Menstrual cups and discs: fit, device records, and price per year

A reusable cup or disc is bought once and used for years, so a poor fit is an expensive mistake and a good one keeps paying back. This page compares the reusable internal devices with each other. For the wider choice between cups, pads, tampons and period underwear, see the period products guide.

The short answer. Your body decides fit, and no ranking can. When you shop, check three things: the sizes or firmness the maker offers and who each is meant for, the regulator's record for that exact device, and how many years the maker says it lasts. Most devices we checked cost between about $30 and $42 on the maker's own site. If you have an IUD, a latex allergy, pelvic pain or any health question, ask a doctor, nurse or pharmacist first, and follow the leaflet in the box.

Upfront price in the live data, where a longer bar means a cheaper device:

Fit is the first filter

Makers size their cups in different ways, so read each guide on its own terms. Mooncup sells Size A for people 30 or over or who have given birth vaginally, and Size B otherwise, with a 21mm stem you can trim (Mooncup). Saalt sells a Regular for normal to heavy flow or after childbirth, and a Small for light to normal flow and first-time users (Saalt Cup). DivaCup sells three models, numbered 0 to 2 (DivaCup).

Discs remove the size question. nixit and Flex each sell one size, and both say it holds for up to 12 hours (nixit, Flex). The Intimina Lily Cup Compact folds flat into a small case, but Intimina rates it for up to 8 hours (Intimina). The Sunny Cup comes with a tampon-style applicator for $49, though its page says the company is still filling backorders (Sunny).

Material can settle the choice on its own. The Keeper is natural rubber latex (retail listing), so pass on it if you have a latex allergy.

Read the device record correctly

In the United States a menstrual cup is a regulated medical device. FDA's classification record for product code HHE puts it in Class II under 21 CFR 884.5400 and marks it as 510(k) exempt (FDA classification). So you will meet two kinds of record. Some devices carry their own clearance number: DivaCup's K021356 was decided in 2002, Mooncup's K040335 in 2005, and The Keeper's K870803 in 1987. Others, such as the Saalt Cup and Saalt Disc, appear in FDA's registration and listing data under code HHE with no 510(k) number (openFDA).

Neither kind of record is an approval. FDA's listing database says a listing "does not in any way denote approval" of a firm or its products (FDA registration and listing). Use the record to confirm that the device is on file and that a named firm answers for it. Outside the US, use the national register: Health Canada's MDALL is searchable by device name, and shows nixit with two licences, first issued in 2020 and 2024 (Health Canada data).

Price per year, and the cup you already own

Sticker prices sit close together, so lifespan matters more than it first seems. Mooncup and Saalt each say their cup lasts up to 10 years; DivaCup and nixit each say up to 5 (sources above). On those claims, Saalt's $32 cup works out to about $3 a year and nixit's $42 disc to about $8 a year.

The cheapest route is the device you already own, if it still fits and feels right. Mooncup says to replace a cup when its material or shape changes, or when it splits or turns sticky. Until then, keeping it costs nothing.

Who makes it

Three makers here are Certified B Corporations, and B Lab's directory publishes each overall score against the 80 needed to qualify: Mooncup 147.5, Diva International 121.2, and Saalt 85.8 (Mooncup, Diva, Saalt). Pixie says it gives away a cup for every one sold and has passed 135,000 donated, a figure from its own page (Pixie).

If you care most about...

There is no single best cup or disc. Start from what matters most to you.

A five-minute check

1. Read the size guide and choose by the maker's own criteria.
2. Search the device name in FDA's registration and listing database, or your country's register.
3. Check the material against any allergy.
4. Divide the price by the years the maker claims, and keep the leaflet.

What we are not telling you

We do not rate comfort, leaks or health outcomes, and nothing here treats one kind of device record as safer than the other. Prices come from each maker's site on the day we checked and move with sales. Pain, an IUD, a past infection or any symptom are questions for a doctor, nurse or pharmacist, and the device's own instructions come before anything on this page.

How we made this

We take no money from any maker. Every fact above comes from a page we opened in September 2026. Found something wrong? Corrections are welcome and get applied with their source. Compare every device in the menstrual cups and discs explorer.

Sources

• FDA product classification, menstrual cup (HHE), checked 2026-09
• FDA 510(k) K021356, DivaCup, checked 2026-09
• FDA 510(k) K040335, Mooncup, checked 2026-09
• FDA 510(k) K870803, The Keeper, checked 2026-09
• FDA registration and listing database, checked 2026-09
• openFDA listing, Saalt, checked 2026-09
• Health Canada MDALL, checked 2026-09
• Health Canada licence data, nixit, checked 2026-09
• Mooncup Original, checked 2026-09
• Saalt Cup, checked 2026-09
• DivaCup Model 2, checked 2026-09
• Lena Cup, checked 2026-09
• nixit disc, checked 2026-09
• Flex Reusable Disc, checked 2026-09
• Intimina Lily Cup Compact, checked 2026-09
• Sunny Cup and Applicator, checked 2026-09
• The Keeper, retail listing, checked 2026-09
• Pixie Cup, checked 2026-09
• B Lab, Mooncup, checked 2026-09
• B Lab, Diva International, checked 2026-09
• B Lab, Saalt, checked 2026-09