Upstart Review

Upstart Loans Review Summary

Loans through Upstart typically have APRs of 6.6% - 35.99%, which is great for people with excellent credit as the minimum APR is on par with what most lenders offer. Borrowers can also take out loans of $1,000 - $75,000, the high end of which is great for debt consolidation, home renovations and more.

People with credit scores as low as 300 can qualify for loans through Upstart in most states. Additionally, most borrowers are instantly approved, and applicants may be able to get their funds in as little as one business day.

Below you’ll see how WalletHub rates loans through Upstart in our three major categories: Terms, Requirements & Application, and Reviews & Transparency. You’ll also find a comparison to other popular personal loan providers.

Upstart Rates, Fees & Other Terms

Category Rating: 66%  (3.3 out of 5)

• Typical APR range: Loans through Upstart have fixed rates with a typical APR range of 6.6% - 35.99%. These rates run high, relative to what many other lenders charge.
• How rates are determined: Upstart’s underwriting model uses machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to consider applicants based on variables like credit score, education, income and employment, among other factors.
• Fees: Loans through Upstart come with an origination fee of 0% - 12%, depending on your creditworthiness.
• Loan amounts & timelines: Loans through Upstart have dollar amounts of $1,000 - $75,000 with repayment terms of 36 months or 60 months.

Upstart Requirements & Application Info

Category Rating: 70%  (3.5 out of 5)

• Minimum credit score: You will need a credit score of at least 300 (in most states) to qualify for a loan through Upstart. Many other lenders on the market require a credit score of 660 or higher.
• Citizenship: You must be residing in one of the 50 U.S. states (military personnel on active duty are exempt from this rule).
• Identification: You must have a Social Security number, a verifiable name and date of birth, and a valid email address.
• Pre-qualification: You can check what loan rates you’re eligible for online. This process will not affect your credit score, though if you decide to apply for a loan afterward, there will be a hard pull of your credit history.
• No joint loans: You cannot add a co-borrower or co-signer to your application.
• Ways to apply: If you decide to apply for a loan through Upstart, the only way to do it is online.

Upstart Reviews & Transparency

Category Rating: 46% (2.3 out of 5)

• Better Business Bureau: Upstart is not rated by the BBB and is not accredited.

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Customers have only filed around 204 complaints about loans through Upstart with the CFPB. Some complaints include a person having a fraudulent Upstart account opened in their name and people being approved for different rates than they were estimated to receive in the pre-qualification process. Upstart usually gives “timely” responses to the complaints filed against them.

• WalletHub: Upstart has an average user rating of 3.0/5.

• Transparency: Upstart discloses the terms and requirements of their personal loans, but some information is hard to find on their website.

Overall, Upstart gets a decent score in this category because they have a positive reputation and are generally clear about their terms and requirements.

Summary: Loans Through Upstart Score by Review Category

Other Key Things to Know

• Age: You must be at least 18 years old.
• Minimum income: You will need an annual income of $12,000 or more from sources such as a job, a job offer, disability benefits or retirement funds, according to the company.
• Bank Verification: You must have a personal banking account at a U.S. financial institution with a routing transit number.
• Late Fee: $15 of the payment amount, whichever is greater.
• Prepayment Fee: Upstart does not have any prepayment fee.

Upstart Personal Loans vs. Popular Competitors

**SoFi Personal Loan Disclosure
Fixed rates from 7.74% APR to 35.49% APR. APR reflect the 0.25% autopay interest rate discount and a 0.25% SoFi Plus interest rate discount.

SoFi Platform personal loans are made either by SoFi Bank, N.A. or, Cross River Bank, a New Jersey State Chartered Commercial Bank, operating from its Delaware branch, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. SoFi may receive compensation if you take out a loan originated by Cross River Bank. These rate ranges are current as of 03/24/26 and are subject to change without notice. Not all rates and amounts available in all states. See SoFi Personal Loan eligibility details at https://www.sofi.com/eligibility-criteria/#eligibility-personal. Not all applicants qualify for the lowest rate. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed above and will depend on a variety of factors, including evaluation of your credit worthiness, income, and other factors.

Loan amounts range from $5,000–$100,000. The APR is the cost of credit as a yearly rate and reflects both your interest rate and an origination fee of 9.99% of your loan amount for Cross River Bank originated loans which will be deducted from any loan proceeds you receive and for SoFi Bank originated loans have an origination fee of 0%-7%, will be deducted from any loan proceeds you receive.

Autopay: The SoFi 0.25% autopay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. The benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account. Autopay is not required to receive a loan from SoFi.

SoFi Plus Discount: SoFi Plus members are eligible for an interest rate reduction of 0.25% on a Personal Loan. To be eligible for the discount, you must meet the SoFi Plus eligibility criteria within 31 days of the funding of your loan. For complete SoFi Plus eligibility, please see the SoFi Plus terms. When you enroll in SoFi Plus, the discount will lower the interest rate that applies to your loan only during periods in which you are enrolled in SoFi Plus. The discount will be removed during periods in which SoFi determines you are not enrolled in SoFi Plus. Each time your loan is re-amortized, your monthly payment amount will change based upon the interest rate that was in place. SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate this offer for unenrolled participants at any time. You are not required to enroll in SoFi Plus to be eligible for Loan approval.

Direct Deposit Discount: To be eligible to receive an additional (0.25%) interest rate reduction on your Personal Loan (your “Loan”), you must set up Direct deposit with a SoFi Checking and Savings account offered by SoFi Bank, N.A., or enroll in SoFi Plus by paying the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee, all within 30 days of the funding of your Loan. Once eligible, you will receive this discount during periods in which you have enabled Direct Deposit to an eligible Direct Deposit Account in accordance with SoFi’s reasonable procedures and requirements to be determined at SoFi’s sole discretion, or during periods in which SoFi successfully receives payment of the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee. This discount will be lost during periods in which SoFi determines you have turned off Direct Deposit to your Checking and Savings account or in which you have not paid for the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee. You are not required to enroll in Direct Deposit or to pay the SoFi Plus Subscription Fee to receive a Loan.

Direct Pay: Terms and conditions apply. Offer good for personal loan customers with credit cards and personal loans in their name only and subject to lender approval. To receive the offer, you must: (1) register and/or apply through this landing page; (2) complete a loan application with SoFi within 90 days of your application submit date; (3) meet SoFi’s underwriting criteria; (4) apply 50% or more of your loan proceeds directly to your lenders/creditors. Once conditions are met and the loan has been disbursed, the interest rate shown in the Final Disclosure Statement will include an additional 0.25% rate discount. SoFi reserves the right to change or terminate the Direct Pay Rate Discount Program to unenrolled participants at any time with or without notice. It takes about 3 business days for your creditor/lender to receive payment after your loan is signed. You will be responsible for making all required payments to avoid credit card and other loan fees.

To check the rates and terms you may qualify for, SoFi conducts a soft credit pull that will not affect your credit score. However, if you choose a product and continue your application, we will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull and may affect your credit.

Terms and conditions apply. SOFI RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. To qualify, a borrower must be a U.S. citizen or other eligible status, be residing in the U.S., and meet SoFi's underwriting requirements. Not all borrowers receive the lowest rate. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. If approved, your actual rate will be within the range of rates at the time of application and will depend on a variety of factors, including term of loan, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, and other factors. If SoFi is unable to offer you a loan but matches you for a loan with a participating bank, then your rate may be outside the range of rates listed above. Rates and Terms are subject to change at any time without notice. SoFi Personal Loans can be used for any lawful personal, family, or household purposes and may not be used for post-secondary education expenses. Minimum loan amount is $5,000. The average of SoFi Personal Loans funded in 2024 was around $33K. Information current as of 03/24/26. SoFi Personal Loans originated by SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLS #696891 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). See SoFi.com/legal for state-specific license details. See SoFi.com/eligibility for details and state restrictions.

Methodology

In order to provide the most accurate review of loans through Upstart, WalletHub used 17 key metrics grouped into three overall sections: Terms, Requirements & Application, and Reviews & Transparency. We rated each section on a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being the best, and then averaged the scores of the three sections to produce an overall rating for the loan.

1. The “Terms” section includes information about how expensive the loan is, including rates and fees. It also takes into consideration how much consumers can borrow and how quickly they must pay it back. For companies where typical APR and fee ranges differ greatly by state, we used data from the most populous state serviced by the company. Terms for loans through Upstart do not fluctuate significantly by state, however.
2. The “Requirements & Application” section examines how easy it is to apply for a loan and how long it takes to receive the money. It also looks at exactly who is eligible to apply.
3. The “Reviews & Transparency” section measures the lending platform’s reputation as well as how clearly the lender discloses its terms and requirements. This takes into account user reviews and information from watchdog organizations.

The average of these three scores reflects how close a loan offer is to WalletHub’s definition of a 5-star loan. For more information, please read WalletHub’s full methodology.

Your loan amount will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will qualify for the full amount. Minimum loan amounts vary by state: GA ($3,100), HI ($2,100), MA ($7,000).

The majority of borrowers on the Upstart marketplace are able to receive an instant decision upon submitting a completed application, without providing additional supporting documents, however final approval is conditioned upon passing the hard credit inquiry. Loan processing may be subject to longer wait times if additional documentation is required for review.

The full range of available rates varies by state. A representative example of payment terms for an unsecured Personal Loan is as follows: a borrower receives a loan of $10,000 for a term of 60 months, with an interest rate of 19.60% and a 6.90% origination fee of $690, for an APR of 23.22%. In this example, the borrower will receive $9310 and will make 60 monthly payments of $264. APR is calculated based on 5-year rates offered in March 2025. There is no downpayment and no prepayment penalty. Your APR will be determined based on your credit, income, and certain other information provided in your loan application. Not all applicants will be approved.

If you accept your loan by 5pm EST (not including weekends or holidays), you will receive your funds the next business day. When the funds will be available to you will depend on your bank’s transaction processing time and policies.

Although educational information is collected as part of Upstart's rate check process, neither Upstart nor its bank partners have a minimum educational attainment requirement in order to be eligible for a loan.

When you check your rate, we check your credit report. This initial (soft) inquiry will not affect your credit score. If you accept your rate and proceed with your application, we do another (hard) credit inquiry that will impact your credit score. If you take out a loan, repayment information may be reported to the credit bureaus.