Best At Home Testosterone Test

These top considerations when choosing at home testosterone tests naturally are the fundamental criteria we used to evaluate, compare, and identify the best testing options in 2023.

Winner: Everlywell

Staying on top of your health doesn’t have to be expensive. When it comes to cost, we consider the value of your full experience, not just the lowest possible price.

Everlywell’s Testosterone Test is the least expensive of the bunch, starting at $49 for one test. While this base price is nothing to scoff at, it only gets better: Everlywell offers a subscription membership that allows you to get one test a month for $24.99. If you’re trying to change your testosterone levels and need to recheck, you can get two tests for almost the same price as one with Everlywell and still pay less than you would for one test from most competitors. Plus, use our code REFER25 for an additional 25% off, landing your test price anywhere between $36.75 and $18.75.

Winner: LetsGetChecked

Testosterone levels can vary dramatically depending on the time of day you’re measuring them. And while you can always check your saliva for testosterone, that only consistently measures your free testosterone (not bound to proteins and usable for your body), which is independent of your overall levels. It’s important to make sure you get the correct information.

LetsGetChecked is the most accurate at-home test from start to finish. They have stringent requirements about when and how to take your test to get the most precise results. While only testing on weekdays before 9 AM and shipping your box the same day before your mail is collected feels like a lot to keep in mind (and makes the test somewhat inconvenient), it means that your results stay impeccably accurate. These requirements are the same as if you’d gone to a lab in-person from the comfort of your home.

Winner: myLAB Box

No one likes waiting for a test result, especially when you’re struggling with symptoms that impact your day-to-day life. It might be fastest to go into a lab to have your blood drawn – HealthLab’s results come back in one to three business days, for instance – but you’ll have to sink in time trying to find your nearest laboratory, getting there, sitting in the waiting room, and getting home. myLAB Box can get your results to you in the same window of time without the wait.

myLAB Box ships their tests to you in an efficient two days and processes your test in two to five more. Like our testers, you can have your results in no more than a week from when you order the kit.

Winner: LetsGetChecked

Like all health information, your testosterone levels are sensitive private health information (PHI). Low testosterone is nothing to be embarrassed about, but you probably want to keep that information out of the hands of advertisers. While our top picks have strong privacy policies, LetsGetChecked offers the most thorough privacy policy. Not only do they match HIPAA policies and use CLIA- and CAP-certified labs, following the highest quality standards for both privacy and accuracy, but they also have strict limits about who can and cannot access your data. Your name doesn’t appear anywhere in your testing kit, instead linking your sample to a barcode that you’ll connect to your account. They won’t give your information to anyone without your explicit consent, and even your results save under a jumble of numbers and letters rather than an identifiable name when you download them.

Testosterone is an androgen, a sex hormone that helps the body develop secondary sex characteristics like increased muscle mass and body hair, and an anabolic steroid. While it’s generally thought of as the “male sex hormone,” everybody needs testosterone to function properly. People who are hormonally male (cisgender and transgender men, and nonbinary people who are testosterone-dominant) have much higher testosterone levels than people who are hormonally female. The “normal” range of testosterone for hormonally male people is 300 to 1,000ng/dL; the same range for those who are hormonally female is 15 to 70ng/dL.

Testosterone is important for the development and function of many different parts of your body, including:

• Sex drive/libido regulation
• Healthy bone mass and strength
• Fat distribution
• Muscle mass
• Production of red blood cells
• Sperm production (if you have testes)
• Erectile function (if you have a penis)
• Egg development (if you have ovaries)
• Sleep
• Mood regulation
• Learning and memory
• Body hair growth

When we’re children, all genders have roughly the same amount of testosterone. But testosterone is the hormone that drives male puberty, so levels increase over adolescence and peak by the time you turn 18. It stays at those high levels for a few years, and by age 35, your testosterone levels will start dropping by about 1% every year. While this is a completely normal part of aging, your testosterone production can change for a plethora of reasons.

Three places in your body make testosterone:

• Gonads (testes and ovaries)
• Pituitary gland
• Adrenal cortex

For the most part, the Leydig cells in your testes or your ovaries will make most of the testosterone in your body. However, the pituitary gland tells your gonads how much testosterone they need to create through luteinizing hormone (LH), the messenger hormone that stimulates testosterone production. Low testosterone not associated with aging is often caused by a problem in the testosterone creation process:

• Primary hypogonadism (problems with the hypothalamus and pituitary gland or adrenal cortex)
• Secondary hypogonadism (problems with the gonads)

The adrenal cortex – the outer part of your adrenal glands – also makes testosterone, though in much smaller quantities. Adrenal insufficiency can cause lower testosterone levels in some people.

Testosterone is a lipophilic hormone, meaning that it can bind to oils and other lipids but not water. Considering that our bodies are 60% water, testosterone can’t easily move throughout our bodies to get where it needs to be; instead, it needs to bind to proteins in order to move. Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) is the most common protein that testosterone binds to. SHBG holds onto testosterone (as well as estrogen and other sex hormones) and moves it into the cells that need it.

Testosterone exists in two different states in our body: bound to SHBG and free-floating. Free testosterone is a measurement of all the testosterone available for your body to use that is not bound to SHBG. It is a relatively small fraction – about 2-5% – of the testosterone circulating in you. However, free testosterone is the only kind that can actively bind to androgen receptors, meaning that all testosterone needs to become free in order to be used.

On the other hand, total testosterone measures all of the testosterone in your body, both bound and free. This is often the first test that a doctor will order – and should likely be your first test if you are checking your testosterone levels yourself – because it gives the broadest picture of your body’s testosterone levels. It measures testosterone in movement, in wait, and actively being used.

Everyone has testosterone in their bodies, and everyone can feel problems from having too much or too little testosterone. That said, most testosterone tests are designed for people who are hormonally male (transgender and cisgender men). These tests will interpret your results based on the healthy male range, so unless your testosterone is seriously high, hormonal women won’t be able to get the nuance you need. MyLAB Box is an exception to this rule, interpreting results based on the gender you sign up with.

Testosterone also varies depending on your age, increasing during puberty to peak around age 18 and then decreasing as you age. If you’re concerned about your testosterone levels and still going through puberty, we recommend reaching out to your primary medical provider.

People on androgenizing HRT should consult their medical provider before taking an at-home testosterone test, as the correct hormonal levels for you will vary.

If you are experiencing symptoms of low (or high) testosterone, the first step to feeling better is testing your testosterone levels. Some comorbid conditions that may impact your testosterone levels include:

• Diabetes
• Extreme body weight (obesity or those severely underweight)
• Anorexia nervosa
• Kidney disease
• Liver disease
• Chronic stress
• Pituitary gland disorders
• Cancer, especially if you’re undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy
• Family history of low testosterone
• Hemochromatosis
• Thyroid disease
• Any intersex conditions, such as Kleinfelter’s syndrome or congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Your testosterone can be too low or too high. Too little testosterone is a more common problem in hormonal men, and too much testosterone is a more common problem in hormonal women, but both can still occur in all genders. Since testosterone affects your libido, bone density, red blood cells, liver, kidneys, muscles, and mood regulation, those are the key places you’ll notice problems if there’s a problem with your testosterone levels.

While your testosterone level decreases with age, it can still be a problem if it falls too quickly. Having symptoms of low testosterone is the most common reason to seek testosterone testing. The three hallmark symptoms of low testosterone are:

• Decreased sex drive
• Fatigue
• Depression

Outside of those big three, some other symptoms you might experience are:

• Erectile dysfunction
• Lowered semen output
• Low sperm count
• Infertility
• Reduced muscle mass
• Irritability
• Problems sleeping
• Sleep apnea
• Hair loss
• Decreased bone density
• Increased body fat (without changing your behaviors)
• Nerve pain
• Dry skin
• Development of breast tissue (gynecomastia)
• Menopause-like symptoms (hot flashes, difficulty concentrating, etc)

Some women may find that they have too little testosterone as well. While this isn’t common, the symptoms are nearly identical, with the most common symptom being a decreased sex drive.

Having too much testosterone is more of a problem in hormonal women. Your body naturally needs and produces small amounts of testosterone to function, maintain your reproductive tissue, and keep a healthy bone mass. If not from steroid use and abuse, high testosterone often comes from either a genetic disorder like congenital adrenal hypoplasia or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a common hormonal disorder. Signs of high testosterone in hormonal women include:

• Acne
• Hirsutism (abnormal hair growth in places like your chin, neck, or chest)
• Menstrual irregularities, such as a longer, more painful period
• Frontal (male-pattern) balding
• Increased muscle mass, or building muscle quickly
• Mood changes
• Decreased sex drive

In hormonal men, testosterone levels that are too high are almost always because you’re supplementing your naturally produced testosterone, either for hormone replacement therapy or anabolic steroid use, though they can also come from congenital diseases or adrenal gland tumors. The most common signs of having too much testosterone include:

• Aggressive or impulsive behaviors (like the myth of “roid rage”)
• Excessive body hair
• Headaches
• Heart or liver problems
• Infertility
• Low sperm count
• Prostate enlargement
• Insomnia
• Acne
• High blood pressure
• Increased appetite
• Increased libido

Much like all people need testosterone to function, all people also need estrogen to function. Testosterone-dominant bodies get a vast majority of their estrogen from aromatization, the process of converting testosterone to estrogen. When testosterone levels are too high, cresting over and beyond 1200ng/dL, your body will start converting more testosterone to estrogen, creating higher-than-normal estrogen levels. If you’re worried about your testosterone levels being too high, a test that also measures your estrogen levels can help you identify what’s causing your symptoms.

Much like estrogen and progesterone levels change over a month to create a menstrual cycle, your testosterone level is highest first thing in the morning and drops over the day.

Most tests will require you to measure your testosterone first thing in the morning before eating anything. This guarantees that they get the highest possible reading, rather than something that might read as a false positive for low testosterone.

Since hormones vary daily but are crucial for our functioning, it isn’t always clear what results are right and what aren’t. This gets confusing when your tests over time reveal a wide range of numbers without you changing a thing. Testosterone is found in both your blood and saliva and scientists have developed accurate ways to measure both with a high degree of sensitivity. While the tests themselves are accurate, you should be aware of some potential for user error.

There are three different methods of testing that you’ll see in our top at-home testosterone tests.

Best overall test, best privacy measures, most accurate

Cost: $69, or $51.75 with code INNERBODY25

You might be surprised to see LetsGetChecked picked as our top at-home testosterone test. It’s not the fastest test, nor is it the most convenient. It’s also about $10 more expensive than our most budget-friendly option after using our INNERBODY25 promotional code for 25% off the listed price. But when it comes to your testosterone levels, we’d rather be safe than sorry. You might pay a little more out-of-pocket, but that slightly higher price dramatically increases the quality and gives LetsGetChecked unrivaled accuracy.

LetsGetChecked uses the most accurate method of testing your testosterone at home – a dried blood spot test – with specific constraints to ensure that your sample quickly gets back to the lab safe and sound. After fast shipping and the particular testing method, your results will be processed and come back within five days. These results are broken down simply without being patronizing, allowing you to read and understand your levels without feeling like you need a medical degree.

Fastest, best for women

Cost: $79, or $63.20 with code INNERBODY20

MyLAB Box has a lot going in their favor. Their testosterone test has the fastest processing time out of all our top picks for at-home tests. It’s the only test we found that allows estrogen-dominant people to check their testosterone, too. This gives cisgender women with PCOS symptoms and transgender women or nonbinary people on estradiol the agency to check in on their testosterone levels with an updated expected “normal” window to reflect their biology.

A word of caution: this test uses your saliva to measure your total testosterone levels. This is a problem because it means myLAB Box’s results are more likely to give you a wrong answer than a saliva test measuring free testosterone or a blood test measuring total testosterone. SHBG is too big to pass from your bloodstream into your saliva in meaningful amounts, so you’ll only find direct information about free testosterone levels in a saliva sample. Studies looking to see if you can measure total testosterone in saliva generally say it underestimates your levels.

There are calculations that the laboratory can make to determine an estimated total testosterone level from a salivary free testosterone concentration, but it’s just that – an estimation. It’s not a true measurement of your total testosterone. And since your free testosterone doesn’t always accurately track alongside your total testosterone, we strongly recommend being cautious when taking myLAB Box’s At-Home Testosterone Test Kit. This is a case where a second opinion is especially warranted if you have symptoms of out-of-balance testosterone or your results are around the low or high end.

Like our favorite top at-home tests, myLAB Box offers a subscription service if you’ll need to re-test your testosterone levels. You can purchase a new kit every three months for 15% off or every six months for 10% off. Combine this with our 20% off promotional code, and you can save a substantial amount (though there are still cheaper options available).

Most budget-friendly

Cost: $49 one-time / $24.99 with subscription, or $36.75 / $18.75 with code REFER25

Everlywell provides a fantastic bundle for their testosterone test kit. They test your free testosterone through a saliva sample, making it painless and straightforward to check your testosterone levels, though you will still have to test first thing in the morning and ship same-day.

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive test, particularly if you’re struggling with low testosterone symptoms, but your results came back normal, Everlywell offers a Men’s Health Test panel. This test measures:

• Total testosterone
• Cortisol
• DHEA
• Estradiol

While it’s significantly more expensive than their simple testosterone test at $149, it provides bountiful information that can be hard to find with other at-home testing companies. This is particularly useful if you’re concerned about your testosterone being too high and converting to estrogen.

An independent, board-certified medical professional from your state will review your results before Everlywell shares them with you, guaranteeing that your results are interpreted correctly. If you have any questions, you can always reach out to them through Everlywell for a free consultation.

Best comprehensive care

Cost: $49

Are you struggling with dry skin, hair loss, and erectile dysfunction, on top of wondering if your testosterone is out of balance? Roman has your back. They offer a wide range of men’s health services, including:

Roman offers telehealth visits and a comprehensive online pharmacy, meaning that your testosterone test might be the first stop of many through Roman. They process your results quickly, getting you answers within a week of putting your kit in the mail. All follow-ups are free, and while they can’t prescribe testosterone to you if your results are low, they can point you in the right direction. They can also help with any side effects you might be experiencing, such as managing your weight. They might not be the cheapest or most accessible option, but if you’re looking for a holistic package, Roman is your best bet.

Best walk-in lab

Cost: $99

If you don’t trust your ability to properly take a sample for a mail-in kit or feel squeamish around blood, going to a walk-in lab for testosterone testing might be your best option. While they’re not convenient like an at-home test might be, requiring you to get up early to sit in a waiting room before having your blood drawn, they are often even more accurate than a test you can take at home. We recommend HealthLabs for your in-person testing experience.

HealthLabs allows you to pick the closest lab to you regardless of who runs them (whether that’s Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp, or a smaller local brand). This makes them an excellent option for those in rural areas who might not have access to labs if you’re constrained to a single company. Likewise, their price stays stable no matter where you go. They are the most expensive option at $99, though that test measures both free and total testosterone, unlike some of our favorite at-home testing kits. If you want more – or less – information, they have dozens of tests specific to androgen testing so you can pick and choose exactly what you need to know.

What if my test results indicate a problem?

First, reach out to your doctor or another primary medical provider. They’ll be the best equipped to help you figure out what’s going on. They will look and unpack your results, answering your questions along the way; they might decide that they want to re-test your levels to verify that the at-home test was correct. If you do have testosterone levels outside of a normal range, your doctor will be able to work with you to get them back on track.

How do I know if I need supplemental testosterone?

Starting supplemental testosterone – called hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) – will be a decision between you and your primary care provider. If your provider determines that you have low testosterone levels that could use a boost, they will prescribe either injectable testosterone cypionate or a topical lotion-like testosterone supplement that absorbs into your skin. Both are easy to use and provide excellent additional sources of testosterone to get your levels where they need to be.

There’s no option for a testosterone pill yet because it has a high first pass metabolism, meaning the liver absorbs it before it can be broken down and used by the rest of your body. Most online providers won’t prescribe exogenous testosterone because the FDA classifies it as a Schedule III controlled substance (along with medications like Vicodin, morphine, and ketamine). It has a higher-than-average likelihood of being abused as an anabolic steroid in athletes and bodybuilders, so you’ll need to see a doctor in person to get a prescription.

Why is the range of “normal” total testosterone values so wide?

In most labs, a “normal” range of testosterone is anywhere from 300 to 1,000ng/dL. The amount of testosterone that your body needs to function properly decreases with age after peaking around 18 at the end of puberty. Our bodies all have different baseline levels and needs; what feels low to one person may be a healthy value for another.

However, a lot of scientists, medical professionals, and even laboratories agree that the large range is inconsistent and can make it difficult to get help for truly low testosterone. Because of these minutiae, medical professionals consider your feelings and symptoms alongside your total testosterone measurement. One study found that testing only your total testosterone isn’t always a good prediction of your testosterone status; that number missed 26% of people in the study who had low testosterone but had results on the low side of normal (between 150 and 350ng/dL). This is also where testing your free testosterone can come in handy: if your total testosterone looks normal but your free testosterone level is low, it can signal that your total testosterone should be higher for your body’s best functioning.

How can I increase my testosterone at home?

It can be difficult to change your testosterone levels on your own. We recommend reaching out to your primary care provider if your levels are low. If your testosterone is just a little bit out of your ideal range, however, there are steps and supplements you can take to improve your lifestyle that affects testosterone levels.

Having a BMI out of the normal range is linked to out-of-range testosterone levels; having not enough body fat can keep your testosterone too high, and being overweight or obese can drop your levels. It’s a bit of a vicious cycle, as having low testosterone can also make it easier to gain fat and harder to lose it or gain muscle.

People with low testosterone are often more insulin resistant than someone with normal levels, increasing your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. There aren’t any specific foods you should stay away from or eat in excess to influence your testosterone – even foods like soy that have developed a bad name don’t affect your testosterone levels. Staying active, eating healthy foods, and monitoring your weight can help you re-regulate your testosterone levels and avoid any adverse side effects or comorbidities.

How often should I retest my testosterone?

It depends. If your testosterone levels are low and you and your medical provider decide to move forward with HRT, they will help you to develop a schedule for testing your testosterone levels and monitoring your treatment. Otherwise, it’s standard to re-test testosterone levels every three to six months.

Can I use my insurance or HSA/FSA funds to pay for a testosterone test?

For the most part, insurance companies will not pay for a lab test if it’s not prescribed to you by a medical professional. This means that unless your doctor has told you to take an at-home test, you won’t be able to use your insurance coverage. However, several at-home testing companies will allow you to either use or be reimbursed for your purchase with HSA or FSA funds. On our list, these companies include:

• LetsGetChecked
• Everlywell
• HealthLabs
• myLAB Box

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions involving staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

We extensively test each health service or product we review. We try our best to give you, our readers, an unbiased exploration of at-home health options, free of marketing jargon or gimmicks. We evaluate products and services based on their adherence to quality, the latest medical evidence and health standards, and a simple question: would we buy the product or service ourselves if it weren’t part of our job, and would we recommend it to family and friends?

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

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