TCM pricing in Singapore is unusually opaque: the same 30-minute acupuncture session can cost $8 at a charity clinic in Toa Payoh or $262 at a mall clinic in Orchard, and almost nobody publishes a straight comparison. We pulled the 2026 fee tables off eight registered clinics' own websites and lined them up. Three things came out of it. FIRST, the free tier nobody advertises: four of the eight will see you for $0 on a first visit, all year round. Eu Yan Sang waives the consultation entirely for EuRewards members (free to join through its Doctor Sinseh app), Parkway Plus members and PAssion Silver or Platinum cardholders; NovaHealth runs a complimentary first consultation through its ConsultNova callback form; Ma Kuang's new Raffles Place clinic gives a free 10-minute consultation off-peak; and Beijing Tong Ren Tang has consulted free every first Saturday of the month for years. That matters more now the August promotions have gone: Eu Yan Sang's SG61 $6.10 consultation ended on 31 August, and it was the only route here an existing patient could use, while these four member and callback routes are all new-patient routes that run into 2027. SECOND, two of the big chains quietly run two rate cards. A single-area acupuncture is $54.50 at a Ma Kuang TCM clinic and $90 at a Ma Kuang Holistic one, and Eu Yan Sang's Premier centres charge up to $110 for a first consultation against $25 at an ordinary clinic, which is also where every card discount is barred. THIRD, the cheapest option all year is not a promo: Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution, a registered charity with six clinics, collects $11 up front of which only the $3 registration is non-refundable, because the consultation itself is free and the $8 is offset against your treatment or refunded the same day. Below: what each clinic publishes, every outlet address, which trials died with August, and which offers still run to November.
Two clinics three MRT stops apart can charge $8 and $262 for what a patient would describe the same way: a consultation and some needles.
> Quick view: cheapest all year Chung Hwa, $11 collected but only $3 non-refundable · free first consultation at Eu Yan Sang (member routes), NovaHealth, Ma Kuang Raffles Place and Beijing Tong Ren Tang · cheapest paid first visit NovaHealth Chinatown Point, $48 nett with a treatment · the catch two chains run two rate cards, and the discounts never apply to the dearer one.
What changed since our last check
We re-read every clinic's own pages on 28 October. Four things moved since our 15 October check.
- PULSE's fertility trial went up to $98. It is still listed as ongoing at ION Orchard, Paragon, Millenia Walk, Raffles Place and The Woodleigh Mall, but it now costs $98 (U.P. $200), $106.82 with GST, and the booking code is fertilitytrial98. The old $88 price and fertilitytrial88 code no longer apply.
- PULSE has a new $88 neck and shoulder trial, 15 October to 30 November. A consultation plus targeted acupuncture for first-time customers at the same five clinics, U.P. $150, $95.92 with GST, code painrelief88.
- Eu Yan Sang's NEX clinic is back in NEX. It has moved from The Woodleigh Mall to NEX #04-28 and marks the move with 400 extra Doctor Sinseh points on a $100 spend (before GST), new and existing patients, 20 October to 30 November. The separate Woodleigh Premier bonus (600 points on a $120 spend) ends on 31 October, and its headline now agrees with its terms.
- Eu Yan Sang has an $88 nett facial acupuncture trial open to all patients, existing ones included: a consultation, facial acupuncture and a complimentary ear seeding session. Trust cardmembers new to the chain can also take a TCM Health Report Lite at $10 nett instead of the $68 pain trial.
- Re-verified unchanged: Ma Kuang Raffles Place's free 10-minute consultation and $38 and $58 trials (to 30 November), Eu Yan Sang's $0 member routes (to 31 January and 28 February 2027) and card bundles, PULSE's $188 PHYSIO and three $328 PSYCH trials (Zion Road still coming soon), Chung Hwa's $3 plus $8 fee table, NovaHealth's ConsultNova callback, $68 pain-relief first trial and Chinatown Point rates (Bukit Merah still temporarily closed), Oriental Remedies and Thomson.
- Could not re-read: Beijing Tong Ren Tang's website was returning a bandwidth-limit error on 28 October, so its first-Saturday free consultation (the next one is Saturday 7 November) is carried from our 15 October check. Call the branch before you go.
The free tier nobody advertises
The SG61 promotions that dominated August coverage were never the cheapest way into TCM, and every one of them has now ended.
Eu Yan Sang waives the first consultation entirely for EuRewards members (1 Feb 2026 to 31 Jan 2027), Parkway Plus members, and PAssion Silver or Platinum cardmembers (to 28 Feb 2027). OCBC cardmembers get it waived with any paid treatment. The SG61 $6.10 rate that dominated August coverage was always dearer than these for a new patient, and it has now gone; its one genuine distinction was that it was open to existing patients, which none of the member routes are.
Four caveats do the real work here. EuRewards membership is free through the Doctor Sinseh app, but verification takes up to three working days, so it is not something you arrange at the counter. The full consultation charge applies if you take no treatment or medication, so a diagnosis-only visit is not actually free. None of these work with Senior or Consultant Physicians. And all of them are void at the two Premier TCM Centres and the Mount Elizabeth Novena centre, with one exception: the TCM Health Report (Lite), a free 15-minute body constitution diagnosis with a $5 return e-voucher, runs at Mount Elizabeth Novena itself.
Elsewhere: NovaHealth's ConsultNova form delivers a free first consultation with a callback inside three working days. Ma Kuang's Raffles Place clinic books a free 10-minute consultation off-peak, to 30 November. Beijing Tong Ren Tang consults free on the first Saturday of every month, which makes it the only recurring route on this list.
Two chains, two rate cards
This is the trap that makes most price comparisons in this category meaningless.
Ma Kuang flags 12 of its 27 clinics on its own locator with the words "different charges applied". Those are the Ma Kuang Holistic outlets (the ex-Sin Kang sites), the Women's and Children's clinics, and the new Raffles Place branch. A single-area acupuncture is $54.50 at a standard Ma Kuang TCM clinic and $90 at a Holistic one. A 60-minute tuina is $87.20 against $80, and a first consultation $20 to $45 against $35 to $55.
Eu Yan Sang runs the same split. Its ordinary clinics charge $25 to $60 for a first consultation and $40 to $110 for acupuncture; its Premier centres charge $40 to $110 and $60 to $140, with a $12 dispensing fee instead of $8 and herbs from $13 a day instead of $11. Every card and membership discount above is barred at those three sites.
Normalise the GST before you compare
PULSE TCM publishes its charges before GST. Ma Kuang, Thomson and Oriental Remedies publish theirs inclusive. That one difference reorders the ranking.
PULSE's acupuncture reads as $70 to $240, which looks mid-market. With GST it is $76.30 to $261.60, above Oriental Remedies' $200 inclusive, which makes PULSE the most expensive acupuncture in this guide rather than the middle of it.
What each clinic charges for the same three things
| Clinic | First consultation | Acupuncture | Herbs per day |
|---|
| Chung Hwa | $0 (plus $3 registration) | $8 needling | $2 tablets, $5 granules |
| Ma Kuang TCM | $20 to $45 | $54.50 single area | $10.90 per 15g |
| Ma Kuang Holistic | $35 to $55 | $90 single area | $0.90 per gram |
| Eu Yan Sang (clinics) | $25 to $60 | $40 to $110 | From $11 |
| Eu Yan Sang (Premier) | $40 to $110 | $60 to $140 | From $13 |
| NovaHealth | $30 to $50 | $68 to $98 | About $10 to $30 |
| Thomson | $43.60 to $87.20 | From $87.20 | $14.17 adult |
| PULSE (with GST added) | $43.60 to $130.80 | $76.30 to $261.60 | Charged separately |
| Oriental Remedies | $60 to $250 | $80 to $200 | From $10 |
| NovaHealth Chinatown Point | $48 nett with one treatment | Included in the $48 | Charged separately |
All figures are from each clinic's own published fee table. Chung Hwa's $11 is what it collects before you are seen: $3 registration plus an $8 upfront treatment fee that is offset against your treatment or medication, or refunded the same day.
Seniority is the biggest single price lever
At the same clinic, on the same day, the fee can more than quadruple depending on who sees you. Oriental Remedies charges $60 to $90 for an initial consultation with a Physician and $180 to $250 with its Chief Medical Officer. Ma Kuang runs $20 to $45. Eu Yan Sang runs $25 to $60.
For a straightforward complaint, a stiff neck, a recurring headache, general fatigue, the junior tier is usually the right call. Save the senior physician for something that has already failed to respond to treatment elsewhere. It is also worth knowing that most of the card bundles above are only valid with Physicians and Associate Senior Physicians, so booking senior often costs you the discount as well as the higher fee.
The robot, and why it costs three times more at one clinic
EMMA, the AI tuina system, is no longer a NovaHealth exclusive, and it is no longer a single price even inside NovaHealth. Its clinics charge $98 for an EMMA trigger point massage, but its new Chinatown Point store folds a 30-minute EMMA acupressure and spinal analysis into a $68 recovery session for free, and its $68 nett pain-relief first trial (U.P. $226) at eight clinics includes 30 minutes of EMMA robot tuina plus a consultation and one treatment. Singapore Chung Hwa's Yishun branch runs the same technology at $30 for a 25-minute full back, $18 for a 15-minute localised session, with a back muscle stiffness assessment at $10. Same robot, three prices, a 5x spread.
What ended, and what is left in October
Five offers are gone. Eu Yan Sang's $6.10 SG61 consultation and Ma Kuang's free Khatib tuina ended on 31 August, Ma Kuang's SG61 $61 off a 6-session package and Double Celebration gifts ended on 9 September, and Eu Yan Sang's NEX patients' 600-point bonus ended on 30 September. Its Woodleigh Premier 600-point bonus ends on 31 October. One came back dearer: PULSE's fertility trial ended on 31 August, returned as an ongoing offer, and now costs $98, not $88.
Running to 30 November: Ma Kuang Raffles Place, consultation plus multiple-area acupuncture at $38 or slimming acupuncture at $58, plus bonus package credits and a $40 gift pack on a $120 spend. It was due to end on 30 September, so a roundup that calls it over has not re-checked. Also to 30 November: PULSE's new $88 neck and shoulder trial ($95.92 with GST) and Eu Yan Sang's NEX opening bonus of 400 points on a $100 spend.
Running with no end date at all: PULSE's $98 fertility trial ($106.82 with GST), its $188 TCM x PHYSIO trial at Woodleigh and its three $328 TCM x PSYCH trials; NovaHealth's ConsultNova free consultation, the $48 and $68 Chinatown Point first-timer rates and the $68 pain-relief first trial at eight clinics; every Eu Yan Sang member route, to 2027, and its $88 nett facial acupuncture trial, open to existing patients too; Beijing Tong Ren Tang's free first-Saturday consultation; and Chung Hwa's $3-net charity rate, which was never a promotion in the first place.
Which clinics open on Sundays
More than you would expect, and it is the single most useful filter if you work weekdays. Beijing Tong Ren Tang opens all four branches on Sundays, 10am to 5pm and 9am to 4pm at IMH. PULSE runs ION Orchard, Paragon, Millenia Walk and Woodleigh 11am to 8pm daily and its Tang Plaza aesthetics clinic 10am to 7pm, though Raffles Place is weekdays only. NovaHealth's seven family clinics and its Capitol branch open 10am to 6pm at weekends, while One Raffles Place and the Tanjong Pagar sports centre close on Sundays. Ma Kuang opens Sundays at its mall outlets.
Chung Hwa does not open on Sundays at all, and its Novena branch runs Tuesday to Saturday only, with evening registration on Tuesday and Friday and a 8.30pm close rather than the 9.30pm of the other five.
Check the register, and tell your doctor
Every practising TCM physician and acupuncturist in Singapore must be registered with the TCM Practitioners Board under the Ministry of Health. Check the individual physician, not just the clinic brand, because a large chain will have physicians at very different career stages. Price is not a proxy for qualification here: Chung Hwa's roughly 500 duty physicians are Board-registered members of the Singapore Chinese Physicians' Association who take no salary for the work.
And tell your Western doctor what you have been prescribed. Some herbs interact with prescription medicines, blood thinners in particular. TCM works best alongside your medical care, not instead of it. Neither MediSave nor CHAS covers any of it.
Related reads
*Prices, outlets and promotions re-verified against each clinic's own website on 28 October 2026: Eu Yan Sang's deals and privileges page, Ma Kuang's Raffles Place listing and news feed, PULSE TCM's promotions, charges and clinics pages, Oriental Remedies' price and contact pages, Thomson Medical's TCM fee page, Singapore Chung Hwa's registration and charges page, NovaHealth's family-clinic, premium-clinic and Chinatown Point pages, and Beijing Tong Ren Tang's contact page (read on 15 October; its site was down on 28 October). Prices are subject to change without notice, so confirm with the clinic when you book. This article is general information, not medical advice.*