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Illustration for article titled How to Get Your Free Credit Report Once a Week

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Instead of paying for monthly credit monitoring, why not do it yourself? Normally the three credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—only offer one free credit report per year, but because of the pandemic those same reports are available for free every week until April 2022.

Where to get your free reports

Head over to annualcreditreport.com, as that’s the only place to get all three credit bureau reports for free (they used to be $10 each after the first free report). Alternatively, you can also make the request by calling (877) 322-8228, or by sending a request form by mail.

If you already check your credit through a free portal like CreditKarma, CreditSesame, or Wallethub, there are a few differences to keep in mind, too.

First, a credit report straight from the actual bureau will have more detailed information about your payment history, names you’ve used, and previous addresses where you’ve lived—details that make it easier to spot identity theft. Second, most of the free credit reports offer VantageScore credit scores, despite the fact that your bank or credit card is much more likely to rely on FICO credit scores. Third, these “free” services often require signing up for membership, the result of which is getting blasted with spam.

Of course, these free credit report services offer premium credit monitoring subscription packages, too. The subscriptions can provide more detailed information for all three bureaus (but not always), plus some add-on security protection features (like dark web scans and change-of-address alerts), but they will also set you back $10-40 per month.

Save money with do-it-yourself credit monitoring

Instead of paying all that money, consider saving money by using annualcreditreport.com until April 2022. These credit reports will have everything you need to spot errors and identify theft, especially since you’ll have reports from all three bureaus. They only catch is that while these reports will have comprehensive information about your credit history, they won’t have your actual credit score—but that’s usually easy to get for free through your bank, credit union, or credit card provider.

This story was originally published in 2020 and updated May 11, 2021 to reflect the extension on free credit reports and to provide new information.



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