Best Long-Term Personal Loans in 2026

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User rating	APR	Term	Amount	Min. credit score	See Results
4.86/5 (1,592)	7.99% to 24.99%	36 to 84 months	$2.5k – $40k	599	See Results
Review coming soon	6.99% to 21.19% (fff)	24 to 240 months	$5k – $100k	Not specified	See Results
Review coming soon	Starting at 6.95%	Not specified	Not specified	499	See Results
4.86/5 (1,592)	6.70% to 35.99%	36 to 60 months	$1k – $50k	Not specified	See Results

Read more about how we made our picks for the best long-term personal loans.

Long-term personal loans at a glance

Best for: Long loans with excellent customer service – Discover

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Has earned 4.9/5.0 stars from LendingTree users
Financial assistance options available in times of hardship
U.S.-based customer service available seven days a week, including extended weekend hours

Can’t apply for a loan with another person
With a maximum loan amount of $40,000, might not provide the amount of money you need

Unless you pay off your loan early (or refinance your loan), you could be stuck with your lender for years, making it important that you’re happy from the start. After having worked with the lender, 97% of LendingTree users recommend Discover. And if you’re having trouble keeping up with your loan, it offers multiple assistance options to help get you back on track.

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: Long home improvement loans – LightStream

Could have up to 240 months to pay back your home improvement loan
Might get money the same day that you apply
LightStream may beat a competitor’s rate if you get a better offer elsewhere

Can’t check rates without dinging your credit
Need at least good credit to qualify
Can’t change your due date if you need extra time

Home improvement projects can be expensive, and a longer loan term can help you fit a large loan into your budget. With LightStream, you can borrow up to $100,000 and have up to 240 months to pay it back.

General personal loans from LightStream come with shorter terms (84 months max). That’s still longer than many lenders. However, LightStream doesn’t offer prequalification. That means you’ll have to take a hard credit hit to see if you’re eligible.

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 the ability to pay their current debt obligations
Savings, whether in a bank account, an investment account or a retirement account

Best for: Long loans with low rates – PenFed Credit Union

Charges a low maximum rate of Not specified
Can set up autopay to withdraw your payment bi-weekly or monthly
Credit union membership is open to everyone

Have to join credit union
No discounts for autopay, which some other lenders offer
May be harder to qualify for than an online loan

APRs on federal credit union loans are capped at 18.00%. Even if you just barely qualify with PenFed, you can enjoy low rates. PenFed membership also comes with other perks too, such as members-only discounts on rental cars, insurance and more.

You can prequalify for a personal loan with PenFed before becoming a member. To accept your loan, you’ll have to join. PenFed doesn’t disclose its minimum credit score, but banks and some credit unions often have stricter eligibility requirements.

To qualify for a PenFed loan, you must meet the following requirements:

Membership: PenFed membership (anyone can join)
Administrative: Open a PenFed savings account with $5 deposit; may need to submit documents to verify your identity and income

Best for: Borrowers with bad credit – Upstart

Accepts bad credit
May still qualify with no credit
May change payment due date, in some cases

Only two loan repayment terms
Potential for an origination fee
Can’t apply for a loan with another person

Discover, another loan marketplace, uses more than your credit score to determine your eligibility. For instance, your education and employment come into play. As a result, it commonly offers bad-credit loans to those who other lenders would deny.

Discover doesn’t just specialize in bad-credit loans — it also has competitive rates for excellent credit. However, you’ll only have two loan repayment terms to choose (36 to 60 months). And of those, just one is considered “long.”

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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What is a long-term personal loan?
Choosing the best loan term
When banks compete, you win
How to compare long-term personal loans
How we chose the best long-term personal loans
Frequently asked questions

What is a long-term personal loan?

A loan term (or loan repayment term) is the length of time you have to pay back what you borrowed.

Long-term loans are personal loans with longer repayment terms — usually 60 months (five years) or longer. Personal loans come as a lump sum with fixed interest rates. Your monthly installments stay the same for the life of your loan.

Long-term personal loans can carry higher interest rates than shorter loan terms. The longer it takes you to pay back what you borrowed, the more time you have to default on your loan. This increases the risk for the lender, so they charge higher rates to compensate.

Lenders that offer long-term loans often let you borrow more money (sometimes $100,000 or more). Many borrowers turn to long-term loans for high-dollar transactions, such as debt consolidation, home improvement and medical bills.

Key takeaways about long-term personal loans

The longer it takes to pay off your loan, the more overall interest you’ll probably pay.
Long-term loans usually have lower monthly payments — not because they are cheaper, but because you have more time to pay off your balance.
Lenders that offer longer loan terms often let you borrow more money, too.

Choosing the best loan term

Choosing a loan term is a balancing act. You’ll likely pay less overall interest on a shorter loan term. But shorter loan terms usually come with higher monthly payments.

To illustrate, imagine you took out a $15,000 loan with an 18.00% interest rate. Here’s how different loan terms will impact your monthly payments and total interest.

	36-month term	60-month term	84-month term
Monthly payment	$542.29	$380.90	$315.27
Overall interest	$4,522.29	$7,854.08	$11,482.48
Total loan cost	$19,522.29	$22,854.08	$26,482.48

Use our personal loan calculator to find a middle ground between an affordable monthly payment and the total cost of borrowing.

Is a long-term loan right for you?

Long-term personal loans can come with higher rates, so they might be best for borrowers with at least good credit scores. That doesn’t mean you can’t get a long-term loan with bad credit. Just be sure loan payments fit in your monthly budget before signing on the dotted line.

When banks compete, you win

You’d shop around for flights. Why not your loan? LendingTree makes it easy. Fill out one form and get lenders from the country’s largest network to compete for your business.

Tell us what you need

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LendingTree users get 11 personal loan offers on average. Compare your offers side by side to get the best deal.

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How to compare long-term personal loans

Your loan term is the length of time you have to pay off your loan. But that’s not the only metric that you should compare. The definitions below can help you make better sense of your loan offers.

APR

Your APR measures the total cost of your loan, including interest and fees. The higher this percentage, the more expensive the loan. You’ll usually need a credit score of at least 740 to get the best personal loan rates.

Fees

An origination fee is a portion of your loan the lender will keep for itself. Some lenders charge these to all borrowers. Others only apply them if you have bad credit.

Loan amounts

Personal loans come as a lump sum. In other words, you can’t borrow twice from the same loan. Make sure that the amount of money you’re applying for will cover what you need.

Customer service

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) maintains a consumer complaint database. Check it to see if others have had issues with the lender before applying. Also review the lender’s customer service hours and whether it has a functional mobile app.

How we chose the best long-term personal loans

We reviewed more than 40 lenders and loan marketplaces to determine the overall best seven long-term personal loans. To make our list, lenders must offer loans with at least 60-month repayment terms and have 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 systematic rating and review process, the best long-term personal loans come from BHG Financial, Discover, LightStream, PenFed, 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 lenders 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 LendingTree’s methodology?

Our writers and editors dig through the facts, contact lenders directly and even go through the application process ourselves if it helps better explain what you can expect. As a Certified Financial Education Instructor℠, I’m committed to breaking down complex financial details so people can make confident, informed decisions with their money.

Jessica Sain-Baird

LendingTree senior managing editor and Certified Financial Education Instructor℠

Jessica’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

Lenders set their own guidelines, so there’s no true definition of “longest term.” However, out of the lenders on this list, LightStream has the longest loan term at 240 months . This extended term is only available on home improvement loans. For a general personal loan, check out .

Not all lenders offer long-term personal loans, but start by contacting banks, credit unions and online lenders. You could also find long-term loans through our marketplace. But even if an institution does offer long-term loans, you’ll still need to meet its eligibility requirements to borrow.

A long-term personal loan isn’t necessarily a bad idea. Personal loans are a financial tool that, when used wisely, provide relief for millions of Americans every year. Still, only borrow what you can afford to repay. Compare lenders to ensure you’re getting the best terms, and remember that you’ll pay more in interest with a longer loan term.

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