Your credit score is very important. Companies use it when issuing credit cards. You need a voucher to get good rates on a home. Even some jobs require a good credit rating. Fortunately, there are many ways to check your credit, and often for free. You probably already know some of them. For example, Credit Karma is on our list and it is one of the most popular free credit score apps. You also have other options. Here are the best credit score apps for Android.
Please note that this list is intended for our US readers. Each country handles this sort of thing differently and the services below may not work outside of the United States.
The Best Credit Score Apps for Android
Credit Karma is one of the most recognizable names in this space. You register, log in and view your credit reports. It gets the basics down and you can see things like your open accounts and how much money you owe.
There are a host of other services like a tax filing feature as well as credit card information. We don’t necessarily recommend all of this, but the basic functionality is very useful. You can also use it to monitor your credit and do other things.
Sesame Credit
Price: Free / $9.95 to $19.95 per month
Credit Sesame is very similar to Credit Karma. It shows your credit score, open accounts and all that. It then remains free by offering you a bunch of stuff like credit cards or cashback offers. The free part of it is useful for basic credit monitoring. Subscription options add other things like daily credit scores, monthly reports, and other features for power users.
Capital One’s CreditWise
Price: To free
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
CreditWise by Capital One is a free application offered by the credit card company. Anyone can use it, even if you don’t have a Capital One credit card. It offers free weekly credit scores from TransUnion. You can also check your TransUnion credit report to see your different accounts. Some other features include a credit simulator to see how your decisions affect your score and alerts for various nefarious things, like if your social security number ends up on the dark web. That’s pretty good for a free service.
Experian Credit Report
Price: Free / $9.99 to $19.99 per month
All three major credit bureaus are on the Play Store, but Experian is the only one with a decent mobile app. The app gives you a free credit report with your FICO score whenever you want. It also helps you improve your credit by adding things like paying your bills and utilities.
Some other features include alerts when your credit changes, credit score updates (every 30 days), and more. There are subscription services, and you’ll need them to do more than the most basic things.
Mint is one of the most popular budgeting apps on mobile. Its main purpose is to help you manage your money more efficiently. It does this with a wide range of features, such as expense charts, budget tool, and more. However, one of the app’s many features is the ability to pull your credit score so you can see what you’re dealing with.
It won’t send alerts if your credit score changes, but it’s a nice punch for people who want to manage their money better and see their credit score go up.
MyFICO
Price: Free trial / $19.95 to $39.95 per month
MyFICO is a premium service that lets you check your FICO score whenever you want. Many companies do credit scores, but an inordinate percentage of lenders use your FICO score. It will also show you different FICO scores depending on the type of purchase. So your FICO mortgage may be different than if you opted for an auto loan.
The app also includes various reports, insights, alerts, and even graphs to help you see your FICO score over time and ways to improve it. The only downside is that although you get a free trial, a subscription is required after the trial period ends.
NerdWallet is very similar to Mint. It’s a money management app with a bunch of tools to help you save money, spend less, and manage your money better. One of those features includes pulling your credit score so you can see it go up or down over time.
NerdWallet also sends you notifications when your credit score changes, shows you articles on how credit scores work, and gives you tips on how to get better credit. It’s certainly not perfect, especially for super niche things like having multiple accounts at the same bank, but otherwise it’s decent.
WalletHub is another direct competitor to companies like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame. It extracts your credit score and claims to update it daily. You can also monitor your credit 24/7 and set up alerts for various activities – and there’s a debt repayment plan feature that helps you come up with a plan to pay off existing debt.
It treats credit card ads as a source of revenue, but otherwise the app is completely free. Some people have reported connection bugs, but most people don’t seem to have them. It is quite good and competes favorably with others.
Some banking apps do
Price: To free
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Some banking apps and most credit card companies offer free credit scores. Some examples include Capital One (listed above), Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, many credit unions, etc. Just contact your bank’s customer service to find out if yours offers it and how to access it. In most cases, it’s pretty straightforward and updated regularly so you can track your accounts and credit score in one place.
FTC official website
Price: To free
The FTC says you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report every 12 months. Obviously, you can get it more often than that by other means, but that’s still an option. It’s especially useful for people who don’t want to sign up for a full service that emails or harasses them all the time. At the button below, you can access the FTC website, where you can find out how to get your credit report for free.
If we missed any great credit score apps, tell us about them in the comments. You can also click here to check out our latest lists of Android apps and games.
