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The Best Credit Score Apps for Monitoring Your Credit

Credit score apps make it easy to keep track of your credit from your smartphone or tablet. In addition to regular credit reporting, many credit score apps come with added features, like budgeting and credit-building tools, identity theft protection, and more.

But not all credit score apps were created equally. Some of the apps allow you to check your credit score for free, while others charge a fee, and that’s an important distinction.

How do you know which credit score app is right for you, and is it worth spending money every month to get your credit score?

Below is a list of 10 of the best credit score apps available today. I cover their key features and let you know what we like about them and where each app could be improved.

Table of Contents
  1. 10 Best Credit Score Apps
    1. 1. Cleo
    2. 2. Mint
    3. 3. myFICO
    4. 4. CreditWise
    5. 5. Credit Sesame
    6. 6. IdentityForce
    7. 7. Credit Karma
    8. 8. Credit.com
    9. 9. Aura
    10. 10. CreditWorks by Experian
  2. Which Credit Score App Should I Choose? 

10 Best Credit Score Apps

The credit score apps featured here have different features and benefits to help you monitor and improve your credit. As you look through the list, keep your budget in mind.

1. Cleo

Cost: $5.99 per month

What we like: Fun, interactive AI language that talks to you like a friend

What could be improved: Credit building fees are a bit on the high side

Cleo touts itself as a budgeting app that “doesn’t suck.” The AI budgeting tool helps you create a budget and track your spending while keeping an eye on your credit score.

There is a free version, but to access the credit score tracking, you’ll need to get Cleo Plus at $5.99 per month.

Cleo Plus will also give you access to your full credit report each month. If you’re interested in building a good credit score, you can sign up for Cleo Credit Builder.

Cleo Credit Builder costs $14.99 per month ($9.99 per month for students) and includes a secured credit card you can use to build your credit score. 

You determine the amount of credit you’d like to have, based on how much you choose to deposit into the secured account. The minimum deposit is just $1. See our Cleo review for more information.

Learn more about Cleo

2. Mint

Cost: Free

What we like: Free, up-to-date financial reports all in one place

What could be improved: Ads on the free version get annoying

If you have experience with budgeting and personal finance apps, chances are you’ve heard of Mint. 

Mint is a free money management tool and app that helps you organize all of your financial information in one place. 

You can see account balances and activity for every account you have. You can create a customized budget. And you can get personalized tips to help you save money, pay down debt, etc.

You don’t have to get a paid subscription to Mint to view your credit score and to get a credit report summary. All of this is free with Mint.

However, you will have to put up with display ads unless you shell out $4.99 per month for Mint Premium. See our Mint review for more information.

3. myFICO

Cost: $19.95 per month to $39.95 per month

What we like: Theft insurance included

What could be improved: We’d like to see a free plan that includes FICO scores and reports only.

The myFICO credit score app comes from the folks at Fair Isaac Corporation, which is the company responsible for the creation of the FICO credit score.

FICO is the number one credit score used by lenders in the United States, so it makes sense that the company would create an app to help you monitor your credit and credit score.

myFICO offers three different plans: Basic, Advanced, and Premier. The Basic plan is $19.95 per month and gives you your FICO score and all three credit reports: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

You’ll also get credit monitoring and $1 million in identity theft insurance that covers your Experian credit bureau. The Advanced plan is $29.95 per month and has the added benefit of identity monitoring and insurance that covers all three credit bureaus.

Choose the Premier plan for $39.95 per month if you want updates monthly instead of quarterly.

4. CreditWise

Cost: Free

What we like: Credit score simulator

What could be improved: CreditWise uses VantageScore 3.0, which is not as widely recognized as FICO.

Capital One’s CreditWise is a free credit score and credit monitoring app that is available to everyone, regardless of whether or not you’re a Capital One customer. 

With this app, you’ll be able to access your VantageScore 3.0 credit score and your report anytime. And you’ll get alerts to changes on your TransUnion, and Experian reports. 

The app’s credit score simulator is possibly its most attractive feature. Use the simulator to discover the potential impact of financial moves on your credit score. 

For example, you can see how paying down debt, opening a new credit card, or making payments on time could affect your credit score. Bank-level encryption keeps your information secure.

5. Credit Sesame

Cost: $0 to $14.95 per month

What we like: The Sesame Cash spending account

What could be improved: More access to premium plan details for non-members 

Credit Sesame is a free app that allows you to check your credit score daily. You’ll also get credit monitoring alerts and a free credit report card from Credit Sesame. 

You can even get access to free tools to help you restore any credit breaches. $50,000 in identity theft insurance is included; however, that money can only be used for documents and legal fees and is not eligible to restore financial fraud losses.

Choose from the two advanced plans ($9.95 per month or $14.95 per month, depending on the plan) to get additional protections. Note that you have to sign up with Credit Sesame in order to get the details on the service’s premium plans.

Bonus: Check out Sesame Cash – a free spending account that includes a debit card, early Direct Deposit, and more.

6. IdentityForce

Cost: $23.95/mo. or $239.50/yr.

What we like: The expansive list of identity-monitoring tools  

What could be improved: It’s expensive

IdentityForce is a TransUnion product that gives you your credit score and provides extensive monitoring of your identity and credit.

While you can get identity-only monitoring with the UltraSecure product, you will need UltraSecure+Credit in order to get your credit score and credit monitoring.

This service provides additional features, including:

  • 3-bureau credit reports, monitoring, and scores
  • A credit score simulator
  • Lost wallet assistance
  • Credit freeze

You’ll also get a full range of identity monitoring, protection, and remediation services. 

While it’s one of the more expensive services on our list, IdentityForce does provide nearly full-service protection from identity theft, along with giving you access to your credit score.

7. Credit Karma

Cost: Free

What we like: Free credit building

What could be improved: ID theft protection services

Credit Karma will give you your free VantageScore 3.0 credit score from TransUnion and Equifax. 

You can also get free credit monitoring when you sign up for a free Credit Karma account. This service lets you know when changes show up on your credit report. 

An example of changes you might get notifications for include:

  • Hard inquiries
  • New account openings
  • Personal information changes

And more. You can also see your full TransUnion and Equifax credit reports anytime with Credit Karma. 

Credit Karma also offers free credit building services via the Credit Karma Credit Builder account. 

The site’s educational articles are an added bonus for helping users discover credit-building, repair, and management tips.

Learn more about Credit Karma

8. Credit.com

Cost: $24.99/mo.

What we like: Cash bonuses when you’re approved for offers through the site

What could be improved: More frequent credit score updating would be nice

Credit.com has a service called ExtraCredit that helps you track all of your FICO scores and credit reports. 

You might not know that different businesses use different FICO scores to assess clients. There are currently 28 FICO scores in total, including: 

  • Mortgage FICO score
  • Auto FICO score
  • FICO scores 2, 4, 5, 8 and 9
  • FICO scores for bank cards

And more. ExtraCredit allows you to access all of these FICO scores, as well as all three of the major credit bureaus. 

You can add your rent and utility bills to your credit report through ExtraCredit as well. This subscription includes a rewards program that pays you when you get approved for offers through the site, as well as potential discounts to credit repair companies too.

9. Aura

Cost: $12 to $37 per month

What we like: Comprehensive digital protection

What could be improved: The free trial could be lengthier

Aura was created to help people know that they can be safe online. The company offers all-in-one digital safety for individuals, couples, and families. 

You’ll get credit score reports and monitoring with real-time alerts of inquiries on your Equifax, TransUnion and Experian credit reports. 

You can instantly lock your Experian file when you detect or suspect fraud via the app. Bank account and financial transaction monitoring are included as well. 

You also get the following benefits and features for up to five adult family members and unlimited child members.

  • Identity theft insurance
  • Parental controls
  • Child SSN monitoring
  • Antivirus for all devices
  • Fraud resolution

Aura is the most feature-rich credit score app on our list.

10. CreditWorks by Experian

Cost: Up to $24.99 per month

What we like: Boost your credit score instantly with Experian Boost

What could be improved: Only one report/score with the free plan

CreditWorks is an Experian credit score and monitoring app that gives you free access to your Experian credit report and your FICO score every month.

You’ll also get notifications if there are new credit inquiries, new accounts, account balance changes, etc. 

The basic account is free, but if you upgrade to a premium account for $24.99 per month, you’ll get these added benefits:

  • Daily scores and reports for Experian
  • Monthly reports and scores for TransUnion and Equifax
  • Auto, home, and bank card FICO scores
  • Score simulator
  • Score tracking

You’ll also get access to Experian Boost, which can help you boost your credit score instantly. Experian boost helps you raise your credit score when you add on-time utility and rent payments to your credit report. 

Other services available with the premium account include Experian credit file lock and unlock, dark web surveillance, lost wallet assistance, and more. 

Which Credit Score App Should I Choose? 

If you’re trying to decide on a credit score app, here are a couple of questions to ask yourself.

What services am I looking for? 

If your primary goal is to monitor your credit score and report each month, free services such as CreditWorks and Credit Karma are the way to go. Many of the added features that come with the paid app either aren’t very useful or aren’t worth the money.

What is my budget?

If you think you’ll benefit from one of the additional services, such as identity theft protection or Cleo’s credit building service, you may decide it’s worth paying the monthly fee to get a specific feature.

Whatever you decide, being able to monitor your credit score from your mobile device helps you automate your finances and makes life a lot easier.

The post The Best Credit Score Apps for Monitoring Your Credit appeared first on Best Wallet Hacks.



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