Where Can I Buy a Cheap Credit Report Online?

Reader Question: I see tons of credit report offers online, but most of them want me to sign up for something besides the report. Where can I go to buy a cheap credit report online without all the extra stuff?

Is free cheap enough for you? By law, you are able to request one free credit report per year from all three of the credit-reporting agencies. You can also do it online in one step by visiting a website that's jointly owned by the three agencies. The website is www.AnnualCreditReport.com.

Many people trying to buy a cheap credit report online don't even realize they can get one for free. That's one of the reasons we started this blog -- to offer straightforward advice and help to consumers. Here's a similar question I answered just a few days ago.

Other Ways to Get Cheap Reports

But what if you have already ordered your free annual report and you need another one? First of all, we don't recommend doing frequent credit inquiries on yourself. But there are some situations where you may need to check your credit report twice in the same year (if, for example, you think their might be some kind of fraud taking place). Now you have a legitimate need to ask the question: "Where can I buy a cheap credit report online?"

If you have already used your "freebie" for the year, my advice is to use a company that will give you access to all three of your reports. On the contrary, if you purchased your report directly through one of the reporting bureaus (such as Experian), you would still need the other two reports from Equifax and TransUnion.

Fortunately, there are safe places you can go online to get your credit report for fairly cheap (and in many cases, they come with your scores as well). Check out the tools page for more information on these kinds of services.

I hope that answers your question. Thanks for visiting!