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8 Personal Loans To Consider When You're Self-Employed

Self-employed borrowers might be able to submit tax returns, bank statements, or other documentation as proof of income for a personal loan.

Author
By Peter Bennett

Written by

Peter Bennett

Freelance writer

Peter Bennett has almost four decades of financial experience. His work has been published by the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Times magazine.

Edited by Barry Bridges
Barry Bridges

Written by

Barry Bridges

Editor

Barry Bridges is an editor at Credible and an expert on personal loans.

Updated January 16, 2025

Editorial disclosure: Please note that this article contains affiliate links. If you click through and purchase a product from one of our advertising or lending partners, we may earn a commission. The amount of commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or recommendations. Credible Operations, Inc. NMLS # 1681276, is referred to here as “Credible.” Please read our affiliate disclosure for more information.

Featured

If you're self-employed, a personal loan can be as useful to you as to anyone else, whether the money goes to fund a kitchen remodel, dream vacation, wedding, or debt consolidation. But getting a personal loan while self-employed might be more complicated or require more paperwork. We'll walk you through the process and cover which lenders make it easiest while offering competitive rates and terms across the credit spectrum.

We chose Upgrade as the best lender for self-employed loans based on interest rates, accessibility for fair-credit borrowers, fast funding, multiple discounts, the availability of secured loans, and more.

Why trust Credible

shevron

Upgrade

To apply, self-employed borrowers must provide their two most recent tax returns.

Best overall

Upgrade

Upgrade

4.9

Credible Rating

Check Rates

on Credible’s website

Est. APR

9.99 - 35.99%

Loan Amount

$1,000 to $50,000

Min. Credit Score

600

Pros and cons

More details

SoFi

To potentially qualify for a loan, self-employed borrowers will generally need to show proof of consistent income through tax returns or bank statements.

In addition to income, SoFi will also consider your credit score, and education level.

Excellent credit

SoFi

SoFi

4.8

Credible Rating

Check Rates

on Credible’s website

Est. APR

8.99 - 29.99%1

Loan Amount

$5,000 - $100,000

Min. Credit Score

Does not disclose

Pros and cons

More details

Best Egg

Best Egg works with borrowers who have a variety of employment statuses, such as salaried, self-employed, or retired.

Be sure to check with Best Egg to see what documentation you’ll need to provide.