Comparison

Capital One CreditWise vs Experian®

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Capital One CreditWise

Monitor your credit score and report for free. Get alerts for suspicious activity, understand factors affecting your score, and simulate financial decisions to see their potential impact. Tools are provided to help you manage and improve your credit health.

Highlights
  • Free FICO® Score 8 access
  • TransUnion® credit report access
  • Dark web alerts for identity theft
  • Credit Simulator for financial decisions
  • Credit score factor breakdowns
  • Suggestions for credit improvement
  • Credit report change alerts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

CreditWise is a free credit monitoring tool that could help you improve your credit score. We believe in empowering people with the tools to effectively monitor and manage their credit, no matter where they are in their credit journey. Using CreditWise won't hurt your score. With CreditWise, you'll have free access to your FICO® Score 8 and TransUnion® credit report—plus targeted advice, tools and alerts to help you monitor your credit. You'll also get free access to dark web alerts to help you take action when your information is detected somewhere suspicious. Sign up for CreditWise and receive: ● Updates as frequently as daily to your TransUnion-based FICO Score 8. ● Access to your TransUnion credit report to look for signs of error, theft or fraud. ● Alerts if your Social Security number or email address are found on the dark web. ● Clarity on how certain everyday decisions may affect your credit score with the Credit Simulator. ● Helpful breakdowns of the key factors that make up your credit score and how you’re doing on each of them. ● Suggestions to help you improve your credit score. ● Alerts about select changes to your TransUnion or Experian® credit reports. ● Alerts if any new names or addresses were associated with your Social Security number on a credit application. Ever wanted to know the impact of certain financial decisions on your credit score, before you make them? CreditWise has a tool for that. Use the Credit Simulator to see how different scenarios—like opening a new credit card—could affect your FICO Score 8. Knowing how certain actions could impact your score may help you establish, maintain and build credit for more financial stability. CreditWise is free, fast, secure and available to every adult who is 18 or older residing in the US with a Social Security number and a report on file at TransUnion. Download the app today and take control of your credit. The credit score provided in CreditWise is a FICO® Score 8 based on TransUnion® data. The FICO Score 8 gives you a good sense of your credit health but it may not be the same score model used by your lender or creditor. The availability of the CreditWise tool and certain features in the tool depends on our ability to obtain your credit history from TransUnion and whether you have sufficient credit history to generate a FICO Score 8. Some monitoring and alerts may not be available to you if the information you enter at enrollment does not match the information in your credit file at (or you do not have a file at) one or more consumer reporting agencies. You do not need to be a Capital One account holder to sign up for CreditWise. Alerts are based on changes to your TransUnion and Experian® credit reports and information we find on the dark web. The CreditWise Simulator provides an estimate of your score change and does not guarantee how your score may change.

About

Experian®

Access your credit report and FICO Score for free, and potentially improve your score by using bills you already pay. Get alerts for credit changes and compare financial products. A paid membership offers bill negotiation and subscription cancellation services.

Highlights
  • Free credit report and FICO Score
  • Experian Boost to raise FICO Score
  • Credit monitoring and alerts
  • Marketplace for financial products
  • Bill negotiation and subscription cancellation
  • Experian CreditLock for identity theft protection
Features
Read full description

Get your Experian Credit Report and FICO® Score with a free membership—no credit card needed! Apply for credit cards and loans labeled “No Ding Decline™” that won’t ding your FICO® Score if you’re not approved^^. You could save an avg of $1,007/year on car insurance^^^. Chat with the Experian Virtual Assistant™. With a paid membership, you could save an avg of $721 with Bill Negotiation & Subscription Cancellation**and get an advance with Experian Cash™ powered by Brigit^.    GET STARTED FOR FREE ■Experian Boost®ø Raise your FICO® Score* using bills you already pay - cell phone, utilities, streaming services and eligible rent payments ■Credit monitoring  Stay informed if accounts are opened in your name, or new inquiries appear on your Experian credit report ■Marketplace^  Compare credit card, personal loan or car insurance quotes matched to your credit profile ■Financial health assessment#  Take a survey and get suggested actions to improve your overall financial health and see what steps you could take to improve it   PREMIUM BENEFITS   ■Bill Negotiation & Subscription Cancellation**   You could save time and up to $721 when we negotiate and cancel your bills  ■Experian CreditLock***  Protect against identity theft by locking your Experian credit file. Get real-time alerts if someone applies for credit in your name while locked  ■Experian Cash™ powered by Brigit##  Get a $25-250 advance when you need it most TERMS   See experian.com/legal for Terms of Use Agreement, Privacy Policy, Marketplace Licenses & Disclosures, Insurance State Licenses and Insurance Carrier Partner Details.   øResults will vary. Not all payments are boost-eligible. Some users may not receive an improved score or approval odds. Not all lenders use Experian credit files, and not all lenders use scores impacted by Experian Boost®.   *Credit score calculated based on FICO® Score 8 model. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than FICO® Score 8 or another type of credit score altogether.   **Results will vary. Not all bills or subs eligible. Savings not guaranteed. $721 avg. est. savings w/ 1+ negotiation & 1+ cancelation. Paid membership w/connected payment account(s) req’d. See experian.com for details.  ***Experian CreditLock is a separate service from Security Freeze: experian.com/freeze/center.html. Learn about the differences at Experian.com  ##Based on FICO® Score 8 model. Approval is not guaranteed. Some may not see savings from improved interest rates. Offers are not available in all states.    ^^Applying for cards and loans labeled ‘No Ding Decline™’ won’t hurt your credit scores if you aren’t initially approved. Initial approval will result in hard inquiry, which may impact your credit scores.    ^^^Results will vary and some may not see savings. Average savings of $1,007 per year for customers who switched and saved.   #Results may vary. The financial health assessment is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial, legal, tax, or other advice.  ^Experian Cash™ is powered by Brigit. Not all users will qualify. Depending on eligibility, advances range from $25–$250.  Express delivery is optional and a fee may apply. Monthly membership fee may apply, cancel anytime. Not available in all states. You are not required to enroll in a paid membership to receive an advance. Users that are eligible for an advance may access an advance with a free Experian membership. Terms apply.  ©2026 Experian. All rights reserved. Experian and the Experian trademarks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Experian and its affiliates. The use of any other trade name, copyright, or trademark is for identification and reference purposes only and does not imply any association with the copyright or trademark holder of their product or brand. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Screenshots

Capital One CreditWise4 screens
Experian®4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Capital One CreditWise at none against Experian®'s 6. Experian®'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (61% vs 49%). On price, rating, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Experian® sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Capital One CreditWise asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Capital One CreditWise against 4.8 for Experian®. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Experian® has 2.7M ratings behind it against 309K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 49% of Capital One CreditWise's written reviews are positive against 61% of Experian®'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Capital One CreditWise ships an update fortnightly, Experian® weekly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Capital One CreditWise versus Experian®: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCapital One CreditWiseExperian®
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (309K ratings)4.8 (2.7M ratings)
Positive reviews49.0% of reviews61.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings309K2.7M — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyWeekly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#158#26 — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size160 MB234 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCapital OneExperian

Customer experience

Capital One CreditWise

All ratings309,412 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews404 reviews
Positive49.0%
Neutral7.9%
Negative43.1%

Experian®

All ratings2,708,122 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative0.7%
Written reviews1,778 reviews
Positive61.2%
Neutral5.2%
Negative33.6%

User reviews

Capital One CreditWise

From 309K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helpful for credit monitoring
  • 🚀 Comprehensive features
  • 💡 Useful credit simulator
  • 🔒 Secure app
  • 👍 Easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate credit score reporting
  • 🐛 Delayed credit updates
  • 🐛 Inconsistent credit score information
  • 🐛 Unreliable credit simulator
  • 🐛 Requires too much personal information

Experian®

From 2.7M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Accurate credit score monitoring
  • 👍 Helpful credit improvement tips
  • 🔒 Secure credit report access
  • 💡 Useful Experian Boost feature
  • 🚀 Convenient credit tracking

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate credit score reporting
  • 🔒 Poor customer service and support
  • 💰 Overpriced premium subscription
  • 🐛 Buggy app performance
  • 🔒 Difficult to cancel subscription

Bugs and requests

Capital One CreditWise

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Account lockouts with no resolution
  • Inability to update personal information
  • Incorrect credit balance reporting

Requested features

4 requests
  • More frequent credit score updates
  • Improved credit report dispute process
  • Better integration with other credit monitoring services
  • Expanded credit score simulation options

Experian®

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Repeated disconnection of bank accounts
  • Inability to view current credit report
  • Inconsistent credit score updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • More frequent credit report updates
  • Integration with other credit bureaus
  • Improved dispute resolution process
  • Customizable credit monitoring alerts

In-app purchases

None

Capital One CreditWise

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Experian®

Subscriptions6
  • Experian CreditWorks℠ with Trial7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Experian CreditWorks℠$4.991 Month
  • Experian CreditWorks℠ with Trial7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Experian CreditWorks℠$9.991 Month
  • Experian CreditWorks℠ with Trial7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Experian CreditWorks℠$19.991 Month

Questions

Is Capital One CreditWise free?
Capital One CreditWise is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Experian® free?
Experian® is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Capital One CreditWise or Experian®?
Capital One CreditWise and Experian® are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 309K and 2.7M ratings respectively.
Do Capital One CreditWise or Experian® have ads?
Capital One CreditWise shows ads; Experian® does not.
Which is updated more often, Capital One CreditWise or Experian®?
Capital One CreditWise ships an update fortnightly, and Experian® weekly. Most recently, Capital One CreditWise was updated on September 24, 2026 and Experian® on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Capital One CreditWise or Experian®?
Capital One CreditWise currently peaks at #158 in the App Store charts, and Experian® at #26. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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