Avant Personal Loans Review (2026)

Our take on Avant

Avant is best if you have fair credit or a low income and need $1,000 or more, fast. It’s one of few long-term loan options available to borrowers with borderline-bad credit, and APRs top out at 36%, making it a far preferable choice to payday loans, title loans, and cash apps. 

Who (or what) is Avant best for?

• Borrowers with fair or near-bad credit or low income: Unlike many other personal loan lenders, Avant may approve you with a credit score as low as 580. You could also be approved if you earn at least $1,200 per month ($14,400 per year). Even with good credit, an annual income below $20,000 severely limits your loan options.
• Fast loans for bad credit: Based on 12 months of Credible loans data, Avant had a faster average funding time (3 days) than fellow bad-credit lenders OneMain Financial (4 days) and Reprise (4 days).
• Borrowing $1,000 or more: Many emergency lenders cap loans at $1,000 and require full repayment within days or weeks. With Avant, you could potentially borrow up to $40,000 and have years to repay it, which helps keep monthly payments low.  

Who (or what) is Avant not best for?

Avant personal loans aren’t best for everybody. Avoid them if:

• You have good or better credit: On average, Avant APRs were the highest among other Credible partner lenders that approved bad-credit loans. But even borrowers with FICO scores above 669 (good credit or better) received APRs from Avant several percentage points higher than the average for good and very good scores.
• You want a secured loan: You can potentially lower your rate or get a lender to approve your application by applying with a co-borrower — especially if they have a higher credit score than you and a substantial income. But Avant doesn’t offer secured loans. Try competitors OneMain Financial, Reprise, and Upgrade.

Pros and cons of Avant personal loans

Avant personal loans can be a big help if you’ve struggled to get a loan elsewhere, but it’s likely you’ll pay more for an Avant loan relative to other lenders (if you can qualify with them).

Details on the pros

Take a closer look at the benefits of an Avant personal loan:

• Loans for low fair credit scores: Borrowers with credit scores as low as 580 can potentially qualify; most other personal loan lenders require a score of 660 or higher. Of all Credible partner lenders, Avant was the most likely to approve borrowers with bad credit. 
• Fast funding: If approved by 4:30 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, you can expect to receive money as soon as the next business day. 
• Mobile app: Avant’s mobile app has a 4.8-star rating on the Apple App Store and 4.6 on the Google Play Store.
• Reports to credit bureaus: Most personal loan lenders, including Avant, report payments to the credit bureaus. But few make loans to borrowers with bad credit — making Avant one of your only options if you would like your loan payments to count toward your credit score. Keep in mind that missed payments will hurt your score. — making it difficult, if not impossible, to qualify for future loans.

Details on the cons

Think through the disadvantages of Avant personal loans carefully before moving forward:

• High APRs: Easy credit typically means high interest rates, and Avant is no different. Of all Credible partner lenders that consider borrowers with bad credit, Avant charged the highest rates, on average.
• High fees: Avant charges origination fees of up to 9.99%, deducted from the loan amount. That’s nearly one-tenth of the loan, gone before it ever reaches your bank account. Additional fees include late fees and dishonored payment fees.
• No discounts: Some lenders provide rate discounts for autopay and direct pay to creditors (for debt and credit card consolidation). Avant does not. 
• Not available in every state: Avant doesn’t offer personal loans in Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Washington, or West Virginia.

How to qualify for an Avant personal loan

To qualify for an Avant personal loan, you’ll need at least a 580 credit score. Avant doesn’t share its income requirements for personal loans, but your income, employment, and outstanding debt, as well as how long you’ve lived at your current address, may impact the lender’s decision.

You can apply directly via Avant’s website or via a personal loan marketplace like Credible.  You’ll need to provide some basic info, including:

• Your address
• Whether you rent or own
• Your monthly housing payment
• Your age
• Your contact info (phone number, email address)
• Your Social Security number
• Your income before taxes
• Your income type (salary, self-employment, government benefits, etc.)
• The loan purpose
• The loan amount you need

As you proceed, you’ll likely need to provide documentation, such as:

• A copy of your latest paystub
• A copy of your driver’s license
• Proof of residence

Here’s a more thorough look at typical personal loan requirements you may encounter with Avant and similar lenders. Note that when you apply, most lenders, including Avant, conduct a hard credit check that can ding your credit score for up to one year. 

Avant personal loan purposes

Much like other personal loans, you can use an Avant personal loan for almost anything. Of course, you’ll need to abide by typical personal loan restrictions, such as gambling or making a down payment on a home. That said, Avant highlights these key uses for its typical borrowers:

Avant fees and penalties

Avant charges multiple fees for its personal loans:

• Origination or administration fee: Avant’s origination fee — Avant calls it an administration fee — can be as high as 9.99%. This fee is deducted upfront from the loan proceeds. For instance, if you get an Avant personal loan for $10,000 with a 9.99% administration fee, $999 will be deducted from the loan amount. You’d receive only $9,001, but you’d have to repay the full $10,000, plus interest.
• Late fee: Avant charges a late fee of $25 if you do not make your payment in full within 10 days of your due date.
• Dishonored payment fee: If you don’t have enough funds in your checking account for the payment to go through, Avant charges a $15 fee. This can be doubly dangerous, as your bank may also charge you a non-sufficient funds fee.

Avant vs. other lenders

Avant company details and history

Avant is an online borrowing platform that launched in 2012; it’s headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. As of 2026, the company has served more than 4 million customers and loaned over $6.5 billion.

Avant also offers a credit card, designed for borrowers with lower credit scores on their journey to boost their credit.

Contact information

Need to get in touch with Avant about your personal loan? Here are some options:

• Online: Visit your account dashboard in the mobile app or online at avant.com/login.
• Email: Send an email to [email protected].
• Phone: Call 800-712-5407.

Customer service hours are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. CT, and Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT. Application support is available seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT. 

Methodology

Credible evaluated 32 lenders across 1,184 data points to choose the best lender overall plus top picks for different borrowers and use cases. Across lenders, we collected data on customer experience and service options, minimum and maximum fixed interest rates, minimum and maximum loan amounts, funding times, loan terms, fees, discounts, third-party reviews, and more.

We assigned a score to each attribute based on how that feature compared with the same feature for every other lender in the set. Scores were weighted according to their relative importance — for instance, maximum origination fee scores received a high weight since loan cost is among the most important factors in determining loan value. Individual attribute scores were then added to determine each lender's overall star rating. 

Attributes were grouped into categories; each category contributed to lender scores as follows: 

• Borrower cost (22.5%): Origination fee ranges and minimum and maximum APRs measure upfront and overall costs and lender accessibility across credit score groups.
• Flexibility (22.5%): Maximum loan terms, number of loan purposes, minimum and maximum loan amounts, and availability of joint and secured loans measure the range of options for loan size, repayment terms, and loan types.
• Eligibility and availability (22.5%): Minimum income requirements, funding speed, minimum credit score requirements, and state availability measure how easily and how quickly borrowers can access personal loans.
• Reputation (15%): Trustpilot, Better Business Bureau, and J.D. Power ratings measure customer satisfaction.
• Discounts, customer service, and account management (12.5%): Discounts for autopay and direct pay, plus availability of mobile apps and live customer support chat, measure borrower perks and ease of loan management.
• Partner lender data (5%): Data from loans closed by our partners, including average rates, loan amounts, funding time, and eligibility criteria, measure real-world performance and borrower outcomes.

Non-partner lenders were evaluated based on the same criteria but not assigned star ratings. Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our full personal loans lender rating methodology.