Compared with spectacles
| Advantages | Disadvantages* |
| Wider field of view | Time required for fitting and adaptation |
| Better with asymmetrical prescriptions | Handling skills required by patients |
| Better for very high prescriptions | Hygienic procedures and lens disinfection |
| Cosmetically superior | Wearing time may be limited |
| More practical for sports | Lenses can be lost or broken |
| Avoid weather problems | Problems with foreign bodies |
| Vocational uses | Deteriorate with use and age |
| Therapeutic uses | Maintenance costs |
*Some of these are avoided with daily disposables but with increased expense.
| Advantages of soft lenses | Advantages of gas-permeable hard lenses |
| Good initial comfort | Excellent vision |
| Ease of adaptation | Correct corneal astigmatism |
| Long wearing times | Complex designs available |
| More difficult to overwear lenses | Ease of maintenance |
| Absence of spectacle blur | Fewer solutions allergies |
| Good for intermittent wear | High oxygen permeabilities |
| Natural facial expression | Do not cover the entire cornea |
| Less photophobia | Exchange of tears on blinking |
| Fewer problems with foreign bodies | Less risk of infection |
| Low risk of loss | Easy to check |