Best Budget-Friendly: Nature Made Prenatal Vitamin + DHA Softgel

Caution: always consult your doctor first for advice on what is the best prenatal vitamin!

The prenatal vitamins reviewed in this article hit the basics, but your doctor may recommend additional vitamin supplements depending on your pregnancy or personal needs.

For prenatal vitamins, we looked for vitamins that contain at least 400 mcg of folic acid—that’s what the government recommends for pregnant women or women trying to get pregnant. Why folic acid? The Center for Disease Control explains:

All women of reproductive age should get 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid each day, in addition to consuming food with folate from a varied diet, to help prevent neural tube defects (NTDs). NTDs are major birth defects of the baby’s brain (anencephaly) and spine (spina bifida).

We asked pregnant women which were the easiest to take—and which were easiest on their stomach. Prenatal vitamins come in three varieties: hard pills, softgels and gummies. The latter two are most popular, so we focused our research there.

For the best budget-friendly softgel prenatal vitamin, we think Nature Made’s softgels are our top choice. They contained 800 mcg of folic acid—which is fantastic. They also contained 200 mcg DHA, iron and calcium, which are the basics recommended in a prenatal vitamin. (As for DHA, we believe 300 mcg DHA is more optimal). Here’s more:

What We Liked

• Just need to take one a day.

• Easy to swallow. Yes, these are large pills, but the softgel makes it easier to swallow.

• 800 mcg of folic acid!

• 200 mcg of DHA.

• Contains iron and calcium.

• Affordable. These pills are less than half the cost of other softgel prenatal vitamins we tested.

What Needs Work

• Fishy smell. The DHA in these bills is derived from fish oil—and some of testers thought they had a bit of a fishy smell. This was a minority opinion, however!

Best Softgel Overall: Prenatal Vitamins by One A Day

This prenatal vitamin wins our pick for best overall—it is easy to swallow and digest. However, it is quite pricey! Fortunately, you only have to take one a day.

What We Liked

• Name brand.

• More calcium, iron than others we tested.

• Gluten free.

• No high fructose corn syrup.

• 800 mcg folic acid.

• 200 mcg DHA.

What Needs Work

• Not vegan.

• Contain soy.

• Leaks. Sometimes softgels can break and leak in the bottle. Be careful to store them in a cool, dry place.

• Pricey!

Best Tasting Gummy:  SmartyPants Prenatal Formula Daily Gummy Multivitamin

In the category of “why didn’t they think of that before?”, behold the prenatal vitamin in gummy form! These are easier for some folks, who can’t swallow the rather large softgel pill.

One caveat for prenatal gummy vitamins: they do NOT contain iron or calcium. Consult with your doctor whether you need to supplement these minerals in addition to these vitamins.

We know this is subjective, but we think these gummies were the best tasting of all the prenatal gummy vitamins we tried. And when we surveyed our readers, they agreed: SmartyPants prenatal gummies are an excellent choice.

What We Liked

• Easy to take! Tasty! The texture and flavor is much like candy.

• Dairy free, egg free, tree nut free.

• Gluten free, soy free.

• No artificial flavors or colors.

• 3 flavors: orange, lemon and strawberry banana.

What Needs Work

• FOUR gummies per day. Yep, that is twice as much as other gummy vitamins. That can be an issue for some folks with sensitive stomachs.

• Expensive. These gummies are pricey—and you have to take four a day!

• Only 360 mcg of folic acid. The recommendation is 400 mcg.

• Only 114 mcg of DHA. Other prenatal vitamins we researched had 200 mcg of DHA—this is better in our opinion.

• No iron, no calcium. Prenatal gummies may be easier to take than a softgel—but the trade off is no calcium or iron. Ask your doctor if you need to supplement these missing minerals.

Budget-Friendly Gummy: Amazon Brand Solimo Prenatal Vitamins & DHA

For the best budget-friendly gummy, we thought Solimo’s prenatal gummy vitamins were the best choice. (FYI: Solimo is Amazon’s own brand). Here’s why:

What We Liked

• Good flavor. These gummies come in three flavors: orange, lemon and strawberry. We thought they tasted as good as the more premium options on the market.

• Easy to chew.

• Affordable.

• Gluten free, dairy free, no soy or egg.

• 360 mcg of folic acid.

What’s Needs Work

• Can stick to teeth.

• Coated with sugar.

• Occasional fish flavor. We didn’t find that in our tests, but we see reports of this among our parent readers.

• Only 50 mcg of DHA. Other prenatal softgel vitamins have as much as 200 mcg of DHA.

• No iron or calcium. This is true for all gummy prenatal vitamins—ask your doctor if you need to supplement these gummies for those missing minerals.

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for the home and families since 1994. We do extensive research, evaluating products with an eye toward quality, ease of use and affordability. When we purchase a product for hands-on testing, we do so with our own money.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Our work is 100% reader-supported!