Best Long-Term Personal Loans in 2024 | LendingTree (2024)

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Most personal loan lenders cap their loans at $50,000 (sometimes $100,000). If you have strong enough credit, you could borrow up to $200,000 with BHG Financial. As an online lender, BHG Financial doesn’t offer the option to get a loan in person. However, you can get help from a loan specialist six days a week.

Every BHG Financial loan comes with a one-time administrative fee (3.00%-4.00%). Depending on how much you borrow, that could end up being a lot of money. For instance, if you borrowed $200,000 with a 4.00% origination fee, BHG Financial would keep $8,000 out of your loan.

Read our full BHG Financial personal loan review.

To get a loan from BHG Financial, you’ll need to meet the following requirements:

• Credit score: 660
• Administrative: Have a Social Security number and email address
• Residency: Not live in Illinois or Maryland

BHG Financial accepts credit scores as low as 660, but its average borrower has a score of 744, no past bankruptcies or collections and an annual income of $241,000. If these don’t apply to you, BHG Financial may not approve you for a large loan.

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Unless you pay off your loan early (or refinance your loan), you could be stuck with your lender for years, making it important that you’re happy from the start. After having worked with the lender, 97% of LendingTree users recommend Discover. And if you’re having trouble keeping up with your loan, it offers multiple assistance options to help get you back on track.

Discover’s financial assistance options can provide peace of mind, but let a rep know at the first sign of trouble. Otherwise, you could be on the hook for a hefty $39 late payment fee.

Read our full Discover personal loan review.

Discover has clear eligibility requirements, including:

• Credit score: 720
• Annual income: $40,000 (individually or as a household)
• Administrative: Have a Social Security number, be at least 18 and have both an email address and a physical address

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Home improvement projects can be expensive, and a longer loan term can help you fit a large loan into your budget. With LightStream, you can borrow up to $100,000 and have up to 240 months to pay it back.

General personal loans from LightStream come with shorter terms (84 months max). That’s still longer than many lenders. However, LightStream doesn’t offer prequalification. That means you’ll have to take a hard credit hit to see if you’re eligible.

Read our full LightStream personal loan review.

LightStream doesn’t specify its exact credit score requirements, but you must have good to excellent credit to qualify. Most of the applicants that LightStream approves have the following in common:

• At least five years of on-time payments under a variety of accounts (credit cards, auto loans, etc.)
• Stable income and the ability to pay their current debt obligations
• Savings, whether in a bank account, an investment account or a retirement account

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APRs on federal credit union loans are capped at 18.00%. Even if you just barely qualify with PenFed, you can enjoy low rates. PenFed membership also comes with other perks too, such as members-only discounts on rental cars, insurance and more.

You can prequalify for a personal loan with PenFed before becoming a member. To accept your loan, you’ll have to join. PenFed doesn’t disclose its minimum credit score, but banks and some credit unions often have stricter eligibility requirements.

Read our full PenFed personal loan review.

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Consolidating credit card debt with a debt consolidation loan could help you save on interest. SoFi offers a 0.25% annual percentage rate (APR) discount if it pays your creditors directly and you use at least 50% of your loan for consolidation. Not only that, you’ll no longer have to juggle multiple credit card bills, and you could get up to 84 months to pay what you owe.

SoFi’s fee model is unique. It doesn’t require any fees, but you can choose to pay an origination fee in exchange for a lower rate. Be sure to ask for offers that do and do not include the optional origination fee. This can help you figure out if the fee is worth it.

Read our full SoFi personal loan review.

SoFi’s eligibility requirements include:

• Credit score: 680
• Citizenship: Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible permanent or non-permanent resident
• Administrative: Be the age of majority in your state (typically 18)
• Employment: Have a job, a job offer with a start date within 90 days or sufficient income from another source

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Upgrade is an online loan marketplace that helps borrowers compare loans from different lenders. Some of its partners offer joint loans — or loans that include two people. Adding someone with better credit than you can help convince a lender to approve your application. You could also get a lower rate.

Aside from adding a co-borrower, you could also use your car as collateral and get a secured loan. But while Upgrade accepts fair credit, you could end up with a rate as high as 35.99%.

Read our full Upgrade personal loan review.

When applying for a loan with Upgrade, make sure that you meet the following:

• Credit score: 580
• Citizenship: Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or be living in the U.S. with a valid visa
• Administrative: Be the age of majority in your state (typically 18) and have a valid bank account and email address

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Upstart, another loan marketplace, uses more than your credit score to determine your eligibility. For instance, your education and employment come into play. As a result, it commonly offers bad-credit loans to those who other lenders would deny.

Upstart doesn’t just specialize in bad-credit loans — it also has competitive rates for excellent credit. However, you’ll only have two loan repayment terms to choose (36 or 60 months). And of those, just one is considered “long.”

Read our full Upstart personal loan review.

You can get a loan with Upstart with bad or no credit, but it doesn’t approve everyone. Here’s what you need to qualify:

• Credit score: 300
• Employment: Have a job, a job offer that starts within six months or a regular source of income
• Administrative: Be at least 18 and have a Social Security number, a U.S. address, a valid email account and a personal checking account
• Other credit considerations:
  • Debt-to-income ratio below 50% (45% in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Vermont)
  • No bankruptcies in the last year
  • No current delinquencies
  • Fewer than six inquiries on your credit report (not including auto loans, student loans and mortgages)

Long-term loans are personal loans with longer repayment terms — usually 60 months (five years) or longer. Personal loans come as a lump sum with fixed interest rates. Your monthly installments stay the same for the life of your loan.

Long-term personal loans can carry higher interest rates than shorter loan terms. The longer it takes you to pay back what you borrowed, the more time you have to default on your loan. This increases the risk for the lender, so they charge higher rates to compensate.

Lenders that offer long-term loans often let you borrow more money (sometimes $100,000 or more). Many borrowers turn to long-term loans for high-dollar transactions, such as debt consolidation, home improvement and medical bills.

Lenders set their own guidelines, so there’s no true definition of “longest term.” However, out of the lenders on this list, LightStream has the longest loan term at 240 months. This extended term is only available on home improvement loans. For a general personal loan, check out BHG Financial — its longest term is 120 months.

Not all lenders offer long-term personal loans, but start by contacting banks, credit unions and online lenders. You could also find long-term loans through our marketplace. But even if an institution does offer long-term loans, you’ll still need to meet its eligibility requirements to borrow.

A long-term personal loan isn’t necessarily a bad idea. Personal loans are a financial tool that, when used wisely, provide relief for millions of Americans every year. Still, only borrow what you can afford to repay. Compare lenders to ensure you’re getting the best terms, and remember that you’ll pay more in interest with a longer loan term.