Warning: Late repayment can cause you serious money problems. For help, go to moneyhelper.org.uk.
Please note: High-cost short-term credit is unsuitable for sustained borrowing over long periods and would be expensive as a means of longer-term borrowing.
Designed as an alternative to traditional, payday-style loans, Creditspring offers you 2 interest-free loans per year, in return for a monthly subscription fee. Right now it’s pretty unique in doing this, however other loan companies are shaking up the short term loans market with innovative services and fast, flexible borrowing options. Here are some other loan companies like Creditspring – some of which offer a “line of credit” and some of which offer more traditional loans:
| Name | Established | Loan types | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Creditspring Membership | 2018 | Instalment loans through a membership scheme | More info |
 |
Fund Ourselves | 2016 | Peer-to-peer instalment loans | More info |
 |
Lending Stream | 2008 | Instalment loans | Go to site |
 |
Drafty | 2015 | Line of credit | Go to site |
 |
Polar Credit | 2019 | Line of credit | More info |
 |
SteadyPay | 2017 | Instalment loans through a membership scheme | More info |
Fund Ourselves (read review) is a direct lender (not a broker), which offers peer-to-peer instalment loans of up to £1,500 over shorter terms of up to 6 months. That's £500 more than Creditspring (although for new customers the maximum is £800) but with a lower representative APR of 1,310.4%. Peer-to-peer services bring together investors who want to lend money with borrowers who want to borrow money. In theory, peer-to-peer platforms have lower overheads and so can pass on lower interest rates. As with Creditspring, you can repay early at any point.
Fund Ourselves representative example: Borrow £300 for 106 days at a rate of 176% p.a. (fixed). Representative 1,310.4% APR and total payable £452.97 in 4 monthly payments of £113.24.
Next up, Lending Stream (visit site) is also a direct lender, which offers instalment loans of up to £1,500 over terms of up to 12 months. That's £500 more than Creditspring but with a lower representative APR of 1,333%. With instalment loans, you borrow for an agreed amount of time at a fixed interest rate, and pay back a set amount each month until the loan is cleared. You'll know in advance exactly how much your loan will cost and when it'll be cleared. You can repay early at any point.
Lending Stream representative example: Borrow £200 for 6 months at a rate of 292% p.a. (fixed). Representative 1,333% APR and total payable £386.61 in 6 monthly payments of £64.44.
Drafty (visit site) is another direct lender, which offers an ongoing line of credit and could let you borrow up to £3,000. That's £2,000 more than Creditspring but with a higher representative APR of 96.2%. A line of credit is a bit like an overdraft or credit card – you get a personalised credit limit and can borrow as much as you like whenever you like within that limit – so it's always available and, once set-up, is fast and convenient.
Drafty Representative Example: Assumed credit limit: £1200. Representative 96.2% APR (variable). Annual interest rate 69.4% (variable).
Polar Credit (read review) is a direct lender which offers an ongoing line of credit and could let you borrow up to £2,000. That's £1,000 more than Creditspring but with a higher representative APR of 68.7%.
Polar Credit Representative Example: Amount of credit: £1,200, interest rate: 49.9% pa (variable) and 1.65% transaction fee. Representative 68.7% APR (variable)
Finally, SteadyPay (read review) is our last direct lender, which, like Creditspring, offers instalment loans through a membership scheme of up to £1,000. That's the same maximum as Creditspring but with a higher representative APR of 91.26%. You can repay early at any point.
SteadyPay representative example: Total amount of credit of £300. Subscription £90 over 120 days. Representative APR 91.26% and total payable: £390.