SoFi Personal Loans: 2024 Review

SoFi’s personal loans have the standard features of a five-star lender: a wide variety of loan amounts, flexible repayment terms, plus special features like free financial planning and estate planning discounts. SoFi loans can be used for common purposes like debt consolidation, as well as for adoption or in vitro fertilization procedures, travel or weddings. The average SoFi borrower has good or excellent credit.

Though SoFi charges no mandatory fees, borrowers may pay an optional origination fee of up to 7% of the loan amount. SoFi says paying this fee may lower your interest rate, but your APR will remain the same — meaning the fee lets you rearrange interest payments, but may not lower them.

» MORE: Compare personal loan rates and lenders

Table of Contents

SoFi loans at a glance

Where SoFi personal loans stand out and fall short

How to use SoFi personal loans

SoFi personal loan customer reviews

Do you qualify for a SoFi personal loan?

How to apply for a SoFi personal loan

Compare SoFi to other lenders

How we rate SoFi personal loans

SoFi personal loans at a glance

• Disclosure from SoFi

  Fixed rates from 8.99% APR to 29.99% APR reflect the 0.25% autopay interest rate discount and a 0.25% direct deposit interest rate discount. SoFi rate ranges are current as of 02/06/2024 and are subject to change without notice. The average of SoFi Personal Loans funded in 2022 was around $30K. Not all applicants qualify for the lowest rate. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed and will depend on the term you select, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, and a variety of other factors. Loan amounts range from $5,000– $100,000. The APR is the cost of credit as a yearly rate and reflects both your interest rate and an origination fee of 0%-7%, which will be deducted from any loan proceeds you receive. Autopay: The SoFi 0.25% autopay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings or checking account. The benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account. Autopay is not required to receive a loan from SoFi. Direct Deposit Discount: To be eligible to potentially receive an additional (0.25%) interest rate reduction for setting up direct deposit with a SoFi Checking and Savings account offered by SoFi Bank, N.A. or eligible cash management account offered by SoFi Securities, LLC (“Direct Deposit Account”), you must have an open Direct Deposit Account within 30 days of the funding of your Loan. Once eligible, you will receive this discount during periods in which you have enabled payroll direct deposits of at least $1,000/month to a Direct Deposit Account in accordance with SoFi’s reasonable procedures and requirements to be determined at SoFi’s sole discretion. This discount will be lost during periods in which SoFi determines you have turned off direct deposits to your Direct Deposit Account. You are not required to enroll in direct deposits to receive a Loan.

^ Back to table of contents

Where SoFi personal loans stand out

Multiple discounts. Borrowers may qualify for multiple discounts that can lower their interest rate. A rate discount of 0.25 percentage points is available for setting up autopay. If the loan is for debt consolidation, borrowers can get another 0.25 percentage point discount for having SoFi directly pay off creditors.

An additional rate discount of 0.25 percentage points may apply for borrowers who set up direct deposits of at least $1,000 a month to a SoFi checking account and use that account for autopay on their personal loan.

Fast funding: SoFi says it can fund approved personal loans as soon as the same day if the loan agreement is signed before 7 p.m. ET on a business day. While other lenders promise fast funding, same-day funding is rare.

Large loan amounts: SoFi offers personal loans up to $100,000, which is higher than most lenders. This can be useful for borrowers looking to finance a big expense, such as a home remodel.

Joint loans. SoFi offers joint personal loans. Adding someone with better credit or higher income can improve your chances of qualifying or getting a low rate. SoFi co-borrowers must live together and are both responsible for loan payments. SoFi says joint applications may require up to two weeks to process.

Mobile app to manage the loan. Borrowers can use SoFi’s mobile app to manage their money, check available rates, monitor their credit score and make loan payments.

Hardship assistance. If you lose your job while paying off the loan, you can apply for SoFi’s hardship assistance program. If you qualify, SoFi may put the loan into forbearance and modify the monthly payments.

Where SoFi personal loans fall short

High minimum loan amount: SoFi loans start at $5,000, which could be too high for borrowers looking to consolidate a small amount of debt or finance a minor expense.

» MORE: Best small personal loans

No secured loan option: Borrowers can’t secure a SoFi loan with collateral such as a car or savings account. A secured loan often helps in getting a lower annual percentage rate or higher loan amount.

» MORE: Best secured personal loans

^ Back to table of contents

How to use SoFi personal loans

^ Back to table of contents

SoFi personal loan customer reviews

As of August 2024, SoFi has 4.5 stars on Trustpilot, a website that collects consumer reviews. Customers mention the company’s direct payment to creditors feature on debt consolidation loans and fast funding. The lender’s mobile app received 3.9 stars across 35,800 reviews on Google Play and 4.8 stars across 344,500 reviews on the Apple App Store.

^ Back to table of contents

Do you qualify for a SoFi personal loan?

Most lenders have basic requirements to apply, and some have financial requirements or recommendations to qualify. SoFi evaluates loan applicants’ overall cash flow, ability to pay, credit history and additional factors, but it doesn’t have specific credit score or income requirements.

To apply for a SoFi personal loan, you must be:

• At least 18 years old in most states. 

• A U.S. citizen, permanent or non-permanent resident, including DACA recipients and asylum seekers.

• Employed, have sufficient income from other sources, or have an offer of employment to start within the next 90 days. Acceptable income sources include a spouse’s income, retirement, alimony, child support, Social Security payments and disability benefits.

• SoFi’s average borrower snapshot

  • Average credit score: 745.

  • Average annual income: $140,000.

  • Average loan amount: $25,000 to $35,000.

  • Average APR: 13.66%.

  • Most common loan term: 5 years.

  • Most common loan purpose: Debt consolidation.

^ Back to table of contents

How to apply for a SoFi personal loan

Here are the steps to apply for a SoFi loan.

1. Pre-qualify on SoFi’s website. Select the “view your rate” button on SoFi’s website to begin the pre-qualification process. You’ll provide personal information like your name, email and state of residence. You’ll also be asked whether you want to add a co-applicant, in which case you’ll need to provide income and employment information for the both of you. The lender conducts a soft credit pull at this stage, which won’t affect your credit score.

2. Complete the loan application. If you pre-qualify and choose to move forward with a SoFi personal loan, you’ll be asked to select a loan term and complete the formal personal loan application. The lender may require more documents, like W-2s, pay stubs and tax documents, to confirm the information you gave during pre-qualification. SoFi will do a hard credit check on a loan application, causing your credit score to temporarily dip.

3. Stay on top of loan payments. SoFi reports payment to all three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion), so on-time payments will help build your credit score, but missed payments will hurt it. Setting up automatic payments and keeping an eye on your budget are two ways to manage your loan payments.

^ Back to table of contents

Compare SoFi to other lenders

Personal loan lenders offer different rates, loan amounts and special features, so it pays to weigh other options. The best personal loan is usually the one with the lowest APR.

Like SoFi, LightStream and Wells Fargo offer large personal loans with wide repayment term options.

LightStream

» MORE: Read our review of LightStream

Wells Fargo

» MORE: Read our review of Wells Fargo

^ Back to table of contents

How we rate SoFi personal loans

NerdWallet writers rate lenders against a rubric that changes each year based on how personal loan products evolve. Here’s what we prioritized this year:

• Category definitions

  Affordability (25%)

  An affordable loan has low rates and fees compared to other similar loans and may offer rate discounts.

  Customer experience (20%)

  A good customer experience includes allowing borrowers to choose and change their repayment date, a fully online application process, a mobile app to manage the loan and a customer service team with wide availability.

  Underwriting and eligibility (20%)

  The lender reviews borrowers’ credit reports and credit history and tries to understand their ability to repay a loan. It offers loans in most states and doesn’t restrict eligibility by requiring a pre-existing relationship.

  Application process (20%)

  Borrowers can pre-qualify to check their potential rate, loan amount, repayment term and APR without affecting their credit score. They can easily find answers to questions about the personal loan on the lender’s website. The application process is fast enough to allow funding within a couple of days or less.

  Loan flexibility (15%)

  A flexible loan is one that offers a wide range of loan amounts and repayment term options. It includes common features like additional loan types and direct payment to creditors on debt consolidation loans.

  Discretionary

  A lender’s star rating can be reduced if the lender is sued by a state or federal regulator for unfair consumer practices or has been accused by a reputable source of suspicious business practices.

^ Back to table of contents