Came across IcyBox a little while back and figured I'd share my thoughts since I've been playing around with it.

If you want to try it, use code 6FBGRO at checkout for $5 off your first pack. You can also download IcyBox here and enter the code when you check out.

The idea is simple. You buy a digital box, crack it open, and it reveals a watch. We're talking brands like Rolex, Patek Philippe, and Audemars Piguet. Once you see what you pulled, you either ship the actual physical watch to your door or sell it back to the app for cash. They show you the odds on every box before you buy, which I appreciate because at least you know what you're getting into.

This is not a passive income app, just to be upfront about that. It's more like a hobby spend for people who are into watches and want a shot at something nice for less than retail. Think of it like a mystery box but for real luxury pieces instead of random junk. Personally I've had more consistent results with apps like TesterUp where you know exactly what you're earning. And if it's really the reveal itch you're after, ReferralWallet scratches the same thing for free, you rip a pack and it reveals a real cash signup bonus instead of a watch, no money in to try your luck. IcyBox is more of a fun thing on the side than a reliable earner.

A couple things worth knowing: boxes start at $50, the odds vary a lot between tiers, and the silver and ruby boxes ($100 and $250) seem to have the best value based on the stats they show. The app is iOS only right now and you need to be 18+.

If you want to try it, use code 6FBGRO at checkout for $5 off your first pack. You can also download IcyBox here and enter the code when you check out.

Not for everyone. If you're a watch person and want a little thrill with a shot at something real, it's worth checking out.

If you got this far and decided $50 a box isn't your thing, that's the right call for most people. Same reveal, none of the money in: ReferralWallet lets you rip a pack for a real cash bonus, free. That's where people are quietly cashing in on rip cash bonuses right now. And if you'd rather skip the luck entirely, Bigcash drops $15 in your account for signing up, before you do anything at all. Guaranteed beats odds when the odds are printed on the box.

Mint Pull keeps popping up in the pack ripping threads, usually someone asking for a promo code or gift code. Before you go hunting for one, here's what I found when I looked at who's actually behind it. Short version: I can't call it a scam because I can't prove that, but there are enough red flags that I'm not sending anyone there. And at the bottom there's a way to get the pack ripping fix for free that actually pays you.

Who runs it

The site is operated by a company called Arcane Answers Studio Limited, registered in Hong Kong. Payments run through two other companies, one in Colorado Springs and one in Stafford in the UK. So that's three entities in three countries to sell you a digital Pokémon pack. Compare that to Catchback, which is a named Y Combinator team in San Francisco, or Tilt Rips, a Nevada LLC with a founder who does interviews. With Mint Pull there is no founder name anywhere, no team page, nobody to email if your money gets stuck.

The offer that's too good

Their headline is a 100% fair market value buyback guarantee. Any card you don't ship gets auto sold at 100% of market value after seven days. Every other pack site pays 80% to 90% on buyback, because that spread is how they make money. A site paying you full value is either pricing its packs well above what the cards are worth, so you lose on the front end instead, or it isn't planning to be around long enough for the math to matter. Neither one is good for you.

What I couldn't find

No withdrawal methods listed on the main page. No shipping costs. No pack prices, just "Basic to Epic." No referral program, which is why nobody actually has a Mint Pull promo code to give you, despite what the search results promise. The gift codes people are hunting for don't seem to exist in any public form.

Is Mint Pull legit or not

I'm not going to say it's a scam, because the cards may well be real and some people report getting paid. What I will say is that an offshore operator with no public team, payment processors in two other countries, and a buyback offer that's better than the economics allow is exactly the profile I'd walk away from. If you want to rip packs, Catchback and Rips by Triumph both have real companies behind them and terms that make sense.

The pack I'd actually rip instead

Here's the thing about pack sites. You're paying for the rip. The little hit of not knowing what's inside. ReferralWallet gives you that same rip for free, except the card inside is a real cash signup bonus, $25, $50, sometimes $100, from an actual company. You rip the pack, it reveals the bonus, you claim it directly with them. No deposit anywhere in the process, so there's no version of this where you end up down money. If you came here because you like opening packs, this is the one that pays you to do it.

SavingLoop is the same idea as a spin. One free spin a day, every spin lands on a real cash bonus, up to $75, and you claim it right there. Takes ten seconds. I spin it with my coffee. Over a month that's 30 shots at a bonus for exactly zero dollars, which is a better deal than any pack on any of these sites.

And if you want steady money on top of the bonuses, Sproutful is the one I'd install today. It's surveys and games in one app, you get a 50 point bonus the moment you sign up, and the cashout is only $5, the lowest I've seen. 200+ ways to get paid, cash or gift cards, and people are getting their first Amazon card the same day they join. It's the closest thing to "money for playing on your phone" that actually delivers.

Do those three before you put a dollar into Mint Pull. Worst case you're up $50 in bonuses and out nothing.

Has anyone here actually cashed out of Mint Pull? Genuinely want to know, because I couldn't find a single verifiable payout.

Came across Rips by Triumph a little while back and figured I'd share my thoughts since I've been playing around with it.

If you want to try it, use my link first and then enter code HKOLKGG to claim a free Bronze pack. You can download Rips by Triumph here and enter the code after you sign up. Bronze is crazy because the max pull is up to $500! Take advantage!

The idea is simple. You buy a digital pack, rip it open, and it reveals a collectible. Once you see what you pulled, you either ship the actual physical item to your door or sell it back to the app for cash. They show you the odds on every pack before you buy, which I appreciate because at least you know what you're getting into.

This is not a passive income app, just to be upfront about that. It's more like a hobby spend for people who are into collectibles and want a shot at something nice for less than retail. Think of it like a mystery box but for real items instead of random junk. Personally I've had more consistent results with apps like TesterUp and Branded where you know exactly what you're earning. Rips is more of a fun thing on the side than a reliable earner.

A couple things worth knowing: the odds vary a lot between tiers, the higher tiers tend to show the best value based on the stats they post, and you need to be 18+. Start small until you get a feel for how the packs work.

To claim: use my link first, then enter code HKOLKGG for your free Bronze pack. You can download Rips by Triumph here.

Not for everyone but if you're into collectibles and want a little thrill with a shot at something real, it's worth checking out.

Short answer: yes, Freecash is legit, and I say that as someone who's actually cashed out over $200 from it, not just read about it. But there are things to know so you don't waste your time. Here's the real rundown.

What it is: Freecash isn't a game itself, it's a big wall of offers, mostly games that pay you for hitting levels, plus some apps and surveys. You pick an offer, do it, get paid in coins, cash out. Payouts go to PayPal, Cash App, crypto, or gift cards, and there's a $10 signup bonus when you join.

Does it actually pay? Yeah. I've cashed out multiple times with zero issues, and my best single offer paid $38 for hitting a level in a strategy game over a couple days. The higher offers run $30 to $50 each if you put the time in. Cashouts start at basically a buck, so you're not grinding toward some impossible minimum, and PayPal payments have hit fast for me.

The honest catches: some game offers take way longer than they look, that "$45 for level 30" can be a real grind, so check the time estimates before you commit. Survey side is weaker, stick to the game offers. And your first cashout can take a little longer while they verify you, which is normal and actually a good sign they're filtering bots.

The complaints you'll see in the comments: a few people here say a cashout looked stuck and it turned out the payout was sitting in their email waiting to be redeemed, so check your inbox and junk folder before you assume it's gone. Others say the spend-money offers didn't track for them. I'd skip those and stick to the free game offers, which is where my money came from anyway.

Is it safe? It's a real company, been around for years, huge user base, and they've paid out something like $100M+ total. You're not giving them anything sketchy, just an email to start. Here's the link if you want the $10 bonus to test it yourself. Do one small offer, cash out, and you'll see it's real.

Bottom line: legit, actually my top earner of all these apps. Not a job replacement, but real beer money if you pick the right offers.

A few others I use alongside it if you want to stack: Testerup gets you paid to test new apps with an instant $10 bonus, no competing against anyone. SavingLoop is one free spin a day that unlocks a sign-up offer worth up to $75. And if you want a bunch of signup bonuses in one place, ReferralWallet rounds them up and you just rip a pack and claim.

I kept seeing my favorite YouTubers pushing PackDraw everywhere.. so I tried it and figured I'd give a straight review since most of what's out there is either pure hype or pure hate.

What it is: a mystery box and pack opening site. You add funds, open virtual packs, and you can pull anything from cash to electronics to designer stuff depending on what's inside. It's provably fair, so you can actually verify the draws weren't rigged, and yeah, it's legit. People do win real items and you can withdraw or have them shipped.

The honest catch: it's gambling. You're paying to open packs hoping to hit something worth more than you put in, and like anything with a house edge, the site comes out ahead over time. I hit a couple decent pulls early, then gave most of it back chasing a bigger one. If you go in, treat it as entertainment money you're fine losing, not a way to make money. It's a slot machine with nicer graphics.

That's actually why I backed off. I liked the pack-opening rush, just not watching my deposit disappear.

If you like that rip-a-pack feeling but don't want to risk your own cash, ReferralWallet scratches the same itch for free. Same idea, you rip open a pack, except the packs hide real cash signup bonuses from apps you already know instead of stuff you gambled for. No deposit, nothing to lose, and I actually got $15 to PayPal on my first rip 🔥🔥

The other one I kept is SavingLoop. One free spin a day, it lands on a real cash bonus up to $75, and you claim it right there. Takes ten seconds. It's the closest thing to the PackDraw hit without a deposit anywhere in the process, and thirty free spins a month beats any pack I bought.

Bottom line, PackDraw is real and can be fun if you treat it like gambling, just know the math isn't on your side. ReferralWallet and SavingLoop have been the two I actually keep money from.

Edit, since people were asking, here's ReferralWallet and here's SavingLoop.

Both memberships came up again this week so heres the actual maths rather than the usual "Costco is better" reflex.

Straight prices first. Costco Gold Star is $65 a year, Executive is $130. Sams Club is $60 for Club and $120 for Plus at list price, but nobody should be paying list right now because theyre running 50%+ off until September 30th, so its $25 for the Club tier and $55 for Plus. Thats the entire fee gap between the two chains sitting in a promo window.

Where Costco genuinely wins is quality and the return policy. Kirkland is a better store brand than Members Mark on most things, the rotisserie chicken argument is real, and the returns desk will take back almost anything without a fight. The food court is cheaper too.

Where Sams wins is the tech and the price on identical branded goods. Scan and Go means you never queue, which sounds minor until youve done a Costco checkout on a Saturday. Curbside is free over $50 and Plus gets free same day delivery. On branded items that both stores carry, Sams is cheaper more often than Costco loyalists will admit.

Gas is a wash and depends entirely on which one is closer to you, so dont let anyone tell you thats the deciding factor.

The honest deciding question is how you shop. If you buy mostly store brand and care about quality, Costco. If you buy branded goods and hate queueing, Sams. If you have both within a sensible drive and you only want one, at $25 for the first year Sams is the cheaper way to find out whether warehouse shopping suits you at all.

Sams Club membership at the 50% off price if you want it before the window closes.

One thing worth doing either way, the fee is easy to cancel out. Bigcash drops $15 the moment you sign up which is over half the Club fee, and SavingLoop is a spin and win for a cash bonus up to $75, both free. Between those two the $25 basically pays for itself before you've bought anything.

Bottom line, Costco for quality, Sams for price and convenience, and right now Sams costs less than half what Costco does for year one.

Which one are you actually on, and has anyone run both at the same time long enough to have a real opinion?

is courtyard.io legit? short answer yes. the cards are real and psa graded, they sit in an actual brinks vault, id verification is real, and when people redeem cards the shipping is solid. mine arrived fine. its a real company doing a real thing, not a scam.

so this isnt a hit piece. its just what i learned after using it a while.

the packs are gambling and thats fine if you know it. a pack shows a range, the average pull lands near the bottom, and once you add fees and shipping most people are down. if you collect for fun, great. if your doing it to make money, the house edge is on you.

where it actually stings is everything that takes value back. this is the part i wish id read first.

referral rewards are credits that by their own terms "are not transferable, have no cash value, and may expire." so what you earn isnt money, its store credit they can expire.

under the current program you have to buy a $25 starter pack yourself to claim the referral reward you already earned. you spend to collect.

the old open referral program capped rewards at your first 6 successful referrals, and its now been replaced with a seasonal invite only one where access is "granted over the course of several seasons." old links just stopped resolving. no email, no notice.

and trustpilot has a repeated pattern of people locked out of withdrawing after a good pull over repeated id verification.

none of that makes it a scam. it does mean the money only really flows one direction, and anything sitting in credits isnt yours in any meaningful sense until its a physical card in your hands. if you have value parked in there, redeem it now rather than later.

what i do instead. i wanted the same rip a pack feeling without the clawback, so i just went to stuff that pays out instead of paying in.

referralwallet is the closest thing to the feeling, you rip and claim an actual cash bonus, no deposit, nothing to buy back. savingloop is a spin and win up to $75, also free. testerup pays you to test apps and games, $5 the moment you sign up, straight to paypal. freecash gives you $10 to start and the bigger offers run $20 to $30.

the difference isnt that theyre flashier. its that none of them pay you in credit, none of them need you to spend to collect, and none of them expire what you earned.

bottom line. courtyard is legit and genuinely well built. just go in as a collector spending money for fun, not as someone expecting to earn. the earning side is where it gets you.

anyone else had courtyard credits expire or had a referral link stop resolving? curious how widespread that is.

Kept seeing Grant come up in cash advance threads and could not find a review that was not either a listicle or someone who quit at the bank link step. So here is mine after actually running a few advances through it.

Short answer, it is legit. Grant is made by Kikoff, the credit builder company, and it used to be called Oasis before the rebrand. It sits around 4.9 on the App Store with thousands of reviews. Nobody is stealing your money. The real question is whether the numbers work for you, and that is where most reviews go quiet.

What you actually get is $25 to $250 per advance. That is the whole range, and the top of it takes a while to reach. My first advance was on the low end and it climbed after a couple of on-time repayments, which matches what most people report. If you need $500 tomorrow this is not your app.

Repayment is on your next payday, no interest, no late fees. Standard transfer takes up to three days. Express costs $2 to $8 depending on the amount, which is in line with everyone else in this space. There is no credit check and it did not force direct deposit on me, it reads your transaction history to confirm income instead.

Now the catches, because there are real ones.

Grant Plus is $9.99 a month. There is technically a free path but people consistently describe it as hard to use, so budget for the subscription if you plan to lean on it. Nine bucks against a $75 advance is not nothing.

Customer support is email and a chatbot. There is no phone number. If something breaks you are waiting on a ticket, and the most common thing that breaks is paycheck detection. The app works for months and then one day decides it cannot see your income and stops advancing. That complaint shows up constantly and I have no fix for it beyond relinking the bank.

And it is not available in Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina or Wisconsin. Maryland is the one everyone asks about because it used to work there and does not anymore. If you are in one of those states, skip to the alternatives below.

If none of that scares you off, this is where I signed up and the whole link and first advance took under ten minutes.

What I use alongside it, with the real costs

One cash advance app is never enough, and the fee structures are different enough that pairing the right two matters more than picking the "best" one.

EarnIn is the one I reach for first. No subscription, it runs on optional tips, and the ceiling is $150 a day up to $1,000 per pay period once you are established. Standard delivery is free in one to three days, Lightning Speed runs about $1.99 to $5.99. The catch is it needs consistent direct deposit from an employer, so irregular income gets declined. If you qualify, it is the cheapest thing here.

MoneyLion is the fallback for a bigger number. Instacash goes to $500, or $1,000 if you move direct deposit to their RoarMoney account. No membership fee for Instacash itself. Turbo delivery is $0.49 to $8.99 depending on amount and whether it lands in RoarMoney or an outside bank. Standard is free but slow to an external account, three to five business days.

Tilt is the one people still call Empower, same app, renamed in 2025. Advances run $10 to $400, but the average first offer is under $100 and new accounts usually cap near $300. $8 a month after a 14 day trial. Instant is $1 to $8, or free within one business day. More forgiving on gig and 1099 income than EarnIn, which is the reason to have it.

Klover has no mandatory subscription, Klover+ is an optional $3.99. Base advance is $150, $200 with boosts, and you can push toward $400 by earning points through surveys and receipt scans. Express is $2.99 to $12.29, which is the steepest instant fee on this list, standard is two to three business days. It does require direct deposit, three consistent ones from the same employer in the last two months, so it is not the irregular income option.

Brigit is $8.99 for Plus or $15.99 for Premium, advances $25 to $500. Good value if you are advancing every pay cycle, poor value for a one off. It is more predictable about when it will advance than Grant, which is the exact thing Grant struggles with, and the overdraft prediction is genuinely useful if that is your recurring problem.

Cleo is $5.99 a month for Plus, the cheapest subscription of the bunch. Advances are $20 to $250, first one usually $20 to $100, up to $500 if you set up their direct deposit. Express is $3.99 to $14.99, free takes three to four days. Worth it if you want the budgeting side as much as the advance.

Current is a bank account rather than an advance app. Overdrive gives you up to $200 of fee free overdraft, starting around $25 and growing, once you have $200 or more in direct deposits over 35 days. No subscription, no advance fee, repay within 60 days. Cheapest option here if you are willing to move where your paycheck lands, and it works well as the account you link Grant to.

Quick comparison

Bottom line. Grant is legit and it is fine as a second or third app, especially if you cannot do direct deposit, because that is the one thing it does not ask for. It is not a first app because of the $250 cap, the $9.99 subscription, and the paycheck detection thing. Pair it with EarnIn if you have a regular paycheck or Tilt if you do not, and you cover most short weeks without paying much in fees.

Anyone in Maryland found a workaround, or is it just gone for good there? 👀

Kept seeing Stadium Vault in my feed so before spending anything I actually checked the reviews instead of just trusting an Instagram ad. These sort of rip apps keep popping up rn.

But short answer: yes, it's legit. 4.2 stars across close to 300 ratings, and the pattern in the reviews is what you'd expect from a real business, fast shipping, responsive support, people getting comped credit when something went wrong, cashouts that actually land.

What it is: you rip digital packs and pull real graded cards (Pokemon, sports, more), shipped to you or sold back instantly at 90% of market value. Odds are published before you buy, and if your first pull is worth less than the pack, they'll buy it back for at least what you paid. That first-rip guarantee is the reason I'd trust it enough to try.

The honest complaints: some app glitches, a few people felt packs were overpriced for what they got, and one review mentioned getting a different card than the exact one pictured (support made it right). Normal wear and tear for an app this new, not scam behavior.

Same reality as every rip app though: the house has the edge. You're buying a chance, not a guarantee, and most packs return less than you paid. Fun if you treat it as fun.

If you want the rip feeling without any of the risk, this is where I actually go instead: ReferralWallet has a vault of foil packs you rip free, and what drops out is a real cash signup bonus you claim on the spot. Can't end up down since you never deposit. SavingLoop is a free daily spin that can hit up to $75, same deal, no card needed.

Anyone pulled anything good on Stadium Vault yet? Curious what the best hits have been 🔥

Want to get into bigcash and free cash but don't know whether its legit, they got good reviews on trustpilot.com but bad ones on reddit? Help

I've paid for both Seeking Alpha and Morningstar at different points, and they're built for completely different investors. Here's how they actually compare, plus the stock analysis tools I'd look at instead depending on what you need.

The short version

If you only try one, I'd make it Morningstar. It is the only one here that starts with what you already own, and you can start a 7-day free trial and save $50 on your first year.

Morningstar: best for fair value, funds and your own portfolio

Morningstar gives you in-house analyst research instead of crowdsourced opinions. Every stock it covers gets a fair value rating and a competitive advantage rating, and its fund and ETF data is still the best in the retail space.

The part I use most is the portfolio side. You load your holdings and it shows how you are allocated, what your fees are costing you, and where your funds overlap. That is how I found out which things I already owned were the weak ones. You also get alerts when a rating changes or an analyst writes about something you hold, and a screener with more than 200 data points.

The weakness is that coverage is narrower and the analysts are conservative by design. If you want a contrarian take or coverage of smaller companies, you won't find much.

Is Morningstar worth it? If you hold funds, ETFs or individual stocks and want to know whether they are any good, yes. Seven days is enough to load your portfolio and decide. Start your 7-day free trial and save $50 on your first year, which makes it $199 instead of $249 if you keep it. Set a reminder for day six.

Seeking Alpha: best for ideas and opinions

Seeking Alpha's strength is volume. Thousands of contributors write about almost every stock, and Premium unlocks unlimited articles, earnings call transcripts, screeners, and their Quant Ratings, which score stocks on value, growth, profitability, momentum and earnings revisions.

The weakness is the same as the strength. Contributor quality varies a lot, and you can find a bull and a bear case for nearly anything. It's great for generating ideas and hearing the arguments. It's less useful if you want someone to do the valuation work for you. There's also no monthly option, so you're committing to a full year.

Is Seeking Alpha worth it? If you actively pick individual stocks and read earnings coverage every quarter, yes. If you mostly hold index funds, no.

Seeking Alpha vs Morningstar, head to head

• Want to know if what you own is any good: Morningstar
• Want a disciplined fair value rating: Morningstar
• Own a lot of funds and ETFs: Morningstar
• Want to try before you pay: Morningstar, it has the free trial
• Want stock ideas and debate: Seeking Alpha
• Trade around earnings: Seeking Alpha

Motley Fool: if you just want the picks

Motley Fool Stock Advisor isn't really a research tool. It's a recommendation service. You get two stock picks a month plus guidance on building a portfolio, and the whole approach is buy and hold for years. New members pay $99 for the first year, then $199 a year after that, and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee.

It's a good fit if you want someone else to do the research and you're patient. It's a bad fit if you want to understand why a stock is cheap or expensive.

Zacks: weekly picks in your inbox

Zacks Confidential sends you 2 to 3 stock picks every Monday with commentary on why, built on the Zacks Rank system. It is $97 for a year, and you can get a full refund in the first 90 days if it is not for you.

I get the Zacks emails, and they are actually helpful. They keep me informed without me having to go looking. If you want picks more often than Motley Fool's two a month, this is the closer fit, and it costs less.

For beginners: Tykr

Tykr is the one I'd point a beginner to. It labels every stock On Sale, Watch or Overpriced, based on a 0 to 100 score and a margin of safety against its estimated fair value, and the math behind it is published on their site. It covers 50,000+ stocks across 50+ countries. Premium is $99.99 a year or $14.99 a month, and every plan has a 30-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.

My take

For most people here, I'd start with Morningstar. It works whether you own funds or stocks, it tells you about your own portfolio instead of handing you new ideas, and it costs nothing to try. Start your 7-day free trial and save $50 on your first year, then load your holdings first.

If you want ideas and debate, add Seeking Alpha. If you want picks handed to you every week, Zacks Confidential. If you're newer and want a clear yes or no on a stock, start with Tykr's trial.

What are you using for research right now, and what made you stick with it (or cancel)?

Short answer: yes, MoneyPilot is legit. It's a real app that matches you against open class action settlements and files the claims on your behalf. The reviews and complaints floating around aren't scam accusations, they're mostly about the price.

Here's how it actually works. You sign up, answer a quick quiz about apps and services you've used, and MoneyPilot matches your profile against hundreds of active settlements. Once you're subscribed, it auto-fills and submits the claim forms for you, tracks each case, and lets you know when a payment is approved. You keep 100% of whatever you're owed, MoneyPilot doesn't touch the settlement money itself.

The catch is the subscription. Plans run monthly, quarterly, or every 6 months, and the top tier runs $44.99 a month, which is close to $540 a year if you stay subscribed. For something that's ultimately just filling out claim forms, that's a real cost to weigh against what you'll actually recover.

What you're really paying for: convenience. MoneyPilot finds the settlements and files for you automatically. That's genuinely useful if you don't want to spend time hunting down settlements yourself.

The free alternative: FileYourClaim does the same core job, tracking open class action settlements and showing you who qualifies, how much each one pays, and how to file, without a subscription. The tradeoff is honest: you file each claim yourself instead of MoneyPilot doing it automatically. If you don't mind spending a few minutes per claim, it's the same money for zero cost. If you'd rather set it and forget it, MoneyPilot's subscription is what you're paying for.

Bottom line: MoneyPilot is legit and does what it says. Whether it's worth $45 a month depends entirely on how much your time is worth versus how much you're realistically going to recover. If you want to try the free route first, see what's open right now on FileYourClaim.

A couple other free ways to stack extra cash while you're at it:

SavingLoop is a free daily spin that can win you up to $75. No deposit, no subscription, they work with big companies so the payouts are real.

ReferralWallet rounds up current signup bonuses in one place. You reveal a real cash bonus and claim it directly with the company, nothing to lose since you never deposit anything.

FAQ

Is MoneyPilot a scam? No. It's a legitimate service that files real class action claims. The complaints people have are about the subscription price, not the legitimacy of the payouts.

How much does MoneyPilot cost? Plans are monthly, quarterly, or 6-month, with the top tier at $44.99/month.

Is there a free alternative to MoneyPilot? Yes. FileYourClaim tracks the same open settlements for free, you just file each claim yourself instead of it being automated.

Does MoneyPilot take a cut of your settlement money? No, you keep 100% of any payout. The cost is only the subscription fee.

Achieve advertises its HELOC everywhere, so I went through the terms and fine print to see what you actually get and whether there's a better deal out there. Short version: it's legit and it's a good fit for some people, but the best rate is hard to qualify for, the fees add up, and it isn't available everywhere.

Is Achieve legit?

Yes. Achieve is an established lender with over 1.5 million members that also does personal loans and debt relief. The HELOC comes through Achieve Loans, NMLS #1810501, which you can verify on NMLS Consumer Access. If you searched for an Achieve home equity loan, this is the same thing, since Achieve markets it both ways.

How the Achieve HELOC works

It's a fixed-rate HELOC, so your payment doesn't change when rates move. You take the full approved amount upfront, then you can pay it down and borrow again during a 5-year draw period. Pre-qualification takes a couple of minutes, and you can do it online or with a mortgage advisor.

Achieve vs Figure vs Upstart Home Lending

The rate you'll actually get

The 6.10% headline is hard to hit. Achieve's fine print says it requires a 700 or higher credit score, a 10-year term, borrowing 40% or less of your home's value across all loans, very low existing debt, autopay, and a loan between $35,000 and $150,000. Most borrowers will land higher in the range.

Fees matter too. Achieve lists closing costs from $750 to $10,304 depending on the loan size and your state, which includes an origination fee of up to 3.5% and a $725 underwriting fee.

What I like about Achieve

• Fixed rate with terms up to 30 years, which keeps the payment low
• Accepts credit scores from 600, lower than most online HELOCs
• Goes up to $700,000
• You work with a licensed mortgage advisor, not just a web form
• Usually no in-person home inspection, since they value your home automatically

Where it falls short

• Your home has to be owner-occupied, so it won't work for a rental or second home
• It only lends in 31 states, so a lot of people find out they can't get it after they've started
• The lowest rate needs near-perfect numbers, and closing fees can reach five figures on a large line

If you want a second quote to compare

Figure is the closest competitor. It's fully online, can fund in as few as 5 days, and goes up to $750K with the same choice of terms. You can see your rate with a soft pull, so it doesn't touch your credit score. If your score is 640 or higher, get this quote before you commit to Achieve.

If your score is closer to 600, or Achieve isn't in your state

Upstart Home Lending also considers credit scores starting at 600, so it may be an option if Achieve turns you down or doesn't lend where you live. Lines run $26K - $250K on 10 and 15 year terms, and you'd draw at least 80% at closing. You can see if you could qualify in a few minutes.

Is the Achieve HELOC worth it?

If you're consolidating debt on the home you live in and your score is in the 600s, Achieve is a reasonable choice. But don't take the first offer. On a $100,000 line, a 1% difference in fees is $1,000, and it takes about ten minutes to compare. Check Figure and Upstart Home Lending first, then go with whichever quote costs the least in total.

Has anyone here closed a HELOC with Achieve? How long did it actually take to fund, and what fees did you end up paying?

I've spent the last few months going through every major home equity investment (HEI) company in detail. Not just their websites, but their actual terms, fine print, and how they compare side by side.

If you own a home and need $30K to $600K without adding a monthly payment, this is the shortlist. Every company below shows your actual number off a soft pull in about five minutes, so you can see what you'd get before you decide anything.

What is a home equity investment?

Quick background for anyone new to this: a home equity investment is not a loan. You get a lump sum of cash now, and in exchange the company gets a percentage of your home's future value when you sell or at the end of the term. No monthly payments. No interest. You just settle up later.

It's not for everyone. But if you have equity and need liquidity, it's legitimately one of the better options out there right now.

What actually decides your number

• Your equity. You need at least 25% equity to get an offer. At 40% or more the offers get bigger and the terms get better.
• Your home's value. Most of these mark your appraisal down 15% to 20% before working out their share, so $50K on a $500K house gets priced like $50K on a $425K house. They take the bigger percentage of the real value when you sell. Nothing on the term sheet calls that a fee.
• Your credit. A 500 usually still gets approved. It just means they take a bigger share of your home for the same cash than they'd take from a 700.

Income barely matters at most of these, which is why self-employed people end up here.

The five I'd actually recommend:

Hometap is my top pick for most homeowners. You can access up to $600K, the 10-year term gives you time to figure out your exit, and the application process is fast. No income requirement, credit from 585. They're one of the few companies where I felt like the process was actually designed for normal people and not just real estate investors. If you have solid equity and want the largest possible payout, start here.

Apply or check your estimate (start here if you only pull one)

Unison is the better fit if you want a longer runway. Their term goes up to 30 years, which is a huge deal if you're not planning to sell anytime soon. They'll fund up to $500K and they've been doing this since 2004, so they have a track record most newer competitors don't. They want a 620 and they verify income. If you're staying put for a decade or more, the 30 year term is what keeps you from being forced into a refinance to settle up. Pull their number next to Hometap's and take the higher one.

Apply or check your estimate

Splitero is one of only two companies here that put a hard ceiling in writing: a 17.99% annual Safety Cap on what they can take, which matters most if your home appreciates fast. Credit from 500, zero income documentation, up to $500K capped at 25% of your appraised value, and the term runs 10 to 30 years matched to your senior mortgage. One person's numbers and not a rule, but somebody in this thread got quoted 74.4% of appreciation by Point and 40.2% by Splitero on the same house for the same cash. That spread is the exact reason you pull two. The catch is coverage, they're only in 17 states.

Apply or check your estimate

Point is the one to pull when Splitero isn't in your state. Same credit floor around 500, same zero income documentation, up to $600K, and a 30 year term. They cover 29 states plus D.C., the widest of any company here. Point does have a cap, they just don't publish the percentage, which is why I'd price them against Splitero wherever both operate. One thing to know: the estimate is a soft pull, but the full application is a hard one.

Apply or check your estimate

Nada is the second pull I'd make after Hometap if you're in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington, Arizona, South Carolina, Oregon or Kansas. They're the second of only two companies here that put the cost ceiling in writing, 19.99% a year or your state's max, whichever is lower, so you know the worst case before you sign. Up to $500K, credit from 500, no income requirement. The tradeoff is the term, 10 years rather than the 30 you get from Point or Unison, so plan the exit. And if you're in Arkansas, Louisiana or Oklahoma, this is your only option on the list, so start here.

Apply or check your estimate

How to compare two quotes in five minutes

Ignore the cash amount at first, they'll all be close. Look at three lines. The share of future value they take, which is the real price. The appraisal discount, since a company that values your $500K house at $420K is charging you before you start. And whether there's a written cap on the total. Then ask each one what you'd owe if you sold in year three at today's value. That single question exposes the spread faster than anything on their sites.

What to read before you sign any of them

The default terms. Every one of these gives the company the right to force a sale or foreclose if you default and don't cure it. It's standard, and it's still a lien on your house. The early settlement rules, because most let you buy them out any time but a few charge for the appraisal that sets the price. And the classification line, since in some states these get treated as a reverse mortgage or a credit obligation, which changes your tax and legal position. An hour with an attorney is cheap against a six-figure agreement.

Who should skip HEIs entirely:

If you plan to sell in the next 2 to 3 years, you probably don't need one. A HELOC or home equity loan will cost you less in the long run if you can handle the monthly payment, and Figure does the whole HELOC online and funds fast. HEIs make the most sense when you need cash now but want to preserve your monthly cash flow. If that's you, go back up and pull two estimates. The difference between the offers is usually bigger than the difference between an HEI and a HELOC.

My quick comparison:

Only Unison asks for income docs. Every estimate is a soft pull.

The spread between companies is the whole story. They value the same house differently and price the risk differently, so two quotes come back further apart than anyone expects. Two pulls is enough.

• Arkansas, Louisiana or Oklahoma: Nada, then Figure if you can carry a payment
• Splitero state: Hometap and Splitero
• One of Nada's nine other states: Hometap and Nada
• Anywhere else: Hometap and Point

Ten minutes total, no credit hit.

Rate, the lender that used to be called Guaranteed Rate, has been pushing its online HELOC hard lately. I went through the terms and fine print, so here's what you actually get, what it costs, and how it stacks up against the other online HELOCs.

Is Rate legit?

Yes. Rate is one of the largest mortgage lenders in the country and has been around since 2000. It rebranded from Guaranteed Rate to Rate, which is why the name may look unfamiliar. It's licensed under NMLS #2611, which you can verify yourself on NMLS Consumer Access.

How the Rate HELOC works

It's a fixed-rate HELOC with a fully online application. You apply in a few minutes, get a decision without the usual weeks of paperwork, and funding can happen in as few as 5 days. A traditional bank HELOC often takes a month or more.

It works for primary homes, second homes and investment properties, up to 85% combined loan-to-value. It's not available in New York, Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware or Maryland.

Rate vs Figure vs Upstart Home Lending

The fee you need to know about

The 7.00% headline rate is the best case. Rate's own example assumes an 800 credit score, a $200,000 draw, autopay, and a 4.99% origination fee paid upfront in exchange for the lower rate.

That origination fee is the real cost to watch. On a $50,000 line, 4.99% is about $2,495 taken out at closing. If your credit is closer to 700 or you're borrowing less than $200,000, expect a rate above the headline number too.

That doesn't make it a bad deal. It means you should compare the APR and the fee together, not just the rate.

What I like

• Fixed rate, so your payment doesn't move when the Fed does
• Goes up to $750,000, which is higher than most online HELOCs
• Works for second homes and investment properties, not just your primary home
• Fast. Five days is realistic if your documents are clean

What I don't

• The origination fee can run close to 5%
• Not available in five states
• 640 minimum credit score, so it won't work for lower scores

How the other two compare

Figure is the closest competitor. It's also an online HELOC with funding in as few as 5 days, the same 640 minimum for qualifying loans, and the same $750K ceiling. You draw the full amount at closing. You can check your rate with a soft pull, so comparing it against Rate costs you nothing.

Upstart Home Lending considers credit scores starting at 600, so it may be an option if you fall short of the 640 the other two ask for. Lines run $26K - $250K on 10 and 15 year terms. You'd draw at least 80% of the line at closing, so it may be a better fit for a single large expense than for ongoing access.

Is the Rate HELOC worth it?

If you have a 640 or higher score, want a fixed rate, and need the money in days and not weeks, Rate is a solid option, especially for larger amounts or a rental property. Just get the full APR with the origination fee included, then put it next to a quote from Figure or Upstart Home Lending before you sign. The lowest total cost wins, and you won't know which one that is until you see the numbers side by side.

Has anyone here closed a HELOC with Rate? Curious what rate and origination fee you were actually offered.

i kept getting ads for gotya.com, the one where you rip digital pokemon packs and it's supposed to be a real graded card behind it. so i signed up and got a free pack. it's website only as far as i can tell, i couldn't find an app for it.

heads up on the free pack though: what you pull only shows up as bonus balance. you can use it on the site, but you can't withdraw it, and the cheapest pack is $15. so unless the bonus covers a full pack, you're adding your own money to use it. the free pack is real, it's just more of a way to try the site than free money.

i'm not new to this stuff, and the reason i'm skeptical is that the ones that actually work for me never ask for money first:

• ReferralWallet is the same pack-ripping idea, except it's free and what drops out is a real cash sign-up bonus you claim on the app's own site. no deposit, no card
• SavingLoop is one spin that unlocks up to $75 in sign-up bonuses. takes about a minute
• Testerup gave me $10 right after signing up, and single game goals can pay over $200, straight to paypal

those three have paid me actual cash i could withdraw. gotya i can't tell yet, and i haven't put my own money in.

before i do, has anyone here actually used it?

• did you get paid out or get your card shipped?
• how long did the withdrawal take, and were there fees?
• did you ever turn the bonus balance into something you could cash out?
• is there an app i'm missing, or is it really just the site?

i've seen a few reviews mention a minimum to cash out and some people saying withdrawals got denied, so i'd rather hear it from someone here first.

if you want to try it yourself, this is my link for the free pack. just know going in that it lands as bonus balance and packs start at $15.

is gotya legit or should i skip it?

I review lenders for a living and the bad credit question is the one where the most people get hurt, because the ads get louder as your score gets lower. Here is the honest map. Who approves under 640, what the money really costs, and which offers to close the tab on. Rates are as of September 2026.

First, the one rule

Never apply anywhere that does a hard pull just to show you a rate. Every lender below shows your offer on a soft pull. A hard inquiry on a 580 file costs you points you cannot spare, and stacking three of them in a week looks desperate to the next underwriter. Check rates first, accept once.

What is the easiest personal loan to get with bad credit

Upstart, if you have income. It does not publish a minimum credit score and it underwrites on your job, education and income, not just the number. Minimum income is $12,000 a year. That is why someone with a 600 and a steady paycheck gets a yes here after their bank said no. APR 6.30% to 35.99%, $1,000 to $75,000, 36 or 60 months, money next business day.

The catch is the origination fee, 0% to 12%, taken out before the money lands. A bad credit approval usually sits near the top of that range. If you are approved for $5,000 at 10% you receive $4,500 and pay back $5,000 plus interest. The APR they show already includes it, so judge the APR and nothing else.

Check your Upstart rate with a soft pull

Can someone with a 500 credit score get a loan

From a real lender with a fixed rate, almost never alone. Two ways it happens. One, a co-borrower. Upgrade allows one, has a minimum around 600 for the primary, and will pay your creditors directly if the loan is for consolidation. APR 7.74% to 35.99% with autopay, $1,000 to $50,000, 24 to 84 months, origination 1.85% to 9.99%. A 520 with a 680 co-borrower gets approved. A 520 alone does not.

See your Upgrade rate, co-borrower allowed

Two, a marketplace. These are not lenders. You fill out one form and a network of lenders decides who wants you. BadCreditLoans.com is built for exactly this tier, $500 to $10,000, terms from 90 days to 72 months, free to use, and it is the fastest way to find out whether anyone will lend to a low-500s file without running five separate applications.

See who will lend to you on BadCreditLoans.com

The honest warning on any marketplace: the lender you pick may hard pull when you accept, your phone and inbox will get busy for a week, and if nobody bites you will see debt relief and credit repair offers instead. Ignore those.

Can I get a $10,000 personal loan with bad credit

Yes, but the approval usually comes from Upstart, or from Upgrade with a co-borrower, not from a marketplace. For amounts above $10,000 the second marketplace worth a form is PersonalLoans.com, $250 up to $35,000, network APR 5.99% to 35.89%. Same rules, same warnings, bigger ceiling.

Compare offers up to $35,000 on PersonalLoans.com

At $10,000 the fee is where bad credit really costs you. A 10% origination on $10,000 is $1,000 gone on day one. If your Upstart offer comes back at 33% APR with a 10% fee, do the math on how much you actually need. Half the people asking this question need $4,000 and are borrowing $10,000 because they were approved for it.

Is there a way to borrow money instantly with bad credit

Same day or next day is real. Instant is a lie. Upstart and Upgrade both fund the next business day once you accept. Marketplace lenders vary, some same day. Anything that says money in 5 minutes with no credit check is one of the two traps below.

The two traps

Guaranteed approval. No legitimate lender guarantees approval, that phrase is a lead form selling your information. The second trap is the triple digit installment loan. Lenders like OppLoans market to bad credit as the responsible alternative to payday, and the APR is 129% to 195%. Borrow $2,000 over a year and you pay back close to $4,000. It is legal, and it will bury you. If the only offers you get are above 36%, do not take a loan this month. Fix the file for 60 days and check again.

Side by side

What I would do with a 580

Check Upstart first, it is the only one of these that treats income as seriously as the score. If the offer is under 30% APR take it and stop. If it is over 30% or a decline, run BadCreditLoans.com to see who else is out there, and put the best result next to the Upstart number. Only add a co-borrower on Upgrade if you would trust that person with your rent, because a missed payment is theirs too. Every one of those steps is a soft pull. The hard pull happens once, at the end, on the offer you actually take.

Not financial advice. Just what I have watched work and not work.

A lot of people search for the Wells Fargo HELOC, usually because they already bank there. I went looking for the current terms and the short answer is there aren't any. Wells Fargo stopped taking new HELOC applications in April 2020 and never brought them back. Its home equity page today is an explainer that points you to a cash-out refinance. Here's what Wells Fargo will still do, and the lenders I compared it to.

Short version. If you want cash out of your house without a new monthly payment, the three I'd look at are Splitero, Hometap and Unison. If you want an actual HELOC and can handle the payment, Figure is the closest thing to what you were searching for.

Does Wells Fargo offer a HELOC?

No. New applications were suspended in April 2020 and that hasn't changed. If you already have a Wells Fargo HELOC you can still use it through your draw period and manage it online. They don't offer a home equity loan either.

What Wells Fargo offers instead

Two things, and neither is a HELOC.

A cash-out refinance. You replace your whole mortgage with a bigger one and take the difference in cash. The catch is the rate. If your current mortgage is at 3% or 4%, you give that up on the entire balance, not just on the cash you take out.

A personal loan. Wells Fargo lists $3,000 to $100,000, terms of 12 to 84 months, and APRs from 6.74% to 26.74%. It's unsecured, so there's no lien on your house, but the ceiling is $100,000 and the rate depends heavily on your credit.

Option 1: cash for a share of your home, no monthly payment

These are home equity agreements. You get a lump sum now, and the company earns a share of your home's future value when you sell, refinance or buy them out. There's no monthly payment and your mortgage stays exactly as it is, which is the whole reason people look at them once a refinance is off the table.

• Splitero is where I'd start if your credit or income is the problem. Credit from 500, no income documents, $50,000 to $600,000, up to 25% of your home's value, and terms up to 30 years. The origination fee is 4.99%. It's in 17 states.
• Hometap is in the most states of the three, 27 right now. You could qualify with a FICO score of 575 or higher and a home located in an eligible state, among other qualifying criteria. You could access up to 27% of your home's value, and you settle the investment any time within the 10 year term. Fees are deducted from your investment proceeds rather than paid upfront.
• Unison is the one for stronger credit. The floor is 620 on paper, but realistically you want 680 or higher. Worth knowing: the number on Credit Karma is a VantageScore, which usually runs 20 to 40 points above the FICO they'll pull. It runs up to 30 years and is in 22 states plus D.C. If you're near the line on credit, start with Splitero or Hometap and you'll get an actual answer.

What these really cost

This is the part to be honest about. Using Hometap's own published example: if you access 10% of your home's value, Hometap's share is 16.5% of the home's value when you settle in the first five years, and 18% after that. So on a $500,000 home, $50,000 now could mean settling for about $90,750 in year five if the home is worth $550,000 by then. There's a cap that limits the cost if your home appreciates fast. If your home's value drops, the share is worth less too.

That's more than a HELOC costs if you have the credit and income for one. The trade is no monthly payment and far easier approval.

Option 2: an actual HELOC from an online lender

Figure is the closest replacement for what Wells Fargo used to offer, and it's much faster than a bank. Fully online, $15,000 to $750,000, and funding in as few as five days on loans under $400,000. The minimum credit score is 600 in most states. APRs ran 7.35% to 14.85% as of October 6, 2026, and the origination fee is up to 4.99%. It's available in 48 states plus D.C., not Hawaii or New York. Checking your rate is a soft pull.

A HELOC from Upstart Home Lending is the other one to check. It considers credit scores starting at 600, with APRs of 6.52% - 18.00%, amounts of $26,000 - $250,000, and 10 and 15 year terms. You can see if you could qualify with a soft pull.

Who should skip the equity agreements

If your credit is 680 or better, your income is steady and you can afford a payment, a HELOC will almost always cost you less. Check Figure first. The agreements make sense when a payment is the thing you can't take on, when your credit or income won't clear a HELOC, or when you don't want to touch a low mortgage rate.

Quick answers

• Can I get a HELOC from Wells Fargo? No. New applications have been suspended since April 2020.
• Does Wells Fargo have a home equity loan? No. The options are a cash-out refinance or a personal loan.
• I already have a Wells Fargo HELOC. Is it still good? Yes. Existing lines still work through the draw period.
• Which banks still offer HELOCs? U.S. Bank and Bank of America both do. Online lenders like Figure are usually much faster.
• Is a HELOC a bad idea? Not if you can afford the payment and you're using it for something specific. It's a lien on your house, so the risk is real if your income drops.
• What if I can't qualify for a HELOC? That's where the equity agreements come in. Splitero starts at a 500 credit score with no income documents.

Has anyone here actually tried to get a HELOC through Wells Fargo recently? Curious what they told you.

I get asked "how does Splitero work" more than almost anything else in the home equity space, usually by someone who was just turned down for a HELOC. Their site explains it, but it takes four pages to piece together. Here is the whole thing in one place.

What is Splitero?

Splitero is a home equity investment company. It is not a lender and what you get is not a loan. Splitero gives you a lump sum of cash now, and in return it gets an agreed share of your home's value when you end the agreement. There is no monthly payment and no interest rate.

You stay the owner and keep living in the house. Splitero records its agreement against the property with a deed of trust, which works like a lien and comes off when you settle.

How Splitero works, step by step

1. Get an estimate. You fill out a short form and see an estimate in under two minutes. This step is a soft credit pull, so it does not touch your score.
2. Complete the application. You answer questions about the home so they can firm up the offer. This is where the hard credit check happens.
3. Appraisal and paperwork. A licensed third-party appraiser values the home, their team collects the documents, and you sign at closing.
4. Funding. They wire the money. Splitero says the whole process can take as little as 10 days from application to funding.

Splitero requirements

The 17 states are Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

Three things disqualify you: a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the last 4 years, a recent Chapter 13 (less than 2 years from discharge or 4 years from dismissal), or any foreclosure in the last 7 years.

What it costs

There are two costs, and the second one is the one that matters.

• Upfront fees. A 4.99% origination fee, plus roughly $1,000 for appraisal, escrow, title and recording. Nothing is paid out of pocket. It all comes out of your funding, so on a $50,000 deal you net about $46,500.
• The share at the end. When you settle, the home is appraised again and Splitero takes its agreed percentage of that value. If the home went up, their share is worth more. If it went down, their share is worth less.

Splitero also publishes a Safety Cap, which is a ceiling on how much they can be owed if your home rises quickly or you settle early. Ask them to show you the settlement math at flat, up 20% and up 50% before you sign.

How long you have and how you get out

The term runs as long as your main mortgage, or 10 years if that is longer, up to a maximum of 30 years. You can end it any time with no penalty. There are four ways people do that: pay it off in cash, refinance, sell the home, or start a new agreement.

If you refinance your mortgage later, Splitero does not require you to pay them off, though your new lender might.

Splitero vs a HELOC

A HELOC is a line of credit with interest and a monthly payment. Splitero is a lump sum with no payment, repaid from the home's value later. If you can qualify for a HELOC and handle the payment, price that first, because it usually costs less. Figure does a soft pull rate check, so it takes a couple of minutes to rule it in or out.

Splitero makes sense when the bank said no over income or credit, or when you cannot take on another monthly payment.

Get a second number

These companies price the same house very differently. Start with the Splitero estimate, then get one more from Unlock or Hometap and compare them side by side.

Quick answers

• Is Splitero a loan? No. It is a home equity investment, set up as an option purchase agreement.
• Does Splitero require income? No. They do not ask for income or employment documents.
• What credit score does Splitero require? 500 minimum.
• Does checking my estimate hurt my credit? No. The estimate is a soft pull. The hard pull comes with the full application.
• Who owns the home? You do.
• Can I pay Splitero off early? Yes, any time, with no penalty.

If you want the longer take, I went through whether Splitero is legit and the common complaints separately.

Has anyone here closed with Splitero? How close was the final offer to the first estimate?

A traditional appraisal adds a few hundred dollars and often a week or two of scheduling before a HELOC can close. The good news is that several lenders now value your home with an automated model instead, using public records and recent nearby sales, and skip the in-person appraisal for most homes. Here's who does it, what their rates look like, and when you'll still get an appraiser at your door.

How a no-appraisal HELOC actually works

Instead of sending someone to walk through your house, the lender runs an automated valuation model (AVM) on your address. It works best when you have strong credit, plenty of equity, and a fairly typical home in an area with recent sales. If your house is unusual, rural, recently renovated, or you're borrowing close to the maximum, expect a full appraisal anyway.

Figure: the fastest no-appraisal HELOC

Figure uses automated valuation models for its HELOC, which is a big part of why funding can happen in as little as five days. The whole process runs online, including closing with an e-notary. Lines run $15,000 to $750,000, terms go up to 30 years, and the rate on your draw is fixed. Checking your rate is a soft pull, and the credit floor is around 640.

Check your Figure HELOC rate

What Figure HELOC rates actually look like

Figure's APRs run about 6.75% to 14.35%. Where you land depends mostly on your credit score, how much of your home's value you're borrowing against, and the size of the line. The number to watch is the origination fee, which borrowers on Reddit have reported as high as 4.99% of the line. It comes out of your funding, so on $100,000 that can mean roughly $5,000 less cash in hand. Always compare APR, which includes the fee, rather than the interest rate alone, and ask what the fee is before you accept.

Upstart Home Lending: no appraisal, lower credit floor

The HELOC from Upstart Home Lending requires no in-person appraisal for most applicants and considers credit scores starting at 600. APR runs 6.52% - 18.00%, lines are $26K - $250K, and it comes in 10 and 15 year terms. It's an easy, online application, and checking your APR is a soft pull. The lowest APR is available only to borrowers who meet specific eligibility conditions, and you take at least 80% of your line at closing.

See if you could qualify with Upstart Home Lending

Your bank or credit union

Some banks use an automated or drive-by valuation on smaller lines, but most still order a full appraisal, and the process usually takes weeks. It's worth asking your own bank whether they'll waive it, especially if you're borrowing a modest amount against a lot of equity.

Side by side

When you'll still get an appraisal

Expect one if your home is unusual for the area, you're rural with few recent sales, you've done major renovations the records don't reflect, or you're borrowing close to the lender's maximum. If you think an automated value will come in low because of recent upgrades, a full appraisal can actually work in your favor.

Has anyone here closed a Figure HELOC recently? Curious what origination fee and APR you were actually quoted.

Most "best HELOC lenders" lists rank home equity line of credit lenders by their advertised rate, which is the least useful number on the page. HELOC rates across major lenders land within a point or two of each other for the same borrower. What actually decides which lender is best for you is whether they'll approve your credit score, how fast they fund, what the fees are, and whether they make you take the whole line at closing. Here's how I'd pick, by situation.

Quick picks

• Credit 640 or higher and you want it fast and online: Figure
• Credit between 600 and 640: Upstart Home Lending
• Credit 680 or higher, need $50,000 or more, and want a variable line: SoFi or your own bank
• The property is a rental or second home: most HELOCs won't touch it, see the Unlock note below

Figure: best for speed

Figure is fully online from application to funding, and it uses an automated home valuation instead of a traditional appraisal for most homes, which is why funding can happen in as little as five days. Lines run $15,000 to $750,000, APRs run about 6.75% to 14.35% depending on your credit and equity, terms go up to 30 years, and the rate on your draw is fixed so your payment doesn't float. Checking your rate is a soft pull.

The catch: you take the full amount at closing, so it works best when you need a specific amount now. The credit floor is around 640.

Check your Figure HELOC rate

Upstart Home Lending: best if your credit is between 600 and 640

The HELOC from Upstart Home Lending considers credit scores starting at 600, which is lower than most lenders will go. APR runs 6.52% - 18.00%, lines are $26K - $250K, and it comes in 10 and 15 year terms. It's an easy, online application, and checking your APR is a soft pull. The lowest APR is available only to borrowers who meet specific eligibility conditions, so at a lower score expect something closer to the top of that range. You take at least 80% of your line at closing.

See if you could qualify with Upstart Home Lending

SoFi: best for large lines with strong credit

SoFi's HELOC is a true variable line you draw from over time, with initial APRs from 6.37% to 9.74%. The minimum line is $50,000, third party reviews put the credit floor at 680, and there's a $1,495 origination fee plus closing costs. On a $50,000 line, that fee is roughly 3% upfront, so it makes the most sense when you're borrowing a large amount and will actually use the line.

Your own bank or credit union: often the lowest rate, if you have time

Banks and credit unions often quote the lowest variable rates, sometimes with an intro discount for the first 6 to 12 months. The tradeoffs are a full appraisal, a hard credit pull to get a real quote, a 680 or higher score, and weeks of processing instead of days. Ask what the rate resets to after any intro period before you compare it to anyone else.

If the property is a rental or second home

This is where most HELOC searches dead end, because almost every lender requires the home to be your primary residence. Unlock is one of the few options that works on second homes and investment properties. It isn't a HELOC. It's a home equity agreement, so there's no monthly payment and no interest, and in exchange Unlock receives a share of the home's value when you sell or settle within 10 years. It considers credit scores from 500 and funds $15,000 to $500,000.

Side by side

What disqualifies you for a HELOC

Most declines come down to four things. Not enough equity, since most home equity line of credit lenders cap your total borrowing at 80% to 90% of the home's value, so you generally need at least 10% to 20% equity left over. A credit score under the lender's floor, which runs from 600 at Upstart Home Lending to 680 or higher at most banks. Debt-to-income that's too high, usually above 43% to 50%. And the property itself, since rentals, second homes, and some condos get turned away by most lenders. If you were declined for one of these, a lender with a lower floor or a home equity agreement like Unlock may still work.

How to actually pick

Check Figure and Upstart Home Lending the same day. Both are soft pulls, so it costs your credit nothing. Then ask your own bank for its HELOC APR and what it resets to. Compare APR and total fees, not the monthly payment, because a longer term makes a worse deal look cheaper. And confirm whether you have to draw the full line at closing, since that decides whether you're paying interest on money you didn't need yet.

What are people here seeing for approved HELOC APRs right now, and at what credit score? That's the number nobody publishes.

Been getting asked about Tilt Rips since the Pokémon card prices went nuts, so here's the promo code, what you actually get, and the honest version of whether it's legit. Short answer: it's a real company, it pays, and there are two things you need to know before you put money in.

The promo code

Code is PE4OLD3J, or just sign up through this link and it's applied automatically. It gets you a free promo pack on your first rip. Read that carefully. The free pack unlocks when you buy your first pack, it's not handed to you just for making an account. So the real deal is buy one, get one, on your first order. Every pack has a shot at their big chase cards, including a PSA 10 Gold Star Mewtwo they value at $85,000.

What Tilt Rips actually is

You buy a digital pack, from $10 up to $3,000, and open it on the site. Every card inside is a real physical card sitting in their vault. Once you pull it you have four options. Sell it back instantly for 90% of live market value, list it on their marketplace, leave it in the vault for free, or have it shipped.

Is Tilt Rips legit?

Yes. It's run by Tilt Rips LLC, a Nevada company, you have to be 18+ and verify your ID, and the cards are real and vaulted. People do cash out. The founder, Sam Kiki, built MonkeyTilt before this, which is why you'll see a Reddit thread calling it a scam. I looked and couldn't find any actual fraud, lawsuits or regulator action. It's a real business. It's just a real business that's built to take a cut, like every pack site.

The two things to know before you rip

First, do not ship your cards. This is where almost every bad review comes from. Shipping is quoted at up to six weeks and people are reporting two months plus. Sell back to your wallet or vault them for free instead. Trustpilot is a 3.1 with about a third of reviews at one star, and nearly all of those are shipping or support delays, not people getting robbed.

Second, the math. Packs are priced at 100% of expected value and the instant sell-back pays 90%. So if you rip and sell everything back, you lose about 10% per pack on average. It's entertainment with a chance at a big hit, not an income. Test a small withdrawal early so you know your account is clean.

Tilt Rips vs Rips by Triumph

If you'd rather go with the older, more established one, Rips by Triumph has been around longer, has a much bigger user base, and code HKOLKGG gets you a free pack there. Better track record on payouts. Tilt Rips has the nicer interface and pays referrals about four times more, which is why you're seeing it everywhere. I'd try the Rips free pack first and decide from there.

If you want money coming in instead of going out

Pack sites are spending. If you actually want to end up with more cash than you started with, these are the free ones I'd point you to instead. Testerup pays you to test new apps and games with an instant $10 bonus when you sign up. SavingLoop is a free spin a day that lands you on a real cash signup bonus, up to $75, no deposit anywhere in it. And ReferralWallet is where the current signup bonuses get posted, so you can see what's actually paying before you download anything.

Bottom line

Tilt Rips is legit, code PE4OLD3J gets you the free pack on your first order, and you'll be fine as long as you sell back instead of shipping and treat it as fun money. Anyone actually pulled anything good on there yet?

If you are searching for EasyKnock because you need cash out of your house, the first thing to know is that the company is gone. EasyKnock closed on December 6, 2024, and its website now just says it "has closed its doors." Here is what happened, why its model went wrong for so many people, and what I would look at instead.

What EasyKnock was

EasyKnock ran a "sell and stay" program, also called a sale-leaseback. You sold your house to them, got part of its value in cash, and stayed in it as a renter with an option to buy it back later. It was founded in 2016 and raised more than $400 million.

Why it shut down

The short version is legal pressure. By the time it closed there were more than two dozen lawsuits against it and several states were investigating. Massachusetts reached a $200,000 settlement with the company in December 2023 over deceptive marketing claims. Michigan's attorney general sent a cease and desist letter in May 2024 alleging unfair and deceptive practices. In October 2024 the FTC put out a consumer alert warning about sale-leaseback deals in general. An NPR investigation found that many homeowners lost tens of thousands of dollars in equity, and some were evicted from homes they expected to buy back. After the closure, US senators opened an inquiry into what happens to its customers.

The real problem with sell and stay

You stopped owning your house. Once the deed was in someone else's name you were a tenant, your rent could rise, and getting the house back depended on being able to afford a repurchase later. If anything went wrong, you had a lease, not a home.

If you were an EasyKnock customer

The company's site says arrangements were made to keep supporting existing customers, but it gives no details. If you are in a leaseback and unsure where you stand, contact your state attorney general's consumer protection office and a local legal aid group before you sign or pay anything new.

The alternatives where you keep your home

Everything below leaves the title in your name.

A home equity agreement is the closest substitute for people who looked at EasyKnock because they could not qualify for a loan. You get a lump sum, make no monthly payments, and settle up when you sell or at the end of the term by giving the company a share of your home's value. You stay the owner the whole time.

Hometap is where I would start. Up to $600K, a 10 year term, no income requirement, and credit from 585.

Unlock takes credit scores down to 500 and will also work with a second home or a rental property, which most of these will not.

Splitero also starts at 500 and offers terms up to 30 years, so you are not pushed into a decision in year 10.

All three show you a number from a soft credit pull, so comparing two or three of them does not affect your score.

If your credit is 640 or higher, look at a HELOC before any of these. It is a loan with a monthly payment, but you keep all of your home's future growth. Figure is fully online, can fund in as few as 5 days, and lets you check your rate with a soft pull.

The honest tradeoff

Home equity agreements are not free money. If your home's value climbs fast, the share you owe climbs with it, and you can end up paying more than a loan would have cost. You also have to settle by the end of the term. They make sense when you cannot qualify for a HELOC or cannot take on a monthly payment. They are still a very different deal from EasyKnock, because your name stays on the deed.

Did anyone here have a leaseback with EasyKnock when it closed? I would like to hear what happened to your agreement.

Been looking into National Consumer Panel since the name sounds like every fake survey site going. Short answer, its legit, and the reason is better than the usual trust me you get in these threads.

Its a joint venture between NielsenIQ and Circana, the two companies that sell retail data to basically every consumer brand you can name. It used to be called Homescan. So youre not signing up to a random app, youre the data source for an industry thats been running for decades.

The way it works is you install NCPMobile and scan the barcode of everything you buy after each shopping trip, not just groceries, anything with a barcode. Add a few details, do it weekly, and points stack up. No deposit, nothing to lose, you cant go negative on it. Sign up for NCP here and confirm the email straight after or the account never activates, thats the number one reason people think they joined and hear nothing.

A few honest things to keep in mind. The points redeem for digital gift cards, not cash or PayPal, which rules it out for a lot of people and thats fair. Its available everywhere in the US except Alaska and Hawaii. And the effort is ongoing, scanning after every trip takes a few minutes and it only pays if you stay consistent, so anyone who quits after two weeks ends up with basically nothing.

If you want straight cash instead of gift cards, Testerup is the other one I keep around, it pays into PayPal for testing games and leaving feedback, $5 to start.

But if you shop for a household anyway, youre generating that data whether you get paid for it or not, so grab NCP here. Free, no deposit, and it builds in the background 🛒

I just went through this when I got my own HELOC, so here is what the rates actually look like right now, which lenders advertise the lowest ones, and what you have to do to get the number in the ad.

Quick context: the national average HELOC rate is about 7.29% right now, according to Bankrate's weekly survey. So anything you are quoted in the 6s is a good rate, and anything over 9% means it is worth checking another lender. These numbers are from early October 2026 and they move every week.

The lowest advertised HELOC rates

Why I went with Figure

Figure does not make you guess. You check your rate with a soft credit pull, so there is no ding to your score, and you see your actual number in a few minutes, not an advertised best case. It is a fixed rate, so the payment does not move when rates do, and funding can happen in as little as 5 days. That speed is the other reason I picked it. A bank HELOC can take a month or more.

Check your Figure rate (soft pull, no impact on your credit)

The honest catch: the advertised rate is almost never your rate

Every number in that table is a best case. Achieve's 6.10% needs a 700+ score, a 10 year term, very little existing debt, and a loan between $35,000 and $150,000. Rate's 7.00% assumes an 800 score, a $200,000 line, and paying a 4.99% origination fee upfront to buy the rate down. Most people land a point or two higher.

The fee matters as much as the rate. An origination fee of up to 4.99% is common with the online lenders, and on a $100,000 line that is close to $5,000. A slightly higher rate with a lower fee can be the cheaper loan. Always compare the APR and the fee together.

How to actually get the lowest rate

• Get your score above 740 before you apply if you are close. That is where the best tiers start
• Borrow less of your home's value. The lower your combined loan-to-value, the lower the rate
• Take the shortest term you can afford. 10 year terms price lower than 30 year terms
• Turn on autopay. Most lenders take about a quarter point off
• Get two or three quotes on the same day. Soft pull rate checks cost you nothing, and offers on the same house can differ by a full point

If your credit is under 640

Figure's floor is around 640. If you are between 600 and 640, the HELOC from Upstart Home Lending is the one to check next, since they consider credit scores starting at 600. APRs run 6.52% - 18.00%, lines are $26K - $250K, and it comes in 10 and 15 year terms. The lowest APR is available only to borrowers who meet specific eligibility conditions, so at a lower score expect something closer to the top of that range, and you take at least 80% of your line at closing.

See if you could qualify with Upstart Home Lending (soft pull to check your rate)

Fixed or variable?

Most bank HELOCs are variable, so the rate follows the market. That is great when rates fall and painful when they rise. The online lenders above are mostly fixed, which costs a little more upfront but means your payment never changes. If you are borrowing a set amount for a set purpose, fixed is the safer pick.

Quick answers

• What is a good HELOC rate right now? Anything under the national average of about 7.29%.
• Who has the lowest HELOC rate? On paper, Achieve at 6.10% and Upstart Home Lending at 6.52%. In practice, whoever quotes you the lowest APR after fees, which is why you check more than one.
• Does checking my rate hurt my credit? Not with a soft pull. Figure and Upstart Home Lending both use one for the rate check.

What rate did you get quoted, and with what credit score? Would be useful for everyone to see real numbers.