How to Check Your Credit Score for Free

You can check both your credit reports and a credit score for free, as often as you like, without hurting your credit. Your reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com. A free score is usually available through your bank, credit card app, or the bureaus’ own websites. Checking your own credit is a soft inquiry and never lowers your score.

Free credit reports: AnnualCreditReport.com

AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site for free reports required by federal law. The three bureaus have permanently extended free weekly access, so you don’t have to ration them anymore.

A few tips:

• Type the address yourself. Look-alike sites with similar names try to sell subscriptions.
• You’ll answer security questions about old addresses or loans. If you can’t get through online, you can request reports by phone or mail.
• Get all three. Lenders don’t always report to every bureau, so each report can be different.

Reports don’t include a score, but they’re the more important document: the score is just a summary of what’s on them.

Free credit scores

There are several good free sources:

• Your credit card issuer or bank. Many show a FICO Score or VantageScore in the app or on your statement. These are real scores, often updated monthly.
• The credit bureaus. Experian, for example, offers a free FICO Score based on its own data.
• Free credit apps. Many show a VantageScore and offer monitoring alerts. They usually make money from card and loan offers, so expect marketing.
• Nonprofit credit counselors often review your report and score with you for free.

The score you see may not match the one a lender uses, because there are many scoring models and versions. That’s normal; Why Your Credit Scores Differ Across Apps and Lenders explains why.

Watch out for “free” that isn’t

Some “free score” offers start a paid subscription unless you cancel within a trial period. Before entering a card number, read what you’re signing up for. You never need to pay to see your credit reports.

What to look for on your reports

Set a reminder to look every few months, and before any big application like a mortgage, car loan, or apartment.

• Personal information: names, addresses, and employers you don’t recognize can be a sign of identity theft or a mixed file.
• Accounts: make sure every account is yours and balances, limits, and statuses are correct.
• Payment history: check for late payments you don’t think are accurate.
• Collections and public records: confirm they’re yours and the dates are right.
• Inquiries: hard inquiries you didn’t authorize can be an early warning of fraud.

If you find a mistake, dispute it with the bureau; it’s free. How to Dispute a Credit Report Error walks through it. If you find accounts you didn’t open, go to IdentityTheft.gov and consider a credit freeze.

Reading your score

Most scores you’ll see run from 300 to 850. Rather than fixating on the number, look at the “key factors” most providers list, such as “high balances relative to limits” or “recent late payment.” Those tell you what to work on. Understanding Credit Score explains what drives the number, and How to Raise Your Credit Score turns it into a plan.

To track progress, follow the same score from the same source over time. Comparing a score from one app with another’s isn’t a fair comparison.

Sources

• FTC: Free credit reports
• Experian: Free credit report and FICO Score
• myFICO: Does checking my credit score lower it?

This article is for educational purposes and is not financial advice.