This page compares fourteen smaller and specialty personal loan companies operating in the American market, on amounts, terms, credit focus, and the features that actually matter. Express Capital Funding publishes it because informed borrowers make better decisions everywhere, including about whether our own network is the right door for them. Every figure below is drawn from lender-published materials and stated in hedged ranges, because programs change and state rules move terms constantly.
On This Page
How We Compare
Comparison sites usually rank lenders by who pays the site most, which is why every list crowns a different winner. We rank nobody. The fourteen companies below appear alphabetically by tier, described by the same four dimensions each: loan amounts, repayment terms, the credit profile each lender actually serves, and one honest paragraph on strengths and cautions. We say plainly when a lender's pricing is high, when a feature is marketing rather than substance, and when a borrower should look elsewhere. Figures use words like "typically" and "around" deliberately: personal loan terms shift by state and by program year, and a comparison that pretends precision it cannot verify is lying with decimals.
Note what the list excludes. We profile no storefront short-term credit beside these personal loan companies, because triple-digit two-week products are not personal loans in any sense this site endorses. We link to no lender directly, because this page exists to inform, not to funnel. And we include several lenders whose ranges overlap the Express Capital Funding network's own $500 to $5,000 territory, because a comparison that hides its competitors is an advertisement wearing a lab coat.
The Fourteen-Lender Table
| Lender | Typical Amounts | Typical Terms | Serves Best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avant | $2,000 – $35,000 | 12 – 60 months | Fair-credit borrowers |
| Upgrade | $1,000 – $50,000 | 24 – 84 months | Debt consolidators |
| Upstart | $1,000 – $50,000 | 36 or 60 months | Thin-file applicants |
| Best Egg | $2,000 – $50,000 | 36 – 60 months | Prime and near-prime |
| Prosper | $2,000 – $50,000 | 24 – 60 months | Established credit |
| LendingPoint | $2,000 – $36,500 | 24 – 72 months | Near-prime rebuilding |
| OneMain Financial | $1,500 – $20,000 | 24 – 60 months | Branch-preferring borrowers |
| Oportun | $300 – $10,000 | 12 – 54 months | No-file and new-credit borrowers |
| NetCredit | $1,000 – $10,000 | 6 – 60 months | Wide-acceptance seekers |
| OppLoans | $500 – $4,000 | 9 – 18 months | Credit-challenged borrowers |
| Rise Credit | $500 – $5,000 | 4 – 26 months (varies by state) | Rate-reduction rebuilders |
| Jora Credit | $500 – $4,000 | 4 – 30 months (varies by state) | Online-only convenience |
| Mariner Finance | $1,000 – $25,000 | 12 – 60 months | In-person borrowers |
| Regional Finance | $600 – $10,000+ | 12 – 48 months | Southern and midwestern households |
Read the table vertically before horizontally: the amounts column splits the market into small-dollar specialists (Oportun, OppLoans, Rise, Jora, Regional) and larger-loan platforms (Upgrade, Upstart, Best Egg, Prosper), with the branch lenders (OneMain, Mariner) and mid-market names (Avant, LendingPoint, NetCredit) between. A personal loan borrower seeking $1,200 is simply in a different market than one seeking $20,000, and most bad borrowing decisions start by shopping the wrong half of this table.
Lender-by-Lender Profiles
Avant
Amounts: $2,000 – $35,000 · Terms: 12 – 60 months · Focus: Fair-credit borrowers
Avant built its book around the middle of the credit spectrum, borrowers mainstream banks decline but whose income supports a real installment schedule. Funding is often quick after verification, the mobile servicing app is genuinely usable, and late-fee policies are published plainly. Its minimums start above our network's floor, so very small personal loan needs fit elsewhere.
Upgrade
Amounts: $1,000 – $50,000 · Terms: 24 – 84 months · Focus: Debt consolidators
Upgrade leans hard into consolidation, offering direct payoff to your existing creditors so proceeds never tempt a detour. Rate discounts for autopay and for direct-payoff structures reward disciplined borrowers. Longer maximum terms lower payments but raise lifetime interest, so run the total-cost math before stretching.
Upstart
Amounts: $1,000 – $50,000 · Terms: 36 or 60 months · Focus: Thin-file applicants
Upstart's model famously weighs education and work history alongside traditional credit data, which opens doors for young borrowers with short files. Only two term lengths keeps choices simple. Origination fees vary widely by profile, so the APR line, not the interest rate line, is the number to compare.
Best Egg
Amounts: $2,000 – $50,000 · Terms: 36 – 60 months · Focus: Prime and near-prime
Best Egg targets established borrowers with solid income and returns the favor with competitive pricing at the stronger end of its range. The application experience is fast and the disclosures are clean. Borrowers below the mid-600s will usually find better odds with lenders built for wider acceptance.
Prosper
Amounts: $2,000 – $50,000 · Terms: 24 – 60 months · Focus: Established credit
One of the original American peer-to-peer platforms, Prosper now operates like a mainstream online personal loan lender with investor-funded notes behind the scenes. Joint applications are supported, which is uncommon and genuinely useful for households qualifying on combined income.
LendingPoint
Amounts: $2,000 – $36,500 · Terms: 24 – 72 months · Focus: Near-prime rebuilding
LendingPoint markets to borrowers a tier below prime and prices accordingly, with fast decisions and next-day funding common. It weighs employment and income data heavily, so stable work history helps applications that a score alone would sink.
OneMain Financial
Amounts: $1,500 – $20,000 · Terms: 24 – 60 months · Focus: Branch-preferring borrowers
OneMain pairs an online application with a genuine branch network across most states, and closing typically involves a conversation with a human being. Secured options against a vehicle can unlock approvals or better pricing, with the obvious trade-off that collateral is then at stake. APRs sit above bank territory.
Oportun
Amounts: $300 – $10,000 · Terms: 12 – 54 months · Focus: No-file and new-credit borrowers
Oportun spent two decades lending to customers the bureaus barely know, reporting payments to help them build a file, with full Spanish-language service throughout. Amounts start small enough for genuinely modest needs. Pricing reflects the risk tier, so graduates with improving credit should reprice elsewhere over time.
NetCredit
Amounts: $1,000 – $10,000 · Terms: 6 – 60 months · Focus: Wide-acceptance seekers
NetCredit, an Enova brand, publishes state-specific terms openly, and its ranges vary more by state than almost any competitor, the same profile can see meaningfully different offers across a state line. Acceptance reaches deep into damaged-credit territory with APRs to match; it is a bridge product, best repaid early where permitted.
OppLoans
Amounts: $500 – $4,000 · Terms: 9 – 18 months · Focus: Credit-challenged borrowers
OppLoans underwrites primarily on bank-account and income data rather than traditional scores, serving borrowers most installment lenders decline. APRs are high, terms are short by design, and payments report to bureaus, which helps rebuilders who finish on schedule. Compare its total cost against any offer you hold before choosing.
Rise Credit
Amounts: $500 – $5,000 · Terms: 4 – 26 months (varies by state) · Focus: Rate-reduction rebuilders
Rise's signature is a published schedule of rate reductions for borrowers who repay on time across successive loans, a rare structural reward for good behavior in the high-APR tier. Free credit monitoring is included. Starting rates are steep, so the reduction path matters most for borrowers who expect to need credit again.
Jora Credit
Amounts: $500 – $4,000 · Terms: 4 – 30 months (varies by state) · Focus: Online-only convenience
Jora offers a fast, fully online installment personal loan in a limited set of states, with transparent state-by-state term tables and no prepayment penalty, early payoff genuinely cuts the cost. Its APR tier is among the highest profiled here, appropriate only when cheaper doors are closed and the payoff plan is short.
Mariner Finance
Amounts: $1,000 – $25,000 · Terms: 12 – 60 months · Focus: In-person borrowers
Mariner operates hundreds of branches across the eastern half of the country and will lend to profiles online algorithms decline, sometimes with a co-signer or collateral. The in-person model suits borrowers who want documents explained across a desk. Check the optional add-on products carefully and decline any you did not plan to buy.
Regional Finance
Amounts: $600 – $10,000+ · Terms: 12 – 48 months · Focus: Southern and midwestern households
Regional Finance runs a branch-based installment model across a dozen-plus states, with starter amounts small enough for modest emergencies and underwriting that weighs household stability alongside credit. Like all branch lenders, pricing sits above online prime tiers; its niche is approachability, not the lowest APR on this page.
How to Choose From This List
Work the decision in this order. First, amount: cross off every personal loan lender whose floor sits above your need, because borrowing extra to meet a minimum is paying interest on a rounding error. Second, credit reality: read your own file honestly and shop the tier that serves it, prime borrowers overpay at wide-acceptance lenders, and challenged borrowers waste hard inquiries at prime ones. Third, total cost: collect two or three actual personal loan offers and compare APR and total repayment, never the monthly payment alone, since a longer term makes any personal loan look cheaper per month while costing more in full. Fourth, structure: direct payoff for consolidators, branch access if you want a human, reported payments if you are rebuilding. The capital express funding rate guide explains the APR mechanics behind every personal loan offer, our calculator turns any quote into a total cost in seconds, and the glossary decodes every term an agreement can throw at you.
Where Express Capital Funding Fits
Express Capital Funding is not a fifteenth lender on this list; it is a different kind of service entirely. Rather than underwriting loans, the express capital funding network takes one request and presents it to multiple participating lenders serving the $500 to $5,000 personal loan range, several of them operating in the same tiers profiled above. The practical case for the capital express funding approach is shopping efficiency: instead of choosing one name from this page and hoping its model likes your file, one form lets several models look at once, and only a lender prepared to make an offer steps forward. The practical case against is equally honest: a borrower with strong credit and a week of patience may beat any network offer at a bank or credit union, and we have said so on every page of this site. Use the profiles above to understand the personal loan market, use the capital express funding form when speed and one-form shopping fit your situation, and use neither until the amount you need and the payment you can carry are numbers you have written down. Informed is the only kind of borrower Express Capital Funding wants to connect.
Reading a Personal Loan Offer From Any of These Lenders
Whichever name on this page you pursue, or whichever lender an Express Capital Funding request connects you with, the offer document answers five questions, and disciplined borrowers locate all five before signing. What is the APR, the one number that makes any two personal loan offers comparable? What is the total repayment, the payment multiplied across the full term plus any fees, which is what the personal loan actually costs? Is there an origination fee, and is it deducted from proceeds, meaning a $2,000 personal loan with a 5% fee delivers $1,900 and you should size requests accordingly? Is there a prepayment penalty, because a personal loan you can retire early without cost is worth more than its APR suggests? And when is the first payment due, since a due date aligned with your pay date is the cheapest default-prevention tool in consumer credit?
Two habits separate borrowers who win with this table from borrowers who regret it. First, collect at least two real offers before accepting any, whether from lenders above, from a capital express funding connection, or from a local credit union offering its own personal loan; a single personal loan quote is a price, two quotes are a market. Second, whether the quote came from this table or from a capital express funding connection, compare offers on total repayment at equal terms, never on monthly payment alone, since any personal loan looks cheaper stretched over more months while quietly costing more in full. The express capital funding walkthrough shows exactly where each disclosure appears in a typical offer, and five minutes there makes every document on this page's fourteen lenders readable at a glance.