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The 8 Best Free Personal & Business Credit Score Sites

Wondering how to check your business credit score for free? These sites offer a variety of free personal and business credit checking services.

    Jason Vissers
  • UPDATED

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Your business credit score is the key to getting loans, being approved for credit cards, and accessing goods and services at reasonable rates. When you apply for any type of business credit, the creditor will make a decision based on your credit score. That’s why it’s a good idea to know your credit score before you apply, whether you’re seeking credit or just trying to improve your score.

If you’re ready to get a good overall picture of your credit health, you can visit one of a number of websites for a free credit score check. Read on to find out how to get a free business credit score.

Learn More About Our Top Picks

CompanyBest ForNext StepsBest For
Credit Karma

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Best for daily credit monitoring.
Best for daily credit monitoring.

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Discover Credit Scorecard

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Best for Discover Card customers.
Best for Discover Card customers.

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WalletHub

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Best for finance tools.
Best for finance tools.

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Chase Credit Journey

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Best for prequalified offers.
Best for prequalified offers.

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Experian

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Best for multiple scores.
Best for multiple scores.

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Credit Sesame

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Best for building credit.
Best for building credit.

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Dun & Bradstreet

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Best for affordable paid plan.
Best for affordable paid plan.

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Nav

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Best for credit-building tools.
Best for credit-building tools.

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Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

What Is My Business Credit Score?

Credit scores are numbers that represent your creditworthiness. As your small business grows and spends, the business may develop a credit profile that’s separate from yours. Although we’ll talk a little bit below about how to check your business credit profile, most small business owners will have to rely on their personal credit scores when seeking credit for their small business.


What's Considered A Good Credit Score?

Your credit score indicates how likely you are to pay on time in the future. Personal credit scores range anywhere from 300 to 850, while a true business credit score will range from 0 to 100. The higher your score, the better. Every creditor has their own ideas about what’s considered “good” credit, but typically, if you have a personal score above 600, you will have a relatively easy time finding creditors willing to work with you. Keep in mind, the higher your credit, the better rates you’re likely to be offered.

How Credit Scoring Works

Contrary to popular understanding, you don’t have just one credit score; in fact, you have many. Credit scores are derived from your credit report: a history of your past debts, payments, and other information gathered by credit reporting agencies. The three big credit reporting agencies are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. While all three agencies gather similar information about you, they might not have the same information. You can learn more about the ins and outs of the agencies via our guide to the three major credit bureaus.

A scoring algorithm, usually either VantageScore or FICO, is applied to your credit report to come up with your score. As such, you could see different credit scores, depending on the scoring system and the credit report your information was derived from.


Hard VS Soft Credit Inquiries

One final note: There are two types of credit inquiries, hard inquiries (or hard pulls) and soft inquiries (or soft pulls). Lenders who are considering extending credit to you typically initiate a hard inquiry, and that can affect your credit score. Soft inquiries, on the other hand, do not affect your credit score. All of the tools listed here involve soft pulls, and won’t impact your credit score.

VantageScore VS FICO

As we said above, many small business owners use their personal credit scores to apply for loans, credit cards, and more. Personal credit scores are derived from your credit report using one of two scoring models: VantageScore and FICO. Although both VantageScore and FICO use scales of 300 to 850, they might return different scores, because they place importance on different factors.

That can be a bit of a problem, since most free credit score services get their data from VantageScore while many creditors will look at your FICO score. If a potential lender pulls your TransUnion FICO score, for example, they will get a different number than the one you receive from your free credit score service.

That said, the difference in scores usually is not significant. If you have a high FICO score, you will also have a high score from VantageScore. Conversely, if you have poor (or inaccurate) marks on your report, they will be reflected by both VantageScore and FICO as a lower score. For general credit score monitoring, either VantageScore or FICO will suit most consumers’ purposes.

If you need to know your FICO score, for whatever reason, you have a few different options:

  • Some of your FICO scores can be accessed for free via Discover Credit Scorecard (see below). This score is derived from your Equifax data. Unfortunately, as of June 2022, this tool is available only to Discover customers.
  • Scores derived from all three credit reporting agencies can be purchased directly from FICO via myFICO. Currently, monthly access to scores from all three agencies can be purchased for $29.95 per month.
  • Some credit card issuers will provide scores to their customers. If you don’t have a credit card or the company won’t share your score, check with other companies that have extended you credit in the past, like a car dealership, for example.

Be aware, however, that even if you check your FICO score from the same agency that your lender does, you still might be looking at a different score. FICO offers several different credit scores, some of which are not available to consumers.

The 8 Best Free Credit Score Sites For Small Businesses

The following are some of our favorite credit check services. These services derive scores from at least one of the three major credit reporting agencies. All offer services for free, and using them to check your credit will not harm your credit score.

Credit Karma: Best For Daily Credit Monitoring

Credit Karma


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Credit Karma was one of the first online services to offer users free access to their credit scores. This service offers scores and reports from two agencies: Equifax and TransUnion (both VantageScore). Scores and reports are updated weekly. Credit Karma also offers free daily credit monitoring for TransUnion.

Credit Karma pulls data from Equifax, one of the only services to do so. Additionally, it offers many other useful financial tools for consumers. These include personalized credit card and loan recommendations, financial calculators, informative financial blog posts, credit monitoring, and even help with filing your taxes.

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Discover Credit Scorecard: Best For Discover Card Customers

Discover Credit Scorecard


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Until recently, Discover offered free credit scores to all consumers, regardless of whether or not they were Discover customers. Unfortunately, as of June 2022, this service will be limited to primary Discover cardholders only. Discover is one of the only services to provide a free FICO score; most free credit score services provide your VantageScore. Discover's FICO score is derived from Equifax, and it's updated monthly.

Be aware, however, that because FICO offers several scores, the score shown on your Discover Credit Scorecard might not be the same score that your creditors are using. However, it might still be worth a look for educational and general credit monitoring purposes.

It's important to note that checking your FICO credit score with Discover's tools will not harm your credit. If you want a deeper dive into Discover's Credit Scoreboard, check out the full review.

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WalletHub: Best For Finance Tools

WalletHub


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WalletHub offers a free credit score and credit report from TransUnion (VantageScore), including daily updates. When you log in to WalletHub, you'll see your credit score front and center. You'll also see information about your loans, lines of credit, and collection accounts as well as personal data, such as your name and address, and anything available from public records, including information about bankruptcy and child support.

In addition to your credit score, WalletHub offers other useful services to improve your credit and financials. Customers receive free monitoring of their TransUnion account as well as services such as customized advice to improve credit, credit card recommendations, and savings alerts. You can also access financial calculators to help you learn about student loan payments, mortgage payoffs, the true costs of homeownership, credit card interest rates, and more.

You can download the WalletHub mobile app, for iOS and Android, to have access to your credit score on the go. You can also access real-time notifications regarding your credit score.

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Chase Credit Journey: Best For Prequalified Offers

Chase Credit Journey


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Chase offers TransUnion scores and reports via Credit Journey. This service is free and available to all consumers, not just Chase customers. Scores update weekly. You can opt to receive notifications when new credit inquiries or a new account opens, if your address or account status changes, if any fraud alerts or delinquent account notices are released, or if new public records are reported for you.

Chase also tracks your score over time and has a credit score simulator that shows how your score might change if you take certain actions. You can use the tool to simulate the effect on your credit score if changes occur in your credit usage, your number of balances, your payment history, and more.

You'll also be shown what Chase credit cards you are prequalified for. This is a good way to explore your credit options without initiating a hard pull on your credit. Learn more in our full review of Credit Journey.

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Experian Credit Report: Best For Multiple Scores

Experian


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Experian's free credit check gives you access to your scores from all three major credit bureaus: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. That gives you a more complete view of your creditworthiness. Experian updates its report monthly. You can also sign up for credit monitoring, for a fee, if you're interested, and you'll receive alerts of changes or suspicious activity that could impact your credit score.

Even if you don't want to shell out $29.95/month for credit monitoring, you can sign up for basic alerts and a free Dark Web scan. Experian offers free customer support and has a mobile app to make it easy to stay on top of your credit score.

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Credit Sesame: Best For Building Credit

Credit Sesame


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Credit Sesame offers not just free credit checks in addition but also paid services that let users monitor and grow their credit. You can use Credit Sesame to access your TransUnion credit score each day and take advantage of free credit monitoring and transaction alerts, for free.

You can also use Credit Sesame to build or repair your credit. Sesame Cash is a prepaid debit card issued in partnership with Community Federal Savings Bank. Use Sesame Credit to open a virtual secured credit card account. Your credit limit with this card will be equal to the amount you deposit in your Sesame Cash account. Transactions made using your secured card will be reported to the major credit bureaus, and as you make timely payments of your balance, your credit rating can improve. You can even get cash back and other rewards with your Sesame Card purchases.

Credit Sesame also offers paid plans, if you're interested in gaining more, including access to your scores from all three major credit bureaus.

 

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Dun & Bradstreet Credit Signal: Best For Affordable Paid Plan

Dun & Bradstreet


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Most of the free credit reports offered on this list are good resources for small business owners who rely on their personal credit ratings for their small business needs. If your business is a bit larger or has a longer history, you may have a business credit rating. While it's not as easy to find free credit checks for business credit, Dun & Bradstreet's Credit Signal is both easy and accessible.

Dun & Bradstreet's free business credit check is somewhat limited, however. With the free version, you can receive notifications whenever there are changes to your D&B PAYDEX, Delinquency Predictor Score, Financial Stress Score, and Supplier Evaluation Risk Rating. You won't be able to see your full business credit report unless you upgrade to CreditSignal Plus at $15/month. Compared to other paid plans that let you see your business credit score, that's a bargain.

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Nav


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Nav business credit reports provide business owners with a summary of their business credit reports from Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax as well as their own personal credit scores. Unfortunately, if you want to see your full credit reports and scores, you'll need to upgrade to a paid version, with subscriptions ranging from $29.99-$49.99 per month.

With the free summary only, you'll be able to receive 24/7 business and personal credit alerts. You'll also be able to see cash flow alerts and insights and connect one-on-one with credit and lending specialists. Nav offers users resources and tips that can help establish and grow business credit. Unlike other resources on this list, Nav focuses on building your business credit rather than your personal credit rating.

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Free Annual Credit Reports For Your Small Business

You should know that, by law, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax are required to issue a free copy of your credit report every 12 months. Consumers who request a free copy of their report will receive a full copy, whereas many free services only offer a limited report. You can use your free annual reports to review the information included in the limited reports and contest any mistakes that you find.

Unfortunately, your annual free credit report does not include any actual credit scores. To access this information, you’ll have to sign up for a free credit score service or pay for your scores.

When To Use Free Credit Score Services

Free score services offer scores derived from one or two agencies and don’t always offer a full credit report. It’s a good idea, then, to also request free copies of your credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com every year and to contest any mistakes that you have found.

That said, free credit score services are useful for educational purposes and general credit monitoring. Just remember that the specific score shown is unlikely to be the exact score that your creditors see. Still, a free credit score service can give you tools to improve and maintain your credit score. All the services listed above are free, easy to use, and offer useful services in addition to your credit score.

Pros

  • Useful for credit monitoring
  • Tools to improve credit score
  • Free & easy to use

Cons

  • Not always a full credit report
  • May not be the exact score your creditors see

If you already know your credit score isn’t where it should be we’ve got you covered. Learn how to improve your business credit score. 

What if you have bad credit and know it? That doesn’t mean you can’t get a business credit card or loan. Check out our suggestions for business credit cards for bad credit to get started.

We’ve also got a list of no credit check business loans and bad credit startup loans.

FAQs About Free Business Credit Scores

Does an LLC have a credit score?

Yes, an LLC will have a business credit score. While you can operate a small business using your personal credit score and rating, when you incorporate your business as a Limited Liability Corporation it becomes a legal entity separate from its founders and will establish its own business credit history.

How do I know what my company's credit score is?

You can check your business credit score with a number of paid services and two free services: Dun & Bradstreet Credit Signal and Nav Business Credit Reports. You can also sign up for a paid plan with either D&B or Nav, or choose from several other paid credit check providers.

What is a small business credit score?

A small business credit score is a number or numbers that represent your business’s creditworthiness. Lenders and other business partners will look at your credit score to determine if they will be safe doing business with you. Many small businesses rely on their owners’ personal credit scores. If your business has a long history or is incorporated, you probably have a separate business credit record.

Does my business have its own credit score?

Not all businesses have their own credit scores. If your business is new or very small, you’re probably going to have to use your personal credit score when you apply for loans and credit. If your business is officially structured, as a corporation or LLC for example, it likely has its own credit score.

How do I find my business credit score?

There are two companies offering free business credit checks: Dun & Bradstreet and Nav. Each also offers paid services that give businesses more in-depth information about their credit scores and creditworthiness. If you are willing to pay for a business credit check, you have other options.

What is a good credit score for a small business?

If you’re using your personal credit as you apply for credit for your small business, you’ll probably need a score of 600 or greater if you want easy access to a wide range of credit options. Businesses with lower scores can still find options for loans and credit but may end up paying higher rates.

How do I find my Duns score?

Dun & Bradstreet issues unique numbers to each business in a rolling 365-day time period. A Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number that includes information about your business’s credit score can be obtained at dnb.com.

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Jason Vissers

Jason Vissers

Senior Staff Writer at Merchant Maverick
Jason has been writing about small business software platforms, services, and financing since 2015. Jason’s expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Time/NextAdvisor, Home Business Magazine, CreditCards.com, GoBankingRates, TheLadders.com, and other publications. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Jason Vissers
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