Four instrument-free, visually read assays for detection of HIV-1 antibody were evaluated using 1,133 serum specimens from blood donors and patients in a rural hospital in Northern Zaire. Sensitivity for the four assays ranged from 85.9% to 95.0% and specificity ranged from 88.5% to 98.6%. Problems were caused by uninterpretable results in the range of 2.8% to 7.8%, decreasing somewhat the value of those systems. Based on our results, practicability and costs of the assays, we propose a hierarchy for testing for blood donors and for diagnosis of AIDS, adapted for hospitals in tropical countries.