Free masking and camouflaging tests, compared
Five free CAT-Q and masking questionnaires compared on cost, whether an email is required, item count, attribution, stated cutoffs and what each says about your answers. Checked August 2026.
Most free CAT-Q pages run the same 25 items, so the questionnaire is rarely what separates them. What differs is whether the original authors are credited, whether a cutoff is stated, what each site says about where your answers go, and what it sells you afterwards. Everything below was read off each live page on the date shown.
Every entry below was read off the named page on 3 August 2026. Sites change, so each row links its source. Where a column says “not stated”, it means that page did not say, not that the answer is no.
Side by side
| Tool | Cost | Email or account | Items | Instrument and attribution | Stated cutoff | What it says about your answers | Sold on the page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NeuroTypeThis siteSource, checked 3 August 2026 | Free, full result shown | No account, no email | 25 | CAT-Q, credited to Hull et al. (2019) with the Creative Commons licence stated on the page | None published. The site explains why it shows the subscale split instead | States that individual answers stay in the browser and are not sent to a server | Paid reports exist but are not currently on sale |
| Embrace AutismSource, checked 3 August 2026 | Free. States the test is free and anonymous | States no email sign-up is needed for results | 25 | CAT-Q, credited to Hull et al. with the 2019 paper cited | States a threshold of 100 and above | Not stated on the page | Not stated on the page |
| CAT-Q.orgSource, checked 3 August 2026 | Free. States anonymous, no sign-up required | Not stated on the page | 25 | CAT-Q, credited to Hull et al. (2018) | Not stated on the page | Not stated on the page | Offers an optional AI-enhanced personalised report |
| While You WonderSource, checked 3 August 2026 | Not stated on the page | Not stated on the page | 25 | CAT-Q, with a link to the study provided | States scores of 100 and higher indicate camouflaging | Not stated on the page | Sells a self-identification workbook; also offers a free introductory download |
| NeuroDirectSource, checked 3 August 2026 | Free. States the test is completely free to access | Not stated on the page | 25 | Names the CAT-Q but does not credit the original authors | States 100 and above suggests camouflaging, and gives reported averages | Not stated on the page | Promotes a specialist-finder route to paid services |
How to choose
If you want a number you can compare with what you have read
Pick a site that states a threshold. Embrace Autism, NeuroDirect and While You Wonder all state 100 and above. NeuroType deliberately does not publish a cutoff, so it is the wrong choice if a single comparable number is what you are after.
If you care where your answers go
Only one of these pages says anything specific about it, which is why the column is mostly 'not stated'. That does not mean the others store your answers. It means you cannot tell from the page, and if it matters to you, that is worth knowing before you start.
If you want to know what you are actually taking
Check whether the page credits Hull et al. Attribution is a reasonable proxy for whether a site has engaged with the instrument's licence rather than just copying the items.
Why there is no winner on this page
This page does not rank these tools and does not name a best one. Several of them administer the same questionnaire, so any ranking would be about presentation rather than about the instrument. More importantly, no self-report questionnaire can establish whether a condition is present, so ranking them by accuracy would imply a precision that none of them has.
NeuroType is one of the entries in the table and is described on the same terms as everything else, including where it offers less. It publishes no cutoff and no ASRS score, and if either is what you need then one of the other sites is the better choice.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
- Are these all the same test?
- The questionnaire is the same 25-item CAT-Q in each case. What differs is the presentation, whether a cutoff is offered, how the result is explained, and what happens afterwards.
- Is one of these more reliable than the others?
- Not in a way this page could sensibly rank, because they administer the same items. Reliability in any meaningful sense belongs to the instrument and its research base, not to the website presenting it, and no self-report questionnaire can establish whether a condition is present. What genuinely differs between these sites is attribution, whether a cutoff is offered, and what happens after you get your score.
- Why does NeuroType not state a cutoff when others do?
- A single threshold encourages the total to be read as a verdict. Two people with the same total can have very different subscale profiles describing genuinely different experiences, so NeuroType shows the split instead. That is a considered choice rather than a missing feature, and if you want the threshold, the sites above state it.
- Can any of these diagnose autism?
- No. The CAT-Q measures camouflaging, which is reported by autistic and non-autistic people alike. No questionnaire on this page can confirm or rule out any condition.
Safety note
Reflection tools can surface patterns; they can't confirm or rule out a condition. Take any concerns about your mental health or neurodevelopment to a qualified clinician.