Top 5 Ways to Get a 100% Free Credit Score – No Credit Card Needed
Tired of those so-called “free credit score” offers – the ones that require you to enter your credit card details in order to view your credit score? Want a truly free credit score without having to sign-up for a free trial of some over-priced credit monitoring service? Me too, and I know of several great sites which will give you that! Let’s take a closer look…
Best 100% Free Credit Score Services, No Trials
My #1 Favorite – Credit Sesame
I’ve been using Credit Sesame for quite a while now, and I love it. It’s 100% free to sign-up and get your free credit score, of course there’s no credit card required, ever! It’s an ad-supported service, which means it’s completely free – but much like a free TV station, you will see advertisements for things like credit cards, loans, credit report upgrades, etc. The advertisements are not intrusive at all though, and are credit related and/or finance related – small price to pay for a free credit score every month!
Here’s a snapshot of my credit score straight from my Credit Sesame account:
My credit score is 803, woo hoo! There was a time not that long ago when my credit score was a devilish 666 – but I will save that story for another day. By the way, the credit score you get at Credit Sesame is based on your Experian credit report, your scores from Equifax and TransUnion are not included. Check out FreeScoresAndMore for your 3 free credit scores.
Overview of Credit Sesame Benefits
- Free Experian Credit Score
- Monthly Credit Score Updates
- Credit Score Tracking Feature
- Experian Credit Report Monitoring
- Always 100% Free – No Credit Card, No Trial
My Thoughts on Credit Sesame
As I mentioned before, Credit Sesame is my favorite site for accessing my free credit score without any trials. Why? I like good quality sites which are easy to use and navigate without a lot of clutter. For me it’s the easiest to use, least cluttered, and it’s pretty easy on the eyes as well. It provides my free credit score, updated every month, in a way that’s very simple and easy to access. That makes it a winner in my book. Try it out for yourself and see if it becomes your favorite as well!
Full Credit Sesame Review – Visit Credit Sesame
My #2 Favorite – Credit Karma
I’ve been a member of Credit Karma for a long time as well. As far as I know, they were the first on the scene to offer a totally free credit score with no credit card and no trial membership. And to this day they are still a great choice.
They provide your free TransUnion credit score, along with what’s called a “VantageScore”, which is a credit score developed by a collaborative effort among the 3 major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). It has a different scale than what most people are used to. I mainly just use it to track my TransUnion credit score and typically don’t pay a lot of attention to my VantageScore. But it is a nice bonus feature for those who are interested in it.
Here’s a snapshot of my credit score from my Credit Karma account:
My score at Credit Karma is currently 772. As you can see it’s likely that your credit score will vary among the different sites and scoring models, it also depends on which credit bureau it’s based on. Also, the 3 credit bureaus don’t always have the same exact information reported to them, so that is also a factor.
Your Credit Karma score is based on your TransUnion credit report, as with Credit Sesame above – they do not provide all 3 scores for free. You can check out FreeScoresAndMore to get your 3 free credit scores instead of just 1.
Overview of Credit Karma Benefits
- Free TransUnion Credit Score
- Monthly Credit Score Updates
- Credit Score Tracking Feature
- TransUnion Credit Report Monitoring
- Includes VantageScore, Auto Insurance Score, Home Insurance Score
- Always 100% Free – No Credit Card, No Trial
My Thoughts on Credit Karma
Credit Karma is a great way to get your free TransUnion credit score, but in my opinion it’s not quite as easy to use and is a little more cluttered than Credit Sesame (above). Additional features like the VantageScore, Auto Score and Insurance score are things I just don’t see any value in, but your miles may vary. This one used to be my favorite until my #1 pick Credit Sesame came along! But it’s definitely worth checking out, then you can decide for yourself!
Full Credit Karma Review – Visit Credit Karma
Honorable Mentions
There are other sites offering your free credit score without a credit card, but I don’t believe they are quite up to par with the two I have already mentioned above, so I won’t go into too much detail on those. Even though I don’t recommend them, here are the other viable options:
Quizzle – Free Experian Credit Report & Score
- Free Experian Credit Report every 6 months
- Free Experian Credit Score
- Always Free, No Credit Card Required
Credit.com – Free VantageScore & Report Card
- Free Credit Report Card (not full credit report)
- Free VantageScore Updated Monthly
- Always Free, No Credit Card Needed
myFICO – Credit Score Estimator
- Estimate your FICO score, straight from the horses mouth (so to speak)
- Not a real credit score, not based on your actual credit data
- Worth keeping in your credit toolbox, however I don’t find myself using a lot.
Best Service For All 3 Free Credit Scores
My Favorite Premium Service – FreeScoresAndMore
As far as I’m concerned, there are two types of credit monitoring services – Ad-Supported (the ones above) and Premium (FreeScoresAndMore, among others). Premium Services come with many more features than the Ad-Supported ones do, but they also come with a monthly fee if you continue your membership beyond the free trial – which is why I like to call them “Premium”.
While I’m on the topic, it’s worth going into a little more detail on what I believe is the cadillac of premium credit monitoring services – FreeScoresAndMore. This one does have a 30-day free trial, and to take advantage of the free trial, you will need to enter your credit card info to gain access to it. But the advantage is you get all 3 free credit scores (instead of just one like the ad-supported services above), premium 3-bureau credit report monitoring, best-in-class identity theft protection and fraud detection features, and much more.
Overview of FreeScoresAndMore Benefits
- All 3 Free Credit Scores
- All 3 Credit Reports
- Daily 3-Bureau Credit Report Monitoring
- Reports & Scores Updated Monthly
- Best-In-Class ID Theft Prevention
- Fraud Prevention & Detection
- 30-Day Free Trial, $14.99/mo if you don’t cancel
FreeScoresAndMore is a service I use, and I definitely recommend everyone at least check it out. If nothing else, just sign up for the free trial, and if you don’t want to keep it, just call and cancel before your free trial ends. Then you get all 3 free credit scores just for giving it a try!
Visit FreeScoresAndMore Now >>
What do you think about all this? Please let me know in the comments section below, I’d love to hear from you!
I saw that equifax had a credit score of 684 but I am trying to get a car what else would I need.
would like my credit report for free, I do not have a credit card to put a refundable dollar in an account. Just need an idea of what my credit looks like
myFICO’s credit monitoring product is pretty good, just cancel within the first 10 days and it’s free.
Again; I do not have a credit card number to give you, I would gladly hand you the dollar bill if that were possible; although I feel thats not really free since there are strings and stipulations attached.
Lisa, I hear ya… check out my article about how to get your free credit reports with no credit card needed.