Drug comparisons
These pages compare medications that are genuinely alternatives to one another, or that people commonly confuse.
A note on what these pages do and do not do. They compare mechanisms, approved uses, duration, safety profiles, and the evidence supporting each drug. They do not tell you which drug you should take. That decision depends on your diagnosis, your medical history, your other medications and your response, none of which a webpage can assess.
Gentler → more forceful
Where each drug in these comparisons sits by pharmacological force and control status. Scheduling is a regulatory judgement rather than a precise measure of risk, but the ordering is informative.
| Comparison | The deciding difference | Direct trial? |
|---|---|---|
| Modafinil vs armodafinil | Concentration curve, not half life | Limited |
| Modafinil vs solriamfetol | Liver clearance against kidney clearance | No |
| Solriamfetol vs pitolisant | Cataplexy, and scheduling | No |
| Modafinil vs Adderall | Approved for different conditions | No |
| Modafinil vs Vyvanse | No shared approved indication | No |
| Adderall vs Ritalin | Transporter reversal against reuptake blockade | Indirect |
| Adderall vs Vyvanse | The prodrug design | Indirect |
| Modafinil vs caffeine | Duration, and tolerance | Yes |
Drugs approved for excessive daytime sleepiness, compared against each other.
Modafinil vs armodafinil
The same molecule in racemic and single enantiomer form. Their terminal half lives are approximately the same, which contradicts the most common claim made about them.
Modafinil vs solriamfetol
Different mechanisms, different clearance routes, and a genuine choice for patients who have not responded well to modafinil.
Solriamfetol vs pitolisant
Both approved in 2019, and about as different from each other as two wakefulness drugs can be. One is scheduled, one is not. One treats cataplexy, one does not.
Modafinil vs Adderall
The most searched comparison in this category, and the one most often framed wrongly. They are primarily approved for different conditions.
Modafinil vs Vyvanse
A wakefulness agent against an amphetamine prodrug. The conversion step explains most of the difference in how the day runs.
Adderall vs Ritalin
Amphetamine against methylphenidate. Different mechanisms, and the evidence favours each in a different age group.
Adderall vs Vyvanse
Both amphetamines. The difference is that one is a prodrug, and that changes onset, duration and abuse liability.
Modafinil vs caffeine
One of the few comparisons on this site supported by direct head to head trials.