Best Personal Loans With No Origination Fee in 2026

NerdWallet’s picks for the best personal loans with no origination fees

Beyond skipping the origination fee, the lenders below stand out for offering competitive rates, fast funding and other features that can help you get the loan you need.

Discover: Best for debt consolidation

If you want to consolidate debt, Discover saves you a step in the process by sending your loan funds directly to your creditors within one business day. Discover also says it provides same-day decisions on loan applications.

Unlike some other lenders on this list, Discover offers loans nationwide and doesn't require a pre-existing relationship. Not only does it not charge an origination fee, it charges no fees at all.

Keep in mind that Discover only offers single-borrower, unsecured loans. If you want to add a co-applicant or secure your loan with collateral, look elsewhere.

U.S. Bank: Best for joint loans

U.S. Bank lets you apply for a joint loan with a co-borrower, who would share access to the funds and responsibility for repayments. You may also be able to secure a loan with a certificate of deposit as collateral.

Note that you don’t have to be a customer to get a U.S. Bank personal loan, but existing customers receive higher loan limits ($50,000 versus $25,000 for non-customers) and longer terms (up to seven years versus five). Customers may also receive faster funding and higher rate discounts.

While U.S. Bank doesn’t charge origination fees, it does charge fees for late payments ($29) and returned checks ($25).

Earnest: Best for flexible repayments

Typically, loan terms for personal loans are by the year, like two years or seven years. Earnest offers terms by the month, from 24 months to 84 months. This gives you a lot of flexibility in choosing just the right term. Earnest also lets you choose your payment date and change that date at any time.

While you can get a loan with no origination fee from Earnest, you can also choose to pay an origination fee in exchange for a lower interest rate and monthly payment. The fee (from 1% to 8% of the loan amount) would be deducted from your loan proceeds.

SoFi: Best for fast funding

Consider SoFi if you need funds quickly. The lender says it can approve your loan application and send funds the same day. SoFi doesn’t have specific credit and income requirements but says its average borrower has excellent credit and a six-figure income.

Like Earnest, SoFi’s origination fee is optional. You can opt out or choose to pay a fee up to 7% of the loan amount. Paying the fee up front will lower your interest rate, but the amount of money you receive will be less than what you must pay back.

Wells Fargo: Best loans for existing customers

If you already bank with Wells Fargo, it’s a good option for a personal loan. Not only will you avoid an origination fee, you’ll likely receive a hard-to-beat interest rate.

On top of that, the bank offers rate discounts if you have a Wells checking or savings account and choose autopay. (You’ll want to choose autopay to avoid missed payments and the $39 late fee that Wells charges.)

Wells Fargo is also a solid choice if you need to borrow a large sum, since it offers loans from $3,000 to $100,000 and terms up to seven years.

Patelco Credit Union: Best for loan amount options

Patelco offers loans from $300 to $100,000 — the widest range of any lender on our list. It also has a flexible range of loan terms, from six months to seven years.

Like many credit unions, Patelco offers competitive interest rates capped below 18%. It also promotes consistent repayment by offering a 0.5 percentage point rate discount after 12 consecutive months of on-time payments. Few other lenders offer this discount.

You don’t have to belong to Patelco to pre-qualify for a loan, but you must become a member to accept an offer. Anyone in the U.S. can join.

LightStream: Best for no fees and large loans

LightStream charges zero fees — no origination, late payment or other fees. It also offers loans up to $100,000 for those who qualify. With loans of $25,000 or more used for home improvement projects, LightStream may offer an unusually long 20-year term.

Unlike other lenders, LightStream doesn’t let you pre-qualify directly from its website. You may be able to check your personalized rates through partner sites like NerdWallet.

How to get a personal loan with no origination fee

» MORE: How to get a personal loan

Calculate your payments

Use our personal loan calculator to see estimated APRs and payments for a personal loan based on loan amount, rate and term.

Should I opt in to an origination fee?

Two lenders on our list (Earnest and SoFi) have “optional” origination fees. You can choose to skip the origination fee or pay the fee in exchange for a lower interest rate.

The fee benefits you only if the lower rate saves more money than the fee costs.

Let’s look at an example. Say you need to borrow $10,000 over two years. You receive two offers: one that doesn’t include an origination fee and another with a 5% fee and lower interest rate.

The monthly payment for Loan B is $14 less than for Loan A. Over two years, that savings adds up to about $335.

But remember you have to pay $500 from your proceeds to take out Loan B. In other words, you pay $500 to save $335. So when you account for the upfront cost, Loan B is more expensive.

Bottom line: Compare loans by their APRs. When comparing loans, consider the monthly payments, but also look at the annual percentage rates. APR factors in both interest rate and fees and can help you determine which loan costs less overall. Use our APR calculator to calculate the borrowing cost of a loan with an origination fee.

Other personal loan fees and charges

Here are other costs, besides the origination fee, to keep in mind when comparing personal loans:

Late fee: This common fee is charged when you miss a payment due date, although some lenders allow a 10- to 15-day grace period before charging it.

To avoid late fees, set up payment reminders or automatic payments via ACH debit, which authorizes lenders to deduct the loan payment directly from your bank account. Lenders may also waive a late fee if you request it.

Insufficient funds fee: Also called an overdraft fee, this may be charged (on top of a late fee) if you’ve signed up for autopay but don’t have enough cash in your bank account to cover the loan payment. Consider setting up an alert with your bank if your balance falls below the monthly payment amount.

Prepayment fee: Few personal loan lenders charge a fee for paying off your loan early, but it's a good idea to confirm.

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.

35+

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

Each lender is evaluated across five weighted categories and 27 subcategories, covering affordability, eligibility, consumer experience, flexibility, and application process.

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.

Affordability

25%

We review lenders’ annual percentage rate offerings and the competitiveness of each lenders’ APR range. We also assess whether a lender charges an origination fee and any opportunity for borrowers to receive a rate discount.

Customer experience

20%

We consider the experience of the consumer trying to manage a personal loan, which means accessibility of customer service representatives, whether borrowers can choose and change their payment due date, and the ability to track their loan on a mobile app.

Underwriting and eligibility

20%

We consider the rigorousness of each lender’s underwriting practices and how widely available their loans are. This category includes whether a lender does a hard credit check before providing a loan, the range of credit profiles they accept and how many states their loans are offered in.

Loan flexibility

20%

We assess how flexible lenders can be with borrowers, including whether they offer multiple loan types, personal loan amounts and repayment term options and whether they offer direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans.

Application process

15%

We consider the lender’s full application process, including a borrower’s ability to preview their loan offer via pre-qualification, whether basic loan information such as APR range and repayment terms are available and easy to find online and how quickly a loan can be funded after approval.

5.0

Overall score

NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 35 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.

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