Credit Karma Review (2026)

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Facts checked October 19, 2026 against Credit Karma's own pricing, help and policy pages (11 sources, listed below). We re-check prices about once a month. We earn a commission (through the Awin network) if you sign up for Credit Karma through the Visit button on this page. It does not change what this review says, and Credit Karma did not review it.

Credit Karma at a glance

What Credit Karma costs

Our arithmetic from the listed prices, before sales tax, assuming today's prices hold; subscriptions can renew at a different rate. Credit Karma has no paid plan. It is paid by the banks and lenders whose offers it shows.

How Credit Karma works

Credit Karma shows your VantageScore 3.0 and your full credit reports from TransUnion and Equifax. It says it pulls both reports daily, updates the scores daily and tells you about major changes. It does not cover Experian, the third bureau, so an account or inquiry that appears only on your Experian report will not show up here. The FTC notes that the scoring system most lenders use is FICO, so the number a lender sees can differ from the one in the app; our page on whether Credit Karma is accurate explains why.

The identity features are narrow. Credit Karma checks the email address on your account against breach records and the dark web and warns you about exposed passwords. It shows whether your TransUnion and Equifax files are locked and sends you to the bureaus to lock them. There is no identity theft insurance and no paid upgrade. Some things are free by law anyway: a credit freeze at each bureau costs nothing to place or lift and lasts until you lift it, an initial fraud alert is free and lasts one year (seven years for an extended alert if you are an identity theft victim), and AnnualCreditReport.com gives you free weekly reports from all three bureaus.

A hypothetical way to cover all three bureaus for free: use Credit Karma for TransUnion and Equifax and add Experian's free plan, which shows your Experian report and a FICO Score 8. Experian's cheapest plan that monitors all three bureaus, Premium, is $24.99 a month, so the free pair avoids $24.99 x 12 = $299.88 a year. The paid plan adds things the free pair lacks, such as insurance and wider identity monitoring, so the trade is coverage for cost. See our credit monitoring comparison for the other free and paid options.

Who Credit Karma fits, and who should skip it

Limitations to know

• The score is VantageScore 3.0. The FTC says the scoring system most lenders use is FICO, so a lender may see a different number. [10]
• Only TransUnion and Equifax are covered, so Experian data never appears in Credit Karma. Experian's own free plan shows that report with a FICO Score 8. [11]
• Credit Karma shows your lock status but does not lock your file; you lock or freeze it at each bureau. A freeze is free to place and lift and lasts until you lift it. [8]
• Credit Karma's identity monitoring page describes checks on your email address only; it does not describe Social Security number, address or court record monitoring. [2]
• You can check all three of your full reports free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, the only site authorized to fill orders for the free reports. [9]

Credit Karma compared with alternatives

• Pick Capital One CreditWise if you want a free FICO Score 8 and alerts that include Experian.
• Pick Experian if you want the bureau Credit Karma leaves out, with a free FICO Score 8.
• Pick WalletHub if you want a free TransUnion lock built into the app.
• Pick myFICO if you need the FICO versions mortgage and auto lenders use.

Security and privacy

• Intuit's privacy statement says "Credit Karma does not sell or share Personal Information subject to the CCPA". Intuit may share data with ad networks for tailored ads; you can opt out in Manage Cookies or privacy settings, and Intuit honors the Global Privacy Control signal. [4]
• Your data is used across the Intuit platform, and Intuit may share personal information with its affiliates and subsidiaries for everyday business purposes. [4]
• In January 2023 the FTC finalized an order requiring Credit Karma to pay $3 million and stop telling people they were "pre-approved" for credit card offers. The FTC said the claims ran from February 2018 to April 2021. [7]

Recent changes

Credit Karma FAQ

Is Credit Karma free?

Yes. Credit Karma has no paid tier. Banks and lenders pay it when members get cards, loans or other products through its recommendations.

Is Credit Karma accurate?

It shows your real TransUnion and Equifax data, but the score is VantageScore 3.0, not FICO. The FTC says most lenders use FICO, so a lender may see a different number. See <a href="/is-credit-karma-accurate/">is Credit Karma accurate</a> and <a href="/what-is-a-good-credit-score/">what counts as a good score</a>.

Does Credit Karma do taxes?

No. Credit Karma Tax was sold to Square in 2020 as a condition of Intuit buying Credit Karma, and Credit Karma does not offer its own tax filing.

Credit Karma vs CreditWise?

Both are free. Credit Karma shows VantageScore 3.0 and full reports from TransUnion and Equifax. <a href="/credit-monitoring/creditwise/">CreditWise</a> shows a FICO Score 8 from TransUnion data and sends alerts from TransUnion and Experian.

Is Credit Karma worth it?

Since it costs nothing, it is a reasonable way to watch two bureaus. It does not cover Experian, and it does not place a credit freeze for you; a freeze is free at each bureau and lasts until you lift it.

How we researched this review

We did not get paid or receive a free account for this page. We read Credit Karma's own pricing page, help center, security and privacy pages and app-store listing on October 19, 2026, quoted each fact from those pages, and link every one below. We did not run a long-term hands-on test, so we do not score the app; where a point rests on what the company says rather than something we can check, we attribute it to Credit Karma. Cost figures are our own arithmetic. We re-check prices and plans about once a month and log changes in the table above.

Sources

1. Credit Karma, How it works, checked October 19, 2026.
2. Credit Karma, Identity monitoring, checked October 19, 2026.
3. Credit Karma, TransUnion daily credit report (updated February 18, 2026), checked October 19, 2026.
4. Intuit, Global Privacy Statement (last updated March 9, 2026), checked October 19, 2026.
5. Intuit press release filed with the SEC, Intuit completes acquisition of Credit Karma (December 3, 2020), checked October 19, 2026.
6. Intuit filing with the SEC on the Credit Karma Tax divestiture to Square (2020), checked October 19, 2026.
7. FTC, FTC finalizes order requiring Credit Karma to pay $3 million and halt deceptive "pre-approved" claims (January 2023), checked October 19, 2026.
8. FTC, Credit freezes and fraud alerts (updated August 2025), checked October 19, 2026.
9. FTC, Free credit reports (updated June 2026), checked October 19, 2026.
10. FTC, Credit scores (updated September 2024), checked October 19, 2026.
11. Experian, Plans and pricing, checked October 19, 2026.

Head-to-head comparisons

• Credit Karma vs Experian

This review is general information, not financial or legal advice. A credit freeze at each bureau and weekly reports from AnnualCreditReport.com are free under federal rules; a paid service adds alerts, insurance and help, not protection you cannot get yourself.