Many or all companies we feature compensate us. Compensation and editorial
research influence how products appear on a page.

Ratings and Methodology

LendEDU’s Editorial Ratings are designed to help consumers better understand how certain companies compare to others in their respective industries.

We do not publish favorable or unfavorable reviews or ratings at the direction of any company. Instead, our full-time editorial staff is tasked with rating companies and providing accurate and fact-based analyses. These ratings are then used by our editorial staff and contractors for creating content and determining which companies are the best for different financial situations.

Here is a description of our numerical ratings:

  • 5 stars = Excellent selection
  • 4 stars = Above average selection
  • 3 stars = Average selection
  • 2 stars = Below average selection
  • 1 star = Poor selection

Below you will find more information about how we rate products, broken out by category. Click a dropdown to see the rating methodology for that product.

Auto Insurance

LendEDU has reviewed and researched the auto insurance industry since 2018. LendEDU analyzed each company based on the following:

JD Power Score, A.M. Best Rating, Moody’s Rating, S&P Rating, BBB Rating, Trustpilot Score, state availability, and discounts.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Auto Insurance Companies

Auto Loan

LendEDU has reviewed and researched the auto loan industry since 2018. Each auto loan company was placed in one of four categories: Traditional Bank, Online Lender, Car Dealership, or Credit Union.

In each category, we considered data such as APRs, loan terms, BBB Rating, minimum and maximum borrowing limits, state availability, fees, and discounts.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Auto Loans

Auto Loan Refinance

LendEDU has reviewed and researched the auto loan refinance industry since 2018. LendEDU analyzed each company based on the following:

APRs, loan terms, min/max borrowing limits, max car age, max miles on car, BBB Rating, and state availability.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Auto Loan Refinance Companies

Credit Builder Loans

Here’s what we considered when determining our editorial ratings:

Accessibility of information
Eligibility requirements
Rates
Repayment terms
Loan amounts
Fees
Customer experience
Company history
Credit benefits
Financial support

>> See Our Choices: Best Credit Builder Loans

Credit Cards

LendEDU has reviewed and researched credit cards since 2018. To come up with our picks for the best credit cards, our team split out all of our partner cards into their respective category (ex. rewards, travel, credit building, etc.) and compared several data points that were considered.

These data points included introductory APRs, welcome offers, rewards rates, fees, other benefits, and more. The weight assigned to each data point varied based on which credit card category we were reviewing.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Credit Cards

Credit Unions That Don’t Use Chexsystems

LendEDU has reviewed and researched credit unions without chexsytems since 2019. They are based on the following criteria:

Monthly fees, overdraft fees, minimum deposit, minimum balance, ATM fees, non-bank ATM fees, foreign transaction fees, card replacement fees, paper statement fees, and wire transfer fees.

>> See Our Top Choices: Credit Unions That Don’t Use Chexsystems

Dental Discount Plans

LendEDU has reviewed and researched dental discount plans since 2018. LendEDU analyzed each dental discount plan on state availability, average annual cost, average annual savings, BBB rating, and the locations available.

Gold Dealers

Our editorial ratings for gold dealers consider the types of metals offered, purchase requirements, fees, educational resources, customer experience, and more.

>> See Our Choices: Best Gold IRAs & Best Gold Dealers

Home Equity Line of Credit

Here’s what we considered when determining our editorial ratings:

Accessibility of information
Eligibility requirements
Rates (APR)
Repayment terms
How much can you borrow?
Appraisal process
Fees
Customer experience
Company history
Benefits
Funding time
Limitations

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Home Equity Lines of Credit

Home Equity Loan

Here’s what we considered when determining our editorial ratings:

Accessibility of information
Eligibility requirements
Rates (APR)
Repayment terms
Loan amounts
Appraisal process
Fees
Customer experience
Company history
Benefits
Funding time
Limitations

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Home Equity Loans

Home Equity Investment

LendEDU has reviewed and researched home equity investments since 2018. In our most recent ratings, LendEDU analyzed each company based on the following:

Application process
Benefits
Buyout cost
Buyout flexibility
Customer reviews
Eligibility
Fees
Investment amount

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Home Equity Sharing Agreement Companies

Home-Sale Leaseback

Here’s what we considered when determining our editorial ratings:

Eligibility requirements
Accessibility of information
Lease terms
Purchase price
Fees
Customer experience
Company history
Benefits
Closing time

>> See Our Choices: Best Home-Sale Leaseback Companies

Homeowners Insurance

LendEDU has reviewed and researched the homeowners insurance industry since 2018. LendEDU analyzed each homeowners insurance company based on their Trustpilot rating, Better Business Bureau rating, financial strength (including A.M Best, Moody’s, and S&P), state availability, household discounts, policy discounts, basic coverage, and JD Power score. Each piece of criteria was cross-checked and audited by multiple members of the LendEDU team.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Homeowners Insurance

Income-Share Agreements

LendEDU has reviewed and researched income-share agreements since 2019. Ratings are based on the following criteria:

BBB Rating, Trustpilot Rating, minimum income, income percentage taken, funding amount, fund time, and loan terms.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Income-Share Agreements

Life Insurance

LendEDU has reviewed and researched the life insurance industry since 2018. Only our partners are included in our Editorial Ratings.

LendEDU analyzed each company based on the following:

A.M. Best Rating, BBB Rating, Trustpilot Score, NAIC Complaint Index, coverage amounts, terms offered, and more.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Life Insurance

Mortgages

LendEDU has reviewed and researched mortgages since 2019. Each mortgage company was rated on the following mortgage products, if applicable: overall mortgage, mortgage refinance, cash out mortgage, fixed mortgage, ARM mortgage, FHA mortgage, VA mortgage, and jumbo mortgage.

Data points included varied by category but generally included BBB Rating, Trustpilot Score, fees, state availability, licenses and registrations, number of regulatory actions, number of originators, customer support, Zillow Rating, APRs, term length availability, online accessibility, and other benefits.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Mortgage Lenders

Motorcycle Loans

LendEDU has reviewed and researched motorcycle loans since 2018. We classified each provider in the following categories: “Online Motorcycle Loan,” “Traditional Bank Motorcycle Loan,” “Credit Union Motorcycle Loan,” and “Manufacturer & Dealership Motorcycle Loan.” We analyzed each provider using the criteria below.

BBB Rating, loan amounts, term lengths, APRs, deposit time, origination fees, and availability of customer support.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Motorcycle Loans

Personal Lines of Credit

Here’s what we considered when determining our editorial ratings:

Accessibility of information
Eligibility requirements
Rates
How much can you borrow?
Fees
Customer experience
Company history
Benefits
Funding time
Number of options

>> See Our Choices: Best Personal Lines of Credit

Personal Loans

Here’s what we considered when determining our editorial ratings:

Accessibility of information
Eligibility requirements
Rates
Repayment terms
Loan amounts
Fees
Customer experience
Company history
Benefits
Funding time
Uses

>> See Our Choices: Best Personal Loans

Pet Insurance

LendEDU has reviewed and researched the pet insurance industry since 2017.

LendEDU analyzed each pet insurance company based on transparency, eligibility requirements, waiting periods, coverage, policy terms, policy cost, money-back guarantee, customer reviews, added benefits, user experience, and financial strength.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Pet Insurance Companies

Private Student Loans

LendEDU has separately rated undergraduate, graduate, parent, career training, and no cosigner student loans. See our methodology on the pages below.

>> See Our Top Choices:
Best Private Student Loans
Student Loans Without a Cosigner
Best Graduate Student Loans
Best Parent Student Loans

Renters Insurance

LendEDU has reviewed and researched the renters insurance industry since 2017. LendEDU analyzed each renters insurance provider based on overall customer experience (Trustpilot score and Better Business Bureau composite score), maximum liability coverage, valuation, overall coverage options, states available, and policy discounts. Each piece of criteria was cross-checked and audited by multiple members of the LendEDU team.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Renters Insurance

Reverse Mortgages

LendEDU has reviewed and researched reverse mortgages since 2019.
Overall mortgages are based on the following criteria:

BBB Rating, Trustpilot Score, state availability, fund time, loan amounts, number of branches, number of state licenses, number of regulatory actions, number of originators, and age of company.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Reverse Mortgage Lenders

Student Loan Refinancing

Here’s what we considered when determining our student loan refinancing ratings:
– Transparency
– Rates (APR)
– Repayment
– Loan amounts
– Cosigner details
– Eligibility
– Fees
– Company history
– Benefits
– User experience

>> See Our Choices: Best Student Loan Refinance Companies

Tax Relief

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Tax Relief Companies

Vision Insurance

LendEDU has reviewed and researched vision insurance since 2018. LendEDU analyzed each vision insurance company based on the following:

A.M. Best Rating, S&P Rating, BBB Rating, glasses allowance, state availability, eye exam allowance, and contacts allowance.

>> See Our Top Choices: Best Vision Insurance

Vision Savings Plan

LendEDU has reviewed and researched vision savings plans since 2018. LendEDU analyzed each company based on the following:

Eye exam coverage, glasses coverage, Lasik surgery coverage, contacts coverage, sunglasses coverage, BBB Rating, and customer support.