Compare the Top Personal Loans for Your Business in 2026

NerdWallet's picks for the best business loans

You can typically use a personal loan for any reason, but not all lenders let you use their loans for business expenses. NerdWallet verified that each of these lenders offers funding for business expenses.

Our list includes options for all credit profiles and a range of loan amounts. Here's what makes these lenders stand out.

U.S. Bank: Best for current customers with good credit

If you’re an existing customer with a 680 credit score or higher, U.S. Bank personal loans are hard to beat. These loans can be funded the same day you’re approved and come in a wide range of amounts ($1,000 to $50,000) and repayment terms (one to seven years). You can also get 0.5 percentage points taken off your rate simply by setting up automatic repayments.

If you’re a non-customer, loans are still available, but they’re not as flexible. You can only apply for amounts up to $25,000 and terms up to five years, and the rate discount is just 0.25 percentage points.

Upstart: Best for borrowers with bad credit

Upstart personal loans come with no minimum credit score requirement, and the lender even accepts borrowers with no credit history. Instead, it uses alternative data like education and work history to qualify you.

Upstart’s range of loan amounts (from $1,000 to $75,000) can help you cover small to large expenses. But you’ll have only two terms to choose from (three or five years), and you may pay an origination fee up to 12% of your loan amount.

Best Egg: Best for borrowers with fair credit

If you have a credit score of 600 or higher, Best Egg offers personal loans from $2,000 to $50,000 that you can use toward business expenses. In addition to unsecured loans, Best Egg offers secured loans that may be easier to qualify for and lower your interest rate. The lender accepts permanent home fixtures like built-in cabinets and lighting as collateral on secured loans.

One drawback is you’ll pay an origination fee from 0.99% to 9.99% of your loan amount.

Rocket Loans: Best for fast funding

Rocket offers instant approval if you meet its qualifications, and you may receive your funds the same day. While many lenders offer same- or next-day funding, not all can instantly approve you.

Rocket also offers competitive rates and a rate discount if you choose autopay. Though you may pay an origination fee that’s up to 9.99% of your loan amount.

Achieve: Best for joint loans

Achieve loans come with multiple rate discounts, including one for joint loans that include you and a co-borrower. This may be a good option for business partners who want to take out a loan together and share the responsibility of paying it back.

One thing to keep in mind: Achieve only reports payments to two of the three main credit bureaus (Experian and Equifax, but not TransUnion), so it’s not the best fit if building your credit score is a priority. All other lenders on our list report to all three bureaus.

When does it make sense to get a personal loan for business?

Here’s a quick checklist to help you decide if a personal loan is a good source of funding for your business. Keep reading for more in-depth information to help you decide and compare personal loans to other financing options.

A personal loan may be the best fit if you:

Benefits of using a personal loan for your business

Flexibility: As long as your lender has no rules against using a personal loan for your business, you can use the money however you want. This may include purchasing equipment and inventory, stocking up on office supplies, kickstarting your marketing efforts or covering other costs.

Potentially lower rates: Personal loans may charge less interest than other financing products, including credit cards if you carry a balance and small-business loans. And the interest is fixed, so your rate won’t change over the life of the loan.

Easier to qualify: If you’re just starting your business, you may have more luck qualifying for a personal loan than a traditional business loan. Business loans look at your company’s revenue and time in business, along with your personal credit score.

Personal loans are approved based on your credit score, income and existing debt. You can include multiple income sources — like earnings from a 9-to-5 job or rental properties.

» MORE: What’s required to qualify for a personal loan?

Fast funding: Most personal loans are funded the same or next day after you’re approved. This is faster than some business loans, which can take several weeks to fund.

Drawbacks of personal loans for business

Smaller loan size: Personal loans tend to have smaller maximum loan amounts (up to $75,000) than business loans, which can be in the millions. For a startup, a small loan might be just right. But if you own a larger company or plan on making big purchases, you may need more.

Shorter repayment terms: Most personal loan terms range from two to seven years. If you need a longer repayment term, you’re better off looking at business financing options like SBA loans. Those have the longest repayment terms, ranging from 10 to 25 years.

Harder to deduct interest: Interest paid on personal loans usually isn’t tax deductible, but there’s an exception for personal loans for business. The catch is you’ll need to ensure the loan is used only toward business expenses and provide supporting documentation. This is different from interest paid on business loans, which is typically tax deductible by default.

Compare personal loans vs. small-business loans

This table compares details for personal loans against small-business loans, not including SBA loans.

Estimate your monthly payments

Use our personal loan calculator to estimate your monthly payment based on the loan amount, estimated rate and term.

Annual percentage rates on personal loans range from 6% to 36%, with the lowest rates reserved for borrowers with strong credit. Borrowers with good credit who pre-qualified through NerdWallet in the last 30 days received an average rate of 19.51% , while those with fair credit received an average rate of 23.80% .

How to get a personal loan for business

1. Choose a lender and pre-qualify

To get a personal loan, pre-qualify with a lender that allows you to use the loan for business expenses. Most online lenders let you pre-qualify before submitting a formal application. Pre-qualifying means you can see potential loan terms without any risk to your credit score and compare offers between lenders.

» GET STARTED: Pre-qualify with multiple lenders for free on NerdWallet

2. Submit your loan application

Once you’ve pre-qualified, compared offers and decided on a lender, complete your application. You may have to submit documentation to verify your income, like a pay stub or tax return.

The lender conducts a hard credit pull at this stage. This will cause your credit score to temporarily drop a few points.

Approval decisions can be instantaneous or take a couple days, depending on the lender.

3. Get funded

Once approved, you’ll sign the loan documents and receive the funds in your account, sometimes as early as the same or next day.

Once funded, make a plan for how you’ll manage your payments over the life of the loan. Missing even one payment can trigger a late fee and hurt your credit score.

» MORE: How to manage your personal loan

Alternatives to personal business loans

Small-business loan: If your business is well-established and earning revenue, you may receive a larger amount with a small-business loan. When reviewing your application, small-business lenders prefer to see at least two years of operation.

» COMPARE: NerdWallet’s picks for the best small-business loans

Business line of credit: A business line of credit is a type of small-business loan but with more flexibility. It works like a credit card, letting you borrow up to a certain limit and then pay interest only on what you borrow. These are ideal for business owners who aren’t sure of the scope of their financial need.

» COMPARE: NerdWallet’s picks for the best business lines of credit

Business credit card: A business credit card offers revolving credit that’s ideal for short-term expenses. It may be easier to qualify for than a small-business loan. Business credit cards also offer rewards, like cash back or travel points, and help keep your business and personal finances separate.

» COMPARE: NerdWallet’s picks for the best business credit cards

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

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 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.

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