Item: Upgrade
Rating: 5
Author: Jackie Veling

5.0

NerdWallet Rating

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🏆 2025 Best Personal Loan for Fair Credit

5.0

NerdWallet Rating

Est. APR

7.74 - 35.99%

Min. credit score

600

Time to fund

1 day

Loan amount

$1K - $50K

Loan term

2 to 7 years

Origination fee

1.85% to 9.99%

Disclosures from Upgrade

Overview

Upgrade personal loans are a good fit for borrowers looking to consolidate debt or fund a large expense, like a home improvement project.

Upgrade may have looser credit requirements than similar highly-rated lenders. Borrowers with fair to excellent credit can see if they qualify for an Upgrade personal loan with a soft credit check.

» MORE: Compare the best personal loans

What is the
Best-of award?

🏆 2025 Best Personal Loan for Fair Credit

🏆 2025 Best Personal Loan for Bad Credit

🏆 2024 Best Personal Loan for Bad Credit

🏆 2024 Best Personal Loan for Debt Consolidation

🏆 2023 Best Personal Loan for Bad Credit

🏆 2023 Best Personal Loan for Debt Consolidation

🏆 2022 Best Personal Loan for Bad Credit

🏆 2022 Best Personal Loan for Debt Consolidation

What the nerds think

"Upgrade has all the perks of a top lender, including multiple rate discounts, direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans and longer repayment terms on larger secured loans. Best yet, its lower credit score requirement means you may qualify even if you don’t have perfect credit."

Jackie VelingLead Writer

What Upgrade is best for

Best Debt Consolidation Loans

Best Secured Personal Loans

Best Personal Loans for Fair Credit

Detailed breakdown

Affordability

(25%)

4/5

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%)

4.5/5

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%)

4.5/5

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%)

5/5

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%)

5/5

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.

Overall

5/5

Read more about our ratings methodologies for personal loans.

Where Upgrade personal loans stand out

Multiple rate discounts: Upgrade offers more opportunities to lower your annual percentage rate than most of its competitors. Autopay discount: The lender offers a 0.5 percentage point discount for setting up automatic loan payments. Some lenders offer an autopay discount between 0.25 and 0.5 percentage points. This is a low-effort way to lower your APR slightly. Direct pay discount: For debt consolidation loans, Upgrade offers a rate reduction of 1 to 4 percentage points when you have the lender pay off your debts directly. At least half the loan funds must be sent to other creditors to get the discount. Not all lenders offer direct payment to creditors, which simplifies the consolidation process, and those that do may still not offer a rate discount. Rewards checking discount: Upgrade says customers with multiple Upgrade products (such as a checking account) may get up to 20% off of their personal loan rate. So if you qualify for a 30% APR, your rate could be as low as 24%.
Secured and co-signed loans: Borrowers can get a secured or co-signed loan through Upgrade. These loan types may be easier to qualify for or come with a lower rate than unsecured personal loans. Upgrade accepts a vehicle as collateral and says your secured loan rate could be 1 to 10 percentage points lower than an unsecured loan. Upgrade may also offer longer terms for loans secured with a home fixture.
Fast funding: Upgrade says it approves most personal loan applications within five minutes, and it can send the funds to your account in one business day. So if you need quick cash, you may be able to get the money within 24 hours, which is hard to beat even among online lenders that specialize in fast funding.
Wide variety of repayment terms: Upgrade offers multiple repayment terms to choose from, including two-, three-, four- and five-year terms. For loans over $15,000 that are secured by a home fixture, borrowers may qualify for six- or seven-year terms, which can help lower the monthly payments by spreading them out over a longer period.

Where Upgrade personal loans fall short

Origination fee: Upgrade charges an origination fee from 1.85% to 9.99%. The lender takes this fee from the loan proceeds, reducing the loan amount you receive. Be sure the amount is still enough to cover your expense once the fee is applied. Origination fees can impact the loan’s affordability because they increase your APR and may lower your loan amount or raise your monthly payments.
No option to choose payment date: When you get an Upgrade personal loan, the lender assigns a repayment date. Many lenders let borrowers choose a repayment date that works best with their pay schedule. Instead, Upgrade says borrowers can move their payment date multiple times throughout the year.

How to qualify

Upgrade’s borrower requirements may be softer than similar lenders, but the average borrower still has a higher score and relatively strong income. You can pre-qualify with Upgrade before you formally apply, so you won’t risk hurting your credit score. Upgrade personal loans are available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

» MORE: How to get a personal loan

Upgrade's borrowing requirements

Minimum credit score: 600.
Minimum annual income: None.
Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 75%, including mortgage payments.
Minimum credit history: 3 years and 1 account.
Must be a U.S. citizen and provide a valid Social Security number, email address, proof of residency and U.S. bank account.

Ready to check rates? See what rate you can get by pre-qualifying.

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Profile of an average Upgrade borrower

Credit Score

677

Annual Income

$105,000

Loan Amount

$12,500

Loan Purpose

Debt consolidation

Compare Upgrade to the best lenders

Personal loan lenders offer different rates, loan amounts and special features, so it pays to weigh other options. The best personal loan is usually the one with the lowest APR.

5.0	4.5	5.0	4.5
EST. APR 7.74% - 35.99%	EST. APR 8.74% - 35.49%	EST. APR 7.9% - 35.99%	EST. APR 6.49% - 24.89%
LOAN AMOUNT $1K - $50K	LOAN AMOUNT $5K - $100K	LOAN AMOUNT $1K - $60K	LOAN AMOUNT $5K - $100K
MIN. CREDIT SCORE 600 Check Rates	MIN. CREDIT SCORE None Check Rates	MIN. CREDIT SCORE 600 Check Rates	MIN. CREDIT SCORE 660 Check Rates