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Best Peer-to-Peer Loans in 2021
Peer-to-peer loans are personal loans funded by individuals, groups and financial institutions. Instead of applying directly to a bank or other financial institution for a personal loan, borrowers submit applications through a peer-to-peer lending company that acts as a matching agent. These types of loans can be a great financial opportunity for borrowers and investors alike.
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With the right match, borrowers can get personal loans at competitive rates, and lenders may be able to reap a higher yield than a savings account or CD. We’ve researched interest rates, loan terms, customer satisfaction, customer support and fees using our proprietary SimpleScore methodology to find the best peer-to-peer loans for borrowers and lenders.
The 5 best peer-to-peer loans of 2021
- Best Peer-to-Peer Lending for Investors: LendingClub
- Best for High Debt-To-Income Ratio: Prosper
- Best for Bad Credit: Upstart
- Best for Short Credit History: Peerform
- Best for Credit Card Debt: Payoff
Best peer-to-peer lenders at a glance
| APR Range | Loan Amount | Term | SimpleScore | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LendingClub | 10.68%–35.89% | $1K–$40K | 36–60 months | 3.2/5 |
| Prosper | 7.95%–35.99% | $2K–$40K | 36–60 months | 3.2/5 |
| Upstart | 8.41%–35.99% | $1K–$50K | 36–60 months | 3.4/5 |
| Peerform | 5.99%–29.99% | $4K–$25K | Up to 3 years | 2.75/5 |
| Payoff | 5.99%–24.99% | $5K-$40K | 24–60 months | 4.5/5 |
*Rates accurate as of December 2020 and exclude autopay discounts.
Best peer-to-peer lending for investors – LendingClub
LendingClub’s automated investor profiles make it a no-brainer for low-energy.
LendingClub is the best peer-to-peer lending for investors because you can fund loans with as little as $25 and even automate your risk profile so you don’t have to hand-select which loans you’d like to fund. Borrowers, on the other hand, can benefit from four types of peer-to-peer loans: personal loans, auto refinancing, patient solutions and small business loans. Plus, LendingClub is one of few peer-to-peer lending sites offering loans to individuals with credit scores as low as 600, which is good news for people with not-so-stellar credit. However, borrowers in need of fast cash may not find the solution they need with LendingClub. Because of the way the investor-backed loans are funded, with investors able to contribute just a fraction of the loan amount, it can take up to two weeks to get your loan.
Best for credit card debt consolidation – Prosper
As the founding father of peer-to-peer loans, Prosper is a trusted lender for individuals to get access to personal loans with the option to pay them off early.
Prosper paved the way for peer-to-peer lending when it was the first operation of its kind back in 2005. Since then, Prosper has been connecting borrowers with fair to good credit scores with investors for affordable personal loans. Prosper works with borrowers with the highest debt-to-income ratio: 50%. If you’re on the higher end of that ratio, you may not qualify for the best rates or highest borrowing limits. Origination fees are added to your loan based on your creditworthiness, and late payments result in the greater of 5% of the unpaid loan amount, or $15. The good news for borrowers is that there are no prepayment fees — meaning borrowers can pay off their loans at anytime.
Best for next-day funding – Upstart
Upstart offers peer-to-peer loans from $1,000 to $50,000 for those customers with at least a 620 credit score, but also will work with people with insufficient credit history.
Upstart can get you a rate quote in as little as five minutes and entirely online. While Upstart does mention it will only work with borrowers who have at least a 620 credit score, the company does say it’s willing to work with people who have insufficient credit histories. Upstart’s flexibility to work with consumers with insufficient credit history is a major positive. Additionally, the fact the company looks at more than just your credit score when making a decision can be big for some struggling to find loan approval.
Best for short credit history – Peerform
With high processing fees for check payments and a low maximum loan amount, Peerform may not be all that accessible to certain borrowers.
Peerform is another traditional peer-to-peer lending site. Borrowers create a simple profile online and wait for individual investors to back their request. Even though Peerform does offer loans to those with poor credit, there’s another benefit to this platform: borrowers can apply with a credit history as short as one year. There are some downsides to Peerform, though. Since it is accommodating to borrowers with shorter credit histories, the maximum loan amount is lower than others at just $25,000. And let’s not forget fees: If you can’t make your monthly payment by direct debit or online, you’ll end up paying for it. Peerform charges a $15 processing fee for paper checks. Depending on your loan terms, this fee alone could add $540–$900 to the cost of repayment.
Best for credit card debt – Payoff
It’s not an excuse to max out your credit cards, but we like that Payoff can help users increase their credit scores when they pay off their credit cards.
Payoff is a peer-to-peer lending platform that partners with financial institutions (mainly credit unions) to offer loans to pay off credit card debt. Its goal is to improve the financial well-being of its members. With a focus on financial literacy, Payoff excels in member experience. Its assessments aim to help members better understand their relationship to money. You’ll get a welcome chat to onboard you to the service, plus quarterly check-in calls throughout your first year as a member to help keep you on track. However, it may not be best if you just have a few thousand dollars worth of debt to pay off. Since the minimum loan amount is $5,000, anyone who needs less than that should consider a lender with a lower option.
What is peer-to-peer lending?
Peer-to-peer lending, also known as P2P lending, is a system of lending that allows people to borrow money from other individuals, cutting out financial institutions altogether in some cases. This can be a more accessible option for individuals with lower credit scores and presents an opportunity for investors to earn interest while funding loans for others. Often, rates can be lower than getting a traditional loan with a bank, and applicants may be able to get their hands on the money faster.
[ Read: Where to Find Financial Relief During the COVID-19 Pandemic ]
How peer-to-peer loans work
The exact process for how investors and borrowers can engage with peer-to-peer loans can vary slightly among different websites and apps, but the overall concept is the same. Investors can fund personal loans either in full or in part, and they earn interest on the loans as borrowers pay it back. Borrowers will usually need to create a quick personal profile, submit to a credit check and accept the loan terms. Once borrowers have cash in hand, they repay through whatever terms have been set for them.
Investors
Each site is a little different, but there are two main types of peer-to-peer investors: individuals and institutions. Generally speaking, individuals need to create an account with a peer-to-peer lending site to start backing loans. There may be minimum income requirements for investors, as well as minimum amounts you need in your investor account, and how much per loan you can fund. When they’re ready, investors provide money to the borrower and collect interest throughout the set term.
[ Read: 10 Steps to Rid Yourself of Credit Card Debt Forever]
Borrowers
Applying for a peer-to-peer loan is pretty straight forward for borrowers. Once you figure out that you meet the minimum eligibility requirements for a peer-to-peer loan, you can create a profile and apply. For many peer-to-peer lenders, the initial application only involves a soft credit inquiry (meaning it won’t affect your score). Then you’ll review your loan terms and decide whether or not you want to move forward. Depending on how the site you’re using structures its process, you can receive funds as quickly as the next day or as long as a few weeks.
[ Read: Best Personal Loans for Bad Credit in 2020]
How to choose the best peer-to-peer loan for you
- Determine what type of loan you need. Personal loans can be used to pay for all types of things, from home improvements to debt consolidation. Finding the right peer-to-peer loan depends on what type of expenses you want to use your loan for and how quickly you’ll be able to pay them back. For example, peer-to-peer lenders with specialized loan solutions may offer more flexibility in loan amounts. On the other hand, you need to make sure you’re spending the money on an approved expense.
- Check the minimum eligibility requirements. Each lender has its own requirements for borrowers. Consider the minimum eligibility requirements before you spend your time making a profile or application on a lender site. Typically, this includes your FICO score, current income and debt-to-income ratio. Check all this out before applying so you don’t get a hard inquiry on your credit, as this can temporarily lower your score.
- Compare APR and loan terms. To figure out the best deal, look at how much the loan will end up costing you with the APR and repayment terms available to you. You should also consider how payments are accepted and any additional fees — is there a processing fee for check payments? How about prepayment fees? In some cases, a loan with a great APR can actually be more expensive than a higher interest loan when you take into account all the fees.
P2P lending FAQs
Peer-to-peer lenders make money off of the interest charged on loans. When borrowers make a payment on their loans, a portion of that payment goes towards the principal, and a portion goes towards interest. Peer-to-peer investors and lending sites make money off of the interest.
Peer-to-peer lending can be better than direct lending, but not always. It depends on your financial picture. For example, if you have a less than perfect credit score, peer-to-peer lending can be a more accessible personal loan option, especially if you use a lender that considers more than credit scores in its decisions. However, banks might offer more competitive rates for those with high credit scores than peer-to-peer lenders.
The best way to prequalify for a peer-to-peer loan is to make sure you meet all of the minimum borrowing requirements for a lender. Eligibility is typically based on your credit score, debt-to-income ratio and current income. How much you need to borrow can also affect your eligibility, as peer-to-peer lenders can have different maximum loan amounts.
Too long, didn’t read?
Peer-to-peer loans offer a unique opportunity to secure funding from people, not financial institutions. Where banks may turn individuals away, peer-to-peer loans give borrowers with lower credit scores a shot at getting a personal loan, and individuals with higher credit scores can get a better rate than banks may offer.
Last updated October 7, 2020 — Updated SimpleScore and editorial buying guide.
We welcome your feedback on this article and would love to hear about your experience with the peer-to-peer loans we recommend. Contact us at inquiries@thesimpledollar.com with comments or questions.
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Methodology
The SimpleScore is a proprietary scoring metric we use to objectively compare products and services at The Simple Dollar.
For every review, our editorial team:
- Identifies five measurable aspects to compare across each brand
- Determines the rating criteria for each aspect score
- Averages the five aspect scores to produce a single SimpleScore
Here’s a breakdown of the five aspect scores and their rating criteria for our review of the best personal loans of 2020.
Why do some brands have different SimpleScores on different pages?
To ensure the SimpleScore is as helpful and accurate as possible, we developed unique criteria for every category we compare at The Simple Dollar. Since most brands offer a variety of financial solutions, their products and services will score differently depending on what we’re scoring on a given page.
However, it’s also possible for the same product from the same brand to have multiple SimpleScores. For instance, if we compare NetCredit’s personal loans according to our criteria for the best personal loans, it scores a 2.3 out of 5. But when we compare NetCredit according to the criteria for the best bad credit personal loans, it scores considerably higher, since the criteria for the latter review are more lenient (lenders who serve borrowers with bad credit will always offer higher rates, so we needed to adjust our category methodology to account for different industry standards).
Questions about our methodology?
Email Hayley Armstrong at hayley@thesimpledollar.com.
Rates
We looked at the maximum APR for each lender — the lower their maximum rate, the higher their score.
Loan Size
We awarded higher scores to lenders with more generous loan sizes.
Customer Satisfaction
We leveraged the J.D. Power 2019 Personal Loan Satisfaction Study℠ to see how customers rated their experience with each lender. (If a lender wasn’t included in J.D. Power’s study, we skipped this aspect and averaged the four remaining aspect scores.)
Support
We awarded higher scores to lenders with the most channels for customer support.
Fees
We looked at the three most common fees — origination, late payment, and pre-payment — and penalized lenders for each fee charged.
Reviewed by
Courtney Mihocik
Loans EditorCourtney Mihocik is an editor at The Simple Dollar who specializes in personal loans, student loans, auto loans, and debt consolidation loans. She is a former writer and contributing editor to Interest.com, PersonalLoans.org, and elsewhere.
