10 of the Easiest Personal Loans to Get

Personal loans can be used for all sorts of things. Whether you’ve got unexpected medical bills, you want to go back to school, or you want to consolidate your debt, a personal loan can quite literally revolutionize your life.

But one of life’s most demoralizing moments is when you receive a rejection from a credit application. It’s more than disappointing—it can feel like a personal attack on your character.

To skip the drama, you may be looking for lenders that offer the easiest-to-get personal loans. Take a look at our top picks below to see which one best fits your situation.

Easiest-to-get personal loans compared

Our recommendations

Best for no minimum credit score: PersonalLoans

PersonalLoans is a loan aggregator instead of a lender. After you enter your pertinent information, it will go to work finding the best option for your credit profile. In other words, it’ll do a lot of the legwork in finding you an approval.

UpgradePersonalLoans doesn’t require a minimum credit score to qualify for a loan. According to Badcredit.org, lenders are generally matched with borrowers who don’t have a history of late payments (including current accounts over 60 days late), charged-off accounts, recent bankruptcies, or debt that can’t be covered by your income.

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Best for debt consolidation: Upgrade

Upgrade is useful for a variety of personal loans, but it’s possible to stack discounts to sharply lower debt-consolidation–loan interest rates in particular. When you elect to have Upgrade pay off at least half of your debt directly, you can get a discount of up to 3 percentage points. Plus, you’ll get a 0.5 percentage-point discount when enrolling in autopay. Finally, Upgrade says that you can get a further discount by using your car as collateral, although this can be risky, as you may lose the vehicle if you default on your loan.

Upgrade may charge an origination fee of up to 9.99% of your loan amount. It also has a potentially high APR, particularly if you don’t take advantage of the company’s various discounts.

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Best for a high borrowing limit: Credible

Similar to PersonalLoans, Credible aggregates lenders to help you find a good fit for your credit. Credible offers one of the largest potential personal loans, willing to consider a request for a whopping $200,000. That’s two to four times larger than the vast majority of lending sites. Just note that if you’re in the market for an “easy” loan, you probably won’t be able to secure $200,000.

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Best for small businesses: BadCreditLoans

Another aggregation site, BadCreditLoans doesn’t itself extend loans but partners with lenders to find you a match. Even if you’ve got bad credit, the site will scour hundreds of options to help you win an approval.

While not altogether unique, BadCreditLoans allows you to use your money for business purposes. This is something that many lenders explicitly prohibit—and it is a big deal for small business owners with a blemished credit history. The downside is that $10,000 is the maximum amount you can borrow.

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Best for a limited credit history: Upstart

If you’ve got a thin credit history, you’ll be relegated to lenders with below-average approval standards. Upstart may be a good choice for you, as it claims to factor in more than just your credit profile when considering your application. It also looks at characteristics such as employment and education.

Upstart charges an origination fee of up to 12% of your loan. Depending on how much you borrow, this could amount to a fee of several thousand dollars. Be sure to weigh that fee against any seemingly favorable APR you might be presented with.

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Best for bad credit: Avant

Avant lends to potential borrowers with a credit score as low as 550. If your credit score is in the mid-500s, this is likely one of your only prospects. The tradeoff is a relatively low borrowing amount and potentially high interest rates.

Unfortunately, you’ll pay an administrative fee of up to 4.75%. It will be subtracted from your loan amount—meaning the dollar amount you receive will be lower than what you were approved for.

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Best for using a co-signer: LendingClub

One thing that makes a personal loan easy to get is the ability to add a co-signer. Not all lenders allow this, but LendingClub does. Having a co-signer with a solid credit score and a commendable credit history will give you a great shot at an approval. That’s because the lender places the burden of repayment on the co-signer. Any missed payments will ding their credit—incentivizing them to ensure the bank gets its money back.

LendingClub offers personal loans for terms of two to five years. You'll also incur a fixed origination fee of 1% to 8% of your loan.

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Best for secured loans: OneMain Financial

Another trick to make a personal-loan approval easier is to offer collateral to the lender. OneMain Financial allows you to offer up property (such as your car) to the bank as a means of convincing it to take a chance on you. That way, if you default on your loan, the bank can mitigate its losses by trying to liquidate your property.

When you apply for a loan with OneMain Financial, you’ll know if you qualify for a secured loan if you spot the word “secured” next to your offer.

It’s also worth noting that OneMain Financial has around 1,400 branches throughout most U.S. states. If you prefer to do business in person, this option is hard to beat.

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Best for a reduced APR: LendingPoint

LendingPoint states that it considers details outside of your credit profile to provide an application approval, similar to Upgrade. This presumably makes it an easier lender to work with for those with subpar credit.

After you’ve been approved, you could find yourself with a lower APR after just six months, as LendingPoint proactively assesses your credit to potentially drop your interest rates. As long as you’ve used your credit responsibly by making on-time payments and keeping your credit utilization low, you should be a candidate for a reduced APR. Watch the origination fee, however.

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Best for a low borrowing limit: Dave ExtraCash

Dave ExtraCash is a finance app with myriad features, with the most famous its ExtraCash option, which provides up to $500 in loans without a credit check. It manages to do this by evaluating other financial details, such as your monthly income.

Dave ExtraCash doesn’t incur interest. That’s because it requires that you pay your loan back on your next payday (or the nearest Friday to when you took out the loan if Dave can’t determine your payday). Dave will automatically withdraw the money it needs from your linked bank account to satisfy the loan. If your bank account doesn’t have sufficient funds, it’ll withdraw what it can and continue to take from your account until you’re paid off.

Because of the brief repayment period, Dave ExtraCash is effectively an advance on your paycheck. It’s also worth noting that, although you won’t pay APR, you’ll pay a fee of up to 5% if you want your money instantly. Funds could otherwise take two to three days to access.

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Best for a Buy Now Pay Later: PerPay

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services are a sort of short-term loan that allows you to split a payment over a series of weeks or months without paying interest. Popular BNPL options generally only give you a couple months to pay for your purchase interest-free. But PerPay gives you much more flexible terms—several months, in fact..

PerPay is good for those trying to build credit, as well. It doesn’t run your credit for approval; instead, it uses your current income information to figure out your spending limit. And if you opt for PerPay+ for a small monthly fee, PerPay will report your payment activity to all three major credit bureaus. This is a great way to build your credit (as long as you make timely payments).

One caveat: The service makes returning items a bit of a pain. You’ll deal with PerPay instead of the merchant when making returns. You’ll pay the original shipping cost, as well as a $10 return shipping fee. You’ll even need to pay a 5% restocking fee.

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Tips for comparing the easiest personal loans to get

Find a low APR

In most cases, interest is the biggest fee you’ll pay for your loan. Each lender offers a unique APR range, and the rate you’re offered can differ by as much as 20%. Hastily opening a loan with a sky-high APR can result in thousands of wasted dollars over the life of your personal loan.

One way to suss out interest rates before applying is by using prequalification forms available on many lender sites. You can enter personal information to see a proposed interest rate. This will help you to get an idea of the terms of your loan before you submit a formal application.

Consider other fees

Personal loans can come with origination fees, administrative fees, paperwork fees, and other fees that can cost up to 12% of your loan amount. Even if a lender is willing to offer a loan with comparatively low interest rates, you should make sure you’re not ultimately paying more through extra fees.

Balance loan amount with term length

You may find a lender that’s willing to extend to you the amount of money you want. But if the loan’s term length is too short, your minimum payments will be unmanageable. Don’t be swayed into taking out a personal loan with a term length that doesn’t fit well with your budget.

How to get an easy personal loan

Know your credit limitations

Before you even begin the search for an easy personal loan, you should know the state of your credit—particularly your credit score. This should help you to identify the lenders who have strict credit score requirements and eliminate them if you don't qualify. For example, if you’ve got a 600 credit score, don’t waste an application on a lender that requires a credit score of at least 700.

Find a co-signer

To make it easier to get a personal loan, search for lenders that permit a co-signer to be added to the application. The lender will then decide if you are approved based on the co-signer’s credit. This is great for primary applicants whose credit is less than excellent.

Alternatives to easy loans

Use your savings

If you need money, don’t immediately assume that a personal loan is the best course of action. Instead, it might be better to borrow from savings if you have the cash on hand.

Most don’t like dipping into their savings account—and rightfully so—but you can ultimately save a lot of money by avoiding origination fees and interest payments.

Tap into equity

If you own a home or car, you may find that it’s easier to get an equity loan than a personal loan. That’s because you’re effectively offering collateral to the bank. And, depending on how much equity you’ve built up, the loan you get could be much higher (or have better terms) than what’s available from most lenders for a personal loan.

Just note that you must still be approved for an auto or home equity loan because the bank still wants to know you’ll pay back what you’ve borrowed. And if you default on your loan, the creditor may rightfully take your property.

Get a cash advance

Cash advances allow you to liquidate a portion of your credit card’s credit line. You can receive the cash in minutes, so it can be a good option in a pinch.

Note that cash advances incur an upfront fee (sometimes up to 5% of the advance amount) and they come with exceptionally high APRs that begin accruing interest immediately after initiating the advance. They’re not a good idea unless you absolutely need cash now.

Low-interest personal loans: Key considerations

Do you need proof of income to get a personal loan?

Most lenders will require proof of income to approve you for a personal loan. They don’t want to drop a lump sum into your bank account without knowing you’re capable of repaying it. That said, some lenders may waive the proof of income if you’ve got excellent credit. Or, you may be able to provide collateral to skirt this requirement. As an example, you can receive a loan by giving a pawn shop a valuable item. If you don’t pay back the loan in a specified amount of time, the pawn shop can sell your item to get its money.

Can you easily get a personal loan, even with bad credit?

There are a few lenders that specialize in subprime borrowers. Even if you have bad credit, there is likely a lender that’s willing to work with you. Be prepared for a suboptimal APR and a comparatively low borrowing amount.

Also keep in mind the option of adding a co-signer to your application—this opens up a world of possibilities you wouldn’t otherwise have.

What is the maximum amount I can get on easy-to-get personal loans?

If you’re looking for an easy-to-get personal loan, you’ve presumably got a blemish on your credit report. Unless you’ve got a co-signer, you shouldn’t expect a personal loan exceeding $50,000.

TIME Stamp: With steady employment and a good track record, you can find a loan

There are loans for just about every credit score—down into the 500s, even. If you can demonstrate an ability to pay back your debts (and a history of doing so), there’s almost certainly a lender out there who will be willing to give you a chance.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Where is the easiest place to get a personal loan?

The easiest place to get a personal loan depends on your situation. However, with no minimum credit score required, PersonalLoans is one of the best options out there for those with an unimpressive credit profile.

What loans can I get instantly?

Personal loans, cash advances, pawn shop loans, payday loans, and so on, can all be paid out within a business day—some even within minutes. These aren’t necessarily good ideas, however: Payday loans, which are prohibited in some states, and cash advances carry steep fees and interest rates.

What is the easiest personal loan to get with bad credit?

If you have a low credit score you may want to consider a personal loan from Avant. Even with a credit score of 580, you may still be approved. This is something very few other lenders will tolerate.