Cheapest third-party road test in Houston (2026): every posted price, sorted

Updated October 24, 2026. Every price below was re-checked on the school’s own website on October 24, 2026. This site is independent and not affiliated with DPS, TDLR, or any driving school. No school paid to be listed or ranked on this page, and there are no affiliate links or featured (paid) spots on it.

Texas lets certified driving schools give the official Class C road test, and DPS does not set what they charge: fees for a drive test given by a driver education school “are not regulated by the Department”^[1]. Across the 9-county Houston area (Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Liberty, Waller, Chambers, Austin), DPS lists 132 road-test sites run by about 82 schools (some appear under slightly different names)^[2]. We found a road-test price on the school’s own website for 16 schools (46 sites). The rest are listed below as “price not posted.”

People without a car often look for a school that supplies one. One r/houston poster in October 2025 wrote that they didn’t have “a car or any friends with a car” and planned to test “at a driving school that will provide a car for a fee”^[5]. The Car column below shows what each school’s page says about that.

How to read this table

• Lowest posted price is the lowest road-test price on the school’s page, even if it applies only to its own students. We sort by it. (Tests bundled free into a full course package are not counted.)
• Price for a new adult customer is the lowest standard road-test price the page shows for someone who isn’t a current or former student.
• Who, Car, Attempts: filled in only where the page says so. “Not stated” means the page doesn’t say; ask the school.
• Prices don’t include the DPS license fee you pay separately (for example, $33 for a new license at age 18–84, $16 under 18)^[3].

All 16 Houston-area schools with a posted road-test price, cheapest first

Ties are broken by the new-customer price, then by name. Schools with more than one test site appear once; the cities are the DPS-listed sites. Addresses and phones for every site are on the Houston-area road-test page, and sites inside the 610 Loop are on the inside-the-Loop page.

Who should pick what

• No car of your own: these pages say the posted price includes the school’s car or that the school provides one: Cy Fair Driving School, Zeno's A-1 Driving School, Smart Way Driving School, Astroworld Driving Academy, Southside Driving Centre. Others add a car fee ($45–$55 where posted) or don’t say.
• Want a second chance: Cy Fair (up to three chances for $75), A-Plus (3 chances for $75 in your car), Zeno’s A-1 (two attempts included) and Katy Driving School (1 free retest at $150) post extra attempts. Astroworld lists 50% off a second attempt.
• Need it soon: Astroworld and Southside list same-day appointments; Cy Fair says it has openings 7 days a week. Call first.
• Already a student somewhere: Sharpstown ($75 for its students), Safeguard ($75 for ages 18–24 who took its 6-hour course) and SafeWay ($169 for its students) post lower prices for their own students.

Houston-area road-test listings with no posted price (66)

These schools are on the DPS road-test list for the Houston-area counties, but we didn’t find a road-test price on their own website. That doesn’t mean they cost more; call them. We never publish prices from phone calls or third-party sites.

Before you book

• Check that you qualify for a school-given test (age, driver ed certificate, learner license, Impact Texas Drivers certificate within 90 days)^[1]. Our guide walks through it: How to get a Texas road test without waiting months at DPS.
• If you use your own car, schools commonly require current registration, inspection, insurance and front and rear plates. Ask the school for its list.
• Confirm the price, the car, the number of attempts and any deposit when you book. Prices change.

In DFW instead? See the cheapest third-party road test in Dallas-Fort Worth.

“Price not posted” means we did not find a road-test price on the school’s own website when we checked on October 21, 2026. Call the school. Prices change; always confirm before you book. DPS says fees for tests given by driver education schools “are not regulated by the Department” (DPS).

Sources

1. DPS: Third Party Skills Testing (TPST) Program
2. DPS: Schedule a drive test at an authorized TPST school (school list)
3. DPS: Driver License Fees
4. TDLR: Driver education license data files
5. r/houston: “Third party driving test recommendations?” (Oct 2025)

School list: DPS TPST list, retrieved October 21, 2026; Houston area = Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Liberty, Waller, Chambers, Austin counties. Prices: each school’s own page, linked in the table, all re-checked October 24, 2026 (all 16 pages loaded; none returned a 404, and no posted price had changed since our previous check). We don’t rate or rank school quality; the order is by posted price only.