These are the five best (online) lenders for personal loans. Doesn't matter if you want to use the money for debt consolidation, a vacation, or to improve your Beanie Baby collection - these guys are who you should consider. Applications below:
Easy peazy, lemon squeazy:
Earnest: bit.ly/apply-with-earnest
SoFi: bit.ly/apply-with-sofi
Difficult difficult, lemon difficult:
Lightstream: www.lightstream.com/
I compare these 5 lenders based on the CAT test - Cost, Annoyance, and Time. You want cash cheap, fast, and without being spammed to kingdom come by flyers/emails - so that's what you're going to get here.
Here's the highlights (TL;DW version):
1. Lightstream has the best rates, but is super hard to qualify with. They aren't known for spamming, so give them a try if your credit score is 750+ (AT LEAST)
2. SoFi has decent rates and a solid "club" that offers a bunch of borrowing perks. The perks come with a cost, though - their rates aren't exactly groundbreaking.
3. Earnest is great for student loans / refinancing, and has the fewest complaints out of any of the lenders I looked into. Cool dudes, too.
4. Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Bad customer service, solid rates. Wanna take a bet that nothing will go wrong? Give them a go. Lose your bet? Deal with meanies.
5. Credible. While not a real lender, they'll hook you up with a bunch of solid lenders online (not reviewed). Lets you quickly compare rates from a bunch of lenders you've probably heard of.