EDITOR’S RATING
PROS
- Loans as high as $50,000
- No prepayment fees
- High customer satisfaction
- Low credit score requirement: 620
CONS
- APRs as high as 35.99%
- 0% - 8% origination fee
- Late fee: greater of 5% of payment or $15
- Can take up to 14 business days to get approved
Upstart Review Summary
Upstart loans offer APRs of 8.27% - 35.99%, which is not too ideal for people with excellent credit as their minimum is 2-3% above where many other lenders start. Borrowers can also take out loans of up to $50,000, which is great for debt consolidation, home renovations and more.
People with credit scores as low as 620 can qualify for Upstart loans, too, but applicants who barely meet the minimum requirements for approval might have to deal with an APR as high as 35.99%. Another downside to Upstart loans is that it can take as long as 14 business days to get a decision in some cases. It only takes 1 - 3 business days to get funded after approval, though.
Below you’ll see how WalletHub rates Upstart loans in our three major categories: Terms, Requirements & Application, and Reviews & Transparency. You’ll also find a comparison to other popular personal loan providers.
Upstart Personal Loan Terms
| |
| APRs | 8.27% - 35.99% |
| Loan Amount | $1,000 - $50,000 |
| Loan Terms | 36 or 60 months |
| Origination Fee | 0% - 8% |
| Prepayment Fee | None |
| Late Fee | 5% ($15 min.) |
| Minimum Credit Score | Bad* |
| Minimum Income | $12,000* |
| Loan Purpose | Debt Consolidation, Refinance, Home Improvement |
| Time to Receive Loan Money | 2 - 17 business days |
| Other Requirements |
|
*According to multiple third-party sources | |
Upstart Interest Rates, Fees & Other Terms
Category Rating: 3.3/5
Upstart interest rates have a range of 8.27% to 35.99%. Upstart’s interest rate maximum is one of the highest on the market, and their minimum is 1% to 2% above where many other lenders start. Each individual’s rate is based on a combination of factors such as credit score, income, purpose of the loan, education and more. All Upstart personal loans have fixed APRs. Your rate will never change.
Upstart loans may or may not have origination fees, depending on how creditworthy you are. An Upstart origination fee can be anywhere from 0% to 8% of the loan amount.
The fee for late payments is the greater of 5% of the payment amount or $15. However, there is a 10-day grace period before the late fee gets charged. Upstart does not charge a fee to customers who pay off their loan early.
Upstart offers ample funding, with loans that range from $1,000 to $50,000. Customers also have long payoff periods, at 36 or 60 months. However, while those are positive qualities, Upstart’s score in this category is held back by their high maximum APR and origination fee.
Upstart Loan Requirements & Application Info
Category Rating: 3.5/5
The Upstart credit requirement is a score of at least 620. That’s fairly low compared to many other lenders on the market, which require credit scores of 660 or higher. Upstart does not publicly disclose a minimum income requirement, but multiple third-party sources say that you will need to make at least $12,000 per year to qualify.
Anyone 18 or older who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a Social Security number can qualify for Upstart loans, as long as they also have a U.S. address and U.S. bank account.
You can check what Upstart 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 Upstart will do a hard pull of your credit. In order to apply for an Upstart loan, you must fill out the application online.
You cannot apply for Upstart loans with a cosigner, which is one of the areas where Upstart loses points in this category. They also get docked points for their application being online-only and for not accepting an ITIN or passport in place of an SSN.
Upstart Loan Reviews & Transparency
Category Rating: 3.3/5
- Better Business Bureau: Upstart gets a perfect score from the Better Business Bureau – an A+. And they’ve been accredited with the bureau since 2015.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Customers have only filed around 20 complaints about Upstart’s personal loans 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 4.3/5.
- 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: Upstart Loans Score by Review Category
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Rates, Fees & Other Terms | 3.3/5 |
| Requirements & Application Info | 3.5/5 |
| Reviews & Transparency | 3.3/5 |
| OVERALL | 10.1/15 |
Upstart Loans vs. Popular Competitors
| Info | Upstart |  LendingClub |  SoFi |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | |||
| APRs | 8.27% - 35.99% | 8.05% - 35.89% | 5.99% - 21% |
| Loan Amounts | $1,000 - $50,000 | $1,000 - $40,000 | $5,000 - $100,000 |
| Loan Terms | 36 or 60 months | 36 or 60 months | 24 - 84 months |
| Minimum Credit Score | Bad* | Fair* | Fair* |
| Winner | SoFi | ||
Methodology
In order to provide the most accurate review of Upstart personal loans, 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.
- 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 APR and fee ranges differ greatly by state, we used data from the most populous state serviced by the company. Terms for Upstart loans do not fluctuate significantly by state, however.
- 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.
- The “Reviews & Transparency” section measures the loan provider’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.
