Best Installment Loans in April 2026

Q: Does an installment loan hurt your credit?

It can. Unless you get a no-credit-check loan , your lender will pull your credit report when you apply. This can negatively affect your credit scores, albeit temporarily. Making your payments on time (every time) could improve your score down the line.

An installment loan comes as a lump sum that you’ll pay back in equal monthly payments

Written by Carol Pope

Edited by Amanda Push

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Best installment loan lenders

User rating	APR	Term	Amount
4.86/5 (1,592)	7.99% to 24.99%	36 to 84 months	$2.5k – $40k	See Results
Review coming soon	6.49% to 25.29% (With discounts)	24 to 84 months	$5k – $100k	See Results
Review coming soon	Starting at 6.95%	Not specified	Not specified	See Results
4.86/5 (1,592)	6.70% to 35.99%	36 to 60 months	$1k – $50k	See Results

Lender
User rating	4.86/5 (1,592)	Review coming soon	Review coming soon	4.86/5 (1,592)
APR	7.99% to 24.99%	6.49% to 25.29% (With discounts)	Starting at 6.95%	6.70% to 35.99%
Term	36 to 84 months	24 to 84 months	Not specified	36 to 60 months
Amount	$2.5k – $40k	$5k – $100k	Not specified	$1k – $50k
	See Results	See Results	See Results	See Results

Read more about how we made our picks for the best installment loans.

Best installment loan lenders at a glance

Best for: Superior customer service – Discover

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Repayment assistance options to help get you back on track if you fall behind
4.9 out of 5.0 stars from LendingTree users
Customer service is based in the U.S.

Can’t add a second person to your loan
Can be hard to qualify for

You might know Discover for its credit cards, but it also offers unsecured installment loans. What helps Discover stand apart are its repayment assistance options.

But qualifying for a Discover loan can be hard. You can’t add a second person to your loan to help your approval odds and you must have good to excellent credit.

You’ll need to meet these eligibility criteria to get a Discover loan:

Age: Be at least 18
Citizenship: Have a Social Security number
Administrative: Have a physical address, email address and internet access
Income: Minimum income of $40,000 (individually or as a household)
Credit score: 599+

Best for: No fees and low rates – LightStream

Low starting APR for those who qualify
No fees
Offers Rate Beat, a rate-matching program

Must have at least good credit to qualify
Can’t check rates without hurting your credit
Must borrow at least $5,000

LightStream (an arm of Truist Bank) offers online loans for borrowers with good to excellent credit. This lender is so confident in its competitive APRs that it has a rate-matching program. If you get a similar loan offer with a lower APR and meet other stipulations, LightStream could beat it by 0.10 percentage points.

Unfortunately, you cannot prequalify for LightStream. That means you’ll take a hard credit hit to check your eligibility.

LightStream doesn’t specify its exact credit score requirements, but you must have good to excellent credit to qualify. Most of the applicants that LightStream approves have the following in common:

At least five years of on-time payments under a variety of accounts (credit cards, auto loans, etc.)
Stable income and can handle paying their current debt obligations
Savings, whether in a bank account, investment account or retirement account

Best for: Small installment loans – PenFed Credit Union

Offers a wide range of loan amounts
Competitive rates
Doesn’t charge any upfront fees

Must join the credit union to borrow

As a credit union, you can find lower-than-average interest rates with PenFed. It also offers small loans. Most lenders start their loans at $1,000 (or higher). In contrast, PenFed’s smallest installment loan is Not specified.

However, PenFed loans are only available to members.

You can prequalify before you’re a member, but you’ll need to join to accept your loan. All you have to do to join is open a savings account with a minimum deposit of $5.

PenFed doesn’t shed much light on its loan eligibility criteria. It may ask for bank statements, retirement statements, pay stubs or tax returns to verify your income.

Best for: Bad or no credit – Upstart

Accepts bad credit
May still qualify with little to no credit
Next-day loans possible

Could have an origination fee
Only offers two loan repayment terms
Although you may be approved with bad credit, your interest rate could be high

Getting an installment loan when your credit isn’t great can be tricky. You might have luck with Discover.

This loan marketplace, which works with partner banks and credit unions, considers more than just your credit score. In some cases, your education can help you get approved, even if you have no credit.

However, if you do have bad credit, you’ll likely pay a high APR, an origination fee or both.

Discover has transparent eligibility requirements, including:

Age: Be 18 or older
Administrative: Have a U.S. address, personal banking account, email address and Social Security number
Income: Have a valid source of income, including a job, job offer or another regular income source
Credit-related factors: No bankruptcies within the last three years, reasonable number of recent inquiries on your credit report and no current delinquencies
Credit score:

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When banks compete, you win
Terms to know when comparing installment loans
Where to find an installment loan
Installment loan alternatives
How we chose the best installment loans
Frequently asked questions

What is an installment loan?

An installment loan is a loan that you get as a lump sum and then pay back in fixed monthly payments, plus interest. Personal loans, mortgages, auto loans and student loans are all types of installment loans. We’re focusing on personal loans in this article.

When banks compete, you win

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Having a hard time getting approved?

It’s not impossible to get an installment loan with bad credit. Shop with lenders known to offer bad credit installment loans. Consider taking out a joint loan with someone who has good credit to improve your odds. Offering collateral on a secured loan might also help.

Terms to know when comparing installment loans

When you’re in the market for a big-ticket item, you shop around, right? The same logic applies to personal installment loans. You can’t know if you’re getting the most competitive rate if you don’t compare offers. The definitions below might help while you review your options.

APR: An APR measures the total cost of your loan, including interest and fees. The higher the percentage, the more expensive the loan.

Repayment term: This is the length of time you’ll have to pay off your loan. Since you’ll have more time to spread your balance across, a longer loan term can give you lower monthly payments. On the flip side, a short term means you could pay less overall interest.

Loan amount: Double-check your loan amount before accepting an offer. An installment loan is a lump sum of money. If your loan doesn’t cover what you intended, you’re out of luck unless you get another loan.

Fees: Many installment loans come with fees, the most common being an origination fee. This is an upfront fee that the lender will deduct from your loan amount. Some lenders only charge this fee to bad-credit borrowers. Others apply one to every loan or skip them altogether.

Funding timeline: Lenders have two funding timelines — one for loan approval and one for how quickly it can release your funds (called loan disbursal). You may want to ask the lender if it can send your loan via direct deposit as this is typically the fastest method.

Where to find an installment loan

Knowing where to shop is the first step in finding an installment loan that works for you.

Banks

Your bank can be a great place to get an installment loan. Although eligibility requirements with banks can be strict, you could get a relationship discount if you qualify.

Note that some banks have discontinued their personal loan options in recent years. These include Bank of America, Chase and Capital One.

Below you’ll find some of the most popular banks that offer installment loans with APR discounts. This list isn’t all-inclusive, so contact your bank for more information.

Bank	APR discount
	0.25% to 0.50% for autopay from a Wells Fargo checking account
	0.50% for autopay, 0.25% for existing Relationship Tier customers
	0.50% for autopay from a U.S. Bank account
	0.25% for autopay from a PNC checking account
	0.25% for autopay from a Fifth Third checking account
	0.15% to 0.50% for existing customers and/or autopay through an M&T checking account

Credit unions

Credit union membership comes with perks. Like banks, they often offer APR discounts for autopay. But unlike banks, APRs on federal credit union personal loans cannot exceed 18% per federal law.

Additionally, credit unions are nonprofits and frequently follow a mission to help their members achieve their financial goals. Your credit union may be willing to look past an imperfect borrowing history.

Online lenders

One of the easiest ways to get an installment loan is through an online lender. You apply from the comfort of your own home, and many do business with borrowers of all credit scores. But while getting an online loan can be easier than getting a bank loan, online loans tend to come with higher rates and more fees.

Installment loan alternatives

A loan can be a tool that helps you reach your financial goals. For some, an installment loan might not be the right tool for the job.

Credit card

Since a loan provides a lump sum of cash, a credit card makes more sense if you need money on an ongoing basis.

Paycheck advance app

Paycheck advance apps can be easy to use, which makes them risky. Still, they can get you out of a bind if you need cash between paychecks.

Loan from friend or family

Borrowing from a friend or family member can be a better alternative to a bad credit installment loan (since these come with high APRs). If you take this path, write up a personal loan agreement and stick to it to avoid damaging your relationship.

How we chose the best installment loans

We reviewed more than 40 lenders and loan marketplaces to determine the overall best nine installment loans. To make our list, lenders must offer installment loans with competitive APRs.

From there, we assessed each lender or marketplace across four categories: eligibility and access; cost to borrow; loan terms and options; repayment support and tools.

According to our standardized rating system, the best installment loans come from Achieve, Discover, Happy Money, LightStream, PenFed Credit Union, Prosper, SoFi, Upgrade and Upstart.

Our categories

Eligibility and access (30%)

We assess how easy it is for people to qualify and apply. This includes state availability, soft-credit prequalification, membership requirements, funding speed and whether borrowers with less-than-excellent credit can get a loan.

Cost to borrow (35%)

We evaluate how affordable the loans are based on minimum and maximum APRs, loan fees and rate discounts. Lenders with unclear or potentially predatory costs receive lower scores.

Loan terms and options (20%)

We consider repayment term flexibility, loan amount ranges and whether options like secured loans, joint loans or direct-to-creditor payments are offered — plus whether the lender clearly communicates these options.

Repayment support and tools (15%)

We evaluate borrower experience after funding: customer service access, hardship or forbearance programs, payment flexibility and digital tools like mobile apps or credit monitoring.

Our process

We gather data directly from companies through their websites, disclosures and direct communication with company representatives. Our editorial team verifies and updates information regularly. We value transparency and award less favorable scores when lenders obscure or omit details.

Our editorial team applies the same scoring model and standards to every lender. Lenders cannot pay to influence our ratings. Read more about our editorial guidelines.

Why trust our methodology?

LendingTree’s writers and editors diligently vet dozens of lenders to narrow down which ones offer the most affordable rates and a customer-centered experience. We have ongoing conversations with loan companies to ensure accuracy and collect first-person feedback to understand the holistic process of getting and repaying a loan.

Using my financial health counseling certification, I’m here to walk you through the important — and sometimes stressful — process of understanding your personal finances and credit.

Amanda Push

LendingTree deputy editor and certified financial health counselor

Amanda’s experience in editing and financial education helps shape LendingTree articles that are clear, accurate and truly useful to readers. Her certification means our recommendations are built on a foundation of consumer-first financial knowledge — not just numbers.

Frequently asked questions

It can. Unless you get a no-credit-check loan, your lender will pull your credit report when you apply. This can negatively affect your credit scores, albeit temporarily. Making your payments on time (every time) could improve your score down the line.

The easiest installment loans are typically the most expensive ones. These include no-credit-check loans, payday loans, title loans and pawn shop loans. If you have bad credit, consider online lender Discover or a paycheck advance app instead.

Installment loans can be handy, but they’re just another form of debt. You’ll pay to borrow through interest and fees. That’s not to say that an installment loan is always a bad idea. Just know what you’re getting into before signing on the dotted line.

Not always. Even if you have fair credit (or worse), you might qualify for installment loans online from lenders like Discover or . However, the most competitive rates generally go to borrowers with good credit or better. If you have rocky credit, expect to pay high APRs.

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