Many or all companies we feature compensate us. Compensation and editorial research influence how products appear on a page. Personal Loans EarnIn App: 2025 Review Updated Jun 11, 2025 11-min read Reviewed by Lauren Ward Reviewed by Lauren Ward Expertise: Mortgages, real estate, investing, credit, debt, small businesses Lauren Ward is a personal finance writer who regularly covers topics like mortgages, real estate, and investing. Learn more about Lauren Ward Need $100, like, right now? EarnIn offers a free, instant $100 cash advance to all qualifying first-time users. Best Overall Cash Advance 5.0 /5 Get Cash EarnIn wins LendEDU’s 2025 Best Overall and Best Intro Offer designations in our cash advance category. EarnIn App Fee-free instant $100 cash advance to all qualifying first time users No subscription required Works with any compatible external bank account Fee-free cash advances arrive in 1-2 business days Smooth, modern in-app experience 24/7 mobile support Doesn’t affect your credit score Don’t need full-time employment to qualify Capped at $150 per day ($100 per day in certain states) which is lower than many advance apps Capped at $750 per pay period (many advance apps don’t limit this at all) Funding$150/day and up to $750/pay period max1Speed of advance1 to 3 business days2Fees$1.99 to $4.99 for instant cash advances Founded in 2014, EarnIn cash advance was created to help responsibly-employed borrowers with cash flow issues between paychecks. EarnIn stands out against competitors because it doesn’t charge mandatory fees or interest, and it has a great offer for first-time users: a fee-free, Lightning Speed transfer of $100. After connecting your bank account with EarnIn, you can borrow up to $150 a day and $750 per pay period maximum. EarnIn is ideal if you occasionally fall short of cash between paychecks but can easily repay the borrowed amount by your next paycheck. With average fees and larger cash advance amounts, EarnIn is a strong contender among cash advances. Table of Contents What EarnIn is, and how it works Employment verification Secure connection via Plaid Cash Out Standard delivery time Lightning Speed Daily Max Pay Period Max Optional tips Repayment Will EarnIn’s advance cause an overdraft fee? What happens if you don’t pay EarnIn back? Balance Shield Tip Yourself Health Aid EarnIn for Employers Eligibility requirements Alternatives: How does EarnIn compare to other cash advance apps? Should you use EarnIn’s cash advance app? Customer reviews: Is EarnIn reputable? Customer service What EarnIn is, and how it works EarnIn is a financial app that offers early access to earned wages through its Cash Out feature. It also provides Balance Shield for overdraft protection, Lightning Speed for instant funding, Tip Yourself for savings, and Health Aid for negotiating medical bills, all with secure bank integration. We’ll cover all of these features and more. Employment verification The first step (and possible challenge) to using EarnIn is to verify employment and regular income, which can be done in one of three ways: Provide a work email address Download the app, which uses GPS data to verify where you work physically Manually upload your timesheet Employment is also verified through banking activity. To qualify for a cash advance, you must make at least $320 per pay period. Once you’ve created an account and verified your information, you can request a cash advance. EarnIn’s Cash Out feature gives you access to the money you’ve already earned, before your next payday. Secure connection via Plaid While you’re signing up and each time you log in, Earnin uses Plaid, a financial services company, to connect your external bank account to your EarnIn account. You can choose your bank and log in through Plaid, which enables EarnIn to confirm your income. You’ll also connect a debit card to receive your money faster. Your bank account is securely connected through Plaid, which it uses 256-bit encryption and is trusted by thousands of financial apps (including virtually all cash advance apps). EarnIn does not store your banking credentials, and all transactions are monitored for security to help ensure your information stays safe. Cash Out Once your account is set up and employment is verified, you can start advancing yourself cash. There’s no interest or mandatory fee, and repayment is automatically deducted from your bank account on payday. Below is a quick look at the terms and fees. Keep reading for a more in-depth overview of these and more. TermDetailsAdvance amounts$150 per day; $750 per pay periodFees$1.99 to $4.99 fast funding fee and no fee for standard funding Repayment timeNext paycheckFunding time with a fee$1.99 – $4.99Funding time without a fee1 – 2 business days Standard delivery time The standard delivery timeline is one to two business days. Lightning Speed Lightning Speed is an optional feature that lets you receive your cash advance in minutes. While standard transfers take 1 to 2 business days, but Lightning Speed deposits are near-instant for a fee of $1.99 to $4.99 based on the amount transferred. Daily Max There are limitations on how much you can advance via Earnin. In Washington D.C., Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New York, you can only advance yourself $100 per day. For all other states, you can only advance $150 per day. Pay Period Max The pay period max is the total amount you can transfer within a given pay period. This varies by user, based on income and other factors, and can be between $50 to $750. If you forward your direct deposit through EarnIn, you can increase your pay period max by $50 to $300 per pay period (capped at $1,000). Optional tips EarnIn lets you leave an optional tip when you use the Cash Out feature. Tipping is completely voluntary and doesn’t affect your ability to use the app. However, consistent tipping may positively influence your maximum advance limit over time, as it signals responsible use and community support. Repayment As mentioned earlier, repayment is automatically deducted from your bank account on payday, so it’s a very easy process. Will EarnIn’s advance cause an overdraft fee? Typically, EarnIn’s cash advance won’t cause an overdraft fee because it monitors your bank account and schedules repayments on your payday, ensuring the funds are available. However, you should still check your account balance regularly to prevent overdrafts. EarnIn isn’t responsible for any fees resulting from an overdraft. What happens if you don’t pay EarnIn back? If you fail to repay the cash advance on your payday, EarnIn will attempt to draw the funds from your account again in a few days. If that fails, it will send a payment reminder. If you do not have any funds in your account, you may start to see overdraft fees. EarnIn doesn’t charge late fees or collect debts, but your borrowing limit may be affected, and EarnIn might put your account on hold until you repay the amount in full. Balance Shield Balance Shield is EarnIn’s tool for helping you avoid overdraft fees. If your bank account drops below a threshold you set, Balance Shield will either send you an alert or automatically deposit up to $150 from your available cash out balance—whichever option you choose. It’s designed to help you stay on top of your finances without surprises. Tip Yourself Tip Yourself is a free savings tool within the EarnIn app that lets you move small amounts of money into a virtual tip jar—like rewarding yourself for good habits or accomplishments. It’s flexible, fee-free, and helps you build savings over time. Health Aid Health Aid is EarnIn’s medical bill negotiation service. If you have high or unexpected medical bills, Health Aid can work with providers on your behalf to try to reduce what you owe. EarnIn for Employers EarnIn for Employers is a financial wellness benefit that allows companies to offer employees access to Cash Out, Balance Shield, Tip Yourself, Health Aid and all its other featured and benefits. It integrates with payroll systems and doesn’t impact company cash flow, with the primary benefit of reducing employee financial stress and improving employee retention. Eligibility requirements EarnIn only has a few criteria borrowers must meet to be eligible for a cash advance: Steadily employed and be able to prove where you work. You can do this by providing an active work email, downloading the app and granting GPS access, or manually uploading your timesheets. Making at least $320 per pay period. You must connect your bank account. This allows EarnIn to confirm that you make at least $320 per pay period. That bank account is also used for depositing cash advance funds and automatically debiting repayment. EarnIn’s eligibility requirements are very similar to its competitors. However, one aspect that may make EarnIn more appealing is that it’s not a part of any bank, nor does it offer checking or savings accounts that you need to sign up for to use it. Alternatives: How does EarnIn compare to other cash advance apps? EarnIn is our top choice cash advance if you need a free $100 advance right away. Company Cost for first instant $100 What to know Rating (0-5) 5.0 Get Cash Free! Fee-free standard transfers 5.0 Get Cash 4.7 Get Cash $5.00 14-day free trial 4.7 Get Cash 3.8 Get Cash $3.99 $3.99 monthly cost kicks in after first transfer 3.8 Get Cash 4.4 Get Cash $4,99 30-day free trial 4.4 Get Cash While the $150 advance limit and $750 per pay period limits may seem like a negative in comparison to competitors, we appreciate how this keeps users from advancing more than they can pay later on and ending up deeper the debt cycle. Other cash advance apps seem to actively invite users to have long-term debt management problems. EarnIn had the smoothest in-app experience, and the least pushy and salesy user experience, of all the cash advance apps which our team tested firsthand. EarnIn also allows its users to keep their existing bank accounts. A few cash advance apps that you’ll often find in “best cash advance” roundups and in the apps stores are actually full-fledged online banking services that require you to open a new bank account to receive advances (or they will charge you an exorbitant fee to withdraw to your external bank account). With EarnIn, you don’t have to switch your bank or open a new account to take advantage of its cash advance. Should you use EarnIn’s cash advance app? EarnIn makes creating an account easy and applying for fairly significant cash advances per pay period. The most surprising bit about EarnIn is that it doesn’t charge mandatory fees, which is a major advantage when you consider that you can borrow up to $750 per pay period. If you don’t pay for fast funding, which costs anywhere from $1.99 to $4.99, you’ll get your cash advance within one to two business days. If you pay the fee, you’ll get your money in minutes. Compared to payday loans, these fees are minor and are unlikely to create a cycle of debt for most users. As long as using EarnIn doesn’t become habitual, it’s a great alternative to other financial products. Just be aware of when EarnIn will deposit your requested money and when it will automatically debit your outstanding balance. Customer reviews: Is EarnIn reputable? SourceCustomer ratingNumber of reviewsiOS App Store 4.7/5320,538Google Play4.7/5266,990Better Business Bureau (BBB)4.19/5577Trustpilot 4.5/5594Collected on June 11, 2025 EarnIn has an A+ rating with the BBB, and reviews on Google Play (266,990 reviews with a 4.7/5 aggregate rating) and Apple’s App Store (320,538 reviews with a 4.7/5 aggregate rating) give a very positive impression of the app and its various services. The reviews on the app stores are largely raves about how seamlessly Earnin works and how much it has helped them in urgent financial situations. There are complaints related to EarnIn withdrawing money from bank accounts at the wrong time and causing overdrafts, but EarnIn appears to be very responsive to customer complaints on review sites. Customer service To contact EarnIn’s customer service, you can use live chat in the EarnIn mobile app. Here, you can submit a request or chat live with a support agent. Its customer service is open 24/7, except on major holidays. If you need phone support, call 888-537-9883 How we rated the EarnIn cash advance We designed LendEDU’s editorial rating system to help readers find companies that offer the best cash advances. Our system awards higher ratings to companies with affordable solutions, positive customer reviews, and online transparency of benefits and terms. We compared EarnIn to several cash advance lenders, using hundreds of data points from company websites, public disclosures, customer reviews, and direct communication with company representatives. Our editorial team also tested out the app and its features firsthand. Test run results: Our best experience was with Earnin—the tester was able to advance themselves $100, with no fees, within 8 minutes after downloading the app. (First instant transfer is free for new users.) They were then eligible to advance an additional $150 at a time, and up to $500 total per pay period. We weighted, scored, and combined each factor to produce a final editorial rating. This rating is expressed on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest possible score. Our take is represented in our rating and best-for designation, recapped below. ProductBest forOur ratingEarnIn cash advanceBest overall cash advance5/5 1 EarnIn is not a bank. Access limits are based on your earnings and risk factors. Available in select states.Terms and restrictions apply. Visit EarnIn.com for full details 2 Expedited transfers available for a fee. Visit Earnin.com for full details.