Best No-Fee Personal Loans for Your Wallet
Expertise: Personal finance, personal loans, credit counseling, auto loans, student loans
Education: University of Nebraska
Amanda Push is a senior writer with experience covering topics like auto, personal and student loans as well as how to manage your credit. Before joining LendingTree in 2021, she worked as a journalist in Nebraska and Colorado. Her work appeared in publications such as CNET, Bankrate and The Associated Press. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and specialized in writing at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is also certified as a credit counselor via the National Association of Certified Credit Counselors.
Barbara Balfour is a journalist with 19 years of experience covering topics such as finance and investment, business and entrepreneurship, and personal loans. Her work has been published in a range of business publications across North America and Europe.
- Expertise: Copy editing, personal finance
- Education: Smith College, City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism
Xiomara Martinez-White is a copy editor at LendingTree and its associated companies, where she edits multiple personal finance verticals.
Previously, she was a copy editor at BDG Media and its flagship publication, Bustle, and first honed her copy editing craft as a fashion assistant with the International Herald Tribune, working in Paris under famed fashion editor Suzy Menkes. She has also held internships at publications such as Marie Claire, People.com and the Metro.
Martinez-White earned a B.A. in English Language & Literature at Smith College and an M.A. at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, concentrating in Arts and Cultural Journalism. She also attended the University of Cape Town and CELSA Paris as a visiting student.
- Expertise: Student loans, credit, personal loans, education, foreign language
- Education: University of California Berkeley
Michael Kitchen joined Student Loan Hero in 2017 (now a part of the LendingTree family), writing and editing reports about the student debt crisis, as well as consumer debt in general. In addition to working on LendingTree articles, he also appears in print and on television and radio to offer information and suggestions about personal finance.
Prior to that, Michael spent 20 years working in news, covering beats ranging from finance and markets to politics and conflict. He has previously worked for MarketWatch, Dow Jones Newswires, Voice of America, Time Magazine, National Public Radio and others.
A personal loan with no origination fee can be a helpful way for you to save money if you find yourself needing to take on debt. These types of loans are known as no-fee personal loans, and, aside from potentially cutting down on your borrowing costs, these types of loans also offer you the full amount you applied for. Here’s what you need to know about our top picks for no-fee personal loans.
Best personal loans with no origination fee
| Lender | APR rate | Terms | Minimum credit score | Loan amounts |
| Discover | 7.99% to 24.99% | 36 to 84 months | Not specified | $2,500 – $40,000 |
| LightStream | 7.99% to 25.49% *with autopay | 24 to 144 months | Not specified | $5,000 – $100,000 |
| SoFi | 8.99% to 25.81% | 24 to 84 months | 680 | $5,000 – $100,000 |
Discover: Best for small loans
Discover: Best for small loans| APR | Loan amount | Terms | Origination fee | Prepayment fee | Late fee |
| 7.99% to 24.99% | $2,500 – $40,000 | 36 to 84 months | No origination fee | None | $39 if payment is not received in full by the due date |
While Discover Bank offers personal loans online without origination fees, the company does still charge late payment fees. To qualify, you must have a minimum household income of $25,000 per year.
Similar to the terms offered through fellow featured lender LightStream, you may receive funds as soon as the same day you apply. If you plan to consolidate debt with your personal loan, you have the option to pay off creditors directly, a perk few competitors offer. Plus, if for any reason you need to return the funds, no interest is incurred if you do so within 30 days.
LightStream: Best for long-term loans
LightStream: Best for long-term loans| APR | Loan amount | Terms | Origination fee | Prepayment fee | Late fee |
| 7.99% to 25.49% *with autopay | $5,000 – $100,000 | 24 to 144 months | No origination fee | None | None |
Online lender LightStream offers no-fee personal loans through a fast paperless process — plus, borrowers may receive funds directly in their bank account as quickly as the same day they apply.
This online lender doesn’t charge any fees or prepayment penalties. Unfortunately, though, Lightstream doesn’t offer soft-credit inquiries to see your loan options. As such, it’ll pull a hard credit inquiry from TransUnion or Equifax to determine your credit score, requiring good or excellent credit to ultimately qualify.
In addition to offering a much higher amount of funds and longer repayment term than any of the other lenders on this list, it also offers several other unique perks:
- $100 loan experience guarantee within 30 days of receiving the loan after completing questionnaire
- Rate beat program — it’ll beat competitor interest rates by 0.10 percentage points, provided all criteria are met by the borrower
- Donation of a tree for every funded loan through their partnership with the American Forests conservation organization
SoFi: Best for large loans
SoFi: Best for large loans| APR | Loan amount | Terms | Origination fee | Prepayment fee | Late fee |
| 8.99% to 25.81% | $5,000 – $100,000 | 24 to 84 months | No origination fee required | None | None |
Like with Lightstream, SoFi personal loan borrowers aren’t required to pay origination fees, prepayment penalties or late fees. Aside from having no required fees, SoFi personal loan borrowers can also save money by signing up for autopay and receiving a 0.25% discount.
Another offering that comes with a SoFi no-fee personal loan that borrowers may be eligible for unemployment protection — borrowers can not only receive assistance in finding a new job, but their loan payments can also be postponed.
SoFi may also be a good choice for borrowers seeking longer loan terms as this company offers repayment terms up to 84 months. This may be a good option for borrowers who are looking to take out larger no-fee personal loans.
What you should know about no-fee personal loans
A no-fee personal loan could mean one of two things:
- No origination fee loans, which involve no upfront fees including application, prepayment or origination fees. These terms can reduce the overall cost of your loan, while also ensuring you get the exact amount of funds you applied for and qualify for.
- No-fee loans, which mean absolutely zero fees, including any penalties for late payments or non-sufficient funds fees. If you’re able to make your monthly payments in full and on time, you likely wouldn’t have to worry about these fees, however.
It’s also worth noting that no-fee personal loans are harder to qualify for, whether they’re free of all fees or just the origination fee. Applying for this type of loan will require strong credit — that’s because lenders want to ensure you’re a low-risk borrower, especially since no collateral is being used to secure the loan.
Read the fine print
One of the best ways to avoid paying extra fees when taking out a personal loan is to be sure to pay attention to details. If the lender doesn’t explicitly state that it charges no origination fees (or any other types of fees), there’s a chance that the lender may still carry fees. If you can’t find that information anywhere, you can reach out to the lender and ask for more details.
Aside from fees, when searching for no-fee personal loans, you’ll also want to pay attention to credit requirements, APR rates, terms and how much the lender is willing to offer you. Factors like APR rates can sometimes depend on what you plan to use the loan for, like debt consolidation versus paying off credit card debt.
Methodology
Lenders were selected from LendingTree’s personal loan marketplace. The top four lenders by minimum APR were selected for this article. Other factors, such as prepayment fees, late fees, terms and loan amounts, were also taken into account. Only lenders with no origination fee were considered.