Two new, rapid, accurate, and precise spectrophotometric methods have been developed and validated for the determination of cefdinir (CFD) in pure and dosage forms. The method is based on the formation of charge transfer complex between CFD and the chromogenic reagents alizarin red S (ARS) and quinalizarin (Quinz) in methanolic medium which showed an absorption maximum at 533 and 559 nm using ARS and Quinz, respectively. The optimization of the reaction conditions such as the type of solvent, reagent concentration and reaction time were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, beer’s law is obeyed in the concentration ranges 0.5-8.0 and 1.0-10 mg mL^-1 using ARS and Quinz, respectively with good correlation coefficient (r² ≥ 0.9996) and with a relative standard deviation (RSD% ≤ 1.41). The molar absorptivity, Sandell sensitivity, detection and quantification limits are also calculated. The methods were successfully applied to the determination of CFD in its pharmaceutical formulations and the validity assesses by applying the standard addition technique.