spare you keep in a drawer. Using a clinical practice for the examination and a fast chain for a second pair is not disloyal, it is just sensible.
Two habits. Ask who is doing the test, because under 8 it must be an optometrist and nothing in the shop will tell you. And pay by card on any large prepaid order, because Nanyang Optical was 65 years old in January and its customers still ended up as unsecured creditors.
A closing note for the trade. One shop on this page publishes what myopia control costs and the rest quote on enquiry, and in a decision where a parent is weighing S$400 against S$3,000 for their child, the practice that answered the question is the one that gets the appointment. Parents research this at midnight, quietly, before they ever call. If your website is not answering them, that is fixable, and it happens to be my day job. Take a look at my web design services in Singapore, or get a quote and I will tell you honestly what would help.
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Terris
Chief Recommender · I do the digging so you don't have to
Terris is a Singapore-based web designer and digital strategist who has spent 8+ years building websites for local businesses. His Terris Recommends series shares personal picks for the best service providers across Singapore, informed by his experience working with businesses across industries.
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