Been looking into getting a small personal loan with bad credit and honestly there's way more options than I thought. Most lenders won't even touch you if your score is below 580, but some will work with you if you're at 640 or higher. The tricky part is they all charge different fees and have wildly different APRs.

Navy Federal is solid if you're military - no minimum credit score requirement which is wild. Rocket Loans is stupid fast with funding same day if you apply before 1pm, but minimum is $2k which might be more than you need. LendingClub lets you bring a co-borrower which actually helps your chances of getting approved.

If you want to avoid fees, Happy Money has basically zero fees but minimum loan is $5k. Upgrade apparently lends to people with short credit history (like 2 years) which is interesting. LendingPoint gives you an answer in seconds, OneMain has flexible repayment options (24-60 months). The thing is, most of these small personal loans with bad credit come with origination fees ranging from 0-8% which gets deducted from what you actually get.

Real talk though - watch out for lenders charging over 36% APR. That's considered predatory by most experts. Also read the fine print because some have early payoff penalties, others let you refinance. If you're comparing, check their minimum and maximum loan amounts since they vary a lot. Some only do $1k-$40k, others go up to $50k.

Honestly the best move is to prequalify with a few before officially applying - soft inquiry doesn't hurt your score. Then compare their APRs, fees, and repayment terms side by side. Small personal loans with bad credit basically come down to which lender will actually approve you and which terms you can actually afford monthly.