Borrow smarter, not bigger
Find the right alternative loan, without the runaround.
Plain-English guides, free calculators, and lender comparisons for personal, business, consolidation, and refinance borrowers.
What kind of loan are you shopping?
Guides, lender comparisons, and tools for every part of the borrowing process — from prequal to payoff.
Getting Started
New to borrowing? Start here.
Personal Loans
Unsecured loan rates and lender picks
Loan Types
Every flavor of alternative loan
Lenders & Tools
Reviews, marketplaces, prequal tools
Applying & Approval
Credit, DTI, prequal, denial fixes
Refinancing & Consolidation
Lower your rate, combine debts
Repayment Strategy
Pay off faster, protect your credit
Niche Guides
Auto, student, business, medical
Also explore
Loan-market news & policy updates
The sources we follow for rate moves, lender news, and CFPB rulemaking.
Consumer-credit rules and lender guidance
Official rulemaking, supervisory bulletins, and enforcement actions from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Read more ↗Federal ReserveFOMC rate decisions and consumer-credit data
Policy-rate moves and the monthly G.19 release of consumer-credit balances and average APRs.
Read more ↗NerdWalletLender reviews and rate trackers
Independent reviews of personal, auto, student, and business lenders with weekly rate updates.
Read more ↗BankrateNational loan rate averages
Daily rate surveys across personal loans, auto loans, HELOCs, and mortgage refinances.
Read more ↗SBASmall Business Administration
Loan-program guidance for 7(a), 504, and microloans — useful when borrowing for a business.
Read more ↗Links open in a new tab · We update this list as the lending market shifts.
Calculators built for borrowers
Free, no signup, no email gate — just punch in your numbers.
Estimate the monthly payment, total interest, and payoff date on an unsecured personal loan.
Open calculator →Universal amortization calculator — monthly payment and total interest for any fixed-rate loan.
Open calculator →Project payments, total cost, and DSCR for a term loan, line of credit, or SBA loan.
Open calculator →Lenders we actually recommend
Independently reviewed — nobody pays for placement here.
No origination fees, soft-pull prequal in under two minutes, and same-day funding for prime borrowers ($5K–$100K).
Truist-backed online lender with no fees and rate-beat guarantees — strongest rates we see for 720+ credit borrowers.
AI underwriting that weighs education and employment, not just FICO. Prequal in 5 minutes with a soft pull.
Direct-to-creditor disbursement for consolidation borrowers, plus joint applications for couples paying off debt together.
Three borrower moves that quietly save thousands
Tactics most borrowers leave on the table because no lender flags them.
A consolidation loan can cut your blended rate by half. The math is dramatic — calculate what you'd save before applying.
Read the guide →On a typical 5-year personal loan, modest extra principal compounds into thousands of dollars in interest saved. Run the numbers.
Early Payoff Calculator →Alt-lender rate sheets reprice within 30 days of an FOMC decision. Knowing the calendar means catching the rate, not the rebound.
Refinance Calculator →Dig Deeper
Worth reading right now
View all articles →Your first loan, the credit factors that matter, and how to compare offers — all in one place
A starter path for first-time borrowers: how credit and DTI drive your rate, how to prequalify without a hard pull, and how to read a truth-in-lending disclosure.
Read the starter guide →Get weekly loan-rate tips
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Alternative Loans provides free educational information about alternative loans. We are not a lender, loan broker, or licensed financial advisor. Nothing on this site is a loan offer or professional advice. Confirm rates, fees, and eligibility directly with the lender before borrowing.