Credible Review: Marketplace for Student Loans and Refinancing

Credible is a company that's making waves in the private student loan and refinancing industries. Customers can fill out one simple form and get quotes from top lenders at once instead of manually researching their options.

Credible isn't a direct lender. It's a marketplace that connects borrowers to its lending partners, working with well-known companies such as SoFi and Discover. Credible's business model isn't unique; many other companies use a similar structure. But how does Credible stack up against its competitors? In this Credible review, learn about the company's pros and cons and what you can do to get the best rates on a loan.

Credible Student Loan Review: Pros and Cons

Pros 

• Free to use: While some student loan sites charge membership fees, Credible is completely free to the borrower. Credible makes money through compensation from lenders when consumers take out loans from partner companies. 
• Pre-Qualification available: You can get rate quotes through Credible with just a soft credit inquiry, which doesn’t impact your credit score. 
• Borrowers can get multiple quotes with one form: It’s always wise to shop around and get offers from multiple lenders before submitting a loan application. While you can do that on your own, manually getting quotes from individual lenders can be a time-consuming process. Credible streamlines the process by allowing you to fill out one simple form and get quotes from several lenders.

Cons

• No special discounts or benefits: While Credible allows you to compare several loan offers at once, there’s no additional benefit to using the site. Credible doesn’t offer special benefits, discounts or interest rate deductions to its users. 
• Terms and policies vary by lender: Credible’s partner lenders set their own policies, so you’ll find that each lender has its own eligibility requirements, repayment options and forbearance policies. Make sure you research the individual lender carefully so that you understand your loan terms before submitting your full application. 
• Lenders require borrowers to be U.S. citizens or legal residents: Credible’s partner lenders typically lend only to U.S. citizens or legal residents with valid Social Security numbers. Most of the company’s lenders won’t approve DACA or international students unless they have a co-signer who is a U.S. citizen, so students in those categories will have to work with other lenders.  

Credible Student Loans

Through Credible, customers can get quotes from lenders that issue undergraduate, graduate and parent student loans. None of Credible’s partner lenders charge origination fees or prepayment penalties.

Undergraduate Loans

As of October 2021, Credible partners with eight lenders to offer undergraduate loans. Through Credible, you can get quotes from multiple lenders and borrow up to the total cost of attendance. 

However, interest rates, repayment terms, in-school payment options and co-signer release policies vary by lender. In general, you can choose between variable and fixed interest rates on all private student loans, and loan terms are usually five to 15 years. 

Graduate Loans

Credible allows consumers to get quotes for graduate student loans, including loans that they can use for medical school, for law school or to earn an MBA. 

Graduate student loans from Credible can have fixed or variable interest rates. While some of Credible’s partners allow you to borrow up to the total cost of attendance, others have caps on how much you can take out. For example, one lender has a $200,000 aggregate limit, which includes all money borrowed for your undergraduate degree. If you’re in a more expensive program — such as medical school or law school — you could reach that limit before you complete your education. 

Parent Loans

For parents who want to borrow money on behalf of their children, Credible also partners with seven lenders that have private parent student loans. 

As with the other student loan options, parents can choose between fixed and variable interest rates. Terms range from five to 15 years, but whether payments are required while the student is in school or can  be deferred until after graduation depends on the lender. 

Credible Student Loan Refinancing Review

Student loan refinancing can be a useful option if you want to pay off your debt more aggressively or reduce your payments. Credible has 13 student loan refinancing partners that offer refinancing for undergraduate, graduate and parent student loans. 

Terms vary by lender, but you can generally choose a term between five and 20 years. Most lenders offer both fixed and variable interest rates, but some of Credible’s partners have only fixed-rate loans. 

Borrowing limits vary by lender. Some have maximums as low as $300,000, so medical school or law school graduates may be able to refinance only a portion of their outstanding student loans, or they will have to work with another lender. 

Credible’s partners don’t offer student loan refinancing to residents of all states, so check the fine print before submitting an application. 

Juno's Exclusive Student Loan Refinance Deals

	Rates	Juno Benefit	Check
Best for Most Can’t be refinanced with a cosigner	Fixed starting at 4.29% APR APR, Variable starting at 5.89% APR including the .25% autopay discount and the .25% Juno discount.	Rate reduction of 0.25%	Soft Credit Check to get rates; Hard Credit Check to refinance
Register for Earnest Deal (it’s free!)
Alternative Best for Most May be able to refinance with a cosigner	Fixed starting at 4.96% APR, Variable starting at 4.99% APR. May include autopay discount.	Up to $1,000 cash back based on loan amount	Soft Credit Check to get rates; Hard Credit Check to refinance
Register for Splash Deal (it’s free!)
Best for Medical Professionals May be able to refinance with a cosigner	Fixed starting at 5.74% APR, Variable starting at 5.49% APR *	Rate reduction of 0.25% *	Soft Credit Check to get rates;* Hard Credit Check to refinance
Register for Laurel Road Deal (it’s free!)

Juno's Exclusive Student Loan Refinance Deals

Choosing a Lender

If you’ve been looking for a way to find the most affordable private student loan or student loan refinancing offer, Credible is a popular choice. Although the company isn’t a direct lender, it connects borrowers with its partner lenders, and you can get multiple quotes by filling out one simple form. 

However, Credible has some limitations. Only U.S. citizens and legal residents with Social Security numbers can qualify for loans, so international and DACA students will have to look elsewhere for help. And Credible doesn’t offer any discounts to its users. 

By contrast, Juno uses its group buying power to negotiate the lowest possible rates for its users. Juno’s partners even offer extra benefits such as cash-back bonuses and additional discounts for Juno members. Juno is free to join, and it takes only about a minute to create a Juno account.