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If you’re looking for help raising your credit score, a credit repair company might be the right fit for you.
Credit repair companies can offer a variety of services, but generally, focus on disputing inaccurate information on your credit report. The company then goes through the dispute process for you. While disputing items on your credit report is something that you can do yourself for no cost, credit repair companies can give you some extra help if needed.
Ahead, CNBC Select rounds up the best credit repair companies based on factors like fees, customer satisfaction ratings, company history, availability and money-back guarantees. (Read more about our methodology below.)
Best credit repair companies
Best overall
Credit Saint Credit Restoration
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Cost
First work fee: $195 for clean slate package, or $99 for credit remodel and credit polish packages
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Monthly fee: $119.99 for clean slate package, $99.99 for credit remodel package, $79.99 for credit polish package
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Highlights
Credit Saint offers three packages for credit repair services and a 90-day money-back guarantee for services. It has received an A rating and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
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App available
Pros
- Money-back guarantee available after 90 days in the program if no negative items have been removed from credit reports.
Cons
- Not available in South Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Maine, and Washington, D.C.
For those wanting to improve their credit with a credit restoration company, Credit Saint offers several levels of service and good ratings for customer satisfaction. The company offers a free consultation for new customers and backs its work with a 90-day money-back guarantee.
Best for discounts
Ovation Credit Repair Services
Information about the Ovation Credit Repair Services has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
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Cost
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Monthly fee: $79 for the essentials plan, $109 for the essentials plus plan
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Highlights
Ovation offers relatively affordable credit repair services with a no-risk refund policy. It offers two plans, and a number of discounts that make services more affordable.
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App available
Pros
- A+ rating and accreditation by Better Business Bureau
- Refund policy is available
Cons
- Only scored 3.53 out of 5 for customer satisfaction
Ovation Credit Repair is owned by the financial technology company LendingTree. It offers five discounts, including discounts for switching from other credit repair companies, military members, seniors and couples. The company’s refund policy also states that if it fails to “provide the agreed-upon services we will not charge your monthly fees for that month.” Its services are available nationwide and the company claims to have corrected over one million credit profiles.
Best for customer satisfaction
The Credit Pros
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Cost
First work fee: $119 for money management and prosperity packages, $149 for success plus package
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Monthly fee: $69 for money management package, $119 for prosperity package, $149 for success plus package
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Highlights
The Credit Pros is an AI-driven credit repair company that has been in business for over a decade. It offers unlimited disputes and access to a variety of letters to creditors for some packages.
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App available
Pros
- 90-day money back guarantee is available on some packages
- Highly rated for customer satisfaction
Cons
- Relatively high first work fees
- Not BBB accredited
The Credit Pros is driven by artificial intelligence and offers three tiers of service for credit repair programs. All plans include credit monitoring at no additional charge, making it easier to spot potential fraud. Though it’s not accredited by the BBB, it has earned 4.05 out of 5 stars for customer satisfaction ratings through the bureau, the highest of the credit repair companies we reviewed.
Best for couples
Sky Blue Credit
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Cost
First work fee: $79 for individuals, $119 for couples
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Monthly fee: $79 for individuals, $119 for couples
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Highlights
Sky Blue Credit Repair has been in business since 1989, and offers one package for credit repair services. The package includes custom disputes, coaches available for calls, and a 35-day dispute cycle.
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App available
Pros
- $40 cost to add a second person to the plan
- A 90-day guarantee is available
Sky Blue offers some of the most affordable rates to add a spouse or partner to the credit repair program. While other companies charge a second fee to add another person, Sky Blue offers this option for a discounted $40. Also, unlike most other companies, Sky Blue only offers one credit repair service option so you won’t need to upgrade to more expensive packages to unlock additional features.
FAQs
How does credit repair work?
Credit repair relies on disputing negative, inaccurate items on your credit report. Credit repair companies work on your behalf to remove this information by communicating with the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) and/or financial companies, like your bank or a debt collector, to dispute the errors.
This is different from services like credit counseling, which is generally organized by a non-profit organization and can help you develop a budget, get copies of your credit report and create debt management plans.
A good credit repair company should never ask for payment upfront, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency aimed at protecting consumers.
Is it worth going to a credit repair company?
Credit repair companies can help you do some of the work to dispute negative items on your credit report. If you’re finding it overwhelming to do alone, a company like this could help.
However, the CFPB warns that it may not be successful. It reminds consumers that removing negative information can’t be removed if it’s accurate, which could mean that a credit repair company won’t be able to do much if that’s the case.
Keep in mind, the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) provides consumers with several key protections, including:
- Consumers have three business days to cancel a contract without charge.
- Companies can’t guarantee that they can remove information from your credit reports.
- Companies can’t advise you to make false statements or change your identity to prevent the credit bureaus from associating information with you.
- Consumers can’t be charged any fee for services that haven’t been fully rendered.
How much do companies charge to fix your credit?
Credit repair companies generally charge an upfront fee and a monthly fee for their services. The upfront fee is usually between $79 and $195 and the monthly fee ranges from $59.95 to $149 per month for the companies we reviewed.
How can I fix my credit myself for free?
If you’d like to try raising your credit score on your own, there are ways you can do it for free. Here are several things to try that could help raise your credit score:
- Dispute errors on your credit report on your own. You can request your credit report for free once per year from annualcreditreport.com. If there is inaccurate information on your credit report, you can dispute these records for free in writing either by mail or on the credit reporting bureau’s website.
- Set up a system to pay your bills on time each month. Paying bills on time can help you raise your credit score, so a calendar reminder could help you stay on top of due dates. Autopay could also help you make payments on time.
- Pay off debt. Your credit utilization rate is an important factor in your credit score. Paying off debt could lower the amount that you owe and lower your credit utilization rate.
- Add phone bills and utility bills to your credit report. If you have a strong record of paying your utilities, streaming services and phone bills on time, Experian Boost could add those things to your score.
- Be patient. One of the factors that go into your credit score is the length of time that an account has been opened. And, negative marks can fall off of your credit report after seven to 10 years.
Bottom line
The best credit repair companies can help you dispute inaccurate information on your credit report. If you’ve tried other methods to raise your credit scores, or can’t dispute information yourself, a credit repair company could help.
Our methodology
To find the best credit repair companies, CNBC Select analyzed more than a dozen U.S. credit repair companies.
When narrowing down and ranking the best credit repair companies, we focused on the following features:
- Fees. Credit repair companies charge both first-work fees and monthly fees for their services. We focused on those with the lowest fees. Additionally, we focused on those that were transparent about those costs and display them on their websites.
- Better Business Bureau accreditation. To be BBB accredited, companies must meet standards for transparency, honest advertising, trustworthiness, responsiveness and privacy, among other things.
- Customer satisfaction ratings. The BBB measures customer satisfaction through ratings left on its website. We considered both the rating and the number of reviews received.
- History. We considered the number of years a debt relief company has been operating.
- States where service is available. We considered the number of states where the service is available, prioritizing those that were more widely available.
- Discounts available. Some companies offer discounts for certain types of customers.
- Money-back guarantee. Many companies will refund customers if they’re not fully satisfied within their first 90 days of joining.
After reviewing the features listed above, we sorted our recommendations by best overall, best for discounts, best for customer satisfaction and best for couples.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
