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The Best Online Personal Loan Rates and Offers

If you need a loan, we’ve put together this list of the best online personal loan rates available today. We include both traditional lending and peer-to-peer options.

Not too long ago there was one option for those needing a personal loan–the local bank. The application process was long and tedious. It was difficult and time consuming to compare rates. And fees were often extremely high.

P2P lending sites and other online financial institutions have changed the way we shop for a personal loan. These sites allow you to build a custom loan without having to go through the often grueling underwriting process for which banks have become infamous. Furthermore, you can usually complete the entire process online. It eliminates uncomfortable and inconvenient face-to-face meetings with loan officers.

In this article we’ll cover five leading online unsecured loan options. For each will look at their interest rates, loan terms, fees, and credit score requirements.

Why Get a Personal Loan

The number one reason consumers get personal loans is to refinance existing debt. Lowering your interest rates is a smart way to reduce your monthly payment and shorten the time it takes to become debt free. For those looking to transfer high interest credit card debt to a 0% card, you’ll find several options here. For those looking to refinance other types of debts, the options below are your best bet.Beyond refinancing, many seek unsecured loans to consolidate several debts into one convenient loan. This too can be a smart move, although you need to always keep the interest rates and fees in mind. You don’t want to opt for the convenience of a loan consolidation if it’s going to increase your cost of borrowing.

How to Choose the Best Option

As you read through the options below, you can use this guide on how to choose the best option for you:

Excellent Credit: For those with excellent credit and a good income, SoFi is the best choice. It offers the lowest rates, fixed and variable rate loans, no fees, and protections should you lose your job.

Good Credit: If you have good credit, LendingClub is a smart option. Their minimum credit score is 660.

Average Credit: For those with average credit, both Prosper and Upstart may be a good fit.

Small Business Loans: All of the lenders on this list provide lending to individuals looking to fund a small business. Funding Circle, however, specializes in business loans.

Another Information

Best Online Personal Loan Options

. LendingClub

LendingClub is perhaps the best known of all P2P lending platforms and generally gets the highest rating. The platform is virtually synonymous with P2P lending for a reason. The site has made loans worth $22 billion dollars since it started in 2007, with most offering rates and terms better than what you can get at a bank.

The entire application process takes place on the website and is completely anonymous. In fact, investors typically buy “notes,” which are small slivers of many loans, rather than funding an entire loan at once. So many investors, possibly even hundreds, will chip in.

You can borrow as much as $40,000 at interest rates between 6.195%-35.89% APR, with terms of between 36 and 60 months. LendingClub has no application fees or prepayment penalties, though you do have to pay an origination fee of between 1% and 6% of your loan amount. Rates are based on a credit grade that the platform assigns you based on your credit score, the loan amount, and other factors.

LendingClub offers debt consolidation, personal loans, medical loans (up to $50,000), Auto Refinancing, or Business Loans. Business loans can be for up to $300,000 at rates as low as 6.95% APR to as high as 35.89% APR and origination fees of between 1% and 6%. To qualify for a business loan, you must be in business for at least two years, have more than $75,000 in annual sales, own at least 20% of the business, have fair or better credit, and no recent bankruptcies or tax liens. LendingClub requires no collateral for loans of less than $100,000, and has no requirement for appraisals, business plans, or business projections.

LendingClub Summary:

Interest Rates: 6.95%-35.89% APR

Loan Amount: $1,000 to $40,000

Loan Terms: 3 or 5 years

Fees: 1% to 6%

Prepayment Penalty: No

Credit Needed: Minimum Credit Score of 600

To Get Started: Visit Lending Club

.Prosper

Prosper is another popular P2P lending platform, so much so that it is often mentioned in conjunction with LendingClub. Prosper launched its P2P platform in 2005, two years before LendingClub. In that time, it has made over $4 billion in loans to more than a quarter million borrowers. Prosper makes loans in all states except Iowa, Maine, and North Dakota.

Loan amounts range from $2,000 to $40,000, with rates between 6.95% and 35.99% APR. Origination fees are between 2.4% and 5% of the loan amount, and there is no prepayment penalty. Loan terms are either 36 or 60 months. All their loans are fixed rate and self-amortizing. Loans are unsecured and can be used for any purpose.

You create a loan listing on the site, which is a request for a loan from investors. Much like LendingClub, Prosper assigns you a credit rating which forms the basis of the rate you are charged for your loan. Prosper will fix the rate once your loan investors fund your loan and you pass Prosper’s verification process.

Prosper Summary:

Interest Rates: 6.95% to 35.99% APR

Loan Amount: $2,000 to $40,000

Loan Terms: 3 or 5 years

Fees: 2.4% to 5%

Prepayment Penalty: No

Credit Needed: Minimum Credit Score of 640

To Get Started: Visit Prosper