Kikoff is a fintech company with various credit-building services and products, including credit-building loans, a secured card with 0% APR, dispute tools, rent reporting, and more. While many of its products don’t charge any monthly fees, some don’t report to all three major credit bureaus, and others aren’t very useful outside of building credit.
If Kikoff isn’t the right fit for you, compare these top credit-building app alternatives.
If rent reporting is what you're after, consider Self. It offers free rent reporting to all three major bureaus, as well as retroactive reporting. It's one of our favorite credit-building apps — period — and it has just about the same offerings as Kikoff. To make it even better, Self has great customer ratings, and compared to Kikoff, more of its products report to the three major bureaus. There are also credit-building loans, secured cards and utility reporting.
Fee
From $0 per month
Minimum deposit to open
$0
If rent reporting is what you're after, consider Self. It offers free rent reporting to all three major bureaus, as well as retroactive reporting. It's one of our favorite credit-building apps — period — and it has just about the same offerings as Kikoff. To make it even better, Self has great customer ratings, and compared to Kikoff, more of its products report to the three major bureaus. There are also credit-building loans, secured cards and utility reporting.
Pros
Most products report to all three major bureaus
Free rent reporting
No hard credit checks on most services
Retroactive rent reporting for a one-time $49.95 fee
The secured Self Visa® Credit Card is issued by Lead Bank or First Century Bank, N.A., each Member FDIC.
Credit Builder Accounts & Certificates of Deposit made/held by Lead Bank, Sunrise Banks, N.A., First Century Bank, N.A., each Member FDIC. Subject to credit approval.
Active Credit Builder Account in good standing, 3 on-time payments, $100 or more in savings progress, and satisfy income requirements. Requirements are subject to change.
Results vary. You may not receive an improved credit score. Not all lenders use scores impacted by rent reporting. Not all bill payments may be eligible.
Cleo is a personal finance app that combines budgeting tools with a credit-building feature. For $14.99 per month, you get access to the Cleo Credit Builder Card, a secured card that helps build credit without a hard credit check. You set your own credit limit by depositing funds, and Cleo reports your payments to the major credit bureaus, which can boost your credit score over time. The app also provides personalized budgeting tips and spending insights, making it a handy tool for managing your finances and improving your credit simultaneously. However, that $14.99 monthly fee is hefty compared to other options on this list, but it's still lower than Kikoff's Credit Account Premium monthly fee of $20.
Fee
$14.99. per month
Minimum deposit to open
$1
Cleo is a personal finance app that combines budgeting tools with a credit-building feature. For $14.99 per month, you get access to the Cleo Credit Builder Card, a secured card that helps build credit without a hard credit check. You set your own credit limit by depositing funds, and Cleo reports your payments to the major credit bureaus, which can boost your credit score over time. The app also provides personalized budgeting tips and spending insights, making it a handy tool for managing your finances and improving your credit simultaneously. However, that $14.99 monthly fee is hefty compared to other options on this list, but it's still lower than Kikoff's Credit Account Premium monthly fee of $20.
A favorite of ours, Grow Credit is a popular credit-building app that uses a virtual Mastercard to report your subscription payments — like Netflix, Hulu and Spotify — to the three major credit bureaus. There's no hard credit check, and you can start with a 12-month free trial that reports up to $17 in monthly subscriptions. Higher tiers let you report more, but they cost $6.99 or $12.99 per month. While it's great for building credit with subscription payments, Grow Credit lacks some features that Kikoff offers, like rent reporting, loans and dispute tools.
Fee
From $0 per month
Minimum deposit to open
$0
A favorite of ours, Grow Credit is a popular credit-building app that uses a virtual Mastercard to report your subscription payments — like Netflix, Hulu and Spotify — to the three major credit bureaus. There's no hard credit check, and you can start with a 12-month free trial that reports up to $17 in monthly subscriptions. Higher tiers let you report more, but they cost $6.99 or $12.99 per month. While it's great for building credit with subscription payments, Grow Credit lacks some features that Kikoff offers, like rent reporting, loans and dispute tools.
Pros
Base Build plan free for 12 months
Compatible with 100+ subscription services
No hard credit check
Reports to three major credit bureaus
Cons
Build plan $3.99 after first 12 months
Higher monthly cost to report more subscriptions
Kikoff offers more credit-building tools and products
The Fizz card works more like a debit card than a credit card, but it is secured through an external bank account. When you use it, the Fizz card pays itself back using said account. There are no interest charges because you're required to pay off your balance each billing cycle. Fizz also features various cashback offers, in-app support and no credit check. It reports to all major credit bureaus, making the Fizz card a great low-cost way to build credit via a secured card. But to qualify for Fizz, you must link an existing bank account with at least $150. And perhaps one of the biggest cons, you have to pay a membership fee to get the card, which is either $49.99 annually for students or $119.99 for non-students.
APY
N/A
Fee
From $4.17 per month
Minimum deposit to open
$150
The Fizz card works more like a debit card than a credit card, but it is secured through an external bank account. When you use it, the Fizz card pays itself back using said account. There are no interest charges because you're required to pay off your balance each billing cycle. Fizz also features various cashback offers, in-app support and no credit check. It reports to all major credit bureaus, making the Fizz card a great low-cost way to build credit via a secured card. But to qualify for Fizz, you must link an existing bank account with at least $150. And perhaps one of the biggest cons, you have to pay a membership fee to get the card, which is either $49.99 annually for students or $119.99 for non-students.
Pros
No APR or late fees
Reports to three major bureaus
No credit check
Cashback rewards
Cons
$49.99 or $119.99 annual fee
Requires existing bank account with $150 balance
Balance must be repaid each cycle to avoid fees
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
N/A
Intro or bonus offer
Earn 1,000 points ($10 value) when you download the Fizz app and enter code FINDER.
Like Kikoff, One Finance offers credit-building loans, but its Credit Builder loan could be a better fit if you're looking for low-cost credit building. With One, you take out a $300 loan at 0% APR and make just $1 monthly payments for 12 months. Those payments are reported to all three major bureaus, and at the end, you get your $12 back. In comparison, Kikoff's loan requires $10 monthly payments and doesn't report to Experian. However, to qualify for One's Credit Builder, you need a One Cash account with Plus benefits, which requires $500 in direct deposits each month.
Fee
$0. per month
Minimum deposit to open
$0
Like Kikoff, One Finance offers credit-building loans, but its Credit Builder loan could be a better fit if you're looking for low-cost credit building. With One, you take out a $300 loan at 0% APR and make just $1 monthly payments for 12 months. Those payments are reported to all three major bureaus, and at the end, you get your $12 back. In comparison, Kikoff's loan requires $10 monthly payments and doesn't report to Experian. However, to qualify for One's Credit Builder, you need a One Cash account with Plus benefits, which requires $500 in direct deposits each month.
Pros
$1 monthly payments
$12 returned at term's end
Reports to the three major bureaus
Cons
Only one credit-builder term
Requires One Cash account with Plus benefits
Kikoff has more credit-building products
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
N/A
Fee
$0. per month
Fee
$0. per month
Minimum deposit to open
$0
How Kikoff compares
Kikoff is a fintech company offering a range of credit-building products, including credit-builder loans, a secured card, a revolving line of credit, rent reporting, and dispute tools. Unlike many apps that provide only one or two credit-building options, Kikoff gives users multiple ways to build credit, making it a solid choice if you’re looking for variety.
That said, some of Kikoff’s products don’t report to all three major credit bureaus. For instance, its rent reporting and dispute tools only report to Equifax, while the credit-builder loan only reports to Equifax and TransUnion. The Kikoff Secured Credit Card is the only product that reports to all three bureaus, and with its 0% APR, it stands out as one of the stronger options if all-around reporting is your priority.
Pros:
Lots of credit-building options
Secured card with 0% APR, reports to all bureaus
No hard credit checks
Cons:
Most products only report to Equifax
Rent reporting requires premium plan
Limited use outside credit building
Bottom line
Several strategies can improve your credit score, and credit-building apps are just one method. Maintaining a low credit card balance, paying your bills on time, and keeping your accounts out of collections can all contribute to a better credit score with time and patience.
Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto.
Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt.
Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others.
Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine. See full bio
Bethany's expertise
Bethany has written 448 Finder guides across topics including:
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Finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Finder receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. Finder compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
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