Abstract Background To investigate and compare the vision-related quality of life (QOL) in diferent types of refractive error (RE). Methods This cross-sectional study was performed on 200 subjects, categorized into four groups of 50 each, consist‑ ing of subjects with myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and emmetropia, the latter being the control group. The mean age of the participants was 23.88±5.87 (range, 15 to 38: 110 females and 90 males). RE was defned as myopia, spheri‑ cal equivalent (SE) < -0.25 diopters (D), hyperopia, SE>+0.25 D, astigmatism, cylinder < -0.25 D, and emmetropia (-0.25≤SE(D)≤+0.25, cylinder ≥ -0.25). Groups are subdivided into very low magnitudes of RE (0.50 and 0.75) and sig‑ nifcant RE (1.00 ≤). Vision-related QOL was assessed using the Persian version of the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25). The NEI-VFQ was scored as visual function and socioemotional scales using Rasch analysis. Results Corrected myopia, astigmatism, uncorrected myopia, and hyperopia had a lower vision-related QOL than emmetropes. (P<0.001). Vision-related QOL in myopic subjects was lower than that in astigmatic participants. Very low myopes, who often do not use correction, had a signifcantly lower QOL than other groups. Conclusion Individuals with refractive errors experience a lower QOL score than those without. Notably, the adverse impact on QOL score is signifcantly greater in myopic cases, particularly very low myopia, compared to other refrac‑ tive errors. Therefore, it is strongly recommended not to neglect managing very low myopia since it may improve participants’ QOL. Keywords Myopia, Astigmatism, Hyperopia, Refractive errors, Quality of life