How to get 3 Free Credit Reports – No Credit Card Needed
Need a free credit report, but don’t want to to enter your credit card information, or sign-up for one of those “free trials” to get it? There is only one source for truly free credit reports, no trials or catches, ever…
AnnualCreditReport.com – All 3 Credit Reports Once Per Year
AnnualCreditReport.com is the official, federally mandated website for accessing your free annual credit report. Now all US residents are eligible to view their credit report from all 3 of the credit reporting companies – Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.
At www.AnnualCreditReport.com, you are not required to enter your credit card information to view your credit reports, and no trial membership is involved either, it’s truly free. In fact, if you find yourself needing to enter your payment info to view your reports, you are at the wrong website! There are imitators out there, so be careful. If you are not sure if you are at the correct website, check and make sure the website address specifically starts with “www.annualcreditreport.com”.
The site is designed to give every US resident free and easy access to their credit report from all 3 agencies, once every 12 months, from a central source. All you have to do is enter your personal information to confirm your identity, then the website will lead you through the process of viewing all 3 of your credit reports individually at each credit reporting bureau’s respective website.
You can either view all reports at once, or you can stagger them over a period of 12 months, then start the process over again at that point. I personally like to view all three at one time so I can compare them, but many people prefer to access just one every 4 months so they feel like they are keeping a closer eye on their credit. The choice is yours.
For more specific info on this topic, read my full review of AnnualCreditReport.com
Viewing Your 3 Free Credit Scores
While accessing your credit reports is completely free at annualcreditreport.com – your credit scores are not included with the annual credit report offer, and will cost extra from each of the “big 3” reporting companies.
After you have viewed all 3 of your credit reports from that site, and you still want a free credit score, I suggest signing up for for a credit monitoring service called FreeScoresAndMore – which does include your 3 free credit scores with your free trial.
With your free credit monitoring trial, your credit card information is needed to sign up, but the bonus is you can view your credit scores, absolutely free.
You won’t be charged any up front fees, you will only be charged a small monthly free (such as $14.99/month), if you don’t cancel the credit monitoring service before your free trial is up. If you don’t like the service they provide, just call and cancel it. You will not be charged anything, and you still walk away with your Free Credit Scores just for giving it a try. Not bad huh?
Here’s what I recommend
- Get your 3 free credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com
- Sign-up for a free 30-day trial of FreeScoresAndMore to get all 3 free credit scores and daily credit report monitoring – cancel your account before your free trial expires if you just want your scores and not the premium credit monitoring/ID theft features they provide.
- Enjoy your free credit reports and scores!
More on these services…
FreeScoresAndMore – Premium Credit Monitoring and ID theft Protection
FreeScoresAndMore (Visit Site) provides best-in-class credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. At sign-up, along with instant access to your 3 free credit scores, your 3 credit reports will be monitored on a daily basis for signs of fraud or ID theft. They will also monitor the internet black markets for your personal credit accounts being posted which could lead to fraud.
They offer a 30 day free trial – which means you can sign up and try out their service for a full month (and get your 3 free credit scores along with it). If it turns out that you don’t like it, just cancel and pay nothing. You get to keep your 3 free credit scores just for trying it out!
Good Ad-Supported Free Credit Score Services
These services are free (ad-supported), but will only provide your credit score from 1 bureau, and will use your personal information to try and sell you on loans and credit card offers. Feel free to try these, but personally I believe FreeScoresAndMore is well worth the small fee for the amazing service they provide.
Credit Sesame – Free Experian Credit Score & Monitoring
With Credit Sesame, your membership is always free, no credit card needed. Upon sign-up, you will receive your actual free Experian credit score, along with basic credit 1-bureau credit monitoring. With this one, even though it is free, be ready to see plenty of ads for various things such as credit cards and loans. Considering this service is 100% free for life, it’s worth a try!
Credit Karma – Free TransUnion Credit Score and Report Card
With your 100% free Credit Karma membership (no credit card needed), you get what they call a “credit report card”, not an actual credit report, but they will access your credit report on your behalf, and give you letter grades on different areas of your report, to let you know how you are doing and what you might need to improve on. This can be useful after you have access your reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and need more info how what everything means and what you need to do to improve your credit.
The advantage to Credit Karma and Credit Sesame is that they also provide you with your credit score at no charge. The disadvantage is, because they are free, you will be presented with many ads such as credit card offers, mortgage, and credit monitoring services (they have bills to pay too).
I hope you take advantage of all these free services to help you stay on top of your credit. If you have any thoughts or experiences to share about any of this, I’d love to hear from you! Just leave a comment below.
As always, have a great day… and stay informed!
Wow, I just almost got tricked into signing up for one of those other so called free credit report offers, glad I found this page before I wasted my time and money!
don’t ever trust a free website that advertise no credit card its a scam and they will get your money that thing that they say that its a 7 day trail ist not true if you don’t cancel you are done I called to cancel and phone number was not good fauls so I tell everybody to let especialy Experian they are stealing from people and they will garnish your pay but me I don’t let get away with me I will email the better bussiniss berue and make a complaint then I got to leagle aid get a free lawyer they will help you get your money if you were scam ok Nicola here going for lunch stay intouch you got my screen name anything you want to talk ist fine I am a good guy I came from Italy and made a life here but I wont let no company get away
I’m just so glad that this resource here is free. Everyone’s input has been tremendously helpful! Thank you. It’s ridiculous, the money I have paid in the past to obtain a credit report. In my recent search I also found some useful information relating to this subject when I Googled the credit locker university. Thanks again!
I have been checking credit karma, credit sesame and quizzle because I am in the process of fixing my own credit. These three websites have changed my life. I love it
you people who pitch creditkarma and creditsesame must be making a buck – these sites are nothing but advertising. when you say ad supported, that’s a lie. you get nothing like your actual credit report and all the important information therein, and you sure the hell don’t get you credit score. ALL YOU GET is a summary amount of your total debt as per your credit report and a shitload of ads from debt consolidation companies. IF YOU NEED REAL INFO, don’t waste your time with the karma sesame crap.
Ron, sorry to hear you don’t like CreditKarma and CreditSesame. They aren’t the end all be all of credit score services, there are many to choose from ranging from completely free (ad supported) all the way up to paid services which can get as high as around $30/month, but CreditKarma and CreditSesame are free, ad supported services, and they do provide your credit score, although not your actual FICO score. You’re right they don’t provide your full credit report, but I think I’ve made it clear here that you can access that at annualcreditreport.com. Just two of many options to consider, and definitely worth a try!
bravo!
Another good site that is really free and not a scam is credit sesame (http://creditsesame.com).
Similar to credit karma, it is ad supported. Credit Sesame gets their info from Experian, Credit Karma gets theirs from Transunion. Between them, you get a nice overall picture.
Annualcreditreport.com directs you to the individual sites, one at a time, which are each confusing! The only site that allowed me to print a copy of my report was TransUnion- the other two were very difficult to navigate and Equifax would not allow me to open the link to view my report. Experian was the worst because a couple of windows popped up with links to view my score for $1. I enetered my info to receive my score and have now been charged $17.95, which I never intended to pay! I know they have lost a couple of law suits for this type of occurance in the past and don’t know if there is any way to get a refund? And since I entered all of my info when trying to obtain my free annual reports online, I don’t know if I will be able to order actual copies of them by phone (since I am still missing 2), is there any way to speak to an actual person affiliated with the site? Friends of mine have suggested creditkarma.com after hearing of my struggle and I will definitely try it. A word of caution to those considering annualcreditreport.com- it is not nearly as simple as it has been made to seem.
Meg, you can certainly ask for a refund, as to whether or not they will give it to you is tough to say. But as for your other question, you can contact annualcreditreport.com by phone by calling 1-877-322-8228. I agree it can be a little confusing trying to navigate through the three separate websites while obtaining all three reports. It would be much easier if all three reports were provided at one website instead of broken up into three separate sessions. But we take what we can get!
listen I got what you going thrue I got my payment back you kneed to fight back contact better bussiniss berous and make a complain I don’t know where you from but in nj we have a place called legal aid and you can get a free lawyer tio help you get your money back trust they will do it free thatsv why they are called probono lawyers because they are free anyway YOU GOT MY EMAIL SEND ME A MESSAGE IF YOU DONT GET YOUR MONEY BACK OK CHAO MEG NICOLA
I just looked into joining Quizzle and Credit Karma and after searching it on Google I found that the credit score Quizzle offers is the Experian PLUS score with a range of 300-900 so it is different from your official FICO score with top end of 850. Credit Karma offers some kind of estimated score…so which score would be likely to be closer to my FICO score…this Experian PLUS one or the one Credit Karma one?
TP, The Experian PLUS score range is actually 330-830 (source). According to Quizzle, they use something called a CE Credit Score, with a range of 350-850. CreditKarma actually offers two scores now, the TransRisk score which is TransUnion’s own scoring model, and the range on that one is 300-850. The second score they offer is the VantageScore with a range of 500-990. Of those three, your TransRisk score should most closely resemble your FICO, since the range is the same (FICO’s range is also 300-850).
As I was replying to your question I checked my TransRisk score from CreditKarma and it is almost exactly the same as my FICO score. I hope this helps!
Hi. I am currently going through the short sale process ( the bank has not yet approved it ) and am concerned how this will affect my credit score when I need to move out and am applying for rentals. I don’t know what my current credit score is and want to know if I should check it now, or wait until the short sale goes through to see the effects it may have on my credit score and my rental situation. Also, if i check my score now with quizzle, can I still get my Experian info free from annualcreditreport.com at a later date?
Anne, you can check your credit score at any time and it does not affect your ability to get your 3 free reports/year at annualcreditreport.com (one from each bureau, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). If you are curious about your score, go ahead and check it, it will do no harm. I am a member of all the sites I recommend on here and I also check my reports at annualcreditreport.com with no problems.
just wanted to say that i just got my free annualcreditreport.com no strings attached, i did however pay $7.95 to get a credit score from one of the agencies, my choice though dont have to to get credit report, also checked out quizzle and credit karma look like pretty good sights and something i am interested in doing so my question is this which one of those sights are better for helping someone raise their credit score or is there another sight not listed that is better. i am looking to buy a home in the near future but really need help raising my score first yes i have bad credit now but looking to improve. Please help
Randy, I have personally found freecreditscore.com to be a great option when trying to get all the tips and help you need to monitoring and improving your score, but it does cost a small monthly fee after your free trial. If you are looking for completely free solutions, credit karma and quizzle are both great options, but I personally like creditkarma.com best out of the two. I would recommend checking them out yourself and see which one might fit your needs best. Good luck!
Credit sesame is another free credit score site. Maybe a little inflated though.
I would like to say that from my experience with annualcreditreport.com I had great results. I received my FREE credit reports with no problems. But I need to ask. Is there a possibility to receive just my credit score without the whole credit report? Plus, can I receive it for free?
Jessie, you can certainly receive just your credit score, but not from annualcreditreport.com. For your free score you will need to visit sites like creditkarma.com or quizzle.com, both are free with no credit card needed and no trial memberships. Also, freecreditscore.com is also a great option, you can sign up for a free trial, for this you will need to enter your CC info, but you can cancel if you don’t like the service, and pay nothing. I am a member of all 3 services and they all have their advantages and disadvantages, you should definitely check them out!
As noted above, it was a huge problem trying to order on line. Call the numbeer mentioned above and you will get quick and excellent service, even though it is a robot it is clear and accurate. (1 877-322-8228. Don’t even bother with on line; just a a pain in the neck!
Mary J Brown, thanks for your comment. Even though I have never had a problem with ordering my reports online, it seems that some people do, so calling is a good option if something goes wrong while trying to access your reports online.
How do you get around the security quesstions? I guess someone took out a loan in my name and I dont know how much for. I called the company of all but they wouldnt give me any information because I couldnt match the phone number. Im pissed and this is really destroying my credit. I dont want to pay a professional company hundreds of dollars to fix my credit.
Tony, I would recommend checking your credit report ASAP to search for suspicious activity. Check out this page for more info: FTC ID Theft
Tony, Those are trick questions. They know u didnt have that line of credit & look for you to answer accordingly. Happened to me recently when applying for new checking acct. The bank explained to me that is a new security question method. Scared me too. Try again..
I had the same problem with ezperian charging my account everymonth but the computer that I did my credit report knever came thrue so they send a message saying Iwe kneed a credit card number to get free credit report so I dint give them a card number because that’s how they get you its a scam the only good honest credit report is the one from the gov government free credit report don’t let other companies jerk you around because if they have your number they can garnish your job check without you knowing I leanerd with all the credit report scams that are not trutfull they lie to get your number they tell you in a message put a driffrent number don’t do it
The annualcreditreport.com is a legit free website for obtaining your credit report . . . all three of them completely free once each year. I have used the site twice now and have had no problems getting my credit reports.
I remember years ago I got my annual free credit report from a gov. backed website, not a .com. Also, can I call the companies and request they send me my report for free?
Kim, Absolutely, you can call annualcreditreport.com toll free at 1-877-322-8228. Keep in mind even though it is a .com website address, rest assured it is the real government mandated website for free annual credit reports. I use it every year and haven’t paid a dime. As you view your report from each credit bureau, they will of course want you to upgrade and buy your credit scores, but I always decline this because I’m a member of a few different credit monitoring services which provide my credit score.
hi kim my name is Nicola I did one of them credit report from the gov that another scam they want you to put the the last four numbers of your credit card and then they will take your money I had a problem with Experian garnishing my pay but I went to legal aid and got a lawyer for ree and they got my money back and damages for doing this to me so I got rewarded I got more then they took from me they charged me fot 15 month my lawyer HAD THEM REVERSE MY PAYMENT BUT I GOT 20 PAYMENT BACK SO I DID OK I FEEL BAD FOR YOU IF THEY DID IT ANYWAY LIKE I SAID SEND ME A EMAIL IF YOU LIKE WE CAN TALK AGAIN IAM FROM NJ AND 100 PERCENT ITALIAN SO I DONT TKE THEM COMPANIES As a joke I go after them my money ok bye have a nice day nicola
As Americans we are entitled to a free credit score without the strings. Are the credit bureaus exempt to the BBB?
Brent, as mentioned above there are numerous ways to receive your free credit score. In addition to the resources listed above, lenders are now required to show you your score if you are either rejected for a loan, or are approved for a loan but with a higher interest rate than provided to their best customers. They are also required to explain the reason for the rejection or higher rate.
In a perfect world our FICO scores would be 100% free at all times, but in reality they have to turn a profit just like any other company needs to do, so we have to take what we can get. Check out http://www.creditkarma.com if you’re looking for a no strings credit score. The one they provide is not your actual FICO score, but it’s a good approximation if you don’t want to pay for the real thing.
Thank you so much for the Quizzle reference! I needed my three free credit reports for my bk. Experian wouldn’t let me give it to me free online. I had to call and they told me it would be 15 days to three weeks in the mail. Thank you, again. Quizzle looks like something I need when I get through this mess.
I dont know what everybody is so happy about. these must be employees of these companies cause I have tried for years to get a free credit report and the only thing they ever ask for is membership or a credit card number. well, look here, i don’t have a credit card. i cant even find out what is on my report so that i can get my credit in order to even get a credit card. not everyone is raised with a silver spoon in there mouths. for some of us it is hard as hell to get anything. should i give up? i don’t know, but as far as this “free credit report” goes, all of the american government can kiss my ass. i hate liars.
Rose, I assure you that annualcreditreport.com is the real thing, and at that site, you will never need to a credit card to view your credit reports. Watch out for imitations though, there are many other sites trying to look like the real annualcreditreport.com, when all they are really trying to do is get you signed up for their service which comes along with a monthly fee.
Be sure that when looking for your free annual credit report, that the URL (website address) you are at exactly matches annualcreditreport.com, and keep in mind that the real federally mandated annual credit report website will never ask for your credit card information. The credit bureaus will try to upsell you while viewing your credit reports, but if you decline their offers they will not ask for your credit card info either.
And never give up trying to build a good solid credit history. I know it must seem like it now, but once you get on the right path, it’s really not that difficult.
rose go to creditkarma.com…..I am like you and many others, I dont think paying to know what my credit report is worth it. I was watching the news and they had mention this website. My husband and I now know what are credit score is and what out standing balances we have left. I suggest you try it. From what I know this seems to be the only that was 100% free with no credit card.
Rose,
Those sites do give free info. I use creditkarma and quizzle all the time. I have never given cc information. There are ads on the sites but you done have to do the other features. I also use annualcreditreport. Legally you are allowed your report once a year free. Just try it. If you think you see anything asking for a card. Just back out. But I know you wont
No I am not an employee of any of those companies. I work for motorola. Not any website
rose dont ever give up
Great Great sources …Got two of the three cerdit scores for free. Detail giving is accurate … Thanx a bunch I should pay you for your research God bless!!
Wow,
What a great resource you have here. I signed up for the Identity Guard offer and found all the features to be very helpful. Thanks for such a great comparison site.
I got my 3 reports from annualcreditreport.com, signed up for all these services, plus one of the free trial services called Identity Guard. When I signed up with the free trial service, I planned on canceling shortly after, but now I’m checking out all the features it has and I may keep it!