Finder maintains full editorial independence to ensure for our readers a fair assessment of the products, brands, and services we write about. That independence helps us maintain our reader's trust, which is what keeps you coming back to our site. We uphold a rigorous editorial process that ensures what we write and publish is fair, accurate, and trustworthy — and not influenced by how we make money.
We're committed to empowering our readers to make sound and often unfamiliar financial decisions.
We break down and digest information information about a topic, product, brand or service to help our readers find what they're looking for — whether that's saving money, getting better rewards or simply learning something new — and cover any questions you might not have even thought of yet. We do this by leading with empathy, leaning on plain and conversational language that speaks directly, without speaking down.
Checking your credit reports regularly can help keep you up-to-date on your creditworthiness, and also helps you to see if there’s been any fraudulent activity on any of your accounts.
Best place to get your credit reports for free
AnnualCreditReport.com is the only government-authorized place to obtain your official credit reports.
There’s no fee to use this site and AnnualCreditReport.com is authorized by the federal government. It is also your right as a consumer to view your credit reports for free at least once per year, but right now, you can request your credit reports from each of the three bureaus weekly with no fees.
Just keep in mind that AnnualCreditReport.com does not offer credit scores; it just offers credit reports.
There are plenty of apps and sites that offer to get your credit reports and scores. However, they might just generate “educational” credit scores (estimates) and might charge you to pull your reports.
Hot tip: You have a right to see your credit reports
Federal law protect a consumer’s ability to view their credit reports for free. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires the credit bureaus to provide consumers with at least one free credit report every 12 months (right now the bureaus are offering them weekly).
Will getting my free credit report hurt my credit?
No! You can check your credit scores and reports without penalty as frequently as you’d like. Doing so won’t negatively impact your credit score, because viewing your own credit reports is your right and it’s considered a soft pull.
Your requests for your credit reports and scores won’t be visible to anyone else besides yourself.
AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the best way to get your free credit report from all three major credit bureaus. It’s safe and authorized by the federal government. You can call, mail or visit the site to obtain your free weekly reports.
FICO. Your FICO score is a number within the range of 300 to 850 that signifies your credit worthiness. FICO is the most widely used credit scoring system in the US. You can get your FICO score from Equifax every month for free.
Experian. When you sign up for your free Experian account, you can get a free official FICO Score 8 as well as your official credit report.
Equifax. When you sign up for a free myEquifax account, you can get six free official Equifax credit reports each year. Equifax offers you a score based on the VantageScore 3.0 model, which scores your credit in a range from 300 to 850 like FICO.
VantageScore. VantageScore is is the alternative credit-scoring model to FICO. Your VantageScore factors in data such as payment history, depth of credit and balances, which comes from your credit reports with the three main credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Some providers, such as Credit Karma, use this model instead of FICO.
You’re legally allowed a copy of your credit report for free, so be wary of apps and providers that make you pay for it. And keep in mind that some providers only offer an educational credit score, which isn’t official, and uses a soft inquiry to make the calculations.
Even if you’re diligent in making your credit card and loan payments on time each month, it’s important to check your credit reports and scores frequently.
Keeping up with your credit reports not only helps you get an idea of your creditworthiness, but it can help you spot inaccuracies in the reports and where your pain points are.
Viewing your credit reports online through AnnualCreditReport.com is immediate after you verify your identity. If you want a mailed copy, you'll likely receive your credit reports within 15 days.
No. AnnualCreditReport.com can get your credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and credit reports are not the same as your credit score. Your credit score is generated from a credit report. If you want your FICO or VantageScore, you'll have to either go to FICO's website, or one of the credit bureau's websites to see your generated credit score.
A credit report, from a credit bureau, is a record of your borrowing history. A credit score is a three-digit number that is based on how good or bad your borrowing history is. A credit score is generated from your credit report. Learn more about how credit scores work.
There are two main credit scoring models: FICO and VantageScore. There are similar, but FICO is the most commonly-used model by lenders.
Frank Corva is business-to-business (B2B) correspondent for Bitcoin Magazine and formerly the cryptocurrency writer and analyst for digital assets at Finder. Frank has turned his hobby of studying and writing about crypto into a career with a mission of educating the world about this burgeoning sector of finance. He worked in Ghana and Venezuela before earning a degree in applied linguistics at Teachers College, Columbia University. He also taught writing and entertainment business courses in Japan and worked with UNICEF in Namibia before returning to the US to teach at universities in New York City. Earlier in his career, he spent years working as a publicist and graphic designer for record labels like Warner Music Group and Triple Crown Records. During that time, he was also a music journalist whose writing and photography was in published in Alternative Press, Spin and other outlets.
See full bio
Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto.
Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt.
Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others.
Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine.
See full bio
Bethany's expertise
Bethany
has written
450
Finder guides across topics including:
A good credit score falls in the 670 to 749 range. A credit score of 750 and above is considered very good or excellent.
Advertiser disclosure
Finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which Finder receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. Finder compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
