Compare Home Equity & HELOC Rates

Ten HELOC and home equity loan rates compared, from 6.74% to 8.49% — plus the three equity sharing agreements sold alongside them that are not loans.

The spread between the cheapest and dearest home equity rate on this page is 1.75 percentage points. On $100,000 drawn over ten years that is roughly $10,000, for the same money against the same house — which is why this is one of the few borrowing decisions where shopping genuinely pays. What makes it harder than it should be is that three of the products advertised alongside HELOCs are not loans at all. Equity sharing agreements take a share of your home's future value instead of charging interest, so they have no APR, cannot be ranked against a rate, and are listed separately below for that reason.

HELOC or Home Equity Loan?

A HELOC is a revolving line at a variable rate: you draw what you need during a draw period, usually ten years, then repay over a repayment period. A home equity loan is a lump sum at a fixed rate repaid on a schedule from day one. The choice is mostly about certainty against flexibility, and about what the money is for.

A renovation with an unknown final cost, or a cushion you may never draw, suits a line. A single known bill — a consolidation, a roof, a tax settlement — suits a fixed loan, because the rate cannot move underneath you and the payoff date is fixed at signing. Rates on the two are close enough today that the structure should decide it, not the headline.

• Most lenders will go to 80–85% combined loan-to-value; a few reach 90%+, and the rate rises with it.
• HELOC rates are usually quoted as prime plus a margin, so the published rate moves when prime does. The margin is the part you negotiate.
• Ask about the annual fee, the inactivity fee, and the early-closure fee. On a line you barely draw, those are the whole cost.
• Both are secured on your home. This is the cheap money precisely because the lender can foreclose, which is a reason to borrow less than you are offered.

HELOC and Home Equity Loan Rates Compared

Ranked by the rate each lender publishes. Every rate below is the lender's own figure and we re-check them on a schedule; confirm before you apply, because a variable rate quoted last week is not a promise made today.

The Three That Are Not Loans

Unison, Unlock and Splitero appear in the same searches and the same advertising units as everything above, and they are a different product. You take cash now in exchange for a share of what your home is worth when the agreement ends. There is no interest and no monthly payment, which is how they are marketed, and there is also no APR — so there is nothing to compare against the rates above, and no way to know the cost when you sign.

That cost is not small. On a home appreciating at historical rates, the share handed over frequently exceeds what a HELOC's interest would have come to over the same years. It is decided by the housing market rather than by a contract rate, which means the better your house does, the more the agreement costs you. Unison writes 30-year terms; the others are usually ten.

They exist for a real reason. A 550 credit score and no income verification will not get a HELOC anywhere on this page, and a homeowner with equity, no qualifying income and an urgent bill has few alternatives. If that is the position, these are worth understanding rather than dismissing. If it is not — if a HELOC above will approve you — compare in total dollars over the years you actually expect to hold it, and the loans usually win.

• No APR exists on these products. Any comparison against the rates above has to be done in total dollars over a horizon you choose.
• Ending one early normally means refinancing or selling; there is no amortisation schedule to pay down.
• Ask whether the appreciation share is capped. That single term matters more than anything on the marketing page.
• Get the settlement arithmetic in writing at three house-price scenarios: flat, up 3% a year, up 6% a year.

Key Takeaways

• The spread here is 1.75 percentage points — roughly $10,000 on $100,000 over ten years, for the same money against the same house.
• Bethpage FCU at 6.74% is the cheapest, and anyone can join for a $25 share account.
• Navy Federal's 6.99% fixed is the best fixed rate, if you are eligible; Connexus at 7.09% is the same idea without the eligibility hurdle.
• Discover's zero closing costs are worth about half a point on a mid-size loan, so compare total cost rather than rate.
• Equity sharing agreements from Unison, Unlock and Splitero are not loans, have no APR, and on a normally appreciating home often cost more than a HELOC would have.
• Checking a rate is a soft pull. Applying is a hard one, but all mortgage-type enquiries in a 45-day window count as a single inquiry.