There are many fintech companies that offer personal loans to borrowers. Upgrade Inc. is one of the most famous companies amongst them all. Its customer services, quick response and lending time, and many other perks make it quite beneficial and desirable for many people out there. It is especially ideal for people whose credit scores are not so good, or who are now trying to rebuild their credit history.
There are some other famous companies too that give Upgrade Inc. hard competition. All of them have some variations in terms and rates that make them differ from each other.
We will provide a comparative analysis here with some of the best companies out there.
In a Glance:
| Upgrade Personal Loans | Best Egg Personal Loans | Prosper Personal Loans | SoFi Personal Loans | Lending Club Personal Loans | Marcus by Goldman Sachs | |
| Estimated APR | 6.95-35.97% | 5.99-35.99% | 7.95-35.99% | 6.99-22.23% | 6.34-35.89% | 6.99-24.99% |
| Repayment Term | 2 to 7 years | 2 to 5 years | 3 to 5 years | 2 to 7 years | 3 to 5 years | 3 to 6 years |
| Loan Amount | $1,000-$50,000 | $2,000-$50,000 | $2,000-$40,000 | $5,000-$100,000 | $1,000-$40,000 | $3,500-$40,000 |
| Required Credit Score | 560 | 600 | 600 | 680 | 600 | 720 |
| Origination Fee | 2.9% to 8% | 0.99% – 5.99% | 2.41% to 5% | 0 | 2% to 6% | 0 |
| Returned Check Fee/ Penalty Fee | $10 (late fee) | $15 | $15 (late fee) | $0, but late payments will result in higher interest accrual | Late fees | $0, but late payments will result in higher interest accrual |
| Direct payments to creditors after debt consolidation | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Prequalification with a soft pull | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time for fund lending after approval | 1-4 days | 1-3 days | 3-5 days | 1-5 days | 1-2 days | 1-3 days |
| Collateral for secured loans | Vehicles | Home fixtures instead of the entire property | Not applicable | Real estate/vehicle/bank investment documents | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Rate discount on autopay | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
Comparative Analysis:
If you look closely to compare the personal loans offered by all these companies, you will see that they all are good at some things and lack some others.
Upgrade is best for debt consolidation. And the best thing about it is that it caters to people with fair credit scores too. This makes it stand out amongst all the other companies, as you can judge from the chart above.
However, some companies like Marcus and SoFi do not charge any origination fee. Marcus is pretty good for the flexibility in payment options that it offers.
On the other hand, SoFiis great for borrowing higher amounts. But its required credit scores are pretty high too, which makes it ideal for people with good to excellent credit scores only.
Final Verdict:
At the end of the day, the choice of which company to choose for personal loans completely depends on the borrower’s needs and preferences. All of these companies offer different benefits. But with Upgrade, one thing that makes it absolutely amazing is its availability for people with credit scores as low as 560. This makes it more approachable and far more flexible than all other companies.
It is true that Upgrade’s origination fee is higher than others, but if you look past it, you will see that the company offers various discounts, secured loan options, and options to add a co-borrower that can also access the loan funds.
The benefits do not end here. Upgrade’s late fee penalty is also lesser than all other companies in comparison. So, if it charges on one end, it gives benefits and discounts to its users somewhere else.
Therefore, we can safely give 4.5 stars to Upgrade out of 5.
Jamie Johnson is a sought-after personal finance writer with bylines on prestigious personal finance sites such as Quicken Loans, Credit Karma, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bankrate, and The Balance. Over the past five years, she’s devoted more than 10,000 hours of research and writing to topics like mortgages, loans, and small business lending.