Best Earnest Alternatives ranked by AI · updated May 2025

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Earnest is a technology-enabled lender that offers student loan refinancing and personal loans with personalized rates.

Price: Varies

Top 6 Earnest alternatives

3 MEFA logo

MEFA

Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority

MEFA is a nonprofit education-financing organization serving Massachusetts students, families, and colleges. It provides undergraduate and graduate student loans, refinancing, and college-planning...

Pros

  • Nonprofit lender focused on education financing
  • Offers fixed-rate student loan options
  • Provides college-planning and financial-aid guidance alongside loans

Cons

  • Eligibility and terms are narrower than federal student aid
  • May offer fewer repayment features than larger national lenders
  • Primarily relevant to Massachusetts borrowers or students at eligible Massachusetts schools

Interest rates vary; no subscription fee

4 Climb logo

Climb

Climb Credit

Climb is an education-financing platform for students attending career-focused training programs. It evaluates programs and applicants with an emphasis on employment outcomes...

Pros

  • Focuses on career-training programs often underserved by traditional lenders
  • Evaluates schools partly through graduate employment outcomes
  • Online application and loan-management experience

Cons

  • Only available for eligible programs and participating schools
  • Loan availability and rates vary by borrower qualifications
  • Narrower coverage than general student-loan marketplaces

Loan rates and terms vary by applicant and program

LendKey offers student loan refinancing and private student loans with competitive rates.

Pros

  • Specializes in student loans
  • Flexible repayment options

Cons

  • Limited to educational financing
  • May require a co-signer
6

Ascent Funding

Ascent Funding

Ascent Funding offers private student loans for undergraduate, graduate, bootcamp, and career-training students. Its products include credit-based and outcomes-based financing options for...

Pros

  • Covers more education types than Leif
  • Offers multiple underwriting paths for borrowers with limited credit history
  • Provides conventional loan options alongside outcomes-based products

Cons

  • Private-loan interest can make repayment expensive
  • Approval and rates depend on credit, income, or a cosigner
  • Outcomes-based availability is limited by program

Interest rates and terms vary by loan

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