Upgrade offers fast online loans that prioritize cash flow over your credit score when you apply. They’re a good option if your credit is less-than-perfect, but you have at least $1,000 in income after expenses each month.
It’s flexible about repayments, with a hardship program that allows you to change your due date. But Upgrade’s rates are on the high end, running from 9.99% to 35.99% APR. And origination fees run as high as 9.99%.
There are other lenders out there like Upgrade. These lenders offer similar fast loans to fair credit borrowers. Some have lower rates and fees and others may be more flexible when it comes to cash flow.
Both Upstart and Upgrade work with borrowers who have fair credit and offer similar rates and fees. The main difference is that Upstart is a little more expensive and can accept lower credit scores, depending on where you live. But if you've never taken out a loan before, you may find a better deal with this provider than upgrade. This online lender looks at your career and education when you apply for a loan.
Not available in: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, West Virginia
Pros
Holistic underwriting that factors in education and career
Integra Credit specializes in financing for bad credit borrowers, similar to NetCredit. Its installment loans range from $500 to $3,000 with between 10 and 21 months to repay the funds. These are more costly than Upgrade's personal loans, with rates ranging from 149% to 399%. And while the short loan terms and lack of prepayment penalties can help you save on the high interest rate, it also means your monthly payment might be higher than it would be with Upgrade. Integra only serves some states, so check to make sure it's available where you live before you apply.
This online lender accepts credit scores as low as 585 with relatively low fees compared to Upgrade. It offers the option for bimonthly repayments to fit your pay schedule, which can help you stay on track. The maximum loan is only $36,500 — but you may struggle to qualify for a higher amount before building up your credit score.
Avant has a low credit score requirement of around 550 to 580, and is one of the few lenders that accepts self-employed income. Upgrade's credit score requirement is higher at 620.
But Avant's rates are slightly higher than Upgrade, starting at 9.95%. However, Avant's administrative fee caps at 4.75%, and Upstart's origination fee can be as high as 8.99%. These fees are deducted from your loan before delivery. But Avant's maximum loan amount is much lower than Upgrade's, maxing out at only $35,000.
Not available in: Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Virginia, West Virginia
Personal loans from $2,000–$35,000. If approved, the actual loan amount, term, and APR that a customer qualifies for may vary based on credit determination and other factors. Avant branded credit products are issued by WebBank, member FDIC.
Prosper is a peer-to-peer platform that accepts people with relatively high debt-to-income ratios (DTI). Where most lenders require a DTI of 43% or below, Propser will go as high as 50%. This makes it a good option for debt consolidation. But its origination fee starts at a high 2.41%. And you must have a 640 credit score or higher.
Not available in: Iowa, North Dakota, West Virginia
Best Egg gets rave reviews from customers. It also has relatively low rates from 7.99% to 35.99% and fees that are lower than Upgrade — but not the lowest available. It accepts fair credit, though you'll need a 640 credit score to qualify. And you're limited to loans from $2,000 to $35,000.
*Trustpilot TrustScore as of December 2022. Best Egg loans are personal loans made by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender or Blue Ridge Bank, N.A., Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. The Best Egg Credit Card is issued exclusively by First Bank & Trust, Member FDIC, Brookings SD pursuant to a license by Visa International. Visa is a registered trademark, and the Visa logo design is a trademark of Visa International Incorporated. “Best Egg” is a trademark of Best Egg Technologies, LLC. Offers may be sent pursuant to a joint marketing agreement between Cross River Bank, Blue Ridge Bank, N.A. and/or First Bank & Trust and Marlette Marketing, LLC, a subsidiary of Best Egg, Inc.
The term, amount, and APR of any loan we offer to you will depend on your credit score, income, debt payment obligations, loan amount, credit history and other factors. Your loan agreement will contain specific terms and conditions. About half of our customers get their money the next day. After successful verification, your money can be deposited in your bank account within 1-3 business days. The timing of available funds upon loan approval may vary depending upon your bank’s policies. Loan amounts range from $2,000– $50,000. Residents of Massachusetts have a minimum loan amount of $6,500 ; Ohio, $5,001; and Georgia, $3,001.
For a second Best Egg loan, your total existing Best Egg loan balances cannot exceed $100,000. Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) range from 8.99%–35.99%. The APR is the cost of credit as a yearly rate and reflects both your interest rate and an origination fee of 0.99%–8.99% of your loan amount, which will be deducted from any loan proceeds you receive. The origination fee on a loan term 4-years or longer will be at least 4.99%. Your loan term will impact your APR, which may be higher than our lowest advertised rate. You need a minimum 700 FICO® score and a minimum individual annual income of $100,000 to qualify for our lowest APR. For example: a 5‐year $10,000 loan with 9.99% APR has 60 scheduled monthly payments of $201.81, and a 3‐year $5,000 loan with 7.99% APR has 36 scheduled monthly payments of $155.12. To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. What this means for you: When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents. Best Egg products are not available if you live in Iowa, Vermont, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, or U.S. Territories. TO REPORT A PROBLEM OR COMPLAINT WITH THIS LENDER, YOU MAY WRITE OR CALL–Operations Manager, Email: crt-resolutions@bestegg.com, Address: P.O. Box 42912, Philadelphia, PA 19101, Phone: 1-855-282-6353. This lender is licensed and regulated by the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department, Financial Institutions Division, P.O. Box 25101, 2550 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504. To report any unresolved problems or complaints, contact the division by telephone at (505) 476-4885 or visit the website https://www.rld.nm.gov/financial-institutions/
Achieve (formally FreedomPlus) is one of the few personal loan providers that accepts cosigners and coapplicants — most lenders don't allow cosigners on unsecured personal loans. Additionally, Achieve offers a rate discount up to 6% if you bring along a joint applicant. If you're consolidating debt and allow Achieve to send at least 85% of your loan funds directly to your creditors for debt consolidation, you may get an additional rate discount up to 4%.
Rates range from 8.99% to 29.99% — the maximum rate is much lower than Upstart's 35.97%. And if you bring a cosigner or coappliant, you may qualify for a better APR or loan terms overall. Achieve's origination fee is lower, ranging from 1.99% to 6.99%. But Achieve is unavailable in 11 states, and Upgrade is available everywhere except Iowa, West Virginia and Washington D.C.
Available in: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington
Pros
Accepts cosigners and joint applicants
Lower max rate than Upstart
Lower origination fee than Upstart
Rate discounts for coapplicants and debt consolidation
The Finder Score crunches 6+ types of personal loans across 50+ lenders. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees and features, as well as the type of loan eg investor, variable, fixed rate - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
You can find out more about how Upgrade works by reading our Upgrade review. In the meantime, here are the highlights.
Upgrade is better suited for fair credit borrowers with stable income. It requires you to have at least $1,000 leftover after paying all other expenses, and prefers credit scores 580+. While Upgrade is more flexible with credit score requirements than more traditional lenders, like banks and credit unions, it’s not the cheapest option.
Upgrade charges an origination fee from 1.85% to 9.99% — this fee is deducted from your loan amount before delivery, and if you’re charged the highest fee, that’s a pretty penny. Upgrade also has higher rates than other providers, ranging from 9.99% to 35.99%.
Anna Serio was a lead editor at Finder, specializing in consumer and business financing. A trusted lending expert and former certified commercial loan officer, Anna's written and edited more than 1,000 articles on Finder to help Americans strengthen their financial literacy. Her expertise and analysis on personal, student, business and car loans has been featured in publications like Business Insider, CNBC and Nasdaq, and has appeared on NBC and KADN. Anna holds an MA in Middle Eastern studies from the American University of Beirut and a BA in Creative Writing from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, CUNY. See full bio
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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.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
