Borrower reviews
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Borrowers rate the request experience after using our form. Here is how those ratings are gathered, what people praise, what frustrates them, and how to read reviews anywhere.
If you are reading earnest personal loans reviews, you probably want to know one thing before you share your details: what is it actually like to send a request and see what comes back? People comparing earnest personal loans usually ask the same question. This page answers it with ratings from people who used our request form for a personal loan request, an honest look at the complaints, and a guide to judging reviews you find elsewhere.
One clarification first. We are a free connector service, not a lender, and we are not affiliated with any lender or company named Earnest. The well-known lender with that name is a separate business. The reviews here describe our personal loan request and matching experience only, so anyone researching earnest personal loans should read them in that light. A lender in our network makes every credit decision, sets every rate and funds every personal loan, so a review can praise or criticize the process, but it cannot promise anyone the same outcome.
Borrowers rate the request experience after they use the form, and so far 1,749 ratings have come in from about 22,000 people who used the service, for an average of 4.7 out of 5.
The rating invitation goes out after someone submits a personal loan request, whether or not a lender made an offer. That timing matters. If we only asked people who received money, the average would look better than the reality, and it would hide the experience of people who were declined. Everyone who completes the form gets the same short survey, with a star score and an optional comment.
The 36 written reviews below are a sample of those comments, shown with the use and amount each person entered on the form. The sample keeps the same mix of scores as the full set of ratings: mostly five stars, a solid group of four stars, and a three-star review that points to a real weakness. We do not edit the wording beyond trimming length, and we do not remove critical comments. That matters for anyone weighing earnest personal loans by reputation, because a page with only glowing comments tells you very little.
Ratings measure the request process: how clear the form was, how quickly lenders responded, and whether the information matched what the lender later showed. They do not rate any lender's personal loan, rate or customer service, because we do not control those things. If you want to see exactly how the process works step by step, our page on how the request process works walks through each stage.
A rating also never changes what a lender offers on a personal loan. People sometimes ask whether leaving five stars helps a future application; it does not, because lenders never see the survey.
That approach gives a fuller picture of earnest personal loans requests than a page that only shows happy customers, and it keeps each personal loan rating honest.
Borrowers rate the request experience after they use the form, and the 36 written reviews below are a sample of those ratings, shown with the use and amount each person entered.
Based on 1,749 borrower ratings from about 22,000 people who used our request form
The form took me about five minutes and asked only what mattered. Two lenders responded the same afternoon, and I compared each personal loan by APR and total repaid before choosing. Nobody pretended approval was a sure thing, which I appreciated.
Requested for: car repair · $1,200I needed help with a hospital bill and did not know where to start. I got two personal loan offers to compare, and the one with the lower fee saved me real money. The lender handled everything after I picked.
Requested for: medical bill · $2,000Filled out the request on my phone during lunch. A lender reached out with a personal loan offer that clearly showed the monthly payment, the term and the total cost. The process felt calm and respectful the whole way through.
Requested for: laptop for work · $900The matching worked and I found a personal loan I was comfortable with for my roof. I did get more emails than I expected from lenders, so I would suggest using an inbox you check often.
Requested for: roof repair · $2,500I liked that the site was clear about who makes the decision. The lender I chose explained every personal loan fee on their own page, and I read it all before signing. No surprises, just a clear offer.
Requested for: moving deposit · $1,500We needed help covering my father's service quickly. The form was simple, the tone was kind, and an offer came through the next morning. Having the personal loan payment in writing helped our family plan.
Requested for: funeral costs · $3,000I almost accepted the first personal loan I saw elsewhere. Comparing personal loan offers here showed me one with a much lower total repaid over the same term. Worth the five minutes it took.
Requested for: card consolidation · $4,500The request was easy and a lender matched me within a day. My rate was higher than I hoped, but the offer was clear, and the lender explained how my credit affected it.
Requested for: water heater · $1,100I was nervous about sharing my information, but the privacy explanation was plain and the form was short. I compared two offers and chose a shorter term to keep interest down.
Requested for: dental work · $1,800My first request did not get an offer, and I was told it might help to ask for less and pay down a card. I tried again a month later at a lower amount and was matched.
Requested for: rent gap · $700The questions were easy to answer, and I liked seeing the representative example before I started. An offer came through quickly, and the lender's terms matched what I expected.
Requested for: vet bill · $800Nobody pushed me to accept anything. I looked at the offer, compared it with one from my credit union, and went with the better total cost. Exactly how it should work.
Requested for: car repair · $1,600It took a day longer than I expected to hear back, but the offer I received was clear about the fee and APR. The form itself was quick and easy to follow.
Requested for: medical bill · $1,300I wanted to roll three cards into one payment. Seeing offers side by side made the fee and term differences obvious, and I picked one that lowers what I pay each month.
Requested for: card consolidation · $5,000The site said a lender decides and terms vary by state, and that is exactly how it went. My offer arrived the same day, and the lender's page explained everything clearly.
Requested for: moving deposit · $1,000I had never compared loans before. The form was short, and the information about reading an offer helped me understand APR versus the interest rate before I signed.
Requested for: laptop for work · $1,200The process was smooth and I got an offer within hours. The APR was toward the high end of the range, which the lender said was due to my credit. Still clear and fair.
Requested for: dental work · $2,200We needed to cover cremation and a small memorial. The request took minutes, and the offer I chose had a payment we could manage. The whole process felt respectful.
Requested for: funeral costs · $2,600Our water heater failed in winter. I submitted the request at night and had an offer to review the next morning. The lender explained the payment schedule plainly.
Requested for: water heater · $1,400Only one lender responded, so I did not get to compare much. The offer was clear and I accepted it, but I had hoped to see a few more options for my roof repair.
Requested for: roof repair · $3,500The monthly payment, total repaid and fee were all spelled out by the lender before I agreed. I liked that the site explained what to look for in an offer.
Requested for: rent gap · $600My transmission needed work and I could not wait. The form was quick, a lender matched me the same day, and I knew exactly what I would pay each month.
Requested for: car repair · $2,800The request was simple and I received two offers. One lender called more than I liked, but I told them I had chosen another offer and that was the end of it.
Requested for: vet bill · $1,000I appreciated that nothing on the site overpromised. I was matched with a lender, read the full terms, and chose a 12-month term so I would finish paying quickly.
Requested for: medical bill · $1,500Losing my mother was hard enough, and this part was not. The form was short, and the offer laid out every cost so our family could plan the service without guessing.
Requested for: funeral costs · $4,000I expected a confusing process, but the form was clear and the offer arrived fast. Comparing the total repaid helped me choose the right term for my budget.
Requested for: card consolidation · $3,200The process was easy, and the lender explained my options. My first offer had a longer term than I wanted, so I asked about a shorter one and got a clearer payment plan.
Requested for: dental work · $2,400I filled out the form in a few minutes and had an offer to review the same evening. Everything was on the lender's site, clearly laid out, with no pressure.
Requested for: laptop for work · $1,700Our landlord needed a deposit quickly. The request was simple, and the lender's offer made the payment and total cost easy to understand before we agreed.
Requested for: moving deposit · $2,000I was not matched the first time, but the tips on lowering my amount and checking my credit report helped. A few weeks later I was matched for a smaller amount.
Requested for: rent gap · $1,000Getting matched was easy and the offer was fair for my credit. I received a few follow-up messages from lenders I did not choose, which I simply answered and closed out.
Requested for: roof repair · $3,000I liked being able to compare offers instead of applying to lenders one by one. The form saved time, and I chose the lender with the lowest total cost.
Requested for: car repair · $2,100Our dog needed surgery, and I needed help fast. The request was easy, the offer arrived quickly, and the lender explained the payment and fees in plain language.
Requested for: vet bill · $1,900Nothing was hidden. The site explained that a lender decides and rates vary, and the offer I received showed the APR, fee and total repaid right at the top.
Requested for: water heater · $1,300The form was quick, but my lender took an extra day to finish verification. Once it was done, everything matched the offer I had reviewed, with no surprises.
Requested for: card consolidation · $3,800I needed help with a large dental bill and wanted to see more than one option. I compared two offers and picked the one with the lower fee and a shorter term.
Requested for: dental work · $2,700People who rate the service highly usually mention three things: a short, plain form, the chance to compare more than one personal loan offer, and honesty that a lender, not us, makes the decision.
The form comes up again and again. Most people finish the personal loan request in about five minutes, and reviewers like that it asks for the amount, purpose, income and contact details without a pile of extra screens. Several mention that they started it on a phone during a lunch break and finished before the break ended.
Comparison is the second theme. A personal loan offer looks very different from one lender to the next, and seeing two or three side by side helps people notice the fee, the term and the total repaid. Reviewers who needed a personal loan for a car repair or a water heater often say the comparison stopped them from accepting the first number they saw.
The third theme surprises some readers: borrowers appreciate being told plainly that approval is not promised. People who have looked into earnest personal loans after being burned by ads that hint at easy money say they trusted the process more because it was upfront. A few reviewers who were declined still gave four or five stars because they received pointers on what to improve, such as lowering the amount or paying down a card first.
Common uses in the sample include:
Across these uses the pattern is the same: people searching for earnest personal loans want the monthly payment, the term and the total repaid before they decide, and the highest scores say each personal loan offer showed all three clearly.
The most frequent complaints are follow-up calls or emails from lenders, offers with a higher APR than expected, and no offer at all for some requests, and each one can be reduced with a little preparation.
Lender contact. When you submit a personal loan request, lenders in our network that may serve your state can contact you about it. Some reviewers felt that contact came faster than they expected. To keep it manageable, use an email address you check often, answer the lenders you are interested in, and tell the others you have chosen a different offer.
Higher-than-expected APR. A personal loan rate depends on your credit, income, debt and state, and the representative APR range we show is 5.99% to 35.99%, with some lenders in some states charging more. Reviewers who expected the lowest number in a range sometimes felt let down, a common theme when people research earnest personal loans and see only the advertised floor. Before you request, assume your rate will sit somewhere in the middle unless your credit is strong.
No offer. Not every personal loan request gets a match. Common reasons include very low or irregular income, a recent default, or asking for more than your budget can support. One reviewer was declined at $4,000 and matched at $2,500 a few weeks later after paying down a card.
Confusion about who is who. A handful of comments asked why the lender's name on the offer differed from ours. That is how the service works: every personal loan offer comes from the lender, on the lender's own site. Our advertiser disclosure explains how lenders compensate us and why that never costs you anything.
| Complaint | Why it happens | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Calls or emails from lenders | Lenders follow up on requests they may fund | Use a checked email, reply to the lenders you like |
| APR higher than hoped | Rates depend on credit, income and state | Expect a mid-range rate, compare total repaid |
| No offer | Income, recent defaults or amount too high | Request a smaller amount, fix errors on your report |
| Different name on the offer | Offers come from the lender, not from us | Read the lender's name and terms before signing |
None of these complaints mean a personal loan request was wasted. Reviewers who saw a higher APR than hoped often said that a real personal loan offer, even a costly one, helped them decide to wait, borrow less or keep comparing earnest personal loans.
Reviews of any personal loan service are most useful when you check who wrote them, what they are rating, and whether the details are specific, because many pages mix up lenders, comparison services and unrelated companies with similar names.
Start by confirming what the review is about. People who search earnest personal loans reviews often land on pages about the separate lender named Earnest, which offers its own personal loan products. A review of that lender's rates says nothing about our request form, and a review of our form says nothing about that lender. Read the company name and website on any review page before you draw conclusions.
Next, look for specifics. Useful reviews of earnest personal loans requests mention the amount requested, the purpose, how long the process took, and what happened after. Vague praise like "best service ever" adds little. Critical reviews deserve the same test: a complaint that a personal loan was too expensive is more useful when it says what APR was offered and what the person expected.
Finally, look at the spread of scores and the dates of activity. A healthy review profile has a mix of five, four and lower ratings, with comments that sound like different people. When you compare personal loan services, weigh what reviewers say about clarity and honesty more heavily than speed alone. People researching earnest interest rates or earnest personal loan rates should also remember that no review can tell you the rate you will get; only a lender's offer can.
If you still have questions after reading reviews, our frequently asked questions cover privacy, costs and what happens to your information.
Treat any page that ranks earnest personal loans with no method, no dates and no named writer as advertising rather than a review.
Fake or paid reviews tend to share a few patterns, including identical wording across many posts, promises of approval, and pressure to pay upfront, and spotting them protects you from scams that copy real lenders.
Watch for these warning signs:
Scammers sometimes borrow familiar names to sell a fake personal loan, including names that sound like well-known lenders, to look trustworthy. A real lender will never ask you to pay with gift cards, wire transfers or cryptocurrency to unlock a personal loan. If a review or message pushes you toward that, stop and report it to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or your state attorney general.
Our own reviews follow simple rules: we invite every person who submits a request, we keep critical comments, we do not pay for ratings, and we show the use and amount each reviewer entered. When you weigh earnest personal loans reviews against other sources, use those same standards to decide which ones deserve your trust.
If a message about earnest personal loans asks for gift cards or a wire before funding, stop and report it; a real personal loan never starts with a payment from you.
The ratings show how the request process feels, not what rate you will get, so shoppers comparing earnest personal loans should treat them as a guide to the experience and check every offer on its own numbers.
A high average tells you that most people found the personal loan request form clear and the offers easy to compare. It does not tell you which lender will review your request, which APR you will see, or whether you will qualify. Those answers depend on your credit, income, existing debt and state, and they come from lenders, never from us.
Use the reviews on this page alongside the facts that matter most for earnest personal loans:
Reading earnest personal loans reviews this way keeps the focus on what you can verify. A five-star rating for a smooth form is useful, but the best personal loan for you is still the one whose total cost fits your budget after you compare at least two offers.
Yes. The rating invitation goes to everyone who submits a personal loan request, not only people who receive an offer. Ratings from people who were not matched help keep the average honest and show where the process can improve.
No. Lenders never see survey answers, and a rating has no effect on any personal loan offer or on any current or future request. Ratings are used only to improve the form and to show readers an accurate picture of the experience.
No. We are not affiliated with any lender or company named Earnest, and these reviews describe our free request and matching service only, even though many readers find them by searching earnest personal loans. For reviews of a specific lender, look for that lender's name and website on the review page.
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Send one request in about five minutes and see what lenders in our network can offer for $500 to $5,000, with no fee to use the service and no obligation to accept.
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