Top Glucose Meters: Most Accurate Options (2025)

If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, you probably know that blood glucose meters are an important tool for managing the condition. These small, portable devices measure your current blood glucose (also called blood sugar) level, a marker of how well your diabetes is controlled.

“Glucose monitoring is extremely important, and the most important thing is to check your blood sugar several times a day in order to get a trend of the blood sugar readings,” says Archana Bindra, M.D., an endocrinologist at El Camino Health in San Jose, CA.

Blood glucose meters are especially essential for people with diabetes who are on insulin therapy. This includes all people with type 1 diabetes and some with type 2. The glucose measurements are used to determine your insulin dose as well as to detect hypoglycemia, in which your blood glucose drops too low.

“In people with type 2 diabetes who are not taking insulin, glucose meters are not as critical, but they do provide important insights into how lifestyle habits, like nutrition, physical activity, stress, and sleep or lack thereof affect blood glucose levels,” says Minisha Sood, M.D., an endocrinologist at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Blood glucose meters are sold over the counter under a variety of brand names at drugstores, big box stores, and online. (Some common brands include Accu-Check, FreeStyle, and OneTouch.) How do you choose and use these devices? We asked our experts to share their recommendations and tips for successful home monitoring.

To get a blood glucose reading from a traditional blood glucose meter, you must draw a small amount of blood, most commonly from the side of a fingertip. You’ll do this using a sterile needle provided by the manufacturer of the device. A single drop of blood is enough. You touch the blood to a test strip, then place the strip in your meter. You’ll get a reading a few moments later.

You may need to use your blood glucose monitor several times a day. How often and when will depend on the type of diabetes you have and whether or not you use insulin. Typical times are before meals and before you go to bed. That can be a burden, but it helps prevent diabetes complications in real time—a benefit that wasn’t always available to people living with this condition.

“There was a day when the only way to measure glucose was at the laboratory,” says endocrinologist Rodolfo Galindo, M.D., director of the Comprehensive Diabetes Center at University of Miami Health System in Miami, FL. “Hence, people were not able to check their glucose levels at home and needed to wait for the lab results.”

Another option is called a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). These prick-free devices work via a sensor under your skin that provides ongoing glucose readings throughout the day, eliminating the need for self-measurements. We’ll get into these in more detail in a bit.

They are certainly supposed to be! However, federal regulators do not require personal blood glucose meters to provide quite the same level of accuracy as those used in medical settings, such as a hospital laboratory. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates glucose meters, has the following requirements for personal (home) blood glucose meters:

• 95% of the meter’s readings must fall within 15% of what a professional lab test would show.

• 99% of readings must be within 20% of a laboratory test.

Some research suggests that not all blood glucose meters on the market meet the FDA criteria. For example, in a study in the journal Diabetes Care, researchers evaluated the 18 bestselling meters on the market at the time. Only six of them met the study’s accuracy criteria, which were slightly less stringent than the FDA’s accuracy requirements.

Your blood glucose level tells you whether your diabetes is well managed. If it’s higher or lower than it should be, you may have to change your diabetes care plan to get it into the right range.

But if your device does not give you accurate readings, any changes based on those readings won’t be right for you.

“People with diabetes make real time treatment decisions based on blood glucose meter readings,” says Dr. Sood. “An inaccurate reading would potentially result in an over- or under-dosing of insulin, which may result in [poor glucose] control or even hypoglycemia.”

There are a few things that will help your device give you a correct reading, says Dr. Galindo:

• Wash your hands and use an alcohol swab on the fingertip you’ll prick. This helps make sure nothing contaminates the blood sample.

• Dry your hands thoroughly after washing them and let the alcohol dry before you do a finger prick. That way water and alcohol won’t mix with your blood.

• Use a full drop of blood on your test strip. Any less may result in inaccuracy.

Another tip: Check your equipment. “Make sure you change the batteries regularly, update the time and date when needed, and don’t use expired test strips,” says Farah Khan, M.D., an endocrinologist at UW Medicine in Seattle, WA.

“The list of options is vast,” says Dr. Galindo, “but most of the time the decision of what meter to use comes from which one is covered by your insurance.”

But it’s not just the meter itself that you will buy. You have to purchase the test strips as well. (Some manufacturers sell strips and lancets as part of a complete blood glucose test kit.) Either way, they can be very expensive. And different meters use different test strips, so if you switch devices, you’ll need to switch the accessories as well.

“Oftentimes, the test strips can be cost prohibitive for patients,” saysDr. Khan, who recommends finding out whether your insurance will cover the strips before making your purchase. Keep in mind: The price of the meter is a one-time cost. But the test strips are not; you will have to buy them on a regular basis. That cost can add up. According to the American Diabetes Association, test strips range widely in price, from less than 10 cents up to $1.52 per strip.

What else to look for? For some bells and whistles, it’s a matter of personal preference. Today’s glucose meters come with various special features you may find helpful. For example:

• Accessibility features. Some meters come with large buttons, illuminated screens, and other options to make them easier to use if you have challenges with vision or manual dexterity.

• Audio readings. If you have poor vision or vision loss, look for a meter that can read your results back to you so that you don’t have to read it on the screen, suggests Dr. Galindo.

• Smart phone compatibility. Some glucose meters pair with smart phone apps. That allows you and your doctor to easily review your readings and see trends in your blood glucose levels. Such info can help guide your treatment plan.

While blood glucose meters only measure your glucose level when you choose to test, a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, automatically does this on a 24/7 basis.

Here’s how they work: A tiny sensor placed on your skin—usually your arm or stomach—measures your glucose level continuously throughout the day (most CGMs take a reading every five minutes, according to the Cleveland Clinic). It then transmits this info to a separate device, like your smart phone or an insulin pump.

“[CGMs] have revolutionized diabetes care and glucose monitoring in general,” says Dr. Galindo. By seeing the full picture of blood glucose fluctuations, doctors can make much better decisions about care, he says. They are also preferred by many people with diabetes who would rather spare their fingers from regular blood draws.

Once a person is using a CGM, “they do not require finger sticks anymore—probably considered the best advantage by patients,” Dr. Galindo says.

CGMs are routinely offered to people with type 1 diabetes and to those with type 2 diabetes who use insulin. Out experts say they also can be helpful if you don’t use insulin. “[Continuous glucose monitoring] provides very valuable insight into blood glucose patterns and helps patients to make meaningful lifestyle changes, especially in terms of nutrition,” says Dr. Sood.

Dr. Khan agrees: “Most patients would benefit from wearing a CGM for at least a short period of time so they can learn how certain foods, activities, etc. affect their blood sugar levels,” she says. Examples of CGM devices include Dexcom G6, FreeStyle Libre, and Guardian Connect System.

Also called automated insulin delivery, a hybrid closed loop system combines a CGM with an insulin pump. The CGM collects real-time glucose measurements, which are transmitted to a small, computerized insulin pump that you wear continuously. (The pump is typically about the size of a deck of cards and is worn on the outside of your body. It delivers insulin through a tube, or catheter, that’s connected to a thin cannula placed into the layer of fat under your skin, usually in your abdomen). An algorithm determines your insulin needs. If your readings indicate that you require insulin, your pump delivers the automatically calculated dose.

The system is not 100% hands off; you still have to make manual adjustments to your insulin dose when you eat or if you have a sudden spike in blood glucose. But it eliminates both the finger sticks of a traditional glucose meter and the need to self-inject insulin multiple times a day, which can make a huge difference in your or your child’s experience managing diabetes.

“This type of technology has not only changed the treatment but also the quality of life, decreasing the burden of diabetes care from these patients, who are sometimes diagnosed at a very young age,” says Dr. Galindo.

Who should consider using one of these systems? “Any patient with uncontrolled type 1 diabetes is an excellent candidate for a hybrid closed loop system,” says Dr. Sood. “Patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes on multiple daily insulin injections also would benefit from this approach, although it is more difficult to obtain insurance coverage.”

Technology has progressively reduced the burden of living with diabetes. Blood glucose meters enable regular tracking of your glucose levels, while continuous glucose monitors and hybrid closed loop systems streamline things even further. With so many blood glucose meters on the market, it’s impossible to recommend a particular brand or model that will work for everyone. Let your doctor’s recommendations, your preferences, and your insurance coverage guide you. It may take some trial and error, but you will find the meter or system that works best for you.

This article was originally published February 15, 2016 and most recently updated November 29, 2023.

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