Comparison of the biggest comparisons – find the very best conditions

Online loan comparison: cheap & in the independent loan comparison all platforms!

For several years, the business with loans has been booming in germany. The reason for this is that the ECB wants consumers to put their saved money back into the economy. The average effective interest rate in germany for consumer loans is currently around 6%.

In the past, you still had to make a personal appointment at the bank for a credit request. Today, you do a loan comparison – online, of course. Many platforms have specialized in offering customers an optimal market overview. Today, credit inquiries are created in a few seconds. Borrowers have never had it easier.

Online loan comparisons are a dime a dozen. Since every provider always offers different criteria, we have made it our goal to provide an independent credit comparison. Here's how you can see at a glance which loan comparison portal offers the best conditions for your loan. For each comparison portal in our independent credit comparison, we have written its own test & experience report.

Note: loans that you take out over the internet are also called "online loans". Comparison portals such as check24 or smava work with banks that ultimately grant the loan. Purchases such as a washing machine or a new car fall into the installment loan category. Installment loans are the most common form of credit.

That's why our loan comparison is so popular: these are your advantages

  • With the loan comparison of credit search you get free and non-binding loan offers from many different comparison portals & banks.
  • Our loan comparison saves you having to make an appointment at the bank.
  • Compared to the branch, the interest rate in an online loan comparison is lower by ca. 20 – 30 % lower.
  • For a credit request, you only need to specify your desired loan amount, the term and the intended use.
  • The disbursement of the loan amount usually happens within 24 hours or after a few working days.

    Tip: especially for self-employed and freelancers, we have analyzed reputable credit providers for the self-employed.

What do I have to consider when comparing loans? 4 tips for cheap loans

Tip 1: short term for low interest rates

An important tip before you start the loan comparison is that you should pay attention to what term you choose. Longer terms mean higher loan costs because interest is paid for longer. However: if the term is shorter, higher premiums have to be paid automatically. Before accepting a loan from a bank, you have to check for yourself whether you can repay the loan or not.

So choosing the right term depends on your own financial capabilities. A good term you have chosen if the term is so short that you can repay the loan without problems. In addition, especially for very large loans, you should leave a buffer of approx. Save 20% of the loan amount. This allows you to offset unplanned costs in an emergency without incurring penalties for defaulting on a loan.

Tip 2: considering intended use lowers interest costs

When comparing loans, the purpose of the loan is a decisive factor in addition to the term of the loan. Loans with free use do not form an equivalent value as security for the loan amount and are therefore the most expensive. For real estate financing, loans are granted at better conditions, because here in case of default the real estate serves as collateral.

Pay attention to the choice of the correct purpose in our independent loan comparison. As a borrower, you will get a better interest rate depending on the intended use:

Tip: you want to repay a loan early? Here you can find out what you need to bear in mind if you want to repay a loan early.

The purpose "free use" refers to a loan that is not earmarked for a specific purpose. That is, no particular product, service or project is specified – the loan amount can be used in any way.

Generally one of the expensive forms of credit, since here no countervalue exists. The contract says nothing more than that the borrower gets a certain amount of credit and repays it at a predetermined interest rate (unless it is a variable rate). The period in which this must be done is also clarified in advance.

If a new car is specified as the purpose of the loan – in other words, if it is a car financing – the conditions can be much better than in the case of a loan with free use. In this case, the car is the direct counterpart of the loan, so the bank is better protected against payment defaults. Many banks require here, however, still a so-called redemption payment, by which the car finally passes into the possession of the borrower.

Furniture is nowadays very often bought on credit, as furniture stores like to offer installment loans for the purchase themselves, which makes customers more likely to make an impulse purchase sometimes. However, these loans taken directly in the store are not always as cheap as it seems. They are often paid unnoticed through higher overall prices for the product.
Therefore, you should compare and see if a normal installment loan is not even the better alternative – although furniture as a purpose usually does not bring any special advantages for the credit offers.

If you can specify modernization or renovation as the purpose of the loan, this usually means that you own a property or condominium. In fact, this is one of the most popular collateral with banks, as there is an extremely high equivalent value to the loan here. If there are problems with the repayment of the loan, the bank can encumber the property and thus protect itself. Therefore, there are often the best credit offers with this form of credit.

Loans for loan redemption or. For debt rescheduling purposes are by far the most frequently applied for form of credit in germany, at almost 40%. Here, too, there are many special offers from lenders specifically for the purpose of debt restructuring, which often have better interest rates than an installment loan without a specific intended use. A provider for this is for example maxda.

Since there is no countervalue here either, vacation loans are usually on a similar level in terms of conditions as ordinary installment loans without an intended use. Nevertheless, you can also keep your eyes open for special loans to finance your vacation.

When buying a PC or multimedia equipment, the same applies as with furniture: financing is often offered in the store, but often not as cheap as it seems. So you should also look around at other credit providers who may either have special offers for loans for the purchase of multimedia equipment or generally offer favorable interest rates.

Also a popular use for a loan is to balance an overdrawn checking account. In principle, this type of credit is always particularly useful when the current account overdraft interest rates are higher than the interest rates on a loan – and this is often the case. Whether to go into the dispo or long-term credit should be well considered.

Tip 3: use guarantor to get cheap credit

If you have already been rejected by a bank as a borrower and now want to try an online loan comparison, a guarantor can significantly improve your creditworthiness. Finding a guarantor for the loan does not have to be difficult. If you have family or friends who have a good credit rating, the search is quickly over. A guarantor takes over all costs, interest and installments in case of default of the borrower. The additional security is rewarded in the form of favorable interest rates.

You can specify a guarantor in most application forms of the comparison portals. This must also sign the contract between you and the bank.

Note: self-employed or freelancers find it more difficult to get a loan, because their income is not predictable. A guarantor can help.

Tip 4: do I need the insurance packages?

The credit intermediaries check24 or smava like to offer extra insurance packages that make a loan more expensive. For a mini loan with a loan amount of 1.000€ it certainly does not need expensive credit insurance. So think carefully about whether you will need the additional services or not.

Extra tip: recognize reputable credit providers

Before taking out a loan, the borrower should definitely inform himself about the selected lender, because there are a lot of dubious providers on the internet. There are various warning signs, with the help of which one can recognize problematic credit offers. For example, it is unusual for reputable providers to charge upfront costs for the loan brokerage. In addition, for legal reasons, it is best to stick to providers from germany, in case something should go wrong. Our seriousness check lists a whole range of trustworthy credit offers and lenders.

What influences the successful granting of credit?

In our online loan comparison of all comparison portals, although there are here and there different interest calculation methods. Basically, however, the following information must be met in order to obtain a loan through a comparison portal:

Factors that assess creditworthiness are usually asked about the following information:

  • Amount of regular income
  • Duration of the employment relationship
  • Ratio of expenses to income
  • Reserves or real estate
  • Collateral via guarantee
  • SCHUFA query -> negative entries worsen lending significantly

In order to check whether you have a negative SCHUFA entry, you can obtain a SCHUFA information free of charge once a year via the SCHUFA website (the free offer is called "data copy" at SCHUFA).

Credit comparison with negative schufa? Obtaining a loan despite a low credit rating

The information that ultimately determines the interest rate varies greatly among the banks & providers in our loan comparison. Loans are thus a very individual matter. With negative schufa or low credit rating, few people get a loan. However, you can get a loan even if you have negative schufa.

So for example with credimaxx or auxmoney. The former also offers loans with a few negative characteristics, auxmoney, on the other hand, is a credit marketplace where private investors determine the loans, which theoretically also gives everyone a chance to get a loan.

FAQ – customers have asked these questions

Credit can be complex and a cheap loan does not equal the best deal on the market. We have clarified common questions that users have asked in connection with an independent loan comparison.

Why are online loans cheaper?

Today, the mechanisms that determine the granting of credit are automated. After specifying several criteria, the loan conditions are calculated. This reduces personnel costs to a minimum. Over-the-counter advice involves more expensive credit than online due to rental and staffing costs.

What means the representative example with each credit?

With our providers in the independent loan comparison, you will very often read about a so-called representative example. The indication of an example is prescribed by the legislator after § 6a price indication regulation.

The representative example must indicate the interest rate received by at least two-thirds of all customers of the respective bank. This should make it easier for the consumer to compare the creditworthiness-dependent interest rates. It remains questionable whether one finally belongs to the two-thirds group of people.

How secure is my data with lenders online??

The data is just as well protected as a loan application in paper form. All reputable banks in germany used modern security systems and tested DSGVO standards. The same applies to the credit portals such as smava or verivox. The data protection of both portals mentioned above is audited by TuV saarland.

Are loans in the credit comparison also without schufa to receive?

In our credit comparison are numerous offers of the various credit portals represented. The offers are aimed primarily at ordinary private individuals. Since the loan is always determined individually, it is possible to obtain a loan even without schufa with our credit comparison.

What influence does the prime rate have on personal loans?

Yes. The key interest rate, which is determined in EU countries by the european central bank (ECB), has a major influence on the level of interest rates on loans and savings accounts. As a rule, increases and decreases in the prime rate are passed on to customers. When the prime rate falls, the interest on the loan also falls. When the prime rate rises, most loan interest rates also rise.

Is a credit request legally binding?

The request on credit portals or a bank itself is free of charge and not legally binding. If a loan agreement is concluded after the inquiry, the conditions may change again. The credit inquiry is only a preliminary offer.

What is meant by a disagio?

The discount can be found in the credit comparison mainly for real estate loans. The discount is an anticipated interest payment. In the case of a loan, not the entire loan amount is paid out, but a portion is retained as an anticipated interest payment. You still have to pay back the entire loan amount. When the loan is repaid, interest is not paid on the entire amount, but on the loan amount minus the discount. This means that the nominal interest rate (the interest rate for a loan per calendar year) is lower in itself, but the final costs can be significantly higher. We recommend disagio loans clearly check whether it is really worth it.