Joshua Mayo
Product
Rating
Credit scores
Cost
Learn more
Credit.com
3.4 / 5
Free
Why we like it
Credit.com gives you access to your credit score from Experian, for free. You also get a personalized action plan which lets you track your debt and your payment history and their impacts on your score.
Pros
Cons
Experian CreditWorks
Free
Why we like it
You have the choice between CreditWorksSM Basic, which is free, or CreditWorksSM Premium, which is $24.99/mo. For most people, the basic plan will suffice. The basic plan gives you your Experian credit score and will also give you Experian and FICO® Score monthly credit reports.
Pros
Cons
myFICO
$19.95/mo
Why we like it
myFICO makes it easy to understand your credit with FICO Scores, credit reports, and alerts from all three bureaus. FICO® Scores are the only credit score used by 90% of top lenders. Although myFICO doesn’t offer any free plans, their paid plans come packed with incredible features such as $1 million identity theft insurance.
Pros
Cons
TransUnion
$24.95
Why we like it
TransUnion does not offer free credit scores or reports, so if you are looking for a free option, you should look elsewhere. However, if you are wanting more than a free credit score, the premium subscription comes packed with great features such as identity theft insurance, credit monitoring and theft alerts, and more.
Pros
Cons
CreditWise
4.4 / 5
Free
Why we like it
CreditWise is backed by Capital One and is completely free to use. Get access to features such as credit monitoring, dark web scans, and automatic alerts from two of the three credit bureaus—all for free.
Pros
Cons
Your credit score can be the deciding factor for many important decisions in your life. For example, if you want to open a new credit card, buy a house, or buy a car, you’ll need good credit to lock in the best rates. But how can you know if your credit is good?
That’s where credit tracking apps come into play. With most credit score site, you can check your credit scores completely free. Some websites, such as Credit Karma, even give you access to free credit reports.
Credit reports have traditionally only been available for free once per year through Federal programs such as AnnualCreditReport.com. Additional reports would have cost you a one-time payment of up to $30 or more. You now have access to these same reports whenever you want them—and for free.
We’ve evaluated the top credit score apps and sites and have ranked them here. We also offer advice on how to utilize a credit score app to help boost your credit score.
Let’s get started.
Credit score apps all work similarly. They pull credit information directly from one or more of the three major credit bureaus and display that information for you in an easy to understand way.
Let’s use Credit Karma as an example. Credit Karma gives you both your TransUnion and Equifax credit scores. Contrary to popular belief, the credit scores that you see on Credit Karma (and most credit score websites) are the actual scores from the credit bureau, not just estimates.
Credit score apps pull your credit information directly from the major credit bureaus. This explains why credit monitoring apps will often ask for your Social Security number and other personal information. They use this information to match you up with your credit file.
It’s important to note that the credit scores that credit tracking sites give you will vary. What does this mean? It means that one site may only offer you your Equifax score, another your TransUnion score, and another your FICO score. Some sites may provide you all of your scores, usually if you pay for a premium subscription.
For example, CreditWise only gives you your TransUnion score. Meanwhile, a paid subscription at myFICO will provide you with all of your credit scores—FICO, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
You should use a credit score app for the same reason you should be getting regular physical exams—to check your credit’s health. If there is an issue, you can quickly address it.
Even if you wish it weren’t the case, your credit score plays an important role in your life. It could be the deciding factor of something as simple as a credit card approval or something more serious like getting a job. Many employers will check your credit history and use that as a factor when deciding to hire you.
So what can you do about it? Check your credit score regularly using a credit score app. By keeping up with your score, you can be in the driver’s seat when you see changes to your credit file. What kind of changes might you ask?
For example, say you check your credit score for free using Credit Karma. One day you log in and find that your score has dropped from a 720 down to a 700—a 20 point drop. What happened?
You do some digging and discover that someone used your Social Security number to open a new personal loan. You can now quickly take the necessary steps to report the issue with the credit bureaus.
Using a credit score app not only helps you prevent yourself from identity fraud, but it can also serve as a reminder to continue being a good steward of your credit. By continually checking your score, you’ll end up subconsciously holding yourself accountable and wanting to improve it.
And what’s there to lose? Most credit tracking apps are free, anyway.
Our top pick for the best credit score app goes to Credit Karma. We find that Credit Karma’s easy-to-use user interface and robust features beat any other competitor’s website. To top it off, Credit Karma is 100% free—they never ask you for a credit card number.
Because most credit score apps pull your credit information directly from the credit bureaus, they will all be accurate. Therefore, the next question should be, which credit score app offers the most features, or at least the features you desire the most.
To answer this question, you must first decide on the type of credit score service you want to use. Do you only want a free credit score app, or would you be willing to pay for a premium service to get more features?
A premium credit tracking site, such as myFICO will always offer more features than a free website. For example, a subscription with myFICO comes packed with reports and scores from all three major credit bureaus, 28 FICO scores, $1 million identity fraud insurance, and 24/7 credit and identity monitoring, and more.
In contrast, a free credit score service such as Credit Sesame only includes your TransUnion credit score, no credit reports, and no premium features like fraud insurance.
If you want more features without having to pay a premium, you can use Credit Karma. Credit Karma gives you two credit scores for free, credit reports, credit monitoring, and more—all for free.
Credit monitoring is a service that notifies you of changes to your credit report. The primary purpose of credit monitoring is to detect suspicious activity to guard against identity theft. Many banks, credit card companies, and credit score websites offer credit monitoring services for free.
You should monitor your credit score to protect yourself against fraud or administrative errors made by credit bureaus. By getting notified early, you can quickly resolve any issues before they have any significant impact on your financial health.
No, frequently checking your credit score will not have any negative impact on it. Instead, your credit score is affected by six main factors: payment history, credit utilization, derogatory marks, age of credit history, total accounts, and hard inquiries.
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