Three visible spectrophotometric methods (A-C) for the determination of Methotrexate (MTX) in pharmaceutical formulations are described. Method A is based on the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) by the drug which forms a coloured complex (λmax: 510 nm) with 1,10-phenanthroline (PHEN). Method B involves the reduction of Folin-Ciocalteu (F-C) reagent by the drug and the reduced species produced possesses a characteristic intense blue colour (λmax: 770 nm). Method C is based on the coupling reaction through the involvement of an aromatic secondary amino group in p-N-methylaminobenzoylglutamic acid (released through reduction of the drug with zinc and HCl) with 1,2-naphthaquinone-4-sulfonic acid sodium salt (NQS) to form a coloured product (λmax: 500 nm). Regression analysis of a Beer's plot showed good correlation in the concentration ranges of 1.0–8.0, 2.0–14.0 and 25.0–300.0 μg.ml−1for methods A,B and C, respectively. No interference was observed from the additives and the applicability of the methods was tested by analysing the pharmaceutical formulations containing methotrexate. Recoveries were 98.9–101.1%.