Best Co-Signed or Joint Personal Loans in 2026
A co-signed or joint loan is an option if you don't qualify for a personal loan on your own. A co-signer or co-borrower could also help you get a lower rate or higher loan amount.
Checking rates is free and won't impact your credit score.
What’s the difference between a co-signer and a co-borrower?
Though some people use the terms “co-signer” and “co-borrower” interchangeably, they have distinct meanings. Co-signers and co-borrowers have different responsibilities for repaying a personal loan and accessing funds.
Co-signer: A co-signer vouches for someone else’s loan application and agrees to repay it if the borrower doesn’t. The co-signer can’t access the loan proceeds. They also can’t see information about the loan, like how much you’ve repaid or if you missed a payment, unless they request that information to be sent to them.
Co-borrower: A co-borrower is a partner applicant on a joint personal loan and shares responsibility for repayment. This person has equal access to loan funds and payment information.
Lenders more commonly offer joint personal loans, shared by two co-borrowers, rather than co-signed personal loans. If you’re looking to boost your odds of personal loan approval, applying with a co-borrower who has better credit or a higher income might be the way to go.
Best for small joint loans
7.89 - 18.00%
$500 - $50K
None
6 months to 7 years
Pros, Cons, and Our View
Expert take on First Tech Credit Union Personal Loan
First Tech Credit Union personal loans are a solid option for members who need a flexible loan. It offers a wide range of loan amounts and repayment terms, plus joint and secured loans that can be easier to qualify for. Read our review of First Tech Credit Union Personal Loan.
- Time to get funds:
- Same day
- Availability:
- Lends in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
- Min income:
- No minimum requirement
- Soft credit check:
- Yes
- Loan uses:
- Debt consolidation, Credit card consolidation, Home improvement, Medical, Emergency, Wedding, Vacation and Auto
- Range of loan amounts and terms
- Direct payment to creditors
- Secured and joint loans
- Fast funding
- Flexible repayments
- No rate discounts
- No co-sign loans
- No credit score access
Best for co-signed personal loans for fair-credit borrowers
2026 NerdWallet award winner
7.74 - 35.99%
$1K - $50K
600
2 to 7 years
Pros, Cons, and Our View
Expert take on Upgrade
Upgrade accepts lower credit scores than similar lenders, and it offers multiple rate discounts and terms up to seven years. But you'll pay an origination fee that adds to the cost of the loan. Read our review of Upgrade.
- Time to get funds:
- 1 day
- Availability:
- Lends in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
- Rate discounts:
- Autopay and Direct payment to creditors and checking accounts
- Min income:
- No minimum requirement
- Soft credit check:
- Yes
- Loan uses:
- Debt consolidation, Credit card consolidation, Home improvement, Emergency, Wedding, Vacation and Auto
- Multiple rate discounts
- Secured and co-sign loans
- Fast funding
- Range of loan amounts and repayment terms
- Origination fee
- No option to choose repayment date
Best for joint personal loans for debt consolidation
2026 NerdWallet award winner
6.53 - 35.99%
$1K - $60K
600
2 to 7 years
Pros, Cons, and Our View
Expert take on LendingClub
A LendingClub personal loan is a strong option for qualified borrowers who want to pay off debt. Funding time isn't as fast as some competitors, but you'll still get funds within a day or two. Read our review of LendingClub.
- Time to get funds:
- 1-2 days
- Availability:
- Lends in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
- Rate discounts:
- Direct payment to creditors
- Min income:
- Direct payment to creditors
- Soft credit check:
- Yes
- Loan uses:
- Debt consolidation, Credit card consolidation, Home improvement, Medical, Emergency, Wedding, Vacation and Auto
- Direct payment to creditors
- Fast funding
- Joint loans
- Flexible repayments
- Origination fee
- No secured or co-sign loans
Best for joint personal loans with no fees
7.99 - 17.99%
$600 - $50K
None
1 to 5 years
Pros, Cons, and Our View
Expert take on PenFed Credit Union Personal Loan
PenFed Credit Union offers small-to-large personal loans to borrowers with excellent credit. Key features include no fees, fast funding and direct payment to creditors for debt consolidation. While membership is required to get a loan, anyone can apply. Read our review of PenFed Credit Union Personal Loan.
- Time to get funds:
- 1 day
- Availability:
- Lends in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
- Rate discounts:
- Autopay
- Min income:
- No minimum requirement
- Soft credit check:
- Yes
- Loan uses:
- Debt consolidation, Credit card consolidation and Home improvement
- Wide range of loan amounts
- No fees
- Soft credit check to pre-qualify
- Fast funding
- Direct payment to creditors
- No co-sign or secured loan options
- Limited ability to change payment date
Best for joint personal loans with rate discounts
2026 NerdWallet award winner
6.49 - 24.89%
$5K - $100K
660
2 to 7 years
Pros, Cons, and Our View
Expert take on LightStream
LightStream is a solid option for borrowers with strong credit who need a large loan. Its low starting rates are hard to beat, and it charges zero fees. But it doesn't offer some common services, like direct payment to creditors for consolidation loans or a mobile app. Read our review of LightStream.
- Time to get funds:
- Same day
- Availability:
- Lends in all states and Washington, D.C. except Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts
- Min income:
- No minimum requirement
- Soft credit check:
- No
- Loan uses:
- Debt consolidation, Credit card consolidation, Home improvement, Emergency, Wedding, Vacation, Auto and Adoption
- Competitive APRs
- Rate discounts
- No fees
- Large loans and long repayment terms
- Same-day funding
- Limited ability to pre-qualify
- High minimum loan amount
- No direct payment to creditors
- No mobile app
Best for large joint loans
2026 NerdWallet award winner
7.74 - 35.49%
$5K - $100K
None
2 to 7 years
Pros, Cons, and Our View
Expert take on SoFi Personal Loan
SoFi offers multiple rate discounts on its personal loans, along with large loan amounts and the option to add a co-borrower. You need at least good credit to qualify, and the minimum loan amount is high compared to competitors. Read our review of SoFi Personal Loan.
- Time to get funds:
- Same day
- Availability:
- Lends in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
- Rate discounts:
- Autopay, Direct payment to creditors and Direct deposit accounts
- Min income:
- No minimum requirement
- Soft credit check:
- Yes
- Loan uses:
- Debt consolidation, Credit card consolidation, Home improvement, Medical, Emergency, Wedding, Vacation and Auto
- Multiple rate discounts
- Large loan amounts
- Joint loans
- Hardship assistance
- High minimum loan amount
- No secured loans
Explore more
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How we chose the best personal loans
Our team of consumer lending experts follows an objective and robust methodology to rate lenders and pick the best.
30+
Lenders reviewed
30+
Lenders reviewed
We review over 35 lenders, including major banks, top credit unions, leading digital platforms, and high interest installment lenders operating across multiple states.
25+
Categories assessed
25+
Categories assessed
Each lender is evaluated across five weighted categories and 27 subcategories, covering affordability, eligibility, consumer experience, flexibility, and application process.
60+
Data points analyzed
60+
Data points analyzed
Our team tracks and reassesses hundreds of data points annually, including APR ranges, fees, credit requirements, and borrower tools, ensuring up to date, accurate comparisons.
Star rating categories
We evaluate more categories than competitors and carefully weigh how each factor impacts your experience.
5.0
Overall score
NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 30 financial technology companies and financial institutions. We collect over 60 data points and cross-check company websites, earnings reports and other public documents to confirm product details. We may also go through a lender’s pre-qualification flow and follow up with company representatives. NerdWallet writers and editors conduct a full fact check and update annually, but also make updates throughout the year as necessary.
Our star ratings award points to lenders that offer consumer-friendly features, including: soft credit checks to pre-qualify, competitive interest rates and no fees, transparency of rates and terms, flexible payment options, fast funding times, accessible customer service, reporting of payments to credit bureaus and financial education. Our ratings award fewer points to lenders with practices that may make a loan difficult to repay on time, such as charging high annual percentage rates (above 36%), underwriting that does not adequately assess consumers’ ability to repay and lack of credit-building help. We also consider regulatory actions filed by agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We weigh these factors based on our assessment of which are the most important to consumers and how meaningfully they impact consumers’ experiences.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for our star ratings. Read more about our ratings methodologies for personal loans and our editorial guidelines.
Our picks for the best co-signed or joint loans
Our picks for the best co-signed and joint loans are from some of the highest-rated lenders that NerdWallet reviews. Among this list are lenders that offer a variety of loan amounts and have attractive features like rate discounts, no fees and low minimum credit score requirements. Here’s what makes our top lenders for co-signed or joint loans stand out.
First Tech: Best for small joint loans
First Tech has personal loans as low as $500, which is uncommon among top lenders. Minimum personal loan amounts are typically $1,000 or more. If you and your co-borrower need to finance an amount under $1,000, First Tech is a solid option.
Keep in mind that you have to be a member of First Tech Credit Union to take out a loan.
Upgrade: Best co-signed loans for fair-credit borrowers
Upgrade is one of the rare personal loan lenders that offers co-signed personal loans rather than joint loans. With a minimum credit score requirement of 600, Upgrade is a fitting option for fair-credit borrowers (those with credit scores up to the low 600s).
Note that Upgrade charges an origination fee ranging from 1.85% to 9.99% of the loan amount.
🤓 Nerdy Tip
You’ll see that many lenders charge origination fees, which can be up to 10% of the loan amount and are typically taken from the loan proceeds. Say you get a $20,000 loan with a 5% origination fee. That 5% — or $1,000 — would be deducted from your loan and leave you with $19,000. And while you receive the lesser amount, you must still repay the higher amount of $20,000.
LendingClub: Best joint loans for debt consolidation
With a LendingClub joint personal loan, you can consolidate up to 12 personal loans, credit cards and retail accounts. This can be useful for couples paying off multiple debt accounts together.
LendingClub will send the loan funds directly to your creditors, and you’re left with one fixed-rate loan with a single monthly payment. The lender also has a rate discount of up to 5 percentage points, on average, for those who opt for direct pay to creditors.
Heads up that LendingClub may charge an origination fee up to 8%.
PenFed: Best joint loans with no fees
Co-borrowers with a PenFed personal loan won’t have to pay extra fees, like an origination fee, which is common for personal loans.
Note that you must be a PenFed credit member to take out a loan.
LightStream: Best joint loans with rate discounts
LightStream has a 0.50 percentage-point rate discount for those who set up automatic payments on their personal loans. The lender also has a Rate Beat Program that promises to beat a competitor’s offer by 0.10 percentage points.
Keep in mind that LightStream’s minimum credit score is high compared to other lenders who disclose that information. You must have at least a score of 660 to qualify.
SoFi: Best for large joint loans
SoFi offers loans up to $100,000, while most lenders cap personal loan amounts at $50,000 or less. This can be helpful if you and your co-borrower need to borrow a large amount for an extensive home renovation, an RV or another big expense.
On the flipside, SoFi isn’t your lender if you’re looking to borrow a small amount. The least you can borrow from SoFi is $5,000, which is higher than the minimums of many other lenders.
How to get a personal loan with a co-signer or co-borrower
Here are the steps to get a personal loan with a co-applicant.
- Check both of your credit and financial information. The lender will weigh both applicants’ credit scores, incomes and debt-to-income ratios. Familiarize yourself with this information to set expectations before applying.
- Compare lenders. Some lenders have specific requirements for joint loan applicants, while a co-signer is typically expected to have better credit and income than the primary borrower. Compare personal loan requirements and features from multiple lenders, and select a few that meet your needs.
- Pre-qualify and add a co-applicant. Pre-qualify with multiple lenders to compare estimated rates and terms. The online application might prompt you to pre-qualify together. Alternatively, you might only get the option to add a co-applicant after you’ve gone through the pre-qualification process as a solo applicant.
- Submit your application and get funded. Once you select your preferred lender and submit an application, the lender will likely do a hard credit check on you and your co-applicant. This can cause your credit scores to dip by a few points. If approved, expect to receive your funds within a few days.
» Get started: Pre-qualify on NerdWallet
Personal loan calculator
Before applying for a loan, use a personal loan calculator to determine your monthly loan payment and total interest costs, based on your desired loan amount, repayment term and estimated APR.
Estimated monthly payment
$309.92
Total interest over 3 years
$1,157.12
Total loan payment
$11,157.12
Loan amount
$10,000
Interest rate
7.25%
Loan term (years)
3
When is a co-signer or co-borrower a good idea?
Lenders use information like your credit and income to decide whether you qualify and what your loan amount and annual percentage rate should be. Adding someone with better credit, higher income and less debt to support your application gives a lender confidence that the loan will be repaid.
A co-signer or co-borrower can help if:
- You have bad credit. There are personal loans for bad credit, but few lenders approve applicants with credit scores below 600. If that’s you, a co-applicant with better credit could increase your approval odds.
- You want a larger loan. Lenders offer the largest loans to well-qualified applicants, so including a co-applicant could increase the size of your loan.
- You need a lower rate. Adding someone to the application could get you a lower rate, meaning lower monthly payments and a less expensive loan overall.
How much a co-signer or co-borrower helps depends on factors such as:
- The co-applicant’s credit score.
- The co-applicant’s credit history.
- The co-applicant’s debt-to-income ratio.
- The lender’s underwriting criteria.
Risks of adding a co-signer or co-borrower
It’s important for you and your co-applicant to understand the risks of co-signing or co-borrowing before submitting an application. These can include:
- A hard credit inquiry, which will lower both of your credit scores by a few points.
- Higher debt-to-income ratios for both of you, which could make it harder to access credit during the life of the loan.
- Damage to both of your credit scores if a payment is missed.
- Damage to the relationship if you default on the loan, which could be harder to salvage than your credit.
