Checking your credit report or your credit score doesn’t have to cost you money. There are quite a few free resources that exist to help you check your credit, and most even allow you to monitor your credit for free!
What’s the catch? There is no catch. These websites, except for AnnualCreditReport.com, which is free due to a federal law that gives you the right to check your credit annually, make their money through upgrades (ie, monitoring, other credit reports, etc.) or advertisements for other companies. So rather than making money off of credit reports they simply make money from ads.
1. AnnualCreditReport.com
This website allows you to pull your credit report through each major bureau, free, once a year, thanks to a federal law. Since it’s your credit, why should these bureaus hold you hostage? They’re the one’s who are building the reports that can make or break you, and then they want to sell you those reports for money? No thanks. Well, that’s how I see it. These 3 bureaus set the site up to provide consumers with the ability to check their credit without having to pay a fee, as it’s only right.
This service is 100% free and there are no funny games and no strings attached. You enter in your personal information (careful, they try to trick you and you only get 1 chance!) to prove you are who you are and not an identity thief.
Even though I use other free services I do choose to use this service once a year just to be completely sure I’m seeing everything that’s going on. Plus, I feel that these reports are much easier to read through compared to the other free apps that I’ll be listing shortly. Having reports that you can hold in your hand (assuming you download or order them) and quickly go through make it much more simple to understand.
I highly encourage you to use this service each year to ensure that you’re not missing out on any information that can kick you in the rear when you go to apply for credit somewhere. The apps below should show you what you need to know, but it’s always best to get a report in hand and double check it.
2. CreditKarma.com
I really like CK as it’s easy to use and they keep your credit report and score pretty fresh. The app let’s you refresh each week (every 7 days), which I really like. This allows you to closely monitor things. Plus, if anything hits your report within those days you may get an update in between the refreshes.
100% FREE to use. No strings, no games. This site, along with it’s smartphone or mobile apps, is outstanding. You can keep close tabs on what’s going on with your credit file and ensure that your identity has not been stolen, or attempted to be stolen.
The information is provided to you by CK through TransUnion, one of the 3 major credit reporting agencies (bureaus). This means it’s legit and accurate according to TU’s report.
3. CreditSesame.com
CreditSesame is right up there with CreditKarma. I love the reporting tools and the freshness of it all, although they report much less frequently (once per month). The service is free, so I can’t really complain. I just would like to see more freshness, without having to pay a fee. However, if you would like to purchase an upgrade to see your daily credit score you can pay $9.95 per month, which isn’t too bad.
This site is safe, legit and 100% free. Like the others there are no strings attached. There is an Android and iPhone app that you can download for free (at least when I downloaded it).
The information provided to you by CS is via Experian, which is one of the 3 major credit bureaus.
4. Credit.com
Credit.com is a pretty cool site that provides you with similar tools of the sites mentioned above. I have no real complaints, other than the freshness of the data. I feel that it’s a bit behind the others, at least from my experience. I haven’t found a mobile app, so it would be nice to see them provide one for their customers.
As the others above there are no strings attached and it’s a safe, legit website.
From what I can gather the data they use comes from Experian. In fact, the only information I could find states that their scores come from Experian’s National Equivalency Score. So there you have it. They do offer upgrades that allow you to purchase all 3 credit reports and scores for $24.95 per month.
5. Quizzle.com
I’m not a big fan of this website due to the fact that they are REALLY pushing for purchases and upgrades, and they don’t appear to refresh your data after your initial sign up period. On top of that, it isn’t very accurate from what I’ve seen on the report I was given. I realize that every site has to get paid, but my problem is the amount of “in your face” ads while you’re trying to figure out the site. The other sites do not do this.
The website is safe and legit.
6. WisePiggy.com
This site is a bit more new to me than the others. I’ll admit that I’m as used to this site as the others. I’m not a big fan of the checkered background of the site (annoying to the eyes), but the information is pretty accurate and the reports are very simple and easy-to-read. There are no in-your-face advertisements that distract you from your view either.
The problem with the site is that it gives you a VantageScore, which you already get with CreditKarma, and they’re not quite up there in terms of tools and information compared to CK, so why bother at this point?
From all I can gather, the website is safe and legit and has plenty of good reviews. However, I think choosing CK over WisePiggy would be the WisePiggy thing to do at this point, since you get the same information (actually more) at CK, but more tools as well.
Good Luck
If I were to suggest 3 sites from this list, it would be the first 3. However, you may find advantages or benefits to checking the other sites out as well. Just remember to be sure that your information is safe and that your password is strong and memorable to only you!
I definitely encourage you to check CK and CS for the sole fact that you can monitor your credit to ensure that you won’t become a victim of identity theft without notice.