17 Ways to Check Your Credit Score for Free (& Raise Your Score!)

But before we get onto that, let’s take a look at what your credit score is, how it’s calculated, and why it’s so important for your financial health.

What is your credit score?

Your credit score is a number that shows how likely you are to repay a future loan or credit card balance.

Information, like how often you paid your credit card on time, is put into a credit report. This information on how you’ve handled debt in the past is calculated into a number called your credit score.

Can you even check your credit score without paying?

A one-time request for your credit score will set you back about $20. That’s really not ideal if you want to check your credit score often.

So, is there a way to check your credit score for free?

There sure is and I’ll let you know exactly where to do it below.

There are lots of places that’ll give you access to your credit score, without you having to pay for it.

Before we get onto that though, there’s something important to note.

While all of these credit score services I mention below won’t cost you anything in a financial sense – so you don’t have to part with any money – some of them may cost you some of your private financial data.

To use many of the services below, you have to give the provider permission to access your credit report, in full, in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

That’s just something to keep in mind. These services are generally secure though and most will encrypt your data, so they’re safe to use.

Another thing to note is that some services and credit card providers who provide free credit scores may use your information to market products and services to you. American Express, for example, does this. So, that’s another thing to keep in mind.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s take a look at where you can get your hands on your credit score at no cost.

How to Check Your Credit Score for Free

There are two main ways to get a free credit score:

• Use a free credit score website: These websites let you login and get your credit score at no cost. These aren’t associated with your bank – they’re just free credit score services.
• Get it from a credit card provider/bank: Many banks give their customers access to their credit score for free. Some banks/card providers offer free scores even if you aren’t a customer.

Below, I’ll cover both ways.

Here’s how you can get a free credit score.

Via Free Credit Score Websites

Let’s start out with free credit score websites/services. These websites are free to use and give you your credit score at no cost. You don’t even need a credit card to sign up.

There are lots of websites out there that claim to give you a free score. However, not all of them are legit. Below, I’ve included the best free credit score websites.

These are well-reviewed, legit sites that keep your data safe.

1. Credit Karma

You can get your free credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax on Credit Karma (review).

Here’s how:

• Create a Credit Karma account. It only takes a couple of minutes. No credit card is required.
• Then you’ll get your scores from TransUnion and Equifax. And the site will show you factors that can impact your scores.
• You’ll also get your credit report from TransUnion and Equifax – and the site will highlight important items so you can better understand your report.
• The site will make money if you take an offer from one of its advertising partners – but you don’t have to take these offers. The site is totally free to use.

That’s how it works – simple, right?

Aside from giving you your score, the site also provides credit monitoring. You can get alerts about changes to your credit report, which allows you to ensure that there’s nothing suspicious that’s damaging your score.

2. Credit Sesame

Next up we have Credit Sesame (review). This site allows you to check your credit score for free.

It’s pulls your credit information from TransUnion.

Here’s what the site has to offer:

• Check your credit for free: The site will pull your credit information from TransUnion.
• It uses “advanced analytics” to understand your credit and debt to give you customized recommendations on which cards or loans to choose. This can save you money.
• Monitor your credit: The site also provides credit monitoring. It will update your credit score from TransUnion once a month. This allows you to see progress towards your goal.
• It provides credit card offers and loan offers: It’s recommendation engine will help you to choose the best credit card for you. It will also provide you with recommendations for loans.

Credit Sesame is free to use, and no credit card is required.

3. NerdWallet

NerdWallet is another awesome site to stay up to date with your credit.

Here’s what the site has to offer:

• Check your score for free: You can check your score whenever you want. The best part is that your information is updated every seven days.
• Monitor changes: You get 24/7 access to the site’s credit monitoring tool. So, you can track your VantageScore and know when things change.
• With the site’s personalized tips and suite of tools, you can build your credit.
• Better understand your credit score: The site makes the elements of your credit score easier to understand. It points out what has the biggest impact on your score, and how you’re performing on each.
• It provides a credit score simulator: This allows you to see how small changes can result in big point increases. You can explore actions like raising the limits on your cards, applying for new credit, or extending your run of on time payments.

What’s great about NerdWallet, aside from the fact that you can check your credit frequently, is that it’s a super secure and legit site. It protects your data with 128-bit encryption.

4. Credit.com

Credit.com provides you with a free credit score that’s updated every 14 days!

Here’s what the site has to offer:

• Credit score: You can get your Experian VantageScore credit score for free!
• Updates: Your score automatically updates every 14 days.
• Get a free credit report card (more on those below).

The site is totally free to use, and there’s no credit card required.

What’s great about Credit.com is that it can help you to improve your score and build and maintain good credit. It analyzes your score and information from Experian to show how you’re performing in the five areas that make up your credit score. You can see your analysis and a personalized action plan that you can use to improve your score and build your credit.

Credit.com does also offer a FICO Score and Experian credit report one time for $1 – so it’s not free, but it’s still cheap.

5. FreeCreditScore.com

You can get your FICO Score for free from FreeCreditScore.com. No credit card is required.

Here’s what the site has to offer:

• You get a new FICO Score every 30 days on sign in.
• You also get Experian Credit Monitoring Alerts. This includes new inquiries, new accounts, public records, fraud alerts, and personal information updates when added to your Experian credit report.
• The website is also a great resource for learning more about credit or trying to secure a better rate on credit cards or loans. You can find information about credit scores, credit reports, fraud, identity theft, managing debt and more in the site’s Education Center. It offers lots of in-depth articles to answer many financial questions.
• It also provides credit offers. Whether you’re looking for a lower rate on a credit card or for an auto or debt consolidation loan, you can find offers in Experian’s Offers Marketplace.
• You can also use the site’s dispute center to submit and track your disputes online if you see inaccuracies on your credit report.

Now, what makes FreeCreditScore.com stand out is the fact that it’s actually part of Experian. It’s a legit site that delivers your FICO Score using SSL encryption. This means that your information is protected.

6. WalletHub

You can get a free credit score from WalletHub that’s updated daily! No credit card is required!

Here’s what the site has to offer:

• Get a score that’s updated on a daily basis. You can get your credit score in two minutes according to the site.
• Enjoy free credit reports and personalized credit analysis.
• You also get 24/7 credit monitoring. The site will alert you if there are any important changes to your credit file.
• You can also view your credit report.
• The site also offers personalized credit advice.

7. Mint

Mint will give you a credit score at no cost and no credit card is required.

Here’s what the site has to offer:

• Get a free credit score. Just verify your identity, and you can get your credit summary within minutes.
• The site offers an easy-to-understand summary that allows you to learn about the different factors that impact your score.
• You can view your score with your other important accounts in the same place, giving you a complete financial picture.
• It also offers daily credit monitoring. You’ll get credit alerts whenever TransUnion receives new credit information from creditors.

Via Banks/Credit Card Providers

Some credit card providers and banks will give you access to your credit score for free along with your credit card or bank account.

For most of these banks and card providers, you will need an account or card to get access to your score.

But, a couple of them allow anyone, regardless of whether they’re a customer, to get their score for free.

Here are a few banks and credit card providers who offer free credit reports.

8. Discover

Discover gives you your FICO Score for free.

You can get this whether you’re a Discover cardmember or not.

If you’re a Discover cardmember:

• You can see your FICO Score for up to 12 months.
• It includes five categories, like the length of credit history, total number of accounts and more.

You can learn more about getting a FICO Score with your credit card account here.

If you’re NOT a Discover cardmember, you can get a free credit score, which is available every 30 days.

Learn more about getting a credit score when you’re not a cardmember here.

9. Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo gives eligible customers access to their FICO Score through Wells Fargo Online.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Get your FICO Score and Wells Fargo credit rating.
• You can see your score factors and personalized Wells Fargo credit tips.
• View your FICO Score history.

You’ll need to be a Wells Fargo customer to get your score.

Here’s how to access it:

• On your desktop or tablet, sign into your account.
• In the Planning and Tools section of your Account Summary, select View Your FICO Credit Score.
• If you’re on your smartphone, select View your FICO Credit Score at the bottom of your Account Summary.

10. American Express

You can check your credit score for free with the American Express MyCredit Guide, and you don’t have to be an American Express cardholder to do so.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Check your credit score for free. You get access to your VantageScore by TransUnion.
• Get free credit score updates weekly when you login.
• It will give you the key factors that affect your score.
• Receive alerts that help detect identity fraud.
• It provides a secure login that helps to keep your information safe.
• Get access to a credit score simulator. This allows you to see how different actions, such as opening a new account, or paying down debt could affect your score.

MyCredit Guide is available even if you aren’t an American Express customer. And there is no cost to enroll in and use MyCredit Guide.

11. Chase

Chase provides a tool called Credit Journey that allows you to check your credit score for free.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Get your free VantageScore credit score from TransUnion. You can check your score as often as you’d like.
• Receive weekly credit score updates. Your score refreshes weekly when you login.
• Get email alerts about critical changes to your credit that can help you to identify potential fraud.
• Use the score simulator tool. You can use this tool to find out how doing actions, like paying off debt, and opening new accounts may affect your score.

12. Citi

Citi has partnered with FICO and Equifax to offer a free credit score to customers.

With select Citi cards, you can get your FICO Score for free.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• View your FICO Score at no cost. It’s updated monthly.
• See FICO Score educational videos. You can see what your score means, why it’s important, how it’s determined and more.

To get access to your score, you’ll need to enroll in Citi online.

13. US Bank

US Bank will give you your free credit score from TransUnion. You can access your credit score at any time, and there are no limits on how often you can check it.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Get a credit score for free. Your score is updated once a month upon login.
• Use the site’s score simulator tool, which estimates what your score could be based on certain actions.
• Review your progress. You can use the Score Trends Graph to view up to 12 months of scores.
• Get access to credit education. You can get various educational materials about credit.

U.S. Bank customers can get their score by logging in to their online account, and selecting “Check My Credit Score for Free.” It’s that simple. You can enroll in online banking if you haven’t already.

14. Capital One

Capital One offers a tool called CreditWise that allows people to check their credit score for free.

You don’t have to be a Capital One customer to use this feature either.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Get a free VantageScore credit score powered by TransUnion
• Receive email alerts whenever your TransUnion credit report changes.
• Monitor your credit information. Creditwise will track your SSN, scan the dark web, and send you automatic alerts from two credit bureaus.

Your CreditWise data is encrypted with 256-bit Transport Layer Security, so your information is protected.

15. First National Bank of Omaha

The First National Bank has teamed up with FICO to provide its customers with free access to their FICO Score. You get the FICO Bankcard Score 9, which is a credit scoring model that FICO has created to summarize credit card risk.

It’s the score that FNB purchases each month, and it makes it available to you for free.

You can get your free score through the FNB website or mobile app!

16. Bank of America

You can get your FICO Score for free from the Bank of America.

This is available to Bank of America credit card customers.

You can get your score in online and mobile banking.

You’ll need to sign in to view your score or enroll in the program now.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Get a monthly FICO Score from TransUnion if you’re an eligible customer with a consumer credit card.
• View key factors that are impacting your score.
• Track your recent scores month-to-month. And you can compare them to national averages.
• With Better Money Habits, you can learn about credit and strategies for keeping credit healthy.

Just sign into online banking or mobile banking on your mobile device or enroll today to view your score.

17. Barclays

Get a free FICO Score from Barclays. All you need to do is login to your account and you’ll be able to view your score.

Learn All About Credit Scores

In this section, I’ll cover some of the most important and frequently asked questions about credit scores, how they’re calculated and what they are used for to what’s a good score and how you can raise your number.

How are credit scores calculated?

Credit scores are calculated differently, depending on the credit scoring model used.

Three main credit reporting companies, which are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion create your credit reports (more on how your report differs from your score below). Credit scoring models, like FICO and VantageScore use your report to create a score that generally ranges from 300 to 850.

The main two credit scoring models are FICO and VantageScore.

The credit reporting companies themselves can also calculate scores for you, based on their own proprietary models.

FICO tends to be used more often in U.S. lending decisions than other ones. VantageScore, which was actually created in a joint venture by the three major credit bureaus has gained a lot of popularity too.

Key factors in your FICO Score

Here are the key factors in the FICO Score credit scoring model:

• Payment history (35% of your scores): Whether you’ve paid past credit accounts on time.
• Amounts owed (30% of your scores): The amount of loans and credit you’re using.
• Length of credit history (15% of your scores): How long you’ve had credit.
• New credit (10% of your scores): Frequency of credit inquiries and new account openings.
• Credit mix: The mix of your credit, retail accounts, mortgage loans, finance company accounts, and installment loans.

Key factors in your VantageScore

Here are the key factors in the VantageScore credit scoring model:

• Extremely influential: Total credit usage, balance, and available credit.
• Highly influential: Credit mix and experience
• Moderately influential: Payment history
• Less influential: Age of credit history

Like I said above, it’s not just these two scoring models that are used to come up with your credit score. The credit reporting companies can also use their own models to generate your score.

That’s why I’d highly recommend checking your score in a lot of different places, so you can get a better overall picture of your financial health.

What’s my credit score used for?

Businesses use your credit score to evaluate your credit risk. So, the higher your credit score, the lower your risk may be to a lender, like a bank for example who’s considering loaning money to you.

People with a low credit score may be less likely to pay their debts.

Your credit score basically helps banks to predict how likely you are to repay a future loan or credit card balance.

Many landlords will look at your credit score to determine whether to approve you as at tenant.

Why your credit score is important

Your credit score has a big impact on so many areas of your life.

It can be a key factor in a lender’s decision to approve you, whether you want to buy a home, get a credit card, purchase a new car, or get another type of loan.

The higher your score, the better you look to potential creditors. Your credit score affects your ability to get approved and the interest rates you have to pay if you are approved.

The higher your score, the better you look to creditors. While you may still be able to get a credit card or loan with a low score, it may come with higher interest rates or conditions. Also, you may have to pay more to put down deposits on utilities or pay more for car insurance.

And like I said above, landlords may look at your credit and if they see you have a low score, they may decide they don’t want you as a tenant.

So, the higher your score, the more likely you’ll be to get approved for loans, credit cards, and apartments, and the better interest rates you’ll pay.

Also, as you add points to your score, you’ll gain access to more credit products and pay less to use them.

Borrowers with a credit score of 750 or above have many options too, like the ability to qualify for 0% financing on cars and credit cards with 0% introductory interest rates.

Why you may have multiple credit scores

Your scores from each bureau can differ.

So, you can have multiple credit scores based on who provided your score, and whether or not the company who provided the score used their own scoring model or a scoring model from a third party.

Because of the fact that there are many different formulas used to calculate credit scores, this may lead to differences in your scores.

Here’s another factor that can lead to differences in your credit score:

Businesses don’t report to every credit reporting company.

One may report to TransUnion and another may report to Experian.

Even if businesses do report to every company, they may send their information on different days.

On any given day, the information that one credit reporting company has can be different from the credit activity that’s being reported to another reporting company.

This means that credit scores you get from different companies will not be the same.

What is a good credit score?

Credit scores range from 300 to 850.

Now, giving you an exact figure for what a specific lender deems to be a good credit score just isn’t possible.

This is because each lender sets its down standards for what constitutes a good credit score.

Overall, though…

Credit scores of 700 and above are considered to be good.

Does checking my credit score lower it?

No, checking your credit score does not lower it.

It’s understandable to wonder whether checking your score is going to negatively impact your credit.

Obviously, you don’t want to do anything that’s going to lower your credit score. And some actions do indeed lower it.

But checking your score is not one of them for one main reason:

Checking your credit score is known as a “soft inquiry.”

Soft inquiries DO NOT hurt your score.

So, you don’t have to worry. Check your score as much as you want using the websites and services that we mentioned above. It won’t affect your future credit.

On the other hand, applying for a line of credit or a loan would temporarily lower your score, as this is known as a “hard inquiry.”

Hard inquiries do impact your score.

Hard inquiries happen when someone pulls your credit in order to decide whether or not to give you credit. These hard inquiries shouldn’t happen without your knowledge or consent.

This is why checking your credit REPORT is so important.

You’ll be able to review hard inquiries and see who’s looked at your credit in the past couple of years.

Is a Credit Score Different form a Credit Report?

Yes. Your credit report and your credit history are two different things.

While your credit score is a number, your report gives you a comprehensive list of your lines of credit and payment history. Credit reports are compiled by three major credit-reporting companies, which are:

• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion

Reports often run many pages, as they detail all the accounts you’ve had.

Each time you make a payment on a credit card or loan, the business that provided you with the loan or credit keeps a record of how much you pay and how often you make payments, along with the loan balances and credit limit.

These businesses and other sources will report your loan, credit, and payment history to those three major credit reporting companies that I mentioned above.

Each of these companies combine this information into a credit report.

Since not all business will report to all three credit reporting companies, the information on your reports can vary. For example, business one may only report to TransUnion and Experian. But business two may report to Equifax and Experian.

What’s on your credit report?

Credit reports offer details about accounts you’ve opened and closed, how diligent you are with payment, and the loans you’ve taken out. It can also show if you’ve ever been sued over a debt or filed for bankruptcy.

Here’s what could be on your credit report:

• A list of businesses that have given you loans or credit.
• The credit limit for each credit card.
• The amount of each loan.
• The amount of times you paid your credit or loans on time, and the amount you paid.
• Your current and former names, addresses, and/or employers.
• A list of businesses that have obtained your report within a certain timeframe.
• Any missed or late payments, as well as bad debts.
• Any bankruptcies or other public record information.

Why check your credit report?

I know what you’re thinking: Can’t I just check my credit score? Do I really need to check my credit report as well?

That’s understandable. After all, it’s your credit score that helps banks and other organizations to make lending decisions.

However, your credit report is just as vital.

You see it’s the information on your report that’s used to calculate your score.

And sadly, this information isn’t always correct.

The FTC says that around one in five consumers have at least one error on their report.

An error on your report could affect your ability to get approved for loans and credit or result in you having to pay higher fees when you are approved.

Of course, that’s not what you want.

Since your credit report is used to calculate your credit score, making sure that the information on there is accurate is paramount.

If you have an error on yours, it could affect your ability to get approved or result in you having to pay higher rates if you are approved.

So, checking your credit report is so important.

The only problem is that getting a report isn’t cheap. Fortunately, there is a way you can get your credit report at no cost.

Here’s how…

How to Get a Free Credit Report

The best way to get a report for free is with AnnualCreditReport.com.

Every 12 months, under federal law, you can get a free copy of your credit report from each credit reporting company (the three that I mentioned above).

AnnualCreditReport.com is actually jointly operated by these three companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).

It works as a single site where you can request all three of your credit reports for free.

So, you can use the site to check that the information on all of your reports is correct and up to date.

What’s great about the site, except for the fact that it’s free, is that you can choose to request all of your reports at once or you can choose to space them out over the course of the year.

You can request your free annual credit report from the site in a few ways:

• Online: Just visit AnnualCreditReport.com.
• By phone: Call 1-877-322-8228.
• By mail: Simply fill out this formand mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

That’s it. It’s really simple and it’s free.

Are there any other ways to get a free credit report?

AnnualCreditReport.com is awesome because it’s a legit site for getting your report at no cost.

However, you can only get your report from each of the credit reporting companies once a year. This isn’t ideal if you’re looking to check your report more often than that.

I actually wrote a post recently on the best places to get a credit report for free – you can check it out here. So do check that out for more places where you can get your report at no cost.

How to Build & Raise Your Credit Score (Quickly): Tips & Tricks

So, what if your credit score’s not too great?

Don’t worry.

You can build up your credit score. And it’s not as difficult as you would think. It’s just about making small changes, and more importantly, making those small changes a habit that actually sticks.

I know what it’s like to try to make new financial habits (or any habit for that matter). It can be so tough at first. Stick with it though and you can get yourself in much better financial shape, in a much shorter timeframe than you would think.

Here’s what you need to do to improve your credit score:

Pay all of your bills on time

We’ve all been there. You don’t have enough money when you need the money, and one of your bills is due to come out of your account and the money just isn’t there.

It happens. But you need to try to get yourself into the habit of paying all of your bills on time.

And I mean all of your bills, not just your credit card payment.

Most of us know that we should make our credit card payments on time but aren’t aware that paying all other bills is just as important. Late payments hurt your score, as does a debt collection or legal judgement against you.

Use no more than 30% of your credit limit

You should use no more than 30% of your credit limit on any card. Really, you should use less than that, if it’s possible with your current financial situation (and I know that it’s not always.)

The best scores are awarded to those who use 10% or less of their credit limit.

Build up your payment history

Keeping accounts open and active when possible gives you a longer payment history and can help your credit utilization (the ratio of your outstanding credit card balances to your credit card limits. So, a measure of the amount of available credit you’re using).

Don’t open too many new accounts at once

Each application you do causes a small decrease in your score. New accounts lower your average account age too. That’s why you should leave at least six months between applications.

Check your credit report for errors

As I mentioned above, you should check your report often for errors. Then you can dispute any errors, if any, that you do find. Doing this makes sure that the information used to calculate your score is correct.

Stop Paying to Check Your Score

Your credit score is important. It affects many aspects of your life from getting a loan for a new car to renting an apartment.

That’s why knowing your score is so important.

If your credit score isn’t good, then you can take steps to improve it, like I mentioned above.

You don’t need to pay to get your score. Just use one of the services above or see if your bank or credit card provider gives you free access to your credit score.

Also, keep in mind that checking your credit report is just as important as knowing your score. After all, it’s the information on your report that’s used to calculate your score.

If the information on your report is inaccurate, then it could lower your credit score. So, make sure you check your report too!

What’s your favorite place to check your credit score for free?

Let us know in the comments section below.