Free STD Testing: Where to Get Tested, and What It Costs If It Isn’t Free

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention runs GetTested, a national locator for HIV, STI, and viral hepatitis testing. Enter your ZIP code and filter for free testing; results include health department clinics, community organizations, and other sites near you, with hours and the tests each one offers. It is the single fastest way to answer the question this page exists for.

CDC's testing guidance is specific. Everyone ages 13 to 64 should be tested at least once for HIV. All sexually active women younger than 25 should be tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia every year, and women 25 and older with new or multiple partners should keep testing yearly. Pregnant women should be tested for syphilis, HIV, and hepatitis B and C starting early in pregnancy. Sexually active gay and bisexual men should test for syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea at least once a year, and every 3 to 6 months with multiple or anonymous partners. If any of those describe you, a free route below fits it.

City and county health departments run sexual health clinics, and the CDC’s GetTested locator lists many that offer confidential free or low-cost testing. Call ahead to ask about walk-in hours, and ask whether the clinic can start treatment if a test comes back positive, which matters more than where the swab happened.

Federally funded health centers provide care regardless of your ability to pay and charge on a sliding scale based on income. They can also fold testing into ongoing primary care rather than a one-off visit. Find one through HRSA's official locator or our own directory of free and charitable clinics, which lists centers by state.

Planned Parenthood health centers test for STDs, and Planned Parenthood says testing can sometimes be free. Call the center and ask what your visit will cost with your income and insurance. It’s a strong option when the nearest health department clinic has limited hours.

Community organizations, churches, and health systems run free testing events year round, and they concentrate around observances like National HIV Testing Day. These events are built for people who have never tested, no insurance, no appointment, and results for rapid tests in minutes.

Mail-in kits are private and convenient. A free HIV self-test is available by mail (see below), but kits that cover other infections are self-pay, so if cost is the obstacle, the clinic routes above usually cost less. If privacy is the priority instead, our guide to what a standard STI panel covers and skips explains what to order so an at-home panel doesn’t quietly leave out the test you need.

Under the Affordable Care Act's preventive care rules, marketplace plans and most other private plans cover HIV screening for everyone ages 15 to 65 without a copay, along with syphilis screening and STI prevention counseling for people at higher risk, when you use an in-network provider. That means a test you assumed would cost money may already be free through the coverage you have. Ask the office to bill it as preventive screening, and confirm the lab they send it to is in network, because the visit and the lab bill separately.

There’s no single price for an STD test. The bill depends on which infections you’re tested for, the clinic, the lab, and whether insurance pays. Here’s what each route costs, cheapest first, as of September 28, 2026.

Title X family planning clinics offer STI services, and the federal rule that funds them says clients from families at or below the federal poverty level pay nothing. Above that, charges follow a discount schedule based on ability to pay, up to 250% of the poverty level. Find one through the Title X Family Planning Clinic Locator.

Community health centers also charge by income: they provide care regardless of your ability to pay, on a sliding fee scale. Ask for the sliding-fee discount when you book, and bring proof of income if the center asks for it.

Together TakeMeHome, a program run with the CDC, mails a free pack of two HIV self-tests to anyone 17 or older in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, once every 90 days.

If you’d rather test at home and pay yourself, Everlywell’s prices on its own site, checked September 28, 2026, are $169 for its 5-panel STD test (chlamydia, gonorrhea, hepatitis C, syphilis, and trichomoniasis), $69 for a chlamydia and gonorrhea test, and $49 for an OraQuick at-home HIV test. The 5-panel doesn’t test for HIV.

These kits are self-pay. Everlywell says it isn’t contracted with any insurance company, so Medicaid and private plans won’t be billed for them, though its product pages say FSA and HSA cards are accepted. If cost is the obstacle, the clinic routes above almost always cost less.

If you don’t have insurance or won’t use it, a provider must give you a good faith estimate of the cost when you schedule at least 3 business days ahead, or whenever you ask. If the bill comes in at least $400 over that estimate, CMS lets you dispute it. At the front desk, ask three things: which tests are included, what each one costs, and whether there’s a sliding fee.

Two honest caveats. First, a free screening visit does not always make everything that follows free: if a result is positive, treatment may bill separately, so ask the clinic what treatment costs before you leave, while you are still in the room. Ask whether treatment follows the same free or sliding-scale rules as the test. Second, at some sites only specific tests are free, commonly HIV, while a full panel costs money. One question at the front desk sorts it out: which tests are free for me today, and what would the rest cost?

Our free and low-cost STD testing finder lists sites city by city, alongside the free clinics that can treat what a test finds. Start there, or with the CDC locator above, and the cost excuse is gone by the weekend.