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Testing for Covid-19 is now a lot easier.

Covid-19 is everywhere, and public health experts have made it clear this virus isn’t going away anytime soon. Because of this, it’s important to keep home Covid tests handy in case you or someone in your household develops symptoms.

While there used to only be a few options for home tests, you now can choose from a slew of different products. Sure, more options are better, but that also makes it difficult to know which is best. Just know this: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) to several tests and, at baseline, the test you choose should meet this criteria. (An EUA, in case you’re not familiar with it, essentially says that the known benefits of using the product outweigh any potential cons. However, it’s not a full authorization—that process typically takes years.)

Of course, many people want to know how accurate home Covid tests are. In general, these tests are reliable, says William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. However, he adds, “You have to know how to interpret them.”

“If you think you were exposed yesterday, you test yourself today, and you're negative, that does not give you the all clear,” he says. “It takes some time for there to be enough virus in your nose to turn the test positive.” That’s why it’s best to wait up to three days to test yourself after an exposure, he says.

Home Covid tests are typically more accurate when you have symptoms, although they can pick up asymptomatic cases, says Thomas Russo, MD, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York. “They’re also less sensitive than a PCR test—that’s considered the gold standard of Covid testing,” he says. (However, he points out, a PCR test needs to ship to a lab and can take days for you to get your results compared to an at-home test, which gives results in minutes.)

But at-home Covid tests are “very good at detecting contagious amounts of virus,” says Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “So, if a test is negative, that person is not likely to be contagious at that given time,” he adds.

Research has found that home tests are pretty accurate overall, though. One March 2021 meta-analysis found that rapid antigen tests—which is the technology used by home tests—picked up about 72 percent of symptomatic cases that were confirmed positive by a PCR test. The tests didn’t perform as well in people who were asymptomatic, though—only 58 percent of those cases were confirmed by PCR.

Luckily, you can find home Covid tests at most pharmacies, grocery stores, big box chains, and online retailers. Most are easy to use—you simply take a swab of both nostrils, put it in a special solution, insert it into a test card, and read your results about 15 minutes later.

Each test kit is slightly different, and every company has done its own research. With that in mind, these are the best (and most accurate) home Covid tests on the market. Pick up one or several of these to keep at home for the just-in-case.

Our Top Picks Best Overall Home COVID Test: BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test Best Home COVID Test with App: On/Go COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test Best Home COVID Test for Fast Results: QuickVue At-Home OTC COVID-19 Test Best Inexpensive Home COVID Test: Flowflex COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Easiest Home COVID Test to Use: InteliSwab COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Best Molecular Home COVID Test: Detect COVID-19 Test Best No-Frills Home COVID Test: iHealth Rapid Antigen COVID-19 Test

BinaxNOW is one of the most popular home Covid tests on the market. It's easy to use—all you need is a swab of both nostrils that's inserted into a test card, along with some fluid—and results are simple to read. BinaxNow says that its test detects 84.6 percent of positive Covid-19 cases and 98.5 percent of negative cases.

The On/Go test is a little pricier than other options, but it has an app feature that makes the process dummy-proof. To use it, simply take a nasal swab, put it in a solution, squeeze a few drops of the solution into a test kit, and wait for your results. On/Go says the test is 95 percent accurate when used within the first seven days after you developed symptoms.

QuickVue is one of the fastest tests out there: It delivers results in about 10 minutes, while many others take 15. This test kit prompts you to take a nasal swab, put it in a solution, dip in a test strip, and wait for your results. Quidel (the makers of QuickVue) says its test picks up 83.5 percent of positive cases and 99.2 percent of negative cases.

Don't want to break the bank with Covid testing? FlowFlex is one of the cheapest options out there. This test works similarly to others, though: You take a nasal swab, dip it in a special solution, and apply the solution to a test strip. FlowFlex has impressive data to back it up: The FDA says that the test correctly identified 93 percent of positive specimens and 100 percent of negative specimens in testing.

InteliSwab is so simple to use. Just insert the applicator into your nostril, take a sample, dip it into solution, and wait for your test results—they'll appear on the applicator. InteliSwab says its test identified 84 percent of positive samples in clinical trials, and 98 percent of negative samples.

Detect is a little different than the others. It’s a molecular test that delivers PCR-quality results right from your home. Simply do a shallow nose swab, insert it into a device, and wait up to an hour for your results. The test correctly identified positive samples 90.9 percent of the time in clinical studies, and 100 percent of negative results, according to the company.

iHealth doesn't try to pretend to be anything more than it is: a basic Covid-19 test. The test, which is one of the tests sent out by the U.S. government, involves taking a nasal swab, dipping it in a solution, adding a few drops of the solution to the test kit, and waiting for your results. iHealth says it's 94.3 percent accurate at correctly identifying positive cases.