Your credit score is important – it’s the first thing a lender is going to look at when you apply for a loan and it directly affects the interest rate you pay.

A good credit score can save you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of a loan. Your FICO credit score is based on your credit history, which can be found in your credit report.

You can get a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to get a free credit score. Most companies charge you for it.

Note: Your credit score and credit report are different. Your credit report covers credit history and your FICO credit score is a number based on a weighted and proprietary formula.

While it’s good to know your credit score, it isn’t something you can just look up any time you want. You almost always have to pay for it, usually anywhere from $5-$15, depending on where you get it.

However, you can get a free copy of your FICO credit score if you are willing to do a little legwork.

How to Get Your Free Credit Score Online

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) requires each of the 3 major credit bureaus to provide you with a free credit report once per year upon request. The credit bureaus are not required to provide your credit score, but they are happy to offer you an upsell.

The good news is that you can get a free credit score online through the credit bureaus, or from one of several third party companies. Many of these companies only provide you a copy of your credit score free if you sign up for a free trial of their monthly credit monitoring service.

The credit monitoring service gives you the ability to check your credit score, verify your credit history is correct, and verify that there are no unauthorized items on your report.

You can always cancel the credit monitoring service before the free trial period ends if you don’t wish to pay for it. Your credit score will be free as long as you cancel in time.

Get a free credit score with no trials and no credit card required. The good news, is not all of the free credit score offers require you to sign up for a free trial or provide your credit card number.

Credit Karma and Credit Sesame both offer free credit scores without restrictions. These scores are not your actual FICO score but are based on information from one credit bureau.

So you may decide to use another service that offers a free credit score based on all three credit bureaus. We list the top options below.

Where to Get Your Free Credit Score

The FICO credit score is the most commonly used credit score in the US. The following companies either offer a free FICO credit score, or a proprietary credit score that should approximate the FICO credit score.

FreeScore360 – Best for Real Credit Score

If you are looking to get your actual FICO scores then the best option is FreeScore360. With this service you have a seven day free trial before you will be charged and you get all three credit scores.

We chose FreeScore360 over other free trial options because, if you do forget or decide not to cancel, it is only $19.95 per month to keep the service.

Sign up with FreeCredit360>>

Credit Sesame – Best Free Option

Credit Sesame. Like Credit Karma, Credit Sesame is a free credit scoring service that uses credit report data to create their own proprietary credit score.

The Credit Sesame credit score is based on the Experian credit report. Again, you don’t need to worry about credit cards or canceling a free trial. This is a truly free service.

Sign up free with CreditSesame>>

Credit Karma

Credit Karma. Credit Karma is a free service which offers users a TransRisk score based on information from your TransUnion credit report. This is not a FICO credit score, but it will give you a good idea of where you stand.

Credit Karma does not require a credit card when you sign up for their service, so you can rest easy knowing you don’t need to worry about canceling a free trial. Here is our Credit Karma review for more information, and why we recommend this service.

Sign up free with CreditKarma>>

Your Bank or Credit Card

Many banks and credit card companies now offer free credit score updates from one or more credit agency. I am able to get free monthly updates from my primary bank, one of my credit card companies, and through both Credit Sesame and Credit Karma. This helps me keep up to date with my credit score and any changes reported by any of the major credit agencies.

Here are some helpful lists:

GoFreeCredit

GoFreeCredit.com. GoFreeCredit stands out because they offer a credit score and credit monitoring based on all three major credit bureaus.

You can get instant access to your 3 credit scores. Simply enroll in a $1 seven day trial and you will receive 3 free credit scores based on the information found in your credit files with the 3 major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.

Also get 24/7 Triple Bureau Credit Monitoring with Instant Fraud Alerts. Visit GoFreeCredit.com for more information.

Experian

OK this one isn’t exactly free. It is $1 for a seven day trial and you receive your FICO credit score during that time.

After the seven day trial it is $21.95 per month and includes credit monitoring, credit alerts, and suggestions for .

Learn more abou with Experian>>

FreeCreditReport.com

FreeCreditReport.com became famous several years ago through their catchy commercials. At the time, they offered free credit scores when you signed up for a free trial membership.

FreeCreditScore.com is now owned by Experian. If you go to this site now you will be taken to an Experian page, but does not include your Credit score.

The reason we brought it up in this list, is that the brand is so ingrained in people’s memories that we felt it best to address that this site will not get you your score, but can only get you your free Experian credit report.

Why should you get your free credit score?

Knowing your credit score comes in handy if you plan on applying for a loan or if you have a need for credit in the near future. For most people, it is a good practice to have an idea of your score, but it may not be necessary to know the exact number.

However, reviewing your credit history frequently (at least every few months) is a good idea so you can monitor for changes to your credit profile and be alerted to possible changes or unauthorized access to your credit.

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