You can get a personal loan with bad credit. Several mainstream online lenders approve borrowers in the 500s, two don’t set any minimum score at all, and credit unions offer small emergency loans capped at 28% APR. What you can’t get, from anyone legitimate, is “guaranteed approval.” The search results for bad-credit loans are crowded with that promise, and it’s the single most reliable sign that you’re looking at an expensive lead generator or an outright scam.
This guide is for the moment you’re actually in: you need $1,000, $2,000 or $5,000, your score isn’t great, and you want to know where you’ll realistically be approved, what it will cost per month, and which offers will trap you. You’ll find a side-by-side of real lenders’ published terms, a payment calculator that shows what an origination fee does to your cash, and a plan for eight common situations, from “I need $2,000 by Friday” to “I’ve been denied everywhere.”
Nine Straight Answers Before You Apply Anywhere
The questions people type in a hurry when they need cash and their credit isn’t cooperating.
Possibly. Upstart, Oportun and OneMain don’t publish a minimum score, and they weigh income and other factors. Avant’s minimum is 550. Expect a high APR and a smaller loan than you asked for.
Not from legitimate lenders. The FTC says real lenders check your credit and don’t promise a loan before you apply. A guarantee is a sales line, and often the first step of an advance-fee scam.
A secured loan, backed by a car or savings, or a credit union payday alternative loan if you’re already a member. Adding a cosigner with good credit also raises approval odds at lenders like Upgrade.
Ask your credit union about a PAL II, which goes up to $2,000 at 28% APR or less. Then prequalify with two or three online lenders; several fund as soon as the next business day.
Prequalification uses a soft inquiry, which doesn’t affect your score. Only the final application triggers a hard inquiry, so prequalify widely and apply once.
At 35.99% over 3 years, about $229 a month and roughly $3,240 in interest. Stretch it to 5 years and the interest nearly doubles to about $5,840.
Most bad-credit lenders deduct an origination fee from the loan. A 9.99% fee on $5,000 means about $4,500 lands in your account, but you repay the full $5,000 plus interest.
MoneyMutual is a lead generator: it passes your information to lenders. Illinois regulators reached a settlement with it in 2021 over arranging loans from unlicensed lenders. Know who will actually lend to you.
Yes. The Military Lending Act limits most consumer loans to active-duty service members and their dependents to a 36% military APR, including most fees.
Your Bad-Credit Options, From Cheapest to Most Dangerous
Before comparing lenders, compare loan types. The gap between a 28% credit union loan and a 400% payday loan is bigger than the gap between any two online lenders.
| Option | Typical amount | Cost ceiling | Who it suits | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal credit union personal loan | Varies by credit union | 18% APR cap on most loans | Members with steady income | Membership required; stricter approval |
| Credit union PAL I | $200–$1,000 | 28% APR, $20 max application fee | Members of at least 1 month | Repay in 1–6 months |
| Credit union PAL II | Up to $2,000 | 28% APR, $20 max application fee | New members can qualify | Not every credit union offers it |
| Secured or cosigned personal loan | $1,000–$35,000+ | Often lower than unsecured | Owners of a paid-off car; anyone with a cosigner | You can lose the collateral; cosigner is on the hook |
| Online bad-credit lender | $300–$75,000 | Usually 35.99% APR + fee up to ~10% | Scores roughly 550–640 | High cost; fees cut your cash |
| High-cost installment loan | $500–$5,000 | Around 160% APR and far higher | Denied everywhere else | Can cost more than you borrowed |
| Payday or car title loan | $100–$1,000+ | ~400% APR for a typical payday loan | Almost no one | Rollovers; title loans risk your car |
Credit unions are the most underused option on this list. The Federal Credit Union Act generally limits federal credit unions to 15%, and the NCUA board has temporarily raised that ceiling to 18%, most recently extending it through September 10, 2027. Their payday alternative loans are a separate product with a higher, 28% cap, designed specifically for people who would otherwise walk into a payday store. Federal rules limit you to one PAL at a time and three in six months, which protects you from the rollover spiral payday loans are known for.
Credit unions are also more willing than banks to look past a low score when you’ve had direct deposit with them for a few months. If you don’t belong to one, many have broad membership rules based on where you live, work or worship, and joining often costs a $5 to $25 deposit in a savings account.
Online Lenders That Accept Bad Credit, Compared
These are lenders whose published terms reach into fair and poor credit. Figures come from each lender’s disclosures as summarized by major review sites in July and August; confirm your own offer before you sign.
| Lender | APR range | Amounts | Origination fee | Minimum score | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oportun | Up to 35.95% | $300–$10,000 | Up to 10% | None; no minimum income | Car-secured loans in some states |
| Upstart | 6.20%–35.99% | $1,000–$75,000 | 0%–12% | None; accepts no credit history | Fee can run higher than rivals |
| OneMain Financial | 11.99%–35.99% | $1,500–$30,000 | 1%–10% or $25–$500 flat | None | Secured option; branch network |
| Avant | 9.95%–35.99% | $2,000–$35,000 | Up to 9.99% | 550 | $1,200/month after-tax income; not in 6 states |
| Upgrade | 7.74%–35.99% | $1,000–$75,000 | 1.85%–9.99% | 600 | Cosigner or car-secured options |
| LendingPoint | 7.99%–35.99% | $1,000–$36,500 | 0%–10% | 640 | $35,000 minimum income; fair credit more than bad |
| OppLoans | Often 160% fixed | $500–$4,000 | None listed | Poor to fair accepted | Very expensive; last resort |
When we compared these lenders’ published terms side by side, the headline rates turned out to be the least useful number. Nearly every lender advertises a low starting APR that bad-credit borrowers will never see, and almost all of them stop at the same place: about 36%. That ceiling isn’t a coincidence. It’s the line many consumer advocates and several state laws treat as the limit for an affordable loan, and it’s what the Military Lending Act uses for service members. With a score in the 500s, plan around the top of the range.
The real differences are elsewhere. Minimum score and income decide whether you get in at all. LendingPoint’s 640 floor and $35,000 income requirement make it a fair-credit lender more than a bad-credit one. Origination fees decide how much cash you actually receive; Upstart’s can reach 12%. And state availability matters: Avant doesn’t lend in Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Washington or West Virginia, and LendingPoint skips nine states plus D.C.
OppLoans sits in its own category. Its loans of $500 to $4,000 often carry a fixed APR around 160% in many states. That’s far cheaper than a rolled-over payday loan, and far more expensive than anything above it in the table. If it’s your only approval, use the calculator below to see the total before you sign.
Avant and LendingPoint are direct online lenders covered in the table. MoneyMutual is a lead-generation site that passes your application to a network of lenders; in 2021 it settled with Illinois regulators, who alleged it arranged high-cost loans from lenders not licensed in the state. Minute Loan Center is a high-cost lender operating in about 10 states, with installment loan APRs reported in the hundreds of percent. Before you submit anything, find out whether you’re applying to a lender or a matching service, and which company will hold your loan.
Bad-Credit Loan Calculator: Payment, Total Cost and Cash You’ll Receive
Enter an offer exactly as the lender shows it. The calculator shows the monthly payment, how much the loan really costs, and how much money actually reaches your account after the origination fee.
Assumes a fixed-rate loan with equal monthly payments and an origination fee deducted from the loan amount. If your lender quotes only an APR, enter it as the rate; the APR already includes the fee, so the payment shown will run slightly high.
The default offer, $5,000 at 35.99% for 36 months with a 9.99% fee, is a realistic bad-credit approval at a mainstream online lender. You’d pay about $229 a month and around $3,240 in interest. But only about $4,500 reaches your bank account, so the true cost of getting that $4,500 is about $3,740. Change the term to 60 months and the payment drops to about $181, while interest climbs to roughly $5,840. A lower payment can cost you more than double.
One practical point people miss: if you need $2,000 in hand and the fee is 10%, you have to borrow about $2,223. Ask the lender to size the loan for the amount you need after fees, or you’ll come up short on the bill you borrowed to pay.
How to Raise Your Approval Odds This Week
You can’t fix a credit score in a few days. You can change several things lenders look at alongside it.
Pull your credit reports and fix clear errors
Get your free reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com, the only federally authorized site for them. A paid-off account still listed as delinquent, or a debt that isn’t yours, can be disputed online. Disputes take time, but lenders sometimes accept proof of an error that’s under review.
Prequalify with three to five lenders on the same day
Prequalification uses a soft credit check that doesn’t affect your score, and it shows a likely rate, amount and fee. Unlike mortgages and auto loans, multiple personal loan applications aren’t reliably grouped into one inquiry by scoring models, so prequalify broadly and submit just one full application.
Ask for less, or for a shorter term
A smaller loan lowers your debt-to-income ratio, which is often the real reason for a decline. If an offer comes back smaller than you asked for, that’s the lender telling you what it thinks you can repay.
Offer collateral or add a cosigner
Upgrade and Oportun accept a vehicle as collateral, and OneMain offers secured loans; that can mean approval or a lower rate. A cosigner with stronger credit can do the same, but they’re legally responsible for the full debt if you miss payments, and late payments land on their credit report too.
Show all your income
Lenders typically count part-time work, gig income, Social Security, disability benefits, alimony and child support you choose to disclose. Have recent bank statements ready; lenders like Upstart and Oportun lean on cash flow more than on your score.
Traps, Scams and “Guaranteed Approval” Offers
The worst outcome isn’t a denial. It’s paying a fee to a fake lender, or taking a payday loan that turns into six.
The FTC’s warning is blunt: advance-fee scammers promise a loan regardless of your credit history, then require payment before you get the money, and once you pay, there’s no loan and no lender. They often ask for payment by wire transfer, gift cards or cryptocurrency because those payments are hard to reverse. Legitimate lenders deduct their fees from the loan or add them to the balance. They don’t ask you to send money first.
Payday loans are legal in many states but work against you by design. The CFPB notes that a common fee of $15 per $100 borrowed on a two-week loan works out to an APR of almost 400%. The trouble starts when you can’t repay the full amount on payday and roll it over, paying the fee again while the balance stays the same.
Act the same day. Call your bank or card issuer to dispute the payment or stop a pending transfer. If you paid with a gift card, contact the card company right away with the card number and receipt. Then report the scam at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state attorney general. Watch your credit reports, since you probably gave them your Social Security number, and consider placing a free fraud alert.
Which Situation Sounds Like Yours?
The right move depends on how fast you need the money, how much, and what you can put up behind the loan. Find the closest match.
Call your credit union first and ask two questions: do you offer PAL II loans, and how fast can you fund? If you’re not a member, ask whether you can join today. In parallel, prequalify with Oportun, Upstart and OneMain, which publish no minimum score; several online lenders fund as soon as the next business day after approval. Before borrowing at all, call the company you owe. Utilities, hospitals and landlords often agree to a payment plan that costs nothing.
Prequalify at four or five online lenders and compare the 36-month total, not the payment. If you own a paid-off car, ask Upgrade, Oportun or OneMain about a secured loan; collateral often lowers the rate. At 35.99% over three years a $5,000 loan costs about $229 a month; at 24% it’s about $196, and at 18% about $181.
A bad-credit consolidation loan only helps if its APR is clearly below your cards’ rate after fees. Many cards charge well over 20%, so a 30% loan with an 8% fee can leave you worse off. A free session with a nonprofit credit counselor is often a better first step: a debt management plan can cut card interest without a new loan, and it won’t require good credit.
Lenders must give you a reason for the denial, usually in an adverse action notice. Read it: “debt-to-income too high” and “insufficient income” point to asking for less or adding a cosigner, while “delinquent accounts” points to waiting a few months of on-time payments. A credit-builder loan or secured card from a credit union can raise a thin or damaged score in six to twelve months. Don’t respond to denials by applying to guaranteed-approval sites.
This is different from bad credit, and it’s easier to fix. Upstart says it accepts applicants with no credit history, and Oportun doesn’t require a credit score or minimum income. A credit union may also approve you based on your account history with them. Keep the first loan small and on autopay so it builds your file.
Benefit income counts. Lenders that weigh cash flow, and credit unions where your benefits are deposited, are the best fit. Be careful with loans that pull automatic payments the day your deposit lands; a single missed payment can trigger overdraft fees. Choose a due date a few days after your deposit.
The Military Lending Act caps most consumer credit to covered service members and their dependents at a 36% military APR, which includes most fees, and it bans certain terms like mandatory arbitration. Your branch’s relief society, such as Army Emergency Relief or Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, can provide interest-free loans or grants for emergencies. Ask your installation’s financial counselor before borrowing elsewhere.
Ask your lender whether your state requires an extended payment plan; some do, and it stops the rollover clock. Then use a credit union PAL or a lower-cost installment loan to pay the payday balance off in one move. With a title loan, prioritize it: missing payments can cost you the car you need to get to work.
Free Help Before and After You Borrow
These services cost nothing and can save you from a loan you don’t need, or help you fight one that went wrong.
A nonprofit credit counselor can review your budget, negotiate with card companies through a debt management plan, and tell you honestly whether a loan will help. If a lender treats you unfairly or a debt collector crosses the line, the CFPB accepts complaints and forwards them to the company for a response. Your free credit reports are always available through the federally authorized site.
Our Verdict
Ask your creditor for a plan, then your credit union for a PAL or personal loan. If that doesn’t work, prequalify the same day with several online lenders that accept low scores, compare total cost after fees, and apply once. Expect an APR near 36%; anything far above that should be a true last resort.
Guaranteed approval, upfront fees, payment by gift card or wire, pressure to sign today, and payday loans you’d need to roll over. A “no” today is better than a debt that costs more than you borrowed.
Questions people still ask
What loans accept really bad credit?
Lenders that don’t publish a minimum score, such as Upstart, Oportun and OneMain, plus credit unions that know your account history. Secured loans backed by a car or savings are the easiest to qualify for. High-cost installment and payday lenders also approve very low scores, at a steep price.
Can I get a loan with no credit check?
Some lenders advertise it, but they tend to be payday, title or very high-cost lenders. Even many of those check bank history or a specialty credit database. A legitimate low-cost lender will look at your credit in some form.
How fast can I get the money?
Many online lenders fund as soon as the next business day after approval, and OneMain says same or next day. Credit unions may take a day or two, especially if you’re joining for the first time.
Will a personal loan help my credit?
On-time payments reported to the bureaus can help over time, and paying down card balances with a loan can lower your credit utilization. A missed payment does the opposite, so set up autopay from day one.
Is a 35.99% APR legal?
Generally yes for these lenders; many state rate limits and federal programs sit around 36%. Rates far above that are legal in some states and banned in others, which is why lenders like OppLoans and Minute Loan Center operate only in certain states.
Can I pay off a bad-credit loan early?
Most mainstream personal lenders, including OppLoans, say they don’t charge prepayment penalties, and paying early cuts your interest. Check the loan agreement for a prepayment clause before signing.
What credit score counts as bad?
On the common FICO scale of 300 to 850, scores below 580 are generally considered poor and 580 to 669 fair. Lenders set their own cutoffs, so the label matters less than the specific minimums in the table above.
Should I use a cash advance app instead?
For a small gap of a few hundred dollars until payday, an app or an employer pay advance can cost less than a loan, but check the subscription and instant-transfer fees, which can add up to a high effective rate. They don’t solve a $2,000 or $5,000 need.
How this page was checked. Lender APRs, amounts, fees and minimums come from each lender’s published terms as summarized by major personal finance review sites updated in July and August, and were current on October 28. Credit union rules come from the National Credit Union Administration; payday cost examples from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; scam warning signs from the Federal Trade Commission; the average bank personal loan rate from Federal Reserve data via FRED. Payment examples and the calculator use standard amortization math and are our own estimates. Lender terms change often, so rely on the disclosure you receive before signing.
This page is independent general information, not financial or legal advice, and isn’t a loan offer. We are not a lender or broker and don’t receive your application.
Key sources: NCUA · CFPB · FTC · Federal Reserve