At home testosterone test: total, free and SHBG explained

The short answer on at-home testosterone tests

A single total testosterone number is not enough to judge whether your testosterone is low. You want total testosterone, SHBG and free testosterone, drawn between about 7 and 10 a.m., and ideally repeated before anyone draws a conclusion. Cheap kits ($69 at Quest or Everlywell) measure total testosterone only. SiPhox Hormone Focus measures all three plus estradiol, LH, FSH, prolactin and PSA from an upper-arm draw at home for $124 plus $25 shipping. Its Longevity Essentials panel includes total and free testosterone and SHBG for men alongside 25+ other markers.

Total, free T and SHBG in one drawSiPhox Hormone Focus: 14 biomarkers from a needle-free arm draw at home. $124 plus $25 shipping.

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Total vs free testosterone vs SHBG

Most testosterone in your blood is bound to proteins. MedlinePlus explains that the main carrier is sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), with some loosely attached to albumin and a small fraction circulating free.

• Total testosterone counts all of it. It is the standard first test.
• SHBG decides how much is locked up. It rises with age, low body weight and some thyroid conditions, and falls with obesity and insulin resistance.
• Free testosterone is the unbound portion your tissues can use. Labs either measure it directly (equilibrium dialysis) or calculate it from total testosterone, SHBG and albumin.

This matters because two men with the same total testosterone can have very different free levels. The Endocrine Society guideline recommends checking free testosterone when total testosterone is near the lower limit or when SHBG is likely to be abnormal. SiPhox reports a calculated free testosterone and percent free testosterone.

Symptoms that make a testosterone test worthwhile

The Endocrine Society recommends testing testosterone in men who have symptoms or signs of deficiency, not screening everyone. The more specific signs include lower sex drive, fewer spontaneous or morning erections, erectile dysfunction, loss of body hair, breast tenderness or enlargement, and low bone density or a fracture from a minor fall. Less specific ones include low energy, low mood, poor concentration, reduced muscle strength and more body fat. The AUA guideline adds that men with some conditions, such as unexplained anemia or low bone density, may warrant testing too.

If you have none of those and simply want a baseline, a panel that includes testosterone alongside heart and metabolic markers, such as Longevity Essentials, is a better use of money than a hormone-only test.

Why morning timing matters

Testosterone peaks in the morning and falls through the day. The Endocrine Society recommends diagnosing low testosterone only from fasting, morning total testosterone measured on two separate occasions, in a man with symptoms. The AUA guideline also calls for two early-morning tests and uses 300 ng/dL as a reasonable cut-off for low total testosterone.

For a home test that means: collect soon after waking, before breakfast, on a normal night's sleep, and not when you are ill. With SiPhox, a morning draw also fits the shipping rule: drop the kit at a staffed FedEx location the same day, Monday to Thursday before 4 p.m.

What can skew your testosterone result

Testosterone is sensitive to how you are living in the days before the test. The Endocrine Society advises against diagnosing low testosterone during an acute illness, and lists medicines such as opioids and glucocorticoids among the things that lower it. Other common reasons for a misleading low number:

• Testing in the afternoon or evening, when levels are naturally lower.
• A short or broken night's sleep, or shift work that shifts your daily rhythm.
• Being unwell, including a cold or flu, or recovering from surgery.
• Heavy training or very low calorie intake in the days before, which can suppress the hormone axis.
• Excess weight and insulin resistance, which lower SHBG and so lower total testosterone even when free testosterone is closer to normal. This is exactly the case where SHBG and free T change the picture.

The fix is simple: test on an ordinary morning, when you are well, and repeat any low result before drawing conclusions. If you take high-dose biotin, tell whoever reviews the result, because the FDA warns it can interfere with hormone tests that use biotin chemistry.

How to take an at-home testosterone test

1. Order the kit so it arrives early in the week, and plan the draw for a Monday to Thursday morning.
2. Collect within a few hours of waking, before breakfast. For SiPhox, drink about 16 oz of water first, warm up, and hold the heat pack on your arm for 4 minutes.
3. Apply the EasyDraw device to your upper arm and let it fill for up to 5 minutes. Use every device in the kit.
4. Pack with the chilled cold pack and drop at a staffed FedEx location before 4 p.m. the same day.
5. Results arrive in the app in about 7 to 10 days after the lab receives the sample.

One more practical point: if you are already on testosterone therapy, your prescriber's timing instructions override the morning rule, because the right time depends on the type and schedule of your treatment.

Which at-home testosterone kits measure what

Prices checked September 29, 2026. If you only want to confirm a single total testosterone number, a $69 lab test is the cheapest route. If you want to understand the number, pay for SHBG and free testosterone.

Which testosterone test to choose

SiPhox panels for men

SiPhox includes testosterone on two of its four core panels, both at $124 a test, and you can switch between them each time you test.

Hormone Focus is the diagnostic-style panel: LH and FSH help show whether low testosterone starts in the testes or the pituitary, prolactin screens for one pituitary cause, and PSA is included for men. Longevity Essentials is the better all-round panel if you also care about heart and metabolic markers. Ultimate 360 has everything for $249 plus shipping.

Hormone Focus

$124 + $25 shipping per test

14 biomarkers per test

Sex hormones for men and women, including PSA for men and progesterone for women.

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Most people start here

Longevity Essentials

$124 + $25 shipping per test

31 biomarkers per test

The default panel: heart, metabolic, hormone and inflammation markers in one draw.

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Ultimate 360

$249 + $25 shipping per test

62 biomarkers per test

Everything on the four core panels plus iron studies, B12 and folate, GGT and PSA.

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Monitoring TRT at home

If you are on testosterone therapy, your prescriber decides what to check and when. The Endocrine Society guideline suggests measuring testosterone 3 to 6 months after starting and then yearly, checking hematocrit at baseline, at 3 to 6 months and yearly, and pausing treatment if hematocrit rises above 54%. PSA follow-up applies to men in the screening age range.

• Testosterone, SHBG, estradiol and PSA: Hormone Focus covers them.
• Hemoglobin and hematocrit: on Longevity Essentials, not on Hormone Focus. SiPhox's hematocrit is calculated from capillary hemoglobin; a full CBC is a +$45 add-on.
• All of it in one draw: Ultimate 360.

Draw timing relative to your dose changes the number a lot, so follow your prescriber's instructions and keep the timing the same each test. Reddit TRT communities often compare SiPhox and Rythm for this job; our SiPhox vs Rythm comparison covers the differences. Never change a dose based on a home test without your prescriber.

Reading your testosterone result

Reference ranges for men vary by lab and age; many labs print a range starting around 250 to 300 ng/dL. A single low reading is not a diagnosis: repeat it in the morning, and see a doctor if you also have symptoms such as low libido, fatigue or loss of morning erections. Our at-home blood test for men guide covers the other markers worth tracking.

The upper end of the range falls with age, which is why a number that looks average at 65 may sit low for a 30-year-old. Labs outside the US report testosterone in nmol/L: multiply ng/dL by 0.0347 to convert, so 300 ng/dL is about 10.4 nmol/L. Our lab unit converter does it for you.

Check testosterone properly, at homeMorning draw, total and free T, SHBG and the hormones that explain them. Switch panels each test.

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Frequently asked questions