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Upstart 2025 Personal Loan Review

Last updated on August 29, 2025
Jackie Veling
Written by 
Lead Writer & Content Strategist
Kim Lowe
Edited by 
Head of Content, Personal & Student Loans
Fact Checked
Jackie Veling
Written by 
Lead Writer & Content Strategist
Kim Lowe
Edited by 
Head of Content, Personal & Student Loans
Fact Checked

Many or all of the products on this page are from partners who compensate us when you click to or take an action on their website, but this does not influence our evaluations or ratings. Our opinions are our own.

Our Take

4.5

NerdWallet rating
The Nerdy headline:

Upstart personal loans offer fast funding and may be an option for borrowers with low credit scores or thin credit histories. Upstart is a solid choice for financing large purchases.

Jump to:Full Review
Upstart

Est. APR
6.70-35.99%
Loan amount
$1,000 - $75,000
Min. credit score
None
on NerdWallet

Pros

  • Accepts borrowers from across the credit spectrum.
  • Same- or next-day funding.
  • Has a secured loan option.
  • Wide range of loan amounts.

Cons

  • Charges an origination fee.
  • Only two repayment term options.
  • No joint or co-signed loans.
  • No direct payment to creditors with debt consolidation loans.
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Full Review

Upstart is an online lending platform that connects borrowers with banks and credit unions to fund personal loans. It differentiates itself from other online lenders with its underwriting model that uses artificial intelligence and nontraditional data — like college education and work experience — to qualify borrowers.

Upstart personal loans at a glance

Minimum credit score

None.

APR

6.70% - 35.99%.

Fees

  • Origination: 0% to 12%.

  • Late fee: 5% of the unpaid amount or $15, whichever is greater.

  • Insufficient funds fee: $15.

Loan amount

$1,000 to $75,000.

Repayment terms

3 or 5 years.

Time to fund after approval

1 business day.

  • The full range of available rates varies by state. A representative example of payment terms for an unsecured Personal Loan is as follows: a borrower receives a loan of $10,000 for a term of 60 months, with an interest rate of 18.60% and a 8.51% origination fee of $851, for an APR of 23.07%. In this example, the borrower will receive $9149 and will make 60 monthly payments of $258. APR is calculated based on 5-year rates offered in December 2024. There is no downpayment and no prepayment penalty. Your APR will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will be approved.

Where Upstart personal loans stand out

Alternative data use: Many personal loan lenders primarily rely on credit and income to make an approval decision, but Upstart includes details like college education and work history in its borrower evaluations. The lending platform says its nontraditional underwriting model helps approve more applicants at lower rates.

Accepts borrowers from across the credit spectrum: Upstart considers applicants with thin credit histories or no credit score. If an applicant has a credit score, Upstart accepts scores as low as 300, meaning the lender effectively doesn't have a minimum credit score requirement.

Fast approval and funding: Upstart says most borrowers receive an instant approval decision after applying. Once a borrower is approved, it funds loans as fast as one business day. That means borrowers could go from application to funding in one day, which is hard to beat.

Secured loan option: Bad-credit borrowers may increase their chances of qualifying for a personal loan or getting a lower rate by securing the loan with collateral. Upstart allows borrowers to use a vehicle they own as collateral for a secured loan.

Wide range of loan amounts: Upstart’s loans are very flexible, ranging from $1,000 to $75,000. Though some other lenders may offer loans up to $100,000, they tend to have higher starting amounts, so they’re not a good fit for smaller expenses. Upstart’s wide range means you can use its loans to cover small, medium or large expenses.

Where Upstart personal loans fall short

Origination fee: Some lenders that use Upstart’s online lending platform charge an origination fee, which is common with personal loans. However, Upstart’s maximum origination fee of 12% is higher than most lenders, which tend to fall under 10%. This origination fee will be deducted from the loan amount before the funds are disbursed.

Only two repayment terms: Upstart borrowers can only choose from two repayment options — three years or five years — to repay their loan. Most lenders offer three or more terms to choose from, which lets you better customize the monthly payment. This flexibility may be especially important for larger loans.

No joint or co-signed loans: Upstart offers unsecured and secured loans only. Adding a co-signer or co-borrower to an application can help borrowers who may not otherwise qualify get a personal loan or a lower rate.

No direct payment to creditors: When you consolidate debt with an Upstart loan, there’s no option to have the funds sent directly to creditors. This is a common perk among lenders, since having your lender pay off your credit cards for you helps simplify the process.

Our expert take:

“Upstart’s underwriting model is certainly unique, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find another reputable lender that accepts borrowers without a credit score. But the potential origination fee and having no available rate discounts may translate to higher rates overall, so I recommend pre-qualifying first to see if you get a competitive offer.”

Jackie Veling, Lead Writer

How to use Upstart personal loans

You can use an Upstart personal loan for:

  • Debt consolidation.

  • Credit card consolidation.

  • Home improvement.

  • Medical/dental.

  • Emergency expenses (car repair, vet bill, etc).

  • Vacation.

  • Wedding.

  • Funeral.

  • Business expenses.

  • Auto/motorcycle/RV/boat financing.

  • Other large purchases.

Upstart prohibits the use of its personal loans for:

  • Higher education/college tuition.

  • Investing.

  • Gambling.

  • Illegal activities.

Do you qualify for an Upstart personal loan?

Upstart’s nontraditional approach to underwriting means there are few credit-related requirements to get a personal loan. Upstart says those with all types of credit profiles and income levels may qualify. Upstart loans are available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Upstart’s borrowing requirements

  • Minimum credit score: None.

  • Minimum annual income: None.

  • Must have a valid U.S. bank account, U.S. residential address and email address.

  • Must provide a valid Social Security number. 

  • Must have no bankruptcies in past three years.

  • Must provide a verifiable source of income.

  • Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 50%, not including rent or mortgage, in most states.

How we rate Upstart

NerdWallet writers and editors rate lenders against a rubric that changes each year based on how personal loan products evolve. Here’s how we scored Upstart this year:

Category

Star rating

Affordability

Customer experience

Underwriting and eligibility

Application process

Loan flexibility

Overall

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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

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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