Prosper Personal Loans Review

Prosper is an online peer-to-peer marketplace for personal loans. The application process is quite similar to the ones you complete at more traditional, direct lenders, with the key difference being that the loans are funded by registered investors (institutional and inidividual). Prosper makes money through a one-off origination fee and ongoing servicing of the funded loan. With low APRs available and a propriatery scoring model, Prosper could be a good option for borrowers dissatisfied with the competition—though well-qualified applicants might be turned off by the unavoidable origination fees.

Loan Options

• Prosper offer unsecured personal loans between $2,000 and $50,000, with some states carrying higher minimum loan sizes.

• Loan lengths range from 2 to 5 years, in 1 year increments.

• Prosper allow coborrowers on loans, which could improve your chances of approval, as the legal responsibility to repay the loan will be shared by multiple people. Simply select "Two of Us" when prompted and enter some basic information about each borrower.

Interest & Fees

• APR: Prosper personal loans have fixed rates from 8.99% to 35.99%. The current version of the website states that the average APR for loans with a 3-year term funded between January 1, 2025, and June 30, 2025, was 23.53%.

• Origination Fee: Prosper will charge an origination fee of 1%-9.99% of the approved loan amount, which will be automatically deducted from the loan proceeds.

• Prepayment Penalty: Borrowers do not incur any fees if they wish to pay off their loan early.

• Late Payment: Prosper borrowers have a 15-day grace period to make a full payment before a late fee is charged (5% of the unpaid amount or $15, whichever is greater).

• Unsuccessful payment: Prosper will impose a $15 penalty if bank transfers (ACH) or checks are returned or fail. This fee may be on top of charges that are imposed by your banking institution.

• Check Payment Fee: Unlike most of their industry peers, Prosper will deduct a portion of your payment, if it is made by check. This fee is the lesser of 5% of your payment or $5—if your payment is greater than $100, you should always add $5. More information can be found here.

• Discounts: Prosper don't offer any rate discounts. Some examples available at other lenders include autopay and creditor payment discounts.

More information on Prosper's fees can be found here.

Geographical Availability

Prosper do not currently accept applications from residents of Iowa, North Dakota and West Virginia.

Loan Eligibility

Prosper have published the minimum criteria to qualify for one of their loans here. It appears that primary or solo applicants have no credit score threshold to meet. However, coborrowers on a joint application will need a minimum FICO score of at least 600, as well as some other conditions set out on their website.

Income Requirements

No information on minimum income thresholds has been publicly disclosed.

Are they legit?

Prosper was founded in 2005 as the first peer-to-peer lending marketplace in the United States. According to their website, in almost 20 years, Prosper has facilitated more than $27 billion in loans to over 1.7 million people. WebBank is the originating bank for loans through Prosper. Prosper makes money through the unavoidable originations fees imposed on borrowers, as well taking a servicing fee from the monthly payments made by borrowers.

Reviews & News

At the time of writing, Prosper had approximately 83% 5-star reviews on Trustpilot from a total of just over 14,000.

On their A+ accredited BBB profile, they have an average rating of 1.02/5 from 140 reviews, with just over 130 complaints closed in the last year.

Do They Report to the Credit Bureaus?

Yes. Prosper report monthly snapshots of loan and payment status to the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Regular on-time payments in your credit file will likely increase your credit score and improve your chances of qualifying for credit in the future. However, failure to satisfy your repayment obligations could damage your credit score, making it more difficult to borrow again.

Get in touch

For customer support related to your personal loan, you can contact Prosper at (866) 615-6319, which is available 6AM-5PM PST (Monday-Friday). You can also choose to message them at support@prosper.com.

What we like?

Loan Flexibility: Prosper personal loans cater for all types of borrowers. With loans between $2,000 and $50,000, they can be used to overcome short-term emegerncies or fund longer-term projects. Unlike many competitors, they offer joint loans, which could improve your approval chances or land you a better ratae.

Check your Rate: Borrowers can check their rate on the Prosper website, without any impact to their credit score. Even if you have an offer elsewhere, it might be worth seeing if Prosper can beat it.

App: The free Prosper app makes it easy to manage your account- you can make payments, receive updates on your loan and even track your credit score. The app is available for both Apple and Android.

Alternative Approval Model: Prosper boast a proprietary scoring system (called Prosper Rating) alongside a distinct funding model, which means you might receive better terms with them than lenders still reliant on traditional approaches.

What we don't like?

Origination Fees: Prosper will charge origination fees of 1%-9.99% on the approved loan amount. Origination fees are automatically paid at the time of funding. For example, if you are approved for $10,000 loan with a 5% origination fee, you'll only receive $9,500 in your bank account. Many lenders don't charge origination fees, so you may wish to look elsewhere to avoid them.

High Maximum APRs: Prosper's lowest advertised rates are competitive, but borrowers with weaker credit profiles may still receive APRs up to 35.99% alongside sizable origination fees. Well-qualified borrowers may be able to find cheaper overall borrowing costs elsewhere.

Poor BBB Customer Ratings: While Prosper performs well on Trustpilot, its BBB customer ratings are significantly weaker. Complaints frequently mention customer service issues, communication problems, and difficulties during the verification or funding process.

Summary

Prosper combines a traditional personal loan experience with a unique marketplace-style funding model and proprietary approval system that may benefit some mid-credit borrowers. However, higher origination fees and expensive upper-end APRs mean strong applicants may find better overall loan terms elsewhere.