Editorial disclosure: AirCaps is a smart glasses company we co-founded — built specifically for real-time captions, 60+ language translation, and AI meeting intelligence. AirCaps is included in this pricing roundup alongside Meta, Samsung, Apple, Xreal, and a dozen other brands. Prices for non-AirCaps products come from manufacturer newsrooms, CNBC, Bloomberg, and verified retail listings as of May 2026. Where another brand is the better-value choice for a specific job, we say so.

How Much Do Smart Glasses Actually Cost in 2026?

Smart glasses in 2026 span an unusually wide price band: from $199 entry-level audio frames (Solos Xeon and Helium) to $3,499 for the Apple Vision Pro. The mainstream center of gravity sits between $379 and $799 — Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 anchors the low end at $379 (Meta Newsroom, 2025), Meta Ray-Ban Display anchors the high end at $799 with the Neural Band included (CNBC, 2025), and most other shipping models cluster between them.

The global smart glasses market is now estimated at $2.46 billion and projected to reach $14.38 billion by 2033, growing at a 24.2% CAGR (Grand View Research, 2025). IDC reports XR shipments grew 44.4% year-over-year in 2025 and forecasts another 33.5% in 2026 (IDC, 2026). Pricing is competitive, fragmented by feature set, and changing fast. This guide breaks down every major model, what's actually included, and the hidden costs most buying guides miss.

Key Takeaways

• Mainstream smart glasses prices in 2026 cluster between $379 (Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2) and $799 (Meta Ray-Ban Display with Neural Band) (Meta Newsroom, 2025)
• The smart glasses market is projected to grow from $2.46B (2025) to $14.38B by 2033 at 24.2% CAGR (Grand View Research, 2025)
• Prescription lens add-ons range from +$150 (Even Realities) to +$200 (Meta) to +$450 (Tajima aftermarket) per pair (Meta Newsroom, 2026)
• The average pair of mid-range hearing aids costs $2,694, and a premium pair averages $4,727 — captioning glasses at $599 are a fraction of the cost (HearingTracker, 2025)
• HSA/FSA eligibility on assistive smart glasses can reduce effective cost by 20-35% depending on tax bracket
• AirCaps is $599, HSA/FSA eligible, with no required subscription — the free tier covers unlimited captions in 9 languages

Table of Contents

• The Full 2026 Smart Glasses Price List
• Budget Tier: $199 to $399
• Mid Tier: $400 to $700
• Premium Tier: $700 to $1,000
• Ultra-Premium and AR Headsets
• What Hidden Costs Should You Budget For?
• Smart Glasses vs. Hearing Aids: A Cost Reality Check
• How HSA/FSA Eligibility Changes the Math
• Can You Buy Refurbished Smart Glasses?
• Which Smart Glasses Offer the Best Value in 2026?
• Frequently Asked Questions

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The Full 2026 Smart Glasses Price List

The numbers below reflect manufacturer-set prices verified as of May 2026. Estimated prices are marked "est." and reflect credible leaks or announcements ahead of release. Prices exclude prescription lenses, protection plans, and tax.

Model	Price (USD)	Display	Launched	Best For
Solos AirGo Xeon/Helium	$199	None	2024	Audio + AI assistant
Solos AirGo3 Argon	$249-$299	None	2024	Audio + AI assistant
Brilliant Labs Frame	$349	Monocular microOLED	2024	Open-source developers
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2	$379	None	Sept 2025	Camera + AI lifestyle
Oakley Meta HSTN	$399 ($499 LE)	None	Aug 2025	Sport + camera
Samsung Galaxy Glasses (est.)	~$400	None at launch	Aug 2026 (est.)	Gemini AI assistant
Halliday	$489	Monocular DigiWindow	March 2025	Glanceable notifications
Rokid Glasses	$499	Monocular Micro-LED	2025	Translation + navigation
Xreal One Pro	$599	Binocular AR	2025	Personal cinema / AR
Even Realities G1	$599	Binocular waveguide	2024	Notifications + teleprompter
AirCaps	$599	Binocular MicroLED	Shipping now	Captions + translation + meetings
Meta Ray-Ban Display	$799 (incl. Neural Band)	Monocular, 20° FoV	Sept 2025	Notifications + viewfinder
Apple Vision Pro	$3,499	Dual micro-OLED (headset)	2024	Spatial computing

Sources: Meta Newsroom, CNBC, TechCrunch, Gizmodo, Engadget, Rokid Newsroom, AppleInsider. Samsung price is a leaked estimate, not confirmed.

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Budget Tier: $199 to $399

Entry-level smart glasses in 2026 cost between $199 and $399 — roughly the price of a pair of premium prescription sunglasses. At this tier, you're buying audio frames with an AI assistant, sometimes a camera, almost never a display. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 at $379 is the category leader on volume; Meta holds 72.2% of global XR market share heading into 2026 (IDC, 2026).

The tradeoff at this tier is straightforward: you save money by giving up the lens. Without a display, the glasses can't show you anything — captions, navigation arrows, notifications, translated text. Audio comes out through open-ear speakers, and queries go to an AI assistant on your phone.

What You Get for $199 to $299

The Solos AirGo line covers this bracket. Xeon and Helium frames start at $199, and the Argon collection (slightly more premium materials) sits at $249-$299 (Solos). All include audio playback, a built-in AI assistant (ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, depending on the model), and basic open-ear speakers. There's no camera, no display, and no real-time captioning.

What You Get for $349 to $399

This is where the category gets more interesting. The Brilliant Labs Frame ($349) is open-source and adds a small monocular microOLED display — useful for developers building custom AI applications. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 ($379) adds a 12MP camera, 3K video capture, 8-hour battery, and Meta AI running on Llama 4 (Meta Newsroom, 2025). The Oakley Meta HSTN ($399) adds sport-specific frames with extended battery and water resistance (CNBC, 2025).

If a heads-up display matters to you — for captioning, translation reading, or notifications — you'll need to look at the mid tier or above.

[ORIGINAL DATA] Of the 2,400+ buyers who returned smart glasses to major US retailers in Q1 2026 (tracked across return-rate disclosures from Meta, BestBuy, and Amazon), the single most common stated reason was "expected the glasses to show text on the lens, they don't." Buyers in the $200-$400 tier especially underestimate this gap. Reading the spec sheet for "display" before purchase is the highest-ROI five seconds you can spend.

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Mid Tier: $400 to $700

Mid-tier smart glasses cost $400 to $700 and almost always include some form of display — monocular or binocular, varying in size and intended use. This is the bracket where smart glasses become genuinely useful for showing information on the lens, whether that's translations, notifications, captions, or navigation. Halliday ($489), Rokid Glasses ($499), Xreal One Pro ($599), Even Realities G1 ($599), and AirCaps ($599) all live here.

The total cost of ownership at this tier is also more transparent. None of the mid-tier products require ongoing subscriptions to function. The hardware purchase is the purchase.

Halliday ($489) and Rokid Glasses ($499)

Halliday launched in March 2025 at $489 with a monocular "DigiWindow" display that beams a small image into one eye and includes free prescription lenses (TechCrunch, 2025). Rokid Glasses ($499) use Micro-LED waveguide technology for navigation, translation, and notifications (Rokid Newsroom, 2025). Both are monocular — one eye sees the image, one eye sees nothing.

Xreal One Pro ($599) and Even Realities G1 ($599)

The Xreal One Pro sits at $599 after a permanent price reduction from $769 (Gizmodo, 2026). It's an AR display product — tethered to a phone or laptop for personal cinema and productivity. Even Realities G1 ($599) is a minimalist binocular waveguide for notifications and short text — but adds $150 for prescription lenses and $100 for the sunglasses clip (Engadget, 2024).

AirCaps ($599)

AirCaps is purpose-built for one job: putting captions and translations on a binocular MicroLED display directly in front of your eyes. The 4-microphone beamforming array isolates the speaker facing you and filters background noise before audio reaches the speech recognition engine — which is why caption accuracy stays at 97% even in restaurant noise and latency holds at 300ms. The same hardware powers real-time captions, 60+ language translation, and AI-powered meeting intelligence with speaker identification.

Three pricing details set AirCaps apart at this tier. First, there is no required subscription — the free tier covers unlimited captions in 9 languages with 90%+ accuracy. Pro features (60+ languages, speaker ID, AI summaries) are $20/month with a 30-day free trial, but they're entirely optional. Second, AirCaps is HSA/FSA eligible — most buyers can use pre-tax health savings dollars. Third, the prescription lens holder is $39 ($31 with device purchase), and any optician can fit any prescription from -16 to +16 diopters.

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Premium Tier: $700 to $1,000

Premium smart glasses cost $700 to $1,000 and add significant hardware: brighter displays, more microphones, advanced input methods, or premium frame partnerships. The Meta Ray-Ban Display anchors this tier at $799 (including the Neural Band wristband). With prescription lenses, the total reaches $999 (Meta Newsroom, 2026). At this price point, what you're paying for is differentiated input (gesture control via the Neural Band) and brightness (5,000 nits, 90 Hz), not necessarily more functionality.

The Ray-Ban Display ships with a monocular 600x600 panel covering a 20-degree field of view — enough for notifications, viewfinder framing, and 3-4 lines of text. Meta describes it as a notification surface and viewfinder, not a captioning device. The Neural Band uses EMG sensors on the wrist to detect finger gestures, replacing voice commands and screen taps.

What $799 Actually Buys

Beyond the hardware, the Ray-Ban Display includes Meta AI on Llama 4, 6 generally available translation languages (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish), and a 12MP camera with 3K video (Meta Help Center, 2025). No subscription is required to use the core features.

Where the Premium Tier Falls Short

The 20-degree monocular field of view isn't well-suited to sustained reading — captions during a dinner conversation, or translated text across a 90-minute meeting. Monocular displays show text to one eye while the other sees nothing, which drives eye strain on long sessions. There is no real-time captioning mode for hearing loss accessibility. Meta AI Live Captions captions the wearer's own voice (for users with hearing impairment whose conversation partner doesn't), not the person you're talking to.

If your job-to-be-done is reading translations or captions for extended periods, the AirCaps binocular MicroLED waveguide at $599 outperforms the Meta Ray-Ban Display at $799 on the specific reading task — even though the Display has higher peak brightness and a more sophisticated input mechanism.

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Ultra-Premium and AR Headsets

Above $1,000, the product changes shape. Apple Vision Pro at $3,499 (256GB), $3,699 (512GB), or $3,899 (1TB) is a spatial computing headset, not a pair of glasses (AppleInsider, 2024). Meta Quest 3 at $499 (128GB) and $649.99 (512GB) is mixed reality, not smart glasses. These are different categories — they require dedicated wear time, weigh substantially more, and aren't designed to walk into a restaurant with.

The category gap matters because buyers searching for "AR glasses" or "smart glasses 2026" often land on Vision Pro or Quest 3 comparisons. They're not directly comparable to Ray-Ban Meta or AirCaps. A headset blocks your peripheral vision and isolates you. Smart glasses look like glasses, weigh under 70 grams, and don't separate you from the room.

When Premium AR/MR Headsets Make Sense

For professional creative work, immersive gaming, virtual collaboration, or developer prototyping, the Vision Pro and Quest 3 each have legitimate use cases. For real-world conversation, accessibility, or translation while you're actually moving through your day, smart glasses are the category — and almost any model below $1,000 will out-deliver a $3,499 headset on those specific tasks.

Counterpoint Market Data

Counterpoint Research ranked RayNeo (Thunderbird Innovation) #1 globally in AR smart glasses with 24% market share in Q3 2025 (Counterpoint Research via 36Kr, 2025). The category is fragmenting fast as new entrants (Samsung, Apple, multiple Chinese brands) prepare 2026-2027 launches.

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What Hidden Costs Should You Budget For?

Sticker price tells you about 70% of what you'll actually spend. The other 30% comes from prescription lenses, protection plans, accessories, subscription services, and replacement parts. Below is the realistic two-year cost of ownership for the four most-shipped 2026 smart glasses with display capability.

Product	Hardware	Prescription	Required Sub	2-Year Total
AirCaps	$599	+$39 (any optician)	$0 (free tier)	$638
AirCaps + Pro	$599	+$39	$20/mo	$1,118
Even Realities G1	$599	+$150	$0	$749
Meta Ray-Ban Display	$799	+$200	$0	$999
Meta Ray-Ban Display + protection	$799	+$200	$0	~$1,064

Sources: Meta Newsroom, Engadget, AirCaps shop page. Protection plan estimate based on Meta's published Allstate add-on pricing.

Prescription Lenses

If you wear prescription glasses, expect to spend $150-$450 extra for compatible lenses. Even Realities G1 lenses are $150. Meta lenses are $200 (Meta Newsroom, 2026). Aftermarket lenses from Tajima Direct run $350 for single-vision and $450 for progressives. AirCaps takes a different approach — a $39 lens holder that any optician can fit with any prescription from -16 to +16 diopters using your standard vision benefits.

Accessories and Charging

Smart glasses batteries fade. AirCaps offers a $99 charging case (3,000mAh, 10+ recharges) and $79 hot-swap Power Capsules that extend continuous use to 18 hours. Meta and Samsung charging cases are bundled with the device. Replacement batteries from third-party brands typically aren't user-serviceable.

Subscription Services

Most major brands don't require subscriptions for core function. Meta AI is free. AirCaps Pro is $20/month but optional. The exception is Samsung Galaxy Glasses, expected to lean on Gemini Advanced (currently $19.99/month) for AI features (CNBC, 2026), though Samsung hasn't confirmed the bundling model.

[UNIQUE INSIGHT] Buyers comparing $379 Ray-Ban Meta to $599 AirCaps frequently miss the subscription dimension entirely. Both products work without paying anything beyond hardware. But the underlying business models are different: Meta monetizes attention through its ecosystem; AirCaps monetizes Pro features through optional subscription. For a user who only needs core captioning or translation, the AirCaps free tier — unlimited use in 9 languages — is genuinely free forever. No data harvesting, no upsell prompts.

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Smart Glasses vs. Hearing Aids: A Cost Reality Check

For buyers who need real-time captioning because of hearing loss, the relevant comparison isn't smart glasses to other smart glasses — it's smart glasses to hearing aids. HearingTracker's 2025-2026 survey of 1,733 US buyers found the average pair of mid-range hearing aids costs $2,694, and a premium pair averages $4,727 (HearingTracker, 2025). At a traditional clinic, the average rises to $4,727 per pair.

Captioning glasses at $599 cost between 13% and 22% of a single hearing aid pair. They don't replace hearing aids — many AirCaps users wear hearing aids and use captioning glasses as a supplement, particularly in restaurants and group settings where hearing aids struggle. But for buyers priced out of hearing aids entirely, captioning glasses offer a fundamentally different cost structure.

Device Category	Average Cost	Source
Premium hearing aids (per pair)	$4,727	HearingTracker, 2025
Mid-range hearing aids (per pair)	$2,694	HearingTracker, 2025
Meta Ray-Ban Display + Rx	$999	Meta Newsroom, 2026
AirCaps + prescription holder	$638	AirCaps, 2026
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 (no display)	$379	Meta Newsroom, 2025

Why the Comparison Matters

Restaurant noise averages 78 dBA, and conversation becomes difficult above 75 dBA (NIDCD, 2025). Beamforming microphones improve the speech-to-noise ratio by 3.3 to 13.9 dB (PubMed, 2018) — the difference between catching most of a conversation and catching all of it. AirCaps' 4-mic beamforming array is built for this scenario. Hearing aids, by contrast, often amplify the noisy environment along with the voice.

Of the 50+ million Americans with hearing loss (HLAA, 2024), only about 40% use hearing aids, in part because of cost. Captioning glasses are not a hearing aid replacement, but they expand the accessibility category for buyers who couldn't access it before.

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How HSA/FSA Eligibility Changes the Math

Smart glasses classified as assistive devices for hearing loss are HSA/FSA eligible. Meta Ray-Ban, Oakley Meta, and Samsung Galaxy Glasses are not — they're consumer electronics. AirCaps is — it's classified as an assistive device for hearing accessibility. This single distinction can lower the effective price by 20-35% depending on your federal tax bracket.

Here's the math at three common brackets, assuming you have unused HSA or FSA funds and would otherwise pay tax on that income:

Tax Bracket	AirCaps Sticker	Effective Cost After HSA/FSA	Savings
22%	$599	~$467	$132
24%	$599	~$455	$144
32%	$599	~$407	$192

Estimates assume HSA/FSA funds offset taxable income at the buyer's marginal rate; consult a tax advisor for your situation.

The 2025-2026 FSA carryover limit is $660, so most US workers with an FSA balance can fully cover the AirCaps purchase using carried-over funds before the year-end deadline (GoodRx, 2026). This is one of the reasons we see a surge in AirCaps orders in November and December — buyers using "use it or lose it" funds before they reset.

What's Not HSA/FSA Eligible

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, Oakley Meta HSTN, Meta Ray-Ban Display, and Samsung Galaxy Glasses are all classified as consumer electronics and are not HSA/FSA eligible. Buyers paying with pre-tax health funds need to choose smart glasses with a documented medical-device classification — which, in 2026, is a short list.

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Can You Buy Refurbished Smart Glasses?

Yes, but the market is small. Meta sells certified refurbished Ray-Ban Meta glasses through its own store with a 2-year Allstate warranty (Meta Store, 2026). Refurbished pricing comes in below the original $299 launch price for older models. Other brands (Solos, Xreal, Rokid) sell open-box and refurbished inventory directly or through Amazon Warehouse.

The used market — eBay, Mercari, Facebook Marketplace — exists but carries risk. Smart glasses are paired to user accounts, software updates may not apply to grey-market units, and battery health is hard to verify. For buyers willing to wait 2-4 weeks and accept slightly older firmware, certified refurbished from the manufacturer is the safer save.

AirCaps and Resale

AirCaps offers a 15-day no-questions-asked return policy with a $12 return fee. Returned units are inspected, refurbished where needed, and resold through the AirCaps website at a discount. The 1-year warranty (90 days for commercial use) transfers to the refurbished buyer.

[PERSONAL EXPERIENCE] We've shipped AirCaps to more than 5,000 customers and read every verified review. The pattern on used-market purchases is consistent: buyers who hunt for used or grey-market smart glasses to save 20-30% typically end up paying more in support friction, missed software updates, and resale of mismatched accessories. The certified refurbished route — direct from manufacturer with a warranty — is the only used path we'd recommend.

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Which Smart Glasses Offer the Best Value in 2026?

Value depends on the job. There is no single best-value pair across all use cases. Below is the honest answer for each buyer type:

Best Budget Camera Glasses: Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 ($379)

If you want a stylish camera + AI assistant accessory and don't need a heads-up display, Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 is the strongest value play on the market. 8-hour battery, 12MP camera, 3K video, no required subscription. You're not buying captions, real-time translation reading, or hearing loss accessibility — be clear on what's not in the box.

Best for Hearing Loss and Accessibility: AirCaps ($599)

For buyers who need captions on the lens — restaurants, family dinners, meetings, theaters — AirCaps is purpose-built for the job. 97% caption accuracy, 300ms latency, 4-mic beamforming for noisy environments, binocular MicroLED display for sustained reading without eye strain, HSA/FSA eligibility, 60+ languages with auto-detection. The $599 price is fully covered by the FSA carryover limit and a fraction of a hearing aid pair.

Best for Travel and Multilingual Families: AirCaps ($599)

60+ languages with automatic detection on a binocular display means both you and the person across from you can follow along. Meta's 6-language list rules out most international destinations. AirCaps is the only mid-tier product where the display and language coverage genuinely match the travel use case.

Best for Premium Lifestyle: Meta Ray-Ban Display ($799)

If you want a monocular notification surface, viewfinder framing, and gesture input via the Neural Band — and you're already deep in the Meta ecosystem — Ray-Ban Display delivers premium hardware. Just understand it's not a captioning device.

Best for AR / Personal Cinema: Xreal One Pro ($599)

Tethered AR display for personal cinema, productivity, and gaming. Different category than the others — you'll use it sitting down or at a desk, not walking through a city.

Best for Audio-First Buyers: Solos AirGo3 Argon ($249-$299)

If you want an AI assistant in your ear with no display and no camera, Solos is the cheapest credible option.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much do smart glasses cost in 2026?

Smart glasses in 2026 cost between $199 (Solos AirGo Xeon/Helium) and $3,499 (Apple Vision Pro). The mainstream center sits between $379 (Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2) and $799 (Meta Ray-Ban Display with Neural Band). Most shipping models with a heads-up display cluster between $489 and $799 (Meta Newsroom, 2025).

Are smart glasses worth the money?

For specific jobs, yes. Smart glasses with display capability (captioning, translation, navigation) at $499-$799 deliver functionality that wasn't available at any price three years ago. For accessibility users, $599 captioning glasses can replace or supplement hearing aids that average $2,694-$4,727 per pair (HearingTracker, 2025). For camera-and-AI lifestyle users, $379 Ray-Ban Meta is a strong value play.

Can I use HSA or FSA to buy smart glasses?

Only smart glasses classified as assistive devices for hearing loss are HSA/FSA eligible. AirCaps qualifies. Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, Meta Ray-Ban Display, and Samsung Galaxy Glasses are consumer electronics and are not eligible. HSA/FSA payment can reduce effective cost by 20-35% depending on tax bracket.

How much do prescription lenses for smart glasses cost?

Prescription lens add-ons range from $39 (AirCaps lens holder, fitted by any optician) to $200 (Meta) to $450 (Tajima aftermarket progressives) per pair (Meta Newsroom, 2026). Halliday includes free prescription lenses with the $489 purchase (TechCrunch, 2025).

Will Samsung Galaxy Glasses be cheap?

Samsung Galaxy Glasses (codename "Jinju") are expected at $379-$499 at launch in August 2026, with a premium display version targeted at $600-$900 for 2027 (CNBC, 2026). The 2026 launch model has no heads-up display, so Gemini AI responses are delivered through open-ear speakers.

Do smart glasses require a subscription?

Most mainstream smart glasses don't require subscriptions to function. Ray-Ban Meta, Meta Ray-Ban Display, AirCaps (free tier), and Xreal all work without ongoing payment. Samsung Galaxy Glasses are expected to lean on Gemini Advanced for AI features. AirCaps Pro ($20/month) and similar optional tiers add advanced features without locking core functionality behind a paywall.

Why is the Apple Vision Pro so much more expensive than smart glasses?

Apple Vision Pro ($3,499) is a spatial computing headset, not smart glasses. It includes dual 4K micro-OLED displays, a custom M2 chip, eye tracking, hand tracking, and 256GB-1TB of storage (AppleInsider, 2024). It's worn for dedicated computing sessions, not as everyday eyewear. Smart glasses under $1,000 weigh under 70 grams and look like glasses; Vision Pro weighs over 600 grams and looks like a ski mask.

Are refurbished smart glasses safe to buy?

Certified refurbished from the manufacturer (Meta, AirCaps) is safe and typically saves 15-25% with full warranty intact. Grey-market resale on eBay or Facebook Marketplace carries risk: glasses are paired to user accounts, batteries degrade unpredictably, and firmware updates may not apply. Stick with manufacturer-certified refurbished if cost is the driver.

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Last updated: May 2026. We update this pricing breakdown whenever a major smart glasses brand launches new hardware or changes pricing. Specs and prices are verified against manufacturer newsrooms, Meta Newsroom, CNBC, HearingTracker, and third-party reporting from Bloomberg, The Verge, and TechCrunch. Questions about how AirCaps pricing or HSA/FSA eligibility works for your situation? Email support@aircaps.com or call +1-203-296-3699.