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Borrowing, Ranked on What the Lender Publishes

Personal loans, private student loans and student loan refinancing compared on published rates, origination fees, and who actually lends the money.

How these lenders are ordered

Not every company on this page lends money. A direct lender publishes its rates and fees, underwrites you, and funds the loan. A rate marketplace shows several lenders' real offers from one soft credit pull and is paid by whichever lender funds you. A lead generator collects your application and sells it on; it publishes no rates or fees because it has none. That distinction decides the order first. Within each group the worst origination or administration fee the company publishes breaks the tie, then the lowest fixed rate it will put in writing. A company that publishes neither sorts below every company that publishes either.

Personal loans

Fixed-rate instalment loans, most often used to consolidate credit card balances. The number that decides whether one is worth taking is the origination fee, because it is deducted from what you receive rather than added to what you repay: a 9.99% fee on a $20,000 loan means $18,002 arrives and $20,000 accrues interest.

Private student loans

For the gap left after federal aid, and only for that gap. File the FAFSA and exhaust subsidised and unsubsidised federal loans first: they carry income-driven repayment, forbearance and forgiveness that no private lender offers. A cosigner is usually what sets the rate a student is offered.

Student loan refinancing

Refinancing replaces existing loans with one new private loan. Refinancing a federal loan converts it to a private loan permanently: you give up income-driven repayment, federal forbearance, Public Service Loan Forgiveness and any future federal cancellation, and no lender can give them back. Refinance private loans freely; refinance federal loans only if you are certain you will never need any of that.

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