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5 best loans like LightStream
The best alternative providers to LightStream for personal loans.
LightStream, the personal loan arm of Truist, is a direct lender with some of the lowest interest rates in the market. If you get a lower offer from another lender, LightStream offers to beat that APR by 0.1%, as long as it meets LightStream’s terms and conditions.
Starting APR
Starting APR
With this perk, it may seem like LightStream is a go-to choice for those with excellent credit, but some borrowers may want to look elsewhere if they have a short credit history or recent changes in income.
Pros
- Competitive rates
- Loans up to $100,000
- No fees
- $100 loan experience guarantee
- Cosigners allowed
- Available in all 50 states
Cons
- Excellent credit required
- No loans under $5,000
- Hard to reach out to customer service by phone
Alternative sites like LightStream
Best for good credit: SoFi personal loans
680
Min. Credit Score
Min. Credit Score
5.99%
Starting APR
Starting APR
$100,000
Loan Amount
Loan Amount
SoFi might be best known for student loan refinancing, but it also offers personal loans at competitive rates to young professionals with strong credit. While it might not offer LightStream’s financial incentives, it provides its borrowers with support to grow their personal finances through career counseling, mentorship programs and unemployment protection.
While SoFi offers its loans for a variety of purposes, LightStream extends its lending to medical treatment, IVF, adoption or PreK-12 education. Both offer the same amount of funds — $5,000 to $100,000 and neither charge any fees, including late fees. The two also have competitive rates, though SoFi offers a choice between fixed rates from 5.99% to 18.64% and variable rates from 5.74% to 14.70% — including an autopay discount.
- Pay no fees
- Borrow up to $100,000 in funds
- Utilize its career resources
- Not available in Nevada or Mississippi
- Can’t apply with a cosigner
- Good to excellent credit required
| Loan Amount | $5,000 – $100,000 |
|---|---|
| APR | 5.99% to 18.28% |
| Interest Rate Type | Fixed |
| Min. Credit Score | 680 |
| Min term | 24 months |
| Max term | 84 months |
| Turnaround Time | Up to 30 days |
Disclaimer
Fixed rates from 5.99% APR to 18.28% APR (with AutoPay). SoFi rate ranges are current as of October 5, 2020 and are subject to change without notice. Not all rates and amounts available in all states. See Personal Loan eligibility details. Not all applicants qualify for the lowest rate. If approved for a loan, to qualify for the lowest rate, you must have a responsible financial history and meet other conditions. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on a variety of factors, including evaluation of your credit worthiness, income, and other factors. See APR examples and terms. The SoFi 0.25% AutoPay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. The benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account.
Fixed rates from 5.99% APR to 18.28% APR (with AutoPay). SoFi rate ranges are current as of October 5, 2020 and are subject to change without notice. Not all rates and amounts available in all states. See Personal Loan eligibility details. Not all applicants qualify for the lowest rate. If approved for a loan, to qualify for the lowest rate, you must have a responsible financial history and meet other conditions. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on a variety of factors, including evaluation of your credit worthiness, income, and other factors. See APR examples and terms. The SoFi 0.25% AutoPay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. The benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account.
Best for applying with a coapplicant: Upgrade personal loans
600
Min. Credit Score
Min. Credit Score
7.99%
Starting APR
Starting APR
$35,000
Loan Amount
Loan Amount
This online lender is one of the first lenders to use blockchain technology, making the application process faster, more transparent and safer. In addition to personal loans, it launched an option for a personal line of credit. While LightStream is great for large purchases, Upgrade’s loans skew smaller: $1,000 to $50,000. It has slightly more relaxed credit requirements, with a minimum credit score of 620 to apply. And instead of an annual income requirement, borrowers must have at least $1,000 available a month after paying bills and other expenses.
Upgrade’s rates are competitive, but not as competitive as LightStream’s. The rates can be high for lower credit borrowers. APRs range from 7.99% to 35.97% , including a 1% to 6% origination fee. It also only offers a choice between two loan terms: 3 to 5 years .
- Fast turnaround
- Free credit monitoring
- Loans as low as $1,000
- Origination fee
- Less choice in loan term
- No cosigners
| Loan Amount | $1,000 – $35,000 |
|---|---|
| APR | 7.99% to 35.97% |
| Interest Rate Type | Fixed |
| Min. Credit Score | 600 |
| Min term | 36 months |
| Max term | 60 months |
| Turnaround Time | Up to 5 business days |
Disclaimer
Personal loans made through Upgrade feature APRs of 6.98%-35.89%. All personal loans have a 1.5% to 6% origination fee, which is deducted from the loan proceeds. Lowest rates require Autopay and paying off a portion of existing debt directly. For example, if you receive a $10,000 loan with a 36-month term and a 17.98% APR (which includes a 14.32% yearly interest rate and a 5% one-time origination fee), you would receive $9,500 in your account and would have a required monthly payment of $343.33. Over the life of the loan, your payments would total $12,359.97. The APR on your loan may be higher or lower and your loan offers may not have multiple term lengths available. Actual rate depends on credit score, credit usage history, loan term, and other factors. Late payments or subsequent charges and fees may increase the cost of your fixed rate loan. There is no fee or penalty for repaying a loan early. Personal loans issued by WebBank, Member FDIC.
Best for borrowers looking for an online lender with a great reputation for customer service: Best Egg personal loans
640
Min. Credit Score
Min. Credit Score
Starting APR
$35,000
Loan Amount
Loan Amount
This online lending platform might not have LightStream’s years of experience, but it’s had a meteoric rise since launching in 2014. It offers quick loans with competitive rates to customers with good to excellent credit.
Its requirements are a little more lax than some of the other lenders on this list, including LightStream. The minimum credit score required is 640 and borrowers only need to make $25,000 a year to meet its income requirements. And when it comes to loans under $5,000, Best Egg can help: Its loans start at $2,000.
Like LightStream, Best Egg’s rates are competitive, ranging from 5.99% to 29.99% .
- Loans starting at $2,000
- Relatively low credit and income requirements
- No loans over $35,000
- No cosigners
- Not for residents of IA, WV, VT, PR or GU
| Loan Amount | $2,000 – $35,000 |
|---|---|
| APR | 5.99% to 29.99% |
| Interest Rate Type | Fixed |
| Min. Credit Score | 640 |
| Min term | 36 months |
| Max term | 60 months |
Disclaimer
*Trustpilot TrustScore as of November 2019. Best Egg loans are unsecured personal loans made by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, Member FDIC. “Best Egg” is a trademark of Marlette Funding, LLC. All uses of “Best Egg” refer to “the Best Egg personal loan” and/or “Best Egg on behalf of Cross River Bank, as originator of the Best Egg personal loan,” as applicable. The term, amount and APR of any loan we offer to you will depend on your credit score, income, debt payment obligations, loan amount, credit history and other factors. Your loan agreement will contain specific terms and conditions. The timing of available funds upon loan approval may vary depending upon your bank’s policies. Loan amounts range from $2,000–$35,000. Residents of Massachusetts have a minimum loan amount of $6,500 ; New Mexico and Ohio, $5,000; and Georgia, $3,000. For a second Best Egg loan, your total existing Best Egg loan balances cannot exceed $50,000. Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) range from 5.99%–29.99%. The APR is the cost of credit as a yearly rate and reflects both your interest rate and an origination fee of 0.99%–5.99% of your loan amount, which will be deducted from any loan proceeds you receive. The origination fee on a loan term 4-years or longer will be at least 4.99%. Your loan term will impact your APR, which may be higher than our lowest advertised rate. You need a minimum 700 FICO® score and a minimum individual annual income of $100,000 to qualify for our lowest APR. To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify you.
Best for borrowers with good credit who need at least $10,000: FreedomPlus personal loans
620
Min. Credit Score
Min. Credit Score
Starting APR
$40,000
Loan Amount
Loan Amount
Like LightStream, FreedomPlus lets you apply with a cosigner to meet requirements and qualify for a more competitive rate. It also offers a discount to borrowers who can prove they have more than $40,000 in retirement savings.
Looking for a loan to manage your credit card debt? This direct online lender offers personal loans for any use with an emphasis on debt consolidation. In fact, you’ll get a discount if you use at least half of your funds toward consolidating your debt. It’s part of Freedom Financial Network, which specializes in getting borrowers out of debt and includes Freedom Debt Relief and Bills.com.
FreedomPlus has a wide range of APRs from 6.99% to 29.99% — competitive if you have excellent credit, but could be pricy if you just make the credit score cutoff of 640. The APR includes an origination fee of up to 5%, which LightStream doesn’t charge. It also offers a much smaller range of loan amounts, from $7,500 to $40,000. Loan terms are also shorter, from 2 years to 5 years.
- Discounts for debt consolidation
- Cosigner allowed
- Low rates for excellent credit
- Not available in every state
- Limited range of amounts you can borrow
- Shorter loan terms
| Loan Amount | $7,500 – $40,000 |
|---|---|
| APR | 7.99% to 29.99% |
| Interest Rate Type | Fixed |
| Min. Credit Score | 620 |
| Min term | 24 months |
| Max term | 60 months |
| Turnaround Time | Total 3 days. 24 hours for approval, receive funds potentially 48 hours later |
Disclaimer
Disclaimer: To check the rates and terms you qualify for, a soft credit pull will be done that will not affect your credit score. However, if you choose a product/offer and complete a credit application, your full credit report will be pulled from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull, and may affect your credit.
All loans available through FreedomPlus.com are made by Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. All loan and rate terms are subject to eligibility restrictions, application review, credit score, loan amount, loan term, lender approval, and credit usage and history. Eligibility for a loan is not guaranteed. Loans are not available to residents of all states – please call a FreedomPlus representative for further details. The following limitations, in addition to others, shall apply: FreedomPlus does not arrange loans in: (i) Arizona under $10,500; (ii) Massachusetts under $6,500, (iii) Ohio under $5,500, and (iv) Georgia under $3,500. Repayment periods range from 24 to 60 months. The range of APRs on loans made available through FreedomPlus is 6.99% to a maximum of 29.99%. APR. The APR calculation includes all applicable fees, including the loan origination fee. For Example, a four year $20,000 loan with an interest rate of 15.49% and corresponding APR of 18.34% would have an estimated monthly payment of $561.60 and a total cost payable of $7,948.13. To qualify for a 6.99% APR loan, a borrower will need excellent credit on a loan for an amount less than $12,000.00, and with a term equal to 24 months. Adding a co-borrower with sufficient income; using at least eighty-five percent (85%) of the loan proceeds to directly pay off qualifying existing debt; or showing proof of sufficient retirement savings, could help you also qualify for the lowest rate available.
Best for borrowing with a cosigner: Laurel Road personal loans
680
Min. Credit Score
Min. Credit Score
7.50%
Starting APR
Starting APR
$45,000
Loan Amount
Loan Amount
Formerly known as Darian Rowayton Bank (DRB), Laurel Road offers personal loans to professionals with strong personal finances. Like LightStream, Laurel Road offers some of the most competitive rates out there, even if you aren’t a medical professional, with APRs ranging from 8.01% to 16.30% . It also doesn’t charge any origination fees or prepayment penalties — though it does charge late fees. If you’re looking for a loan less than LightStream’s minimum $5,000, Laurel Road might be a better choice, since its loans start at $1,000.
Its loans are especially geared toward doctors and dentists: They can qualify for even higher loan amounts and special rates. And if you’re a resident or in a fellowship, you can make $25 monthly repayments until you’ve completed your program. Unless you’re a doctor or dentist, Laurel Road might not be the best option for big-ticket expenses. It caps its loan amounts at $45,000 and offers a shorter range of loan terms, from 3 years to 5 years. You also need strong personal finances to qualify: It recommends that you make at least $60,000 a year, have a debt-to-income ratio of 40% or lower and requires a credit score of at least 680. Like LightStream, Laurel Road allows you to apply with a cosigner to increase your chances of getting approved with a lower rate.
- Competitive rates
- No origination or prepayment fees
- Discounts and higher amounts for doctors and dentists
- $45,000 maximum loan amount
- 680+ credit score required
| Loan Amount | $1,000 – $45,000 |
|---|---|
| APR | 7.50% to 24.75% |
| Interest Rate Type | Fixed |
| Min. Credit Score | 680 |
| Min term | 36 months |
| Max term | 60 months |
| Turnaround Time | As little as 2 business days |
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