You can check your A1c at home using a fingerstick test kit that gives results in about five minutes. These kits are sold over the counter at major pharmacies and retailers, cost between $30 and $100, and don’t require a prescription. The process is similar to checking blood sugar with a glucose meter, but instead of measuring your blood sugar right now, an A1c test reflects your average blood sugar over the past two to three months.
How A1c Differs From Daily Glucose Checks
A regular fingerstick glucose reading tells you what your blood sugar is at that exact moment. A1c measures something different: how much glucose has attached to your red blood cells over their roughly 120-day lifespan. That’s why the result represents an 8- to 12-week average rather than a snapshot. Two people could have the same fasting glucose on a given morning but very different A1c levels depending on how their blood sugar behaved over the previous months.
This distinction matters because it means your A1c won’t change overnight. If you’ve made dietary changes or started a new medication, you’ll need at least two to three months before your A1c reflects that shift.
Two Types of Home A1c Tests
Home A1c tests come in two formats, and the one you choose depends on whether you want speed or slightly more precision.
Instant-result kits work like a compact analyzer. You prick your finger, place the blood sample on a test tray, insert the tray into a small reader, and get your result in about five minutes. The whole process takes under 10 minutes. One important detail: most of these devices don’t save your reading for long. Write down your result as soon as it appears on screen, because some monitors clear it after 15 minutes.
Mail-in kits follow a different approach. You collect a fingerstick sample at home, seal it in the provided packaging, and send it to a laboratory. Results come back in a few days to a couple of weeks. These kits tend to cost a bit less, ranging from $30 to $90, while instant kits run $44 to over $100 depending on how many tests are included in the box.
Brands Currently Available
The American Diabetes Association’s consumer guide lists four home A1c kits:
- A1CNow Self Check from pts Diagnostics, which comes with four individual tests and delivers results in five minutes
- CVS Health A1C At Home Test Kit, also providing five-minute results
- ReliOn FastA1c Test, available at Walmart
- Well at Walgreens A1C Test Kit, sold at Walgreens locations
None of these are covered by insurance, since insurers typically require a professional lab draw for the result to count toward your medical record. Your doctor’s office will still need to run its own test for clinical decision-making.
How Accurate Are Home Tests?
Home and point-of-care A1c tests are reasonably close to lab results, but not identical. In a real-world comparison study, point-of-care devices averaged about 0.3 percentage points lower than standard lab tests. So if a lab would read 8.8%, a home-style device might read closer to 8.5%. The correlation between the two methods was strong (r = 0.80), meaning the devices track well with lab values even if they don’t match exactly.
The National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP) certifies A1c methods for accuracy. Its 2019 criteria require that 36 out of 40 test results fall within 5% of the reference value. Over 30 point-of-care A1c methods hold NGSP certification, though a notable gap exists: once these devices are in consumers’ hands, there’s no required proficiency testing, so real-world performance data is limited.
For practical purposes, a home test is useful for tracking your trend between doctor visits. If your home reading jumps from 6.2% to 7.1%, that’s a meaningful signal regardless of whether the exact number matches what a lab would report. But for an official diagnosis or treatment change, your doctor will rely on a venous blood draw processed in a certified lab.
What Your Results Mean
The CDC uses these A1c thresholds:
- Below 5.7%: normal
- 5.7% to 6.4%: prediabetes
- 6.5% or above: diabetes
If you’re already managing diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends testing every six months when your A1c is within your target range, and every three months if your medications have changed or your last result was above goal. Home kits can fill the gaps between lab visits, giving you a sense of whether your management plan is working before your next appointment.
Conditions That Skew A1c Results
A1c measures glucose attached to hemoglobin inside red blood cells, so anything that changes your red blood cells can throw off the reading. This applies to both home and lab tests, but it’s especially worth knowing if you’re relying on home results without a clinician to flag the issue.
Iron deficiency anemia can push A1c readings artificially higher. This is common enough to matter: if you’re anemic and your A1c looks elevated, the number may overstate your actual average blood sugar. Conversely, conditions that shorten red blood cell lifespan, like hemolytic anemia or recovery from significant blood loss, will make A1c appear falsely low because the cells haven’t been around long enough to accumulate glucose.
Hemoglobin variants such as sickle cell trait or hemoglobin C trait can also interfere with accuracy. People with sickle cell disease (HbSS, HbCC, or HbSC) face compounding factors: anemia, faster red cell turnover, and potential transfusion effects all undermine A1c as a reliable marker. For these individuals, alternative blood tests that measure glycated albumin are more dependable.
Pregnancy introduces its own wrinkle. In late pregnancy, A1c tends to rise in non-diabetic individuals due to iron deficiency, which can make a normal result look like prediabetes. Chronic kidney disease pushes results in the other direction, with A1c tending to underestimate blood sugar levels in people on dialysis.
Tips for Getting a Reliable Home Result
The fingerstick sample needs to reach the analyzer quickly. Most kits require you to insert the blood sample within two minutes of collection. Don’t move or pick up the device while it’s processing. These seem like small details, but they’re the most common sources of user error.
Store your kit according to the package instructions, since heat and humidity can degrade the test strips. Check the expiration date before testing. And if your result seems dramatically different from what you’d expect based on your daily glucose readings, don’t panic or make medication changes on your own. A single home A1c reading that doesn’t match your expectations is a reason to get a lab test, not a reason to adjust treatment.