Look no farther than three websites if you want to check your credit score for free. Free credit ratings are available at Quizzle.com, CreditKarma.com, and CreditSesame.com.
Even though they provide comparable services, each site has its quirks and advantages. Just as when we talked about credit report services, they also have their pros and cons.
But, before going into details about each service, you should know about one vital issue. Free credit score providers do not use the official FICO scoring methodology to calculate your credit score.
Rather, you’ll get a credit score depending on credit reporting agency models. As a result, the score you see may vary somewhat from what lenders observe.
However, these websites’ advantages are that they can help you to increase your credit score.
This article provides information on Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma vs. Quizzle to help you understand how credit scoring works.
What's Ahead...
How Do These Companies Check Your Credit Score?
Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma vs. Quizzle major in checking people’s credit scores.
This article provides some background information on credit scores and how these companies process them for a credit card owner.
A credit score presents as a three-digit figure that reflects your likelihood of repaying debts.
Bankers and lenders and employers use this to determine if it is worthwhile to approve you for a credit card or loan or to hire you.
As a result, an individual’s creditworthiness uses a credit score as a determinant.
However, five significant elements influence your credit score, but not all of them weigh equally.
For example, your payment history is another crucial component in calculating these credit scores.
To understand the five major factors that these companies use when calculating your credit score, look at the elements below:
- Payment history:This history contains a record of all credit accounts, such as credit cards and loans, which you might have and on which you make payments. Credit cards and loans are the single most crucial elements affecting your credit score. Lenders can check your payment history to see if you pay your bills on time, missed any payments, or whether they have been sent to collections.
- Credit utilization rate: This is the amount of revolving credit you’re presently using.You can work this rate out by dividing the entire amount of revolving credit you have by your credit limit. In most cases, this figure is stated as a percentage.
- Credit mix:Simply defined, your credit mix refers to the various forms of credit accounts you have, such as mortgages, loans, credit cards, car payments, and retail accounts. The credit mix is one element that’s usually considered when generating your credit scores. However, how much weight each account receives depends on the credit scoring model, which are the methods that credit reporting agencies use to compute credit scores.
- Length of credit history:The term “length of credit history” refers to the amount of time an account has been open. In general, the longer an account has been open and active, the higher the credit score will be. This is especially true for an account with a clean payment history and no delinquencies.
The Difference In Models Compared To Paid Credit Scores
This article outlines various details concerning Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma vs. Quizzle.
You can read about their respective features and drawbacks so that you can learn how credit scoring works and protect your creditworthiness.
#1 Credit Sesame
Credit Sesame provides several useful and free tools to help you proactively maintain your credit.
Unlimited access to your credit score, tailored advice for increasing your score, and identification monitoring are among the most helpful of these free tools.
What You Should Know About Credit Sesame:
- Completely free: This service provides free credit surveillance alerts and monthly TransUnion credit score updates. There’s no hook, and you won’t need to input your credit card information to take advantage of these benefits.
- Access to Vantage score via TransUnion: You’ll only be able to see your Vantage Score as a free user, which isn’t the same as that of the FICO credit score that many creditors consider when consumers make loan applications.
- Provides $50,000 worth of identity insurance at no cost: If your identity is stolen, this insurance will pay your expenses and all legal fees to recover your identity and mitigate damages resulting from this theft.
- Provides advice and suggestions on credit card management: Credit Sesame makes a few suggestions based on the data it gathers from your credit report. The most critical recommendation includes guidance on how to improve your credit score. These suggestions do not cover sophisticated methods, but they might help those unsure about the elements that influence their score.
- Recommendation of financial products: Credit Sesame provides consumers with suggestions for financial products from credit card businesses, loan firms, and insurance companies. Credit Sesame’s partners are the only ones who can make these recommendations and receive a fee if you use them.
CreditSesame Features
- Personalized product recommendation: Credit Sesame suggests loans, credit cards, and other financial products based on your credit score and record. Consumers will undoubtedly find many of these suggestions helpful.
- Sesame Cash Account: A cash management account with no fees (i.e., a digital checking account). Spending with your Sesame Cash debit card can also earn you cash back at numerous stores.
- Identity theft insurance and protection: To defend yourself against identity fraud, you get $50,000 in identity theft insurance ($1 million for premium members) as well as notifications about credit report changes.
- Sesame improvement tools: Credit Sesame provides credit monitoring and notifications, as well as a version of your credit score.
Credit Sesame Drawbacks
- Credit Sesame only displays a Vantage Score, which lenders only use infrequently.
- Premium enhancements to the service are not worth the money.
- Credit Sesame’s partners are the only ones who may make product suggestions.
#2 Credit Karma
Credit Karma’s free credit scores and reports are its most well-known features.
However, it promotes itself as a service that provides users with the opportunity to construct a better financial future.
TransUnion and Equifax are the leading two consumer credit reporting companies that provide Credit Karma with your credit information (Experian is the third.)
Then, based on Vantage Score, it will create an independent consumer rating.
After that, you’ll receive your current Vantage Score rating as well as the more thorough credit reports that go with it.
What You Should Know About Credit Karma:
- Safe to check your credit score for free:Using Credit Karma to check your free credit scores has no impact on your credit, and any attempts to monitor your credit with Credit Karma will not appear on your credit reports.
- Easy sign up for Credit Karma:Credit Karma may ask for your Social Security number in addition to a username and password. This information enables themto verify your identity with a credit reporting agency, ensuring that the data they provide to you is correct. To open a Credit Karma account, you must be at least 18 years old.
- Accurate credit score:Credit Karma obtains its free credit ratings directly from Equifax or TransUnion. It’s conceivable that recent behavior will impact your credit ratings, but their scores are accurate based on the information available. If you see any errors on record that are damaging your credit score, you can dispute them.
- Free to check credit scores:Checking your credit scores is free, just like the rest of Credit Karma’s services. You may have to pay for credit scores elsewhere, but checking your credit scores on Credit Karma is always free.
Credit Karma Features
- Free credit simulator:One of the best parts of Credit Karma is its free credit simulator. This handy feature accounts for all your current credit information and then lets you visualize what effect different decisions will have on that score. For example, you can see what would happen if you racked up more credit card debt or paid some of it off. What if you made a late payment or made zero late payments for the next six months? The free credit simulator also answers these questions.
- Free credit report:You can check your free Equifax and TransUnion credit reports on Credit Karma. You can check your free credit reports as frequently as you like, just like you can check your credit scores.
- Free credit monitoring:The free credit monitoring service from Credit Karma can notify you of significant changes to your Equifax and TransUnion credit reports. In addition to allowing you to review your credit score regularly, this function gives you an alert so you can follow up on any unusual behavior.
- Mobile App:You can check your credit scores on the move with the Credit Karma mobile app. The app also includes features such as the new Relief Roadmap and opt-in push alerts that inform you about any changes to your Equifax or TransUnion credit reports.
Credit Karma Drawbacks
- Instead of a FICO score, you’ll get a Vantage Score. This is a disadvantage because lenders and bankers frequently use the FICO score to determine eligibility for credit and interest rates for which you may qualify.
- An actual credit report is not accessible. In addition, lenders do not believe the report because it is in softcopy, and Credit Karma documents can be subject to forgery.
It also may be helpful to take a deeper look into Credit Karma as a whole.
#3 Quizzle
Quizzle is a fun, user-friendly website that provides free access to information from your Equifax credit report as well as your Vantage Score credit score.
It’s one of those credit monitoring and budgeting tools that can’t hurt and could help, especially since it’s completely free.
Customers who need to check their credit score and report before making a significant transaction, such as a house mortgage, tend to flock to Quizzle.
However, customers that are in this category may not need to check their credit frequently.
What You Should Know About Quizzle:
- Quizzle has budgeting and money management features: Quizzle, like Mint, also has budgeting and money management features. However, because it does not link to your bank or savings accounts, you must manually enter all your information, except for your credit card account balances, which this company retrieves from your Equifax credit report.
- User-friendly and easy to navigate tabs: Access the easy-to-navigateQuizzle site to find out your credit score and report in the comfort of your home. Simply follow the tabs and instructions to access these details in quick, simple steps.
- Presence of an intuitive interface: Quizzle has software that customizes its site to be intuitive, supporting user understanding and encouraging them to use its services frequently. This intuitive interface is possibly one of the most appealing aspects when discussing Sesame vs. Credit Karma vs. Quizzle.
Quizzle Features
- Credit score analysis: Examines your Vantage credit score in detail, identifies the top four concerns which make your credit score stay low, and suggests steps you can take to address those concerns over time to raise your score.
- Credit trending: To produce visual graphs, it keeps track of your credit score, credit balances, available credit, and credit use. This information helps you keep track of credit trends and directly see how they affect your credit score.
- Free Vantage Score credit score: Quizzle enables users to access the Vantage Score credit score at no charge.
- There is no need to share social security numbers: Quizzle guarantees users security and privacy by not asking for their social security numbers while still enabling them to complete all necessary tasks to access vital information.
- Credit timeline: Quizzle is the only company that offers this service. It provides you with a complete credit history. This company also highlights the most significant financial events in your credit history. Another feature of this tool is that it focuses on critical anniversaries and offers professional advice, such as drawing attention to your oldest account and urging you to keep it open. This feature sets the company apart when reviewing Sesame vs. Credit Karma vs. Quizzle.
- The best credit management program: Quizzle works hard to ensure that its clients receive the best advice and tools on credit management.
Quizzle Drawbacks
- The majority of the budgeting is manual. This is a disadvantage since users must work harder to achieve positive credit score results.
- Estimated home values may not be accurate.
- It doesn’t provide users with an actual FICO score, so lenders ignore this date when considering you for loan eligibility.
Conclusion
If you’re uncertain about which site to use for your free credit score, keep in mind that you can choose more than one.
Instead, you can quickly join up for all three of these programs if you want to take advantage of all their benefits.
When speaking about the features and drawbacks of Sesame vs. Credit Karma vs. Quizzle, the most crucial thing to remember is that your credit score is essential to financial health.
Whether you use one or all three sites, you should keep track of your credit score.
There is no excuse not to join at least one of these sites because they all provide this valuable information for free.
Knowing your credit score is vital to maintaining a healthy financial profile.
Resources:
Is Credit Karma a Reliable Source?
Paul Martinez is the founder of BendingDestiny.com. He is an expert in the areas of finance, real estate, and eCommerce.Â
Join him on BendingDestiny.com to learn how to improve your financial life and excel in these areas. Before starting this blog, Paul built from scratch and managed two multi-million dollar companies. One in the real estate sector and one in the eCommerce sector.