Personal loans can help you pay for big-ticket items like a wedding, a car repair, or a home improvement project. The key to finding the right personal loan for your expense? Shopping around.
The average personal loan interest rate in October 2024 was 26.11%, according to data from 18 lenders provided to Investopedia. That rate is pretty steep, and it’s just an average which may not be indicative of the rate you could get with a personal loan. It’s wise to consider all of your options based on your credit score and financial situation before applying for a personal loan.
The good news is that our team of personal loan experts collected data from 59 lenders to determine which ones offer the best personal loans. We looked at rates, repayment terms, loan amounts, and more. The overall top personal loan lender is LightStream, thanks to its low costs and manageable repayment terms. We know LightStream may not be the best for everyone, so we recommend eight other personal loan lenders to help you find the right one.
LightStream is our overall pick, but SoFi comes in as a close second if you’re in need of a large loan. If you have a lot of debt to consolidate, consider Discover. Emergency loans can come in handy when you need fast funding, and our top pick this year is Upgrade. If your credit score is less than stellar, consider a lender like Upstart for a personal loan.
Banks and credit unions also offer personal loans, and we recommend Citibank and Patelco as the best in those categories, respectively. If you just need a little extra help paying for small expenses, a small loan from Lake Michigan Credit Union may be the best fit. And if you’re part of the military or a family member is, you can turn to Navy Federal Credit Union for a personal loan.
With so many options, it’s important to compare loan terms, costs, amounts, and other factors:
| Lender | APR Range | Loan Amounts | Longest Repayment Term |
| LightStream | 7.44% to 25.79% | $5,000 to $100,000 | 240 months |
| SoFi | 8.99% to 29.49% | $5,000 to $100,000 | 84 months |
| Discover | 7.99% to 24.99% | $2,500 to $40,000 | 84 months |
| Upgrade | 9.99% to 35.99% | $1,000 to $50,000 | 84 months |
| Upstart | 7.40% to 35.99% | $1,000 to $50,000 | 60 months |
| Citibank | 11.49% to 20.49% | $2,000 to $30,000 | 60 months |
| Lake Michigan Credit Union | 9.99% to 18.00% | $250 to $25,000 | 60 months |
| Navy Federal Credit Union | 8.99% to 18.00% | $250 to $50,000 | 180 months |
| Patelco Credit Union | 9.30% to 17.90% | $300 to $100,000 | 84 months |
Investopedia’s list of the best personal loans is based our team of editors’ and researchers’ comprehensive look at 59 lenders.
To evaluate and rank personal loan providers, we collected and scored over 2,600 data points from 59 lenders, including traditional banks, credit unions, fintechs, and finance companies. We researched and evaluated 45 criteria, such as APRs, loan amounts and terms, fees, customer experience, and more.Our team researched and collected the data between July 23 and Oct. 18, 2024.
We organized the 45 criteria into four categories and weighted 26 (involving more than 1,500 data points), using the others for background and editorial richness. We then scored and weighted each criterion to develop our overall Investopedia proprietary star rating for each lender. The categories and their weights for this project are as follows:
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