Best Personal Loans With a Cosigner in May 2025

If you’ve been denied a personal loan before or want a lower interest rate, applying for a personal loan with a cosigner could help. A cosigner serves as a guarantor on the loan — in other words, your cosigner promises to step in and cover the loan if you stop making payments. 

But only a handful of lenders offer personal loans with a cosigner. And you’ll need to apply directly from the lender’s site to qualify. We’ll look at a few top lenders that offer personal loans with a cosigner, what to be aware of, tips to help you qualify on your own, and alternatives.

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Best personal loans with a cosigner

Cosigner options are limited, but some highly rated lenders do offer them. Cosigners are responsible for the loan if the borrower fails to pay, and their credit can be affected by missed or late payments.

Methodology

Credible focused its search for this list to lenders that allow cosigners on personal loans. Also taken into account were maximum APRs, minimum credit score and income requirements, available loan amounts, terms offered, fees, discounts, and more. 

Credible's team of experts gathered information from each lender's website and directly from our partners. Each data point was verified by a senior editor to make sure it was accurate and up to date.

Learn more about how Credible rates lenders by exploring our personal loans lender rating methodology.

How to compare personal loans with a cosigner

The first step is to find lenders that allow you to apply with a cosigner. Then make sure the potential lenders offer the loan amount and repayment term you need. If you need the money ASAP, look for lenders with same-day or next-day funding. Here’s a breakdown of what to consider when comparing personal loans, plus additional details to look at. 

1. Cosigner option: Not all lenders allow cosigners, so check before you apply. Additionally, some lenders may allow co-borrowers and not cosigners. A co-borrower with good credit may also help you qualify for a loan. But, unlike a cosigner, the co-borrower has equal access to loan funds.
2. Loan amounts: Lenders offer different loan amounts. They typically range from $1,000 to $50,000, though what you can qualify for depends on your and your cosigner’s total income, debt, and credit scores.
3. Repayment terms: You can typically find repayment terms from 1 to 7 years, but some lenders offer longer terms for loan purposes like home improvement or buying an RV. A longer loan term generally lowers your monthly payment amount but increases your overall interest cost. 
4. Fees: Origination fees are common on loans for fair credit and bad credit borrowers. The loan’s APR (annual percentage rate) accounts for the interest rate plus any upfront fees, like origination fees, but you’ll need to prequalify to get a sense of whether and how much of an origination fee you’ll be charged.
5. Time to fund: Funding times vary. Check the average amount of time a lender takes to approve applications and deliver funds — this info is often available in the lender’s FAQ or on the lender cards on this page. Most lenders can fund within a few business days. Some can send money as soon as the same day or the next business day once you’re approved.

Prequalify

Prequalification is a way to get loan quotes without impacting your credit. You can compare specific APRs you’re likely to get approved for, as well as estimates of monthly payments, loan amounts, available repayment terms, and origination fees. 

Be aware that prequalification quotes are not an offer of credit and your rate could change once you apply — at which point, most lenders conduct a hard credit pull, which could temporarily ding your score.

Prequalify with multiple lenders — with and without a cosigner — and compare them side by side.

How much money can you save with a cosigner?

How much money you can save by applying with a cosigner depends on a few factors. But in general, you could potentially shave a few percentage points off your APR or get a loan without an origination fee. Plus, you might improve your credit enough to qualify for a low interest rate on your own in the future.

First, if you’re able to prequalify for a loan without a cosigner, compare the APR on your prequalification quotes to the APR you might get with a cosigner. Note that you’ll have to reach out directly to lenders that allow cosigners to get a quote. 

Once you have these numbers, you can use a personal loan calculator to estimate how much you might save. For example, if you prequalify for a 33% interest rate on your own vs 28% with a cosigner, and you want to borrow $5,000 with a five-year term, you could save over $900 and have a lower monthly payment. 

Example:

When determining how much you can save, there are other considerations as well, including  how you plan to use the loan. For instance, if you’re consolidating high-interest debt, compare: 

• The new loan’s APR to the rates you’re currently paying, and
• The new payment to your old one(s)

Let’s say you have $5,000 in credit card debt at a 30% APR. If your minimum monthly payment is 3% of the total balance, your monthly payment would be $150. You’d pay the card off in six years and one month (paying only the minimum), and you’d spend $5,884 on interest. Now, let’s say you want to consolidate that with a personal loan and can qualify for a 25% APR with a cosigner on a five-year loan. Your new payment would be about the same, at $147 per month. However, you’d pay only $3,805 in interest, saving over $2,000.

Debt consolidation example:

What is a cosigner?

A cosigner is someone who guarantees your loan. Ideally, they have a good credit score, low debt, and a solid income. They’re often a family member or close friend. The lender considers their credit and financial profile along with yours when making a lending decision and choosing what rate and loan terms to offer. But even though their name is on the loan, they don’t benefit from the loan funds — those go to you. 

While a cosigner can help you get a lower interest rate or qualify for a personal loan, they put their credit on the line to do so. What that means is that if you don’t make payments, your cosigner is obligated to make them for you. Plus, late and missed payments will hurt your cosigner’s credit score, as would defaulting on the loan. Cosigning also means the lender can pursue your cosigner for nonpayment (along with you). 

Cosigner vs. co-borrower

A cosigner and a co-borrower are two different things. A co-borrower, also known as a co-applicant, is someone who applies for a loan with you but shares equally in the loan proceeds. For instance, you might apply for a loan with your partner and have the money deposited into a joint checking account. Like a cosigner, their credit and financial profile are considered by the lender when weighing whether to extend a loan offer and at what rate and terms. Loans with a co-borrower are called joint personal loans.

Average rates on personal loans

To guesstimate what your rate might be on a cosigned loan, it helps to look at average interest rates based on credit score ranges.

What are the risks of using a cosigner?

Getting a loan with a cosigner involves a number of risks. 

1. Could damage your relationship: Entering into a contractually binding contract could potentially damage your relationship even if you make loan payments on time. 
2. Potential credit damage to both parties: If you miss payments or make them late, your cosigner’s credit score will suffer along with yours.
3. Increased DTI for both parties: The added debt and associated monthly payment would increase the debt-to-income ratio for both you and your cosigner, which could make it harder to get approved for additional credit. 
4. Little to no financial benefit for the cosigner: In most cases, the cosigner is doing you a favor by being on the loan. Make sure you’re both comfortable with that.
5. Initial hard credit inquiry with the application: Most lenders conduct a hard credit pull when you apply for a loan, which could ding both your and your cosigner’s credit scores. 
6. A long-term financial commitment: Personal loan terms typically range from 1 to 7 years. Make sure you’re both comfortable with being financially bound for the term of the loan.

Alternatives to cosigned personal loans

As there aren’t many lenders offering cosigned loans, it’s a good idea to be armed with a few alternatives.

• Payday alternative loans (PALs): PALs are available from participating federal credit unions and are designed for borrowers with fair and bad credit. Many credit unions won’t run a credit check and APRs are capped at 28%. Loans are available up to $2,000 with repayment terms up to 1 year.
• Credit builder loan: If you can wait for the money, a credit builder loan can be an effective way to improve your credit or build a credit history. A credit builder loan works in reverse. Instead of getting the loan proceeds upfront, you get the money after you’ve finished paying off the loan. Rates are typically well below 10% and loan terms often last up to two years (but can be shorter).
• Small bank loan: Some banks like U.S. Bank and Bank of America offer small loans (under or up to $1,000) to existing customers. Loans may not require a credit check and are typically paid back over a few monthly installments. Rates tend to be much lower than other small loan options. 
• Friends and family loan: If you’re already going to ask someone to cosign a loan for you, consider whether it makes sense for you to borrow from them instead. They could potentially benefit from interest income from you and from helping you out. Although you’d likely benefit from a much lower interest rate and better terms, note that loan payments wouldn’t be reported to the credit bureaus, so a friend or family loan won’t improve your credit. 
• 401(k) loan: A 401(k) loan is a way to borrow money from your retirement account — up to $50,000 or half of your vested balance, whichever is less. (If half your vested balance is less than $10,000, you may be able to borrow up to $10,000.) 401(k) loans don’t require a credit check and have low rates. Plus, the interest you pay goes into your account. However, they can be risky. The money you borrow will not be invested during the term of your loan, which could mean a significant loss of growth. Plus, if you can’t pay the loan back, it will be treated as a withdrawal, subject to income tax and early withdrawal penalties. Not all 401(k) plans allow loans.

Read More:

• Best Personal Loans for Good Credit
• Best Personal Loans for Bad Credit
• Best Personal Loans for Fair Credit
• Best Banks for Personal Loans
• Best Credit Unions for Personal Loans

Disclosure: Some lending partners that participate in Credible’s comparison marketplace offer loans to borrowers with scores as low as 550. Borrowers with low scores will have fewer lending options than borrowers with higher credit scores.