SoFi vs Upstart

The short version

SoFi and Upstart are both soft-pull-first lenders — you check your rate without touching your credit score, and only a completed application triggers a hard inquiry — but they’re built for different borrowers. SoFi doesn’t publish a minimum credit score and lends $5,000 to $100,000 to applicants it judges on financial history, credit score, and income versus expenses; its origination fee is optional, and some members see none at all. Upstart also sets no fixed minimum credit score and has approved applicants as low as 300, because its underwriting model reads education, employment history, and even a confirmed job offer alongside whatever credit file you bring. Upstart’s catch runs the other direction from SoFi’s: its origination fee isn’t optional, it comes out of every loan, and Upstart doesn’t publish the range it can span.

APRs, as of September 2026, run 6.49% to 35.49% at SoFi and about 6.3% to 35.99% at Upstart — close enough on paper that the real gap is the fee, and who each lender is actually willing to approve. Loan size is the bigger practical difference: SoFi starts at $5,000 and goes up to $100,000, while Upstart starts much lower, at $1,000, but stops at $75,000, with terms fixed at either 36 or 60 months rather than SoFi’s wider 24-to-84-month range.

Rates and fees

SoFi’s published range is 6.49% to 35.49% APR, with the floor rising from 6.49% on a 2-year loan to 11.90% on a 7-year loan, already including a 0.25% Autopay discount and a 0.25% Member Rate Discount. SoFi’s origination fee is optional — some members see loan options with none at all, others choose a one-time fee in exchange for a lower rate — and SoFi doesn’t publish what that fee costs on the pages we checked.

Upstart’s APR runs about 6.3% to 35.99%. Its origination fee is never optional: it’s deducted from your proceeds before the money is sent, and Upstart doesn’t publish the range that fee can span. The one figure Upstart discloses publicly comes from its own representative example: an 8.15% fee ($815) on a $10,000, 60-month loan at a 19.08% note rate, for a 23.37% APR.

Take a $10,000 loan over 36 months at the midpoint of each lender’s range to compare them on equal footing.

SoFi, 20.99% APR (midpoint of 6.49%-35.49%), no fee. SoFi’s fee is optional and unpublished, so — matching the no-fee path SoFi’s own rate-page example uses — we’re assuming no fee here. An APR already includes the origination fee by definition, so on a loan with no fee at all, we simply amortize the full $10,000 you receive at 20.99% APR over 36 months: a payment of about $376.70 a month, $13,561.20 total paid, and a total cost of about $3,561.20 in interest. These are our own amortization figures, not a lender quote.

Upstart, 21.15% APR (midpoint of 6.3%-35.99%), using the 8.15% fee from Upstart’s own representative example. The fee is $815, so you’d receive about $9,185 in cash. An APR already includes the origination fee by definition, so we amortize the cash you actually receive at the APR rather than counting the fee a second time: a payment of about $346.75 a month, total payments of about $12,483.00, and a total cost of roughly $3,298.00 over the $9,185 you actually received. These are our own amortization figures, not a lender quote.

On this $10,000, 36-month comparison, SoFi’s assumed no-fee path costs more in raw interest but hands over more cash up front; Upstart’s mandatory fee shrinks what you receive before a single payment is made. Neither lender charges a prepayment penalty, so paying either loan off early still saves interest, though Upstart’s fee doesn’t shrink proportionally if you pay early.

Who qualifies

SoFi doesn’t publish a minimum credit score; it says eligibility depends on your financial history, credit score, and monthly income versus expenses among other unnamed factors. Beyond credit, SoFi asks that you be at least the age of majority in your state; a US citizen, eligible permanent resident, or non-permanent resident alien, including DACA recipients and asylum seekers; and employed, with sufficient income from another source, or holding a job offer starting within 90 days.

Upstart also has no fixed minimum credit score — it states it has approved scores as low as 300 — and asks for a valid bank account, verifiable income or a confirmed job offer starting within six months, and that you be at least 18 (19 in some states). Upstart is restricted in two states, Iowa and West Virginia; SoFi doesn’t publish a list of excluded states, saying only that restrictions, a higher minimum loan amount, or a lower rate cap may apply in some states.

Speed and funding

SoFi calls its version Same Day Funding: most borrowers get funds the same day when the loan is approved and the agreement is signed by 5:30 p.m. Eastern on a business day, though SoFi is explicit that this isn’t assured every time and that delays can happen. Upstart says most borrowers who accept an offer receive funds within one business day, with one exception: loans for education or tuition expenses are held three business days under federal Truth in Lending rules, not anything specific to Upstart’s own process.

Where each one wins

• Upstart — no fixed minimum credit score, with approved scores as low as 300, reading education and employment history for thinner files.
• Upstart — a lower minimum loan amount ($1,000 versus SoFi’s $5,000) for a smaller need.
• SoFi — an optional origination fee rather than one deducted from every loan.
• SoFi — a higher maximum loan amount ($100,000 versus Upstart’s $75,000) and terms up to 84 months instead of Upstart’s 60-month cap.
• SoFi — no late fee; Upstart’s fee schedule includes a late fee and a returned-payment fee.

Bottom line

If your credit file is thin, your score is on the lower end, or you have a confirmed job offer but not much credit history yet, Upstart’s underwriting is built to read past a score alone — though its unpublished, mandatory fee means you won’t know your real cost until you have an offer. If your credit already clears whatever bar SoFi applies and you’d rather keep the option of a loan with no origination fee, or you need more than $75,000, SoFi’s larger ceiling and longer terms are the better fit. Origination fees and prepayment penalties, decoded is worth reading before you compare either offer against a lender that charges no fee at all. Read the full SoFi review and Upstart review, then start a loan request to see what you might actually qualify for.