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The best personal loan companies provide competitive interest rates, a wide selection of loan terms, and inclusive eligibility requirements.
Through Credible, you can compare your prequalified rates from all of the lenders below without affecting your credit score.
If you have good to excellent credit (minimum credit score of 700 or higher) you’ll have many options when it comes to personal loans. These are the most popular lenders among borrowers with good to excellent credit who used Credible to take out a personal loan.
2You may be required to have some of your funds sent directly to pay off outstanding unsecured debt.
3After making 12 or more consecutive monthly payments, you can defer one payment as long as you have made all your prior payments in full and on time. Marcus will waive any interest incurred during the deferral and extend your loan by one month (you will pay interest during this extra month). Your payments resume as usual after your deferral. Advance notice is required. See loan agreement for details.
Rates on personal loans can be much lower than interest rates on credit cards. If you need help consolidating credit card debt, you have plenty of choices when it comes to personal loans. Here are the most popular lenders among borrowers who used Credible to take out a personal loan for debt consolidation.
*If approved, the actual loan terms that a customer qualifies for may vary based on credit determination, state law, and other factors. Minimum loan amounts vary by state.
**Example: A $5,700 loan with an administration fee of 4.75% and an amount financed of $5,429.25, repayable in 36 monthly installments, would have an APR of 29.95% and monthly payments of $230.33.
2You may be required to have some of your funds sent directly to pay off outstanding unsecured debt.
3After making 12 or more consecutive monthly payments, you can defer one payment as long as you have made all your prior payments in full and on time. Marcus will waive any interest incurred during the deferral and extend your loan by one month (you will pay interest during this extra month). Your payments resume as usual after your deferral. Advance notice is required. See loan agreement for details.
4The full range of available rates varies by state. The average 3-year loan offered across all lenders using the Upstart platform will have an APR of 20% and 36 monthly payments of $35 per $1,000 borrowed. There is no down payment and no prepayment penalty. Average APR is calculated based on 3-year rates offered in the last 1 month. Your APR will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will be approved.
5Your loan amount will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will qualify for the full amount. Loans are not available in West Virginia or Iowa.The minimum loan amount in MA is $7,000. The minimum loan amount in OH is $6,000. The minimum loan amount in NM is $5,100. The minimum loan amount in GA is $3,100.
6If you accept your loan by 5pm EST (not including weekends or holidays), you will receive your funds the next business day. Loans used to fund education related expenses are subject to a 3 business day wait period between loan acceptance and funding in accordance with federal law.
Compare rates from these lenders without affecting your credit score. 100% free!
If you’re looking to finance a home improvement project like a kitchen remodel or bathroom renovations, you could tap your home’s equity with a cash-out refinance or home equity loan.
But many lenders offer personal loans for home improvement that don’t require you to put your home up as collateral. Here are the most popular lenders among borrowers who used Credible to take out a personal loan for home improvement.
2You may be required to have some of your funds sent directly to pay off outstanding unsecured debt.
3After making 12 or more consecutive monthly payments, you can defer one payment as long as you have made all your prior payments in full and on time. Marcus will waive any interest incurred during the deferral and extend your loan by one month (you will pay interest during this extra month). Your payments resume as usual after your deferral. Advance notice is required. See loan agreement for details.
If you have fair to poor credit and you’re interested in a personal loan, you still have options. Because the interest rate you’ll be offered depends largely on your credit score, you can expect to pay higher rates than borrowers with good credit. Here are the most popular lenders among borrowers who used Credible to take out personal loans for fair or poor credit.
*If approved, the actual loan terms that a customer qualifies for may vary based on credit determination, state law, and other factors. Minimum loan amounts vary by state.
**Example: A $5,700 loan with an administration fee of 4.75% and an amount financed of $5,429.25, repayable in 36 monthly installments, would have an APR of 29.95% and monthly payments of $230.33.
4The full range of available rates varies by state. The average 3-year loan offered across all lenders using the Upstart platform will have an APR of 20% and 36 monthly payments of $35 per $1,000 borrowed. There is no down payment and no prepayment penalty. Average APR is calculated based on 3-year rates offered in the last 1 month. Your APR will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will be approved.
5Your loan amount will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will qualify for the full amount. Loans are not available in West Virginia or Iowa.The minimum loan amount in MA is $7,000. The minimum loan amount in OH is $6,000. The minimum loan amount in NM is $5,100. The minimum loan amount in GA is $3,100.
6If you accept your loan by 5pm EST (not including weekends or holidays), you will receive your funds the next business day. Loans used to fund education related expenses are subject to a 3 business day wait period between loan acceptance and funding in accordance with federal law.
Compare rates from these lenders without affecting your credit score. 100% free!
Here are more personal loan companies we evaluated. Keep in mind that these lenders are not offered through Credible, so you won’t be able to easily compare your rates with them on the Credible platform like you can our partner lenders.
Choose the loan with the best interest rate and shortest repayment term you can afford
Some lenders charge upfront origination fees that will be reflected in the annual percentage rate, or APR. If you think you might want to pay your loan off early, check to see if the lender charges a prepayment penalty, which is not included in the APR calculation.
What interest rate can I expect?
Credible’s partner lenders offer personal loan rates ranging from 3.99% to 35.99% APR.
The interest rates you’ll be offered depend primarily on two factors:
Your credit score
The repayment term of the loan you choose
How your credit score impacts your offer
Your credit score determines whether lenders will be willing to offer you a loan as well as the interest rate and terms.
Some lenders who compete for business through Credible will provide loans to borrowers with a credit score as low as 580. But the lower your credit score, the higher the interest rates you’ll be offered by lenders.
To give you an idea of what to expect, here are average minimum rates offered to borrowers who used Credible to request rates on personal loans.
1The average minimum rate was calculated based on Credible.com users who requested personal loan prequalified rates between July 1, 2019, and July 31, 2019, for loans in the amount of $10,000 and $20,000, respectively, and who received rates through the Credible.com platform. The average minimum rates were then calculated across all of the the users within the same credit tier (Excellent 750+, Good 700-749, Fair 640-699, Poor <640). The credit scores for the users were based on Transunion soft credit pulls, not user self-reported data. If the user received more than one prequalified rate from more than one lender for multiple loan terms (e.g., loan terms between 2-7 years), the minimum prequalified rate received for the user within each data set (e.g., the $10,000 and $20,000 data set) was averaged across all users in the data set, not factoring in the term of the loan. Typically, however, shorter loan terms have lower rates.
How much will I qualify for?
How much you’ll qualify for when applying for a personal loan depends on two factors: The lender’s loan limit, and how much of your available monthly income will be required to make your loan payments.
Personal loans are available for almost any legal personal expense or purchase, but some lenders will not allow you to use a personal loan for educational expenses, refinancing student loans, or other circumstances.
It can be risky to use a personal loan for investing, or for expenses you can’t really afford like an extravagant vacation or wedding. But personal loans can be a smart way to pay off high-interest credit card debt, or avoid taking it on in the first place.
Three out of four people who used Credible to find a personal loan said they’ll use the money to consolidate credit card and other high-interest debt, which can save thousands in interest.
The next most popular uses for personal loans were for home improvement projects (9%) and major purchases (6%).
Submit application and any required documents to lender
There are so many lenders offering personal loans that it pays to check around and see what rates, fees, loan terms, and monthly payments you’ll be offered. Credible makes it easy to check rates with our partner lenders without affecting your credit score.
Methodology: Credible evaluated loan and lender data points in 10 categories to identify the “best companies” for personal loans. We looked at interest rates, repayment terms, repayment options, fees, discounts, and eligibility. We also considered each company’s max loan amount, how long it takes to receive funds, whether the minimum credit score is available publicly, and whether consumers could request rates with a soft credit check.Credible receives compensation from its lender partners when a user of the Credible platform closes a loan with the lender.
About Rates and Terms: Rates for personal loans provided by lenders on the Credible platform range between 4.99-35.99% APR with terms from 12 to 84 months. Rates presented include lender discounts for enrolling in autopay and loyalty programs, where applicable. Actual rates may be different from the rates advertised and/or shown and will be based on the lender’s eligibility criteria, which include factors such as credit score, loan amount, loan term, credit usage and history, and vary based on loan purpose. The lowest rates available typically require excellent credit, and for some lenders, may be reserved for specific loan purposes and/or shorter loan terms. The origination fee charged by the lenders on our platform ranges from 0% to 8%. Each lender has their own qualification criteria with respect to their autopay and loyalty discounts (e.g., some lenders require the borrower to elect autopay prior to loan funding in order to qualify for the autopay discount). All rates are determined by the lender and must be agreed upon between the borrower and the borrower’s chosen lender. For a loan of $10,000 with a three year repayment period, an interest rate of 7.99%, a $350 origination fee and an APR of 11.51%, the borrower will receive $9,650 at the time of loan funding and will make 36 monthly payments of $313.32. Assuming all on-time payments, and full performance of all terms and conditions of the loan contract and any discount programs enrolled in included in the APR/interest rate throughout the life of the loan, the borrower will pay a total of $11,279.43. As of March 12, 2019, none of the lenders on our platform require a down payment nor do they charge any prepayment penalties.
About the author
Jamie Young
Jamie Young is a Credible authority on personal finance. Her work has been featured by Time, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Forbes, CBS News, and more.
