Looking for modafinil alternatives? It seems like everyone who is into smart drugs has tried modafinil at some point. Be it for focus, energy or just to process a huge amount of information quickly.
In this article, we focus on modafinil alternatives, along with information about the drug, other medications, the effect, and if it really something for you to focus your stack around.
Contents
What is Modafinil?
Modafinil is the smart drug that was first made popular by the Limitless movie. Although not the same drug that was used in the film, many biohackers came forward claiming this drug offered more realistic results as to what the main character experienced.
This led to it making a new market for it among business professionals, politicians, students and numerous situations where prolonged high levels of focus are a must.
Originally this drug was designed to help sufferers of ADHD and narcolepsy via medications. It allowed them to focus for longer (in the case of an ADHD diagnosis) and stay awake for longer (for narcolepsy patients / people with shift work sleep disorders). It’s mainly prescribed in the United States and UK.
However, to the average individual, being on Modafinil may make you:
- Feel more focused with energy
- More alertness
- Increase overall concentration
- Feel zero fatigue
And more, it’s essentially caffeine on steroids, but all this does come at a price to some individuals.
Unfortunately, in most countries Modafinil is not available without a prescription, it’s not supplements – it’s drugs. You can get it via various online vendors and take it “off prescription” but this does open you up to a variety of risks and side effects.
This and various other reasons are why people search for an alternative.
Why Would You Want Alternatives to Modafinil?
Here is a list of several reasons you may be looking for a dose of Modafinil alternatives:
- Mental Dependency – The benefits and efficacy from Modafinil has been known to give people a mental addiction / dependency on the drug. There are common cases of people increasing their dosage, and even taking it every day after getting addicted to the effects.
- Side effects – taking Modafinil continuously may give a person: diarrhea, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, headache, dizziness, stomach pains and more if you abuse it.
- Legal risks – It may not be legal in your country without a prescription and it could cause you to fail a drug test.
- Unreliable Sources – Without medical advice, you could be buying it online from questionable sources. This could lead to contaminated batches, poor quality product and general long-term risk.
- Shipping Issues – Shipping drugs abroad can lead to them being seized, or taking a long amount of time to arrive. Most shipments from Asia (where most Modafinil ships from) can take up to 30 – 60 days to arrive.
If you must use modafinil with no prescription try to take it in moderation and as infrequently as you can. It’s not a supplement – it’s a stimulant and a drug.
It also gives the effect of increased histamine levels. With higher histamine levels you get issues with your sinuses like a runny / stuffy nose.
You need to give it treatment with that level of understanding before you put it in your body.
Disclaimer: Always speak to a medical professional or doctor first before using a smart drug. Make sure you are being prescribed for pre-existing condition on the basis of this as an official treatment.
What is the difference between Modafinil and other drugs and alternatives out there with similar effects? Let’s find out:
Modafinil VS Adderall
Adderall VS Modafinil is always a big question when looking at alternatives – but Adderall is a far worse choice. Why? Because it contains amphetamine salts – it’s essentially all Adderall is.
Modafinil does have side effects, but they are far more mild effect than Adderall. Adderall has a higher chance of causing dry mouth, blood pressure elevation, insomnia, headaches, abdominal pain, sexual dysfunction, rapid heart rate, anxiety nervousness. The list goes on.
When it comes to stimulants, Adderall is definitely the more intense and dangerous between the two. Sure it’ll help focus, but the use of it will also cause jitters, health risks and opens you up to a lot more problems.
At the end of the day, it’s a amphetamine combination. Something which you should not use as treatment if you really don’t have to.
Modafinil VS Armodafinil
Armodafinil vs Modafinil is a much closer choice compared to Adderall. Also known as Nuvigil and Provigil, these two are kind of like a brother to one another and mainly differ in terms of strength.
Don’t get us wrong, there’s structural differences, but the main headline is the strength differences. Notable with armodafinil being able to stay in your system for a longer period of time and is stronger for wakefulness.
Many suggest that 150 mg of Armodafinil is the same as 200 mg of Modafinil in terms of strength.
If you’re looking for modafinil alternatives, Armodafinil may not be the best idea as most individuals describe it as the same drug but a little stronger. This can in turn add to your wakefulness and eat into your sleep if abused.
Modafinil VS Adrafinil
Adrafinil VS Modafinil isn’t a good idea either. Adrafinil is not an ideal modafinil replacement. It is a prodrug, which means it has to be processed by your liver to provide benefit, which could cause damage to the organ.
It’s also far more potent than Modafinil which can cause side effects with your sleep. Adrafinil drugs also aren’t regulated, takes much longer to peak and is generally more hazardous to your health. We would avise against Adrafinil, due to the effects Adrafinil drugs can have on your liver.
Legal Modafinil Alternatives
By legal Modafinil alternatives, we mean no prescription, little to no side effects, and effective nootropic supplements. These are nootropic supplement stacks that you can use to get similar effects to Modafinil without posing a danger to your health.
You will be able to:
- Pass Drug Tests
- Help Improve Focus, Alertness and Concentration
- Support Reductions in Anxiety
- Promote Brain Health and boost Mental Clarity
- Lessen Side Effects
- Boost Wakefulness, Motivation and fight Sleepiness
- Experience Stimulant Effects (depending on choice)
They’re not going to be as effective as Modafinil – but these alternatives are all natural, which pose less side effects to a person.
These are nootropic supplements which have clinical studies behind them, which are also used by professionals and students as cognitive treatment. Later, in our list, we’ll show you some premade stacks and some information on individual options.
Modafinil Alternatives Over The Counter
These are our top alternatives that you can find for Modafinil that are available over the counter. You can buy these with no prescription necessary.
The alternatives are all natural and won’t throw you into depending on another drug similar to modafinil. These are just clean alternatives that will avoid you encountering any concerns.
The 7 Best Modafinil Alternatives
Below, we have our top list of the best modafinil alternatives on the market at the moment. If you’ve had enough of the side effects that come with Modafinil, feel that you’re over-reliant on it (which can happen with this smart drug) or are just looking for a change, there are several options that you can explore.
We start out with the premade stacks that you can use instead of modafinil, and then branch out into individual nootropics for building a stack builder.
1. Mind Lab Pro
Mind Lab Pro is our #1 alternative to Modafinil. It’s completely legal, completely natural and is a stack of 11 of the most potent natural nootropics on the market to date.
This is my daily driver when it comes to both productivity and being mentally on top of my game. It’s obviously not as powerful as modafinil by any stretch, but if you’re looking for a natural alternative – this is a pretty good replacement.
Plus you can take it everyday without risk of side effects, personally I get huge boosts in:
- Memory Function
- Focus
- Mood
- Mental Energy Levels
- Motivation
- General Productivity
Here’s the rundown of the 11 ingredients in Mind Lab Pro:
- Citicoline – 250 mg
- Phosphatidylserine – 100 mg
- Bacopa Monnieri – 150 mg
- Lion’s Mane Mushroom – 500 mg
- Maritime Pine Bark Extract – 75 mg
- L-Tyrosine – 175 mg
- L-Theanine – 100 mg
- Rhodiola Rosea – 50 mg
- Vitamin B6 – 2.5 mg
- Vitamin B9 – 100 mcg
- Vitamin B12 – 7.5 mcg
These alternatives are a lot to take in if you’re unfamiliar with these brain boosters and their dose. But you can read all of that and my personal experience on my Mind Lab Pro review.
Or you could straight up just visit their site and check out the ingredients and see what you think. Personally I find it works wonders as a natural alternative:
– MindLabPro.com –
PRO TIP: I find adding a cup of coffee to this mix is a real treat. The caffeine and the L-Theanine in here work well together and you can just blast through the first few hours pretty quickly.
A month’s supply usually runs around $65.00, which depending on your Modafinil supplier (especially if you’re in the West) is around the same price as 30 tabs as Modafinil – and this one doesn’t affect your sleep.
You can get discounts on multibox purchases. 4 boxes costs $195.00 which works out at $48.75 a bottle – which is significantly cheaper than ModAlert, Provigil or any of the other brands usually shipped over.
2. Performance Lab Mind + Stim
This is another nootropic supplements stack that can work as another good alternatives for Modafinil: Performance Lab Mind + Stim. This is the combination of both a nootropic stack, and a “smart-caffeine” stack.
I’ve played with this combination a few times, and I do like it, and love that the Performance Lab Mind smaller than the Mind Lab Pro stack. I can build more combinations around it to get the best results.
Here’s what’s in Performance Lab Mind:
- Citicoline – 250 mg
- Phosphatidylserine – 100 mg
- L-Tyrosine – 250 mg
- Maritime Pine Bark Extract – 75 mg
Not much is it? But those ingredients are quality, and when you combine them with something like Performance Lab Stim which contains:
- Vitamin B2 – 500 mcg
- Vitamin B6 – 750 mcg
- Vitamin B9 – 167 mcg
- Vitamin B12 – 2 mcg
- Natural Caffeine – 50 mg
- L-Theanine – 100 mg
- L-Tyrosine – 250 mg
Now we’re really cooking. Users get that support from the Vitamin Bs and L-Theanine, and then the caffeine just shoots it to the next level. It’s a great alternative to Modafinil when it’s all put together. It just takes some tinkering.
You can see the full line-up of their products over on:
Again, both Mind and Stim are $49.00 each as alternatives – but if you decide to order multiple boxes, that value can go down to as low as $36.75 a box. It all depends on your preference.
3. Citicoline
Now for individual stacking, Citicoline is always a good option as alternatives of Modafinil. It’s already present in the two premade stacks that we’ve mentioned, but it is a great nootropic for several means.
It has been seen in human studies to help mood, memory, attention, focus and even concentration. It even has the potential to maintain healthy brain function when used long-term against congitive decline.
It achieves this by energizing your brain cells and optimizing neural electrical impulses in the organ, while also helping to synthesize phosphatidylserine in your brain which supports memory and brain cell membrane.
Research shows that supplementing Citicoline can ehlp to raise your brain energy by up to 13.6% while also helping brain cell membrane formation by 26%. It’s a great addition to a stack and a fantastic alternative to modafinil.
4. Caffeine and L-Theanine
This is the main focus of Performance Lab Stim – but I feel you can get great benefit from taking these two alternatives on their own if you’re okay with not getting the same quality as Stim.
Caffeine and L-Theanine work well together as the caffeine promotes energy and wakefulness, while the L-Theanine promotes wakeful relaxation. You typically get results that allow you to be energized from the stimulating effects of the caffeine while not getting the jitters or “rush” that comes with it.
The L-Theanine helps keep that side of it under control, to keep you energized but focused. Great little zinger without the need of a smart drug.
5. Tyrosine
L-Tyrosine is a good as modafinil alternatives due to how this amino acid helps your body with how it factors stress. L-Tyrosine is an amino acid which can help produce more dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine, which can help your memory, mood and mental processing.
This can also serve to benefit you when you are under a lot stress from work. L-Tyrosine has been seen to help working memory and function under conditions such as fatigue, sleep deprivation and more stressors. It’s a good alternative to modafinil if you’re in need of a quick pick-me-up when your brain is on the ropes.
6. Maritime Pine Bark
We’d recommend using more than just Maritime Pine Bark in a alternate modafinil stack, but it can make a positive impact on your brain.
The main ways that it helps is to do with neuroprotection, it contains a potent amount of antioxidants which can help neutralize toxic free radicals in your brain, but it can also boost nitric oxide levels. Higher NO allows more blood, glucose and nutrients to reach your brain to help it function at a higher level.
It’s a good support to have in most stacks, and in most cases works wonders for protection with whatever else you have going on.
7. Ginkgo Biloba
This is a good herbal option for a Modafinil substitute stack. Ginkgo Biloba can help give you a safer cognitive boost, without the side effects that you may encounter with Moda.
Some research shows that tests with Ginkgo Biloba has increased memory function over a two week period. Which makes it a nice natural option to replace Modafinil with.