If you’ve been struggling to raise your credit score or are just starting to build your credit history, you may need a helping hand. Credit building platforms are designed to help you improve your credit score by providing educational resources, tracking your progress, and helping you make on-time payments.

With a credit building app, you can take charge of your credit history and positively impact your score, opening the door to better financial opportunities, interest rates, and more.

In this article, we review five of the best apps to improve your credit score and share tips to help you find the best one for your credit needs. 

What Is a Credit Booster App?

A credit booster or credit builder app is a mobile application that helps you improve your credit score via the various tools and resources it provides. Each credit building app functions in a different way, but all of them with the same goal—to help you build better credit. 

Some apps may lend you money and have you pay it back over time to build your score. They report your on-time payments to the major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—demonstrating that you have responsible borrowing habits.

Some other apps allow you to repay your bills via their app and report your payments to the bureaus, which shows consistent credit history. See how they work in detail below.

How Does a Credit Building App Work?

There are four main methods through which a credit building app can help you build better credit. Based on these four methods, you’ll find credit building apps in the following categories:

1. Credit building lenders—These lenders offer small personal loans designed to build your credit. The idea is that you make regular small payments to cover the loan and improve your payment history over time
2. Bill payment apps—These apps automate your bill payments and report each on-time payment to credit bureaus, which builds your credit
3. Credit reporting apps—These apps focus on building your credit by reporting the payments that are often overlooked on credit reports, such as your rent and utility bills. They are often integrated with or work with credit bureaus
4. Credit monitoring apps—Through these apps, you can monitor your credit score and get notified whenever a change or error occurs in your score so that you can immediately repair the damages. They may also offer you tips, resources, and materials on how you can improve your credit

Why Building Your Credit History Matters

Building a strong credit history is crucial for achieving long-term financial goals and success. It guarantees a good to excellent credit score, which opens doors to better financial opportunities and makes it easier to access financial perks and rewards.

These perks and rewards may include:

• Access to better credit—A good score makes it easier for you to receive approval on personal loans, mortgages, and auto loans, and with favorable terms. It also qualifies you for credit cards with better rewards and lower interest rates 
• Better housing options—Since many landlords review your credit score to determine your eligibility for a property, a good credit score boosts your chances of securing your desired home 
• Reduced insurance rates—A good credit score may qualify you for lower insurance premiums for your car, mortgage, or rented property

A good credit history demonstrates responsible financial behavior. It presents you as financially stable and may even make you fit for sensitive employment opportunities. 

How To Build a Positive Credit History

Building a positive credit history takes time and consistency. This is why consistent on-time payments reported on your credit report are one of the biggest factors that influence your credit score. These are the main ways to build your credit responsibly:

1. Make on-time payments—Your payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score, so if you want to build significant credit, commit to making on-time payments. If possible, set up reminders to avoid being late
2. Keep your credit usage low—Your credit utilization is the amount of credit you’re using compared to how much credit you have available. For your credit score to climb higher, your credit utilization should be low. Ideally, it should be below 30% to have the most impact on your score
3. Have a diverse credit mix—A diversified portfolio, i.e., a mix of different types of credit, such as credit cards, installment loans, or car loans, is good for your score. It demonstrates to borrowers that you know how to manage your credit well and contributes to your score increase
4. Leverage credit building apps or platforms—These services can help you establish credit and boost your score. They set up different credit building practices that position you to grow your credit responsibly to achieve a good financial standing

The 5 Best Apps To Improve Your Credit Score

There are various credit building apps on the market—your financial capability and credit building goals will determine which of them to go for. Check out some of the best apps for improving credit score below:

1. Kikoff
2. Grow Credit
3. Experian Boost
4. Self
5. StellarFi

Kikoff

If you’re looking for an app that provides a safe path to establishing creditworthiness, Kikoff is worth a shot. It offers a unique approach to credit building by allowing you to make small and low-maintenance monthly payments. 

Kikoff offers two main credit building products that target the five components that make up your credit score. It establishes your credit by reporting your monthly payments to the major credit bureaus, reducing your utilization, and increasing the age of your accounts. It also allows you to build your history through regular, everyday transactions.

Kikoff costs $5/month and offers a $750 revolving line of credit. It claims to be able to boost scores under 600 by an average of 58 points if you maintain consistent on-time payments. The table below gives a summary of its pros and cons:

Pros	Cons
Instant application approval Grows your score faster No credit check needed No interest or charges for late fees	Limits the use of funds to only making purchases on Kikoff Reports all payments to the bureaus, which may include missed ones

Grow Credit

If you have many monthly subscriptions, you’ll like Grow Credit. Grow Credit is designed to help users establish or improve their credit score by paying for eligible subscription services. It acts like a middleman, allowing you to use a virtual debit Mastercard to pay your subscriptions, which will be reported to the credit bureaus. 

Once you sign up, Grow Credit issues you the virtual card and lets you add over 100 subscriptions, including Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and even software memberships. Grow Credit is free for the first year and offers a basic spending limit of $17 on the card. 

You can upgrade your spending limit to up to $150, but upgrades come with a paid monthly fee, depending on the tier you choose. See a comparison between Grow Credit’s benefits and downsides below:

Pros	Cons
Offers a free virtual card Boosts your scores in as little as 60 days Lets you begin with little to no credit history	Offers limited monthly spending limit of $150 You must link to your bank account at sign-up You can only access some subscriptions when you upgrade your tier

Experian Boost

Experian offers an easy way to build credit with its mobile app feature, Experian Boost. 

The feature comes with the main Experian app and reports payments typically overlooked on your credit score, such as rent, utilities, cellphone bills, water bills, online rentals, etc. It’s a great way to increase your score if you have a history of paying rent and utilities on time and consistently because it only reports on-time payments.

On the Boost platform, you can select which bills you want to share. Sign up and connect your accounts to Experian, allowing the credit reporting service to see your positive activity so they can report them swiftly. 

See the advantages and disadvantages of using Experian Boost:

Pros	Cons
Instantly affects your credit score Boosts your score by up to 13 points Free of charge	Connects Experian to your personal data Only affects your Experian score, not Equifax or TransUnion

Self

This is a credit builder app that offers a loan and allows you to pay it over 24 months to build your credit. You can’t access the money until the end of the loan term when you’ve paid off the balance. 

Every time you make a timely payment, it’s reported to the credit bureau, helping you establish and strengthen your credit. Self makes it easy and convenient to repay the loan based on your budget. 

It offers four credit building plans through which you can build your credit, ranging between $600–$3,600. Depending on your plan, you can pay back $25, $35, $48, or $150 every month. 

The table below presents the pros and cons of working with Self:

Pros	Cons
Allows you to make loan payments with cash Doesn’t trigger a hard credit pull May offer you a Self Visa® credit card  Reports to all three bureaus	Incurs fees for late payments Incurs up to 14% interest rate You can’t access funds immediately

StellarFi

StellarFi app is an easy-to-use credit building service that lets you boost your score by paying your regular bills, such as utility and car payments. 

You can check your credit score for free when you sign up—your score doesn’t have to be high for this, and the signup process doesn’t affect it. Link your preferred monthly bills to the app and choose your StellarFi Bill Pay Card as your payment option. 

The app reports your positive payments to the major credit bureaus, helping to improve your payment history over time. It offers up to three membership tiers, costing between $4.99 and $29.99. The following are the benefits and disadvantages of using the app:

Pros	Cons
A credit inquiry doesn’t affect your score Does not charge fees for late payments Up to $25,000 Bill Pay Limit	Only reports to Experian and Equifax Requires you to link to your bank (checking account)

When Should You Try a Credit Building App?

As you become more financially aware, building your credit becomes all the more important. However, one misstep can negatively impact your score or compromise your report. If you’re wondering if a credit building app is right for you, these are a few situations when it can be a good idea to use one:

• Being new to credit building or having limited experience
• Rebuilding credit and not wanting to make a mistake—especially if your score is already low
• Looking for a simple, hands-off approach with automated payments and third-party monitoring
• Wanting to build credit with minimal risk since most apps require minimal security deposits or fees and don’t trigger hard credit inquiries

If you have significant debt or need immediate access to credit, these apps may not be ideal for you. 

Are There Other Ways To Build Your Credit?

Yes, credit builder apps are not the only way to build credit. You can also improve your score through the following three methods: 

1. Secured credit card—You don’t need an app to use a secured credit card. You can apply directly with the issuer and build your credit using the card. The cash deposit you pay becomes your credit limit, and repaying your balance on the credit card will help build your credit over time
2. DIY credit building—You can build your credit yourself by paying your bills on time. Keep track of payments to ensure you don’t miss any, dispute inaccurate balances, and correct other errors on your report to keep it clean. Remember to keep your utilization below 30% of your limit and avoid maxing out the card
3. Credit builder accounts—This is a type of loan that helps people with no credit or bad credit establish or improve their credit. Working with a platform like CreditStrong provides you with three different credit builder accounts to boost your score. Each account is designed to help you establish credit and grow your savings based on your credit needs

CreditStrong—The Reliable Credit Building Solution

CreditStrong is a more reliable credit building solution than many other methods. 

Compared to secure credit cards, CreditStrong costs less and encourages you to build your credit history by saving instead of spending. Unlike repair services, which often make unrealistic promises and are even considered illegal in some states like Georgia, it empowers you to improve your credit profile through positive credit building habits.

CreditStrong is a credible and effective credit building platform by Austin Capital Bank that helps you make a positive change in your credit score while also growing your savings. It combines a secured installment loan or a revolving line of credit with a savings account, ensuring you can improve your score the healthy way.

The tool is transparent and protected against bank failure, working with all three credit bureaus to boost your score.

How CreditStrong Accounts Work

CreditStrong offers three main types of credit accounts to help grow credit. They include:

1. Instal/CS MAX
2. MAGNUM
3. Revolv

These accounts work independently, reporting your consistent on-time payments to the bureaus. As you pay, your score increases based on your selected account. See more details about each one in the table below: 

Credit Builder Account	Description	Average FICO® Score Increase
Instal/CS Max	This beginner-level account combines a secured installment loan with a locked savings account. It can build up to $1,100 of installment credit	45 points
MAGNUM	This is another credit building account that prioritizes rapid growth and large credit ($2,000–$30,000) over savings. It’s a great choice if you want to unlock higher credit limits	86 points
Revolv	This account offers a secure revolving line of credit with 0% utilization. It focuses on boosting your credit score fast by keeping your utilization low	62 points

Once you’ve paid off your loan, you can access the funds in your account and decide what to do with them. If you close any of the accounts you open early, CreditStrong won’t charge a termination fee. 

How To Open a Credit Strong Account

You can start building your score in four quick steps. Here’s what to do:

1. Click here to discover the account options
2. Choose your preferred credit building account:
   • MAGNUM (starting at $30/month)
   • Revolv ($99/year)
   • Instal (starting at $28/month)
3. Fill out the provided form with your relevant information and submit
4. Track your credit score, monitor your progress, and pay balances through the dashboard

CreditStrong helps improve your credit and can positively impact the factors that determine 90% of your FICO score.

Start Building credit today