Credit Karma Review 2024: Is This A Legit Credit Score Or A Scam?

Credit Karma is great for providing an at-a-glance view of your credit score. The site also has additional features to help you take control of their financial lives and offers easy access to some services like savings, checking, and even credit building.

Since it provides services to consumers for free, there are ads for financial products that some people may find off-putting. We found them overly distracting and intrusive during our testing, but it's convenient for any budget.

Check out this Credit Karma review to help you understand what you can expect with this free credit monitoring service.

At a glance

We last tested Credit Karma on December 4, 2024.

4.9

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

Learn More

On Credit Karma's website

Credit Monitoring

Credit Karma

• Free access to credit scores and credit reports
• Financial education and tools are available through the Help and Resource Center
• Does not offer all three credit bureaus, only TransUnion and Equifax

Our experience

We found Credit Karma is easy to set up and use. We tested using the web vault and mobile app on our iPhone. 

To sign up, you’ll need to provide personal information like:

• Your full name
• Home address
• Last four digits of your Social Security number
• Date of birth

When you first log in to your account, the Today dashboard with your TransUnion and Equifax credit scores is displayed, along with offers for credit cards or other financial products. Especially on the mobile app, these offers take up a significant amount of space. 

Before you click on any links for a credit card or loan through Credit Karma, be aware that any notice of guaranteed approval or pre-approval for third-party credit products may not be accurate. Several customers noted that they wasted time applying for credit products that Credit Karma said they were pre-approved for, only to be rejected by the lender.

In fact, in January 2023, Credit Karma was ordered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to pay a $3 million settlement and stop using deceptive pre-approved claims to entice consumers to apply for financial products.^[1]

We like Credit Karma's casual language and abundance of guidances so you can learn more about how your credit works. However, the excessive offers and the FTC settlement may discourage us from recommending it without warning. 

Credit Karma prices and subscriptions

All of Credit Karma’s services are free, and the site makes money through the financial products it recommends from its partners.

If you accept one of the recommendations or sign up for an additional service like Credit Builder or Credit Karma Money Save through MVB Bank, the partner company may pay Credit Karma a commission.

Credit Karma features

Credit Karma also offers several features besides credit scores, like the Credit Builder program and Credit Karma Money Save accounts. It also has auto insurance partnership with Progressive and Allstate, called Karma Drive, where you may save money on your premium based on your mileage, when and how you drive, and your average speed.

Although these features are helpful, Credit Karma’s strength is its credit report and credit score features.

Credit monitoring

Credit Karma’s credit monitoring features can help you spot errors and suspicious activity on your credit report before it can cause too much damage. 

You can turn monitoring on or off through the Settings tab on its website or the app. When credit monitoring notifications are turned on, you’ll receive email or push notifications on your phone when changes to your TransUnion or Equifax credit reports are found.

The credit monitoring alerts on Credit Karma can help you discover potential issues like:

• Misreported personal information, including your name and address history
• Payments you didn’t make on existing financial accounts
• Hard credit pulls from financial institutions and lenders you don’t recognize or didn’t authorize
• If newly opened accounts have been added to your credit report, like a new credit card

We didn't receive any credit monitoring notifications due to using a new account, but we toggled on all the alerts for future notice. 

Credit reports and scores

Credit Karma tracks your VantageScore and offers credit reports from TransUnion and Equifax. If you need to check your FICO score or your Experian credit report, you need to contact Experian directly. It's a good idea to check your credit reports regularly since that is one of the easiest ways to determine if you are a victim of identity theft.

We navigated to the Credit tab and selected score details. Although our account was new, Credit Karma presents a bar graph to record how our credit score will change over time. 

On Credit Karma, your TransUnion score is updated daily while your Equifax report and score are updated every seven days. Select Credit Karma members may see their Equifax scores updated daily, but that feature is not widely available.

Credit analysis

Credit Karma provides more than just your credit scores, it also breaks down the factors that affect your score. These include your payment history, credit card use, credit age, and more. 

We liked that Credit Karma indicates how much each of these factors can impact your score. If you click through on a section, Credit Karma will provide specific details such as how many derogatory marks you have and how to address .

Credit builder

If you navigate to the Money tab at the top, you'll find the Credit Builder feature. Credit Karma will help you raise your score by allowing you to connect a bank account and build a payment history. You'll also be killing two birds with one stone by setting aside money for saving. 

Money management tools

Another Credit Karma Money feature is a free-to-open checking account. With Credit Karma Money Spend, you'll receive no penalties or minimum balances and can receive paychecks and federal benefits early. 

Credit Karma Money also has an online savings account that can create interest and automate your savings. 

Finally, Credit Karma will help you develop a financial relief road map based on your financial situtation. 

Bonus features

Although Credit Karma isn't an identity theft protection product, it does provide data breach monitoring. After selecting Identity Monitoring from the Credit menu, we found a summary of our data breach history along with a button to view the details.

Is Credit Karma safe to use?

Credit Karma uses 128-bit encryption to store and protect the data you provide. Data transmission uses AES-256, an industry standard. Additionally, Credit Karma uses firewalls and other security precautions to protect your identity, and it uses third-party experts to assess the site for vulnerabilities.

While two-factor authentication is available on Credit Karma, it's not automatically turned on for standard accounts. Users can enable the feature under Settings either by visiting the website on the desktop or the app.

Finally, the site will automatically log you off after a period of inactivity as another level of security.

According to their privacy policy, Credit Karma collects your personal information through various means. Some of the data they collect includes:

• Personal information, including your name, address, email address, Social Security number, and phone number
• Non-identifying information like your gender, income, and the types of financial products you’re interested in
• Device information such as your operating system, hardware model, application or browser type and version, and unique identifiers associated with your device
• Log information like your IP address, browser or device configuration, date and time you accessed the site, and cookie information
• Location information through GPS or Wi-Fi, but only after you grant consent

Credit Karma collects a lot of information, but the company says it does not sell personal information or share it with unaffiliated third parties for marketing or advertising. However, they may share your data with third-party partners and financial institutions. If you click through to a third-party site, your information is handled according to that company’s privacy policy.

Credit Karma customer service

Credit Karma doesn’t have great customer service features. There isn’t a phone number to contact Credit Karma directly, but it has a customer service contact form and chat feature on its website.

Credit Karma does have a Help Center that provides information to frequently asked questions and how-tos for accessing features like two-factor authentication and credit monitoring alerts. You can also find helpful information explaining how to read a credit report.

Top alternatives

Credit Karma is a free way to view and monitor your credit score, but what if you need protection from other identity theft threats? We've compiled some of our favorite identity theft alternatives that still provide credit monitoring services for your review:  

Service
Star rating	4.9 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	4.8 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.	4.5 AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.
Price	Starts at $9.00/mo (billed annually)	Starts at $7.50/mo (billed annually) for first year	Starts at $10.00/mo
# of people covered	1 - 5 adults, unlimited children	1 - 2 adults, up 5 children	1 - 5 adults, unlimited children
Credit monitoring	* Alerts from all three bureaus * Monthly VantageScore update * Yearly credit report from all three bureaus	* Alerts from all three bureaus * Monthly score update from all three bureaus * Daily credit report from all three bureaus	* Alerts from all three bureaus * Monthly VantageScore update * Monthly VantageScore report update
Types of identity monitoring	Identity and SSN, account breach, home and auto title, criminal and court records	Identity and SSN, dark web, phone takeover, home title, social media	Dark web, high-risk, bank account, social media, credit and debit card
ID theft insurance	Up to $1 million	Up to $3 million	Up to $1 million
Details	Get Aura Read our Aura review	Get LifeLock Read our LifeLock review	Get OmniWatch Read our OmniWatch review

FAQs

Bottom line: Is Credit Karma good?

While some of the features offered by Credit Karma might help you save money or find a credit card, its true strength is in assisting consumers in quickly accessing their credit reports and score.

If you are looking for an app or platform with more financial features, like budgeting, you may need to look elsewhere. Additionally, while it offers you weekly access to your credit scores and reports from two of the three credit bureaus, you’ll still need to access your Experian credit report and FICO credit score separately.

Protecting your identity from criminals who are looking for an easy target is one of many reasons to review your credit report and score regularly. Credit Karma is a good option for people who want to access their credit score and alerts frequently. For a more comprehensive identity protection solution, you can review our list of top alternatives. 

4.9

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

Learn More

On Credit Karma's website

Credit Monitoring

Credit Karma

• Free access to credit scores and credit reports
• Financial education and tools are available through the Help and Resource Center
• Does not offer all three credit bureaus, only TransUnion and Equifax

Author Details

Kate Daugherty

About the Author

Kate Daugherty, a Denver-based professional writer with a B.A. from the University of Colorado, specializes in personal finance, digital security, and personal privacy. Inspired by her own credit theft experience, Kate is passionate about helping people stay safe online. Through her engaging articles in Finance Buzz, Success Magazine, and the Family Money Adventure blog, she shares easy-to-follow tips for boosting online security and financial well-being.