Best Egg Personal Loans: 2021 Review
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Our Take
4.0
The bottom line: Best Egg personal loans are available to borrowers who want to consolidate debt and secure a loan, but they lack certain features offered by other lenders.
Full Review
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Offers wide range of loan amounts.
- Provides secured loan option for homeowners.
- Offers direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
Cons
- Charges origination fee.
- No rate discount for autopay.
- Borrowers can choose from only two repayment term options.
Compare to Other Lenders
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
Est. APR5.99 - 29.99% | Est. APR5.99 - 24.99% | Est. APR6.74 - 19.74% |
Loan Term3 to 5 years | Loan Term2 to 5 years | Loan Term3 to 6 years |
Loan Amount$2,000 - $50,000 | Loan Amount$5,000 - $40,000 | Loan Amount$3,500 - $40,000 |
Min. Credit Score640 | Min. Credit Score600 | Min. Credit Score660 |
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Full Review
Best Egg is an online lender that offers for borrowers with fair or good credit.
Best Egg personal loan amounts range from $2,000 to $50,000, though some states have different minimums, and repayment terms are three or five years. Borrowers can use their loan to consolidate debt or refinance credit cards, but you can also use the loan to cover large expenses.
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Direct payment to creditors: Best Egg sends loan payments directly to creditors if you’re . As with other lenders that emphasize debt consolidation, this feature takes the work of paying back individual creditors out of the borrower’s hands.
Wide range of loan amounts: Borrowers have the option to take out loans from $2,000 to $50,000, which gives you the flexibility to cover smaller expenses or larger costs associated with events like moving, home improvement projects or weddings.
Unsecured and secured loan options: Best Egg offers both unsecured and . The secured loan is similar to a , but it uses fixtures permanently attached to your home, like your water heater, ceiling fans or window shutters, as collateral instead of your entire house. Once approved, you can receive funding in one to three days. If a borrower fails to repay the loan, Best Egg can repossess the collateral.
Free credit score: Personal loan customers can access their credit score through their Best Egg account, which allows borrowers to see how on-time payments benefit their credit scores over time.
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Limited term lengths: Borrowers can choose a three- or five-year loan repayment term. These are somewhat common repayment terms for online lenders, but the limited offering doesn’t give you the option to choose a shorter term and pay less interest, or a longer one to lower your monthly payments.
No rate discount for autopay: Unlike other lenders, Best Egg doesn't offer an additional rate discount for setting up autopayments. Other lenders typically discount interest rates 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points to incentivize borrowers to set up autopayments.
Origination fee: Best Egg charges an origination fee ranging from 0.99% to 5.99%. Not all lenders charge an origination fee, but Best Egg’s fee is low compared with other lenders that charge one.
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Does not offer a mobile app: Contrary to other online lenders, Best Egg does not offer a mobile app to manage your loan.
In August 2020, Marlette, the parent company of Best Egg, with the Colorado attorney general’s office after the state alleged that the company partnered with out-of-state banks to offer rates above the state-mandated maximum.
Loan example: A three-year, $10,000 loan with a 17.4% APR would cost $359 in monthly payments. You’d pay $2,924 in total interest on that loan.
NerdWallet recommends comparing loans to find the best rate for you. Pre-qualifying may get you personalized rates from multiple lenders that partner with us, including Best Egg. Pre-qualifying won't impact your credit.
You can fill out an application on Best Egg’s website. After entering some personal information, you’ll be presented with loan options for which you pre-qualify.
on Best Egg's website
Personal Loans Rating Methodology
NerdWallet’s review process evaluates and rates personal loan products from more than 30 lenders. We collect over 45 data points from each lender, interview company representatives and compare the lender with others that seek the same customer or offer a similar personal loan product. 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. 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.
This methodology applies only to lenders that cap interest rates at 36%, the maximum rate most financial experts and consumer advocates agree is the acceptable limit for a loan to be affordable. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for our star ratings. Read our editorial guidelines.
