Swipe, swab, ship: How at-home tests are changing the way we think about wellness

Not long ago, getting answers about your health meant booking a doctor’s appointment, waiting weeks for lab results and hoping the findings made sense. Today, that process looks a lot different thanks to a wave of innovation in the wellness world — direct-to-consumer health testing. Now, people can now collect a saliva sample or a few drops of blood at home and learn about everything from their cholesterol and hormone levels to their microbiome.

What began with the widespread adoption of at-home COVID tests has evolved into an entire self-testing movement. Companies like Everlywell, Thorne, and Function Health now offer kits designed to reveal deeper insights into key wellness topics, including food sensitivities, stress responses, and other key biomarkers.

This shift has given people more privacy and autonomy over their data, but it’s also reshaping how people think about healthcare itself: Not just as treatment for illness, but as a daily effort to learn what their bodies need to feel their best.

The demand for at-home health testing has been explosive, and the industry is projected to reach over $9 billion by 2033. Even traditional diagnostic companies, including LabCorp and Quest, launched at-home kits to tap into the growing market.

What are at-home health tests exactly?

These tests, commonly referred to as direct-to-consumer (DTC), allow users to collect their own samples, send them to a designated laboratory, and receive results in a few days.

Everlywell, one of the most popular DTC brands, offers a variety of at-home lab tests, including a food sensitivity test, cholesterol and lipid panel, thyroid test, a 5-panel STD test, and more. Other brands offer less prescriptive test kits, including one that claims to determine your biological age and another that can purportedly provide insights on your body’s response to stress.

The growing popularity of at-home testing also mirrors larger wellness trends — like the surge of interest in gut health. Many people are turning to microbiome or digestive health kits to better understand how their diet, stress levels and lifestyle might be affecting their digestion, energy, mood and more. While these tests can’t diagnose conditions, they’ve become part of a wider effort to explore the connections between the gut and overall well-being.

Some companies, such as Function, operate on a membership model, in which customers pay an annual fee to gain access to hundreds of health tests, as well as personalized insights based on the results. However, Function’s tests do require a full blood draw at a laboratory.

How are at-home tests regulated?

Both Everlywell and fellow DTC brand Thorne note that the laboratories used to test their samples are certified through the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), which falls under the regulation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS also allows the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program to certify laboratories.

Some DTC tests are reviewed by the FDA, but others, including those offered by Everlywell and Thorne, are not.

You can see whether a certain test is approved by the FDA using its Database of In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Tests.

How much does it cost to test at home?

Prices vary based on the company and test, but can range from $29 to nearly $1,000. Everlywell, in partnership with Galleri, offers a Multi-Cancer Early Detection Test for $949. The test, which requires an in-person blood collection, screens for over 50 types of cancers by looking for DNA shed by specific cancer cells.

Function offers a $499 annual membership, which includes access to over 100 health tests and a comprehensive clinician summary.

What do doctors think?

Healthcare providers have mixed feelings when it comes to the rise of at-home testing, but are largely supportive of using the tests as a way to access more information about their health.

“I love to see people increasing their health literacy in any way that makes sense,” said Dr. Daniel Chandler, a primary care physician at Tufts Medical Center. “My only worry is what to do about the results afterward.”

Chandler noted that results may lead to unnecessary stress for individuals, especially if they are unable to access a provider for further testing or treatment. “If you are in a resource-poor area, and now you’ve got a test that says you need treatment, and you don’t have access to that treatment, or you don’t know who to go to for access to that treatment, then the test may have just increased your anxiety, but not actually helped you very much.”

Dr. Daniel Sands, a primary care doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, shared a similar sentiment with Harvard Health Publishing. “I think these tests can be useful, but we have to appreciate their limitations,” he said. “In human biology, more information isn’t always better — unless it’s perfect information, and most tests aren’t.”

Dr. C. Leilani Valdes, a pathologist and spokesperson for the College of American Pathologists, noted that with less regulation, there is a greater possibility of human error when conducting an at-home test.

“At-home tests can be accurate within certain limits, but there are more variables that can affect the results, like how the sample is collected or how the kit is stored,” she said. These false results may lead consumers down an incorrect, costly or unnecessary path for treatment.

The high cost of DTC health tests is another area of concern for providers. “If [a patient] spent 20 bucks, 50 bucks, 100 bucks on this test — something that would have gotten covered by insurance or free through Planned Parenthood — my gosh, you’re out 100 bucks, and I’m just going to repeat the test anyway,” Chandler said.

Healthcare professionals argue that these tools work best when results are shared with providers and added to their medical records. Otherwise there’s a risk of fragmented care or duplicated testing.

What are the privacy concerns?

The 2023 data breach of genomics company 23andMe, which affected nearly 7 million customers, shed light on the privacy risks of sharing health data with private companies. A JAMA Internal Medicine research letter from 2023 analyzed the terms of service and privacy policies of 21 DTC health testing companies.

Nearly all the companies included “disclaimers of warranty and limitation of liability regarding their services and information provided on their websites,” and over half acknowledged that consumer data could be used for research purposes internally or through a third party. Only four of the companies, however, stated that consumers could request the deletion of their data.

Within the FAQ section on its website, Everlywell writes that “under no circumstance do we ever sell our customers’ data, and we use state-of-the-art, bank-grade encryption to ensure data security.” Thorne’s website says that the company “has numerous safeguards in place to ensure that your information is secure against foreseeable risks, such as unauthorized use.”

The bottom line

For many, these tests have become part of a broader movement toward self-understanding. From tracking sleep and stress to exploring food sensitivities or hormone shifts, people are using at-home testing to piece together a fuller picture of their health between doctor visits. Having access to their own data helps them feel more prepared when they do meet with a provider — able to ask better questions, notice patterns and advocate for care that fits their individual needs.

At-home health testing isn’t a replacement for professional medical care, but it can be a useful tool when used thoughtfully. The best approach is to view results as a starting point rather than a final answer. As technology continues to evolve, these tests may help more people bridge the gap between curiosity and clinical insight, giving them a clearer view of what’s happening inside their bodies.

This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Swipe, swab, ship: How at-home tests are changing the way we think about wellness."