Experian Boost Review: Can It Really Improve Your Credit Score?

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Immediately increase your credit score for free by showing Experian that you pay your bills on time.

Experian Boost offers an easy way to potentially catapult your credit score without any additional credit activity. It's an effortless, fast and free way to qualify for better loans, lower interest rates and more.

Experian Boost is a feature of Experian that automatically digs through years of payment history to find non-credit bills like streaming, subscriptions or your mobile, proving that you can be trusted to make regular, on-time payments. Users receive an average score increase of 13 points.

This Experian Boost review will go over the pros and cons to help you decide if it’s a good tool for your staying on top of your finances.

How Experian Boost Works

Experian Boost is a tool that can help you to increase your Experian credit score, not your score with other credit bureaus. It counts activity that doesn’t otherwise appear on your credit score.

Experian factors into your score responsible habits such as faithfully paying monthly expenses such as your:

• Rent
• Phone bill
• Insurance
• Utilities
• Internet
• Video streaming bill

Simply connect your bank to Experian Boost so it can track your on-time payments, and your credit score may increase immediately. It’ll comb through the past two years of any qualifying expenses for which you’ve made at least three previous payments.

Experian Boost

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Build Credit From Monthly Payments You Already Make

Experian Boost counts on-time payments for recurring bills like rent, utilities and streaming services as responsible credit habits. It’ll include those details on your credit report to potentially improve your score.

Cost

$0

Instant Results

Yes, potentially

Credit Score Impact

N/A

Pros

• Improve your credit score from common bills
• Potential instant results
• Free to use

Cons

• You cannot build credit from scratch
• Only improves your Experian credit score, not other credit bureaus
• Depending on your credit profile, your score may not improve at all

Why We Like It

Experian Boost is an effortless way to improve your credit profile. You can receive a score bump simply by paying monthly bills like streaming services and utilities on time.

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Experian Boost Isn’t for Everyone

Unfortunately, Experian Boost isn’t the answer it may first appear to be for those looking to kickstart their credit journey. This tool won’t help you to generate a credit score from square one.

Instead, you’ll need to already have at least one account on your credit report — such as a credit card — that has been active and reported to a credit bureau for at least six months.

All to say, Experian Boost isn’t a gateway between no credit and good credit. To begin your credit journey, you can do things like open a secured credit card or request to be an authorized user on the credit card account of a family member or friend.

It’s also worth noting that not all lenders will acknowledge Experian Boost’s effects. For example, mortgage lenders tend to disregard a score that’s been improved by Experian Boost.

Why Your FICO Score Varies

You may have noticed that your FICO credit score varies with each of the three major credit bureaus — namely, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. That’s because they all have slightly different information. For example, some credit cards may report your activity to Experian and TransUnion, but not Equifax.

Credit Monitoring Features

While Experian Boost isn’t primarily a credit monitoring program, signing up will grant you basic features, namely:

Free Access to Your FICO Score and Report

You’ll receive an updated Experian credit report and credit score to help you keep an eye on your credit health. An unexpected score drop can prompt you to investigate the issue.

Free Identity Scan

You can perform a sweep of the dark web and various people finder websites to see if your personal information is anywhere you don’t want it to be.

In addition to these capabilities, a free Experian account also comes with credit monitoring features such as:

Fraud Alerts

You can specify that you’d like lenders to take extra steps to verify your identity. That makes it harder for fraudsters to open a new account under your name.

Credit Freeze

When you freeze your Experian credit file, nobody can access your credit without your permission. In other words, if a scammer retrieves your information and applies for a loan under your name, the lender won’t be able to view your credit — and therefore won’t approve the scammer’s request.

User Experience

Experian Boost doesn’t have its own separate app. Instead, you can access it through the free Experian app, which has an average 4.77 stars from over 3 million reviews across the Google Play and Apple App Store.

Experian Boost has many rave reviews from users on forums like myFICO and Reddit. One user mentioned their score increased by 32 points — and their spouse’s score increased by 40 points.

Users also praise the seamless setup process of adding your banking details to Experian for a quick and effortless scan of your eligible expenses.

Experian Boost vs. Competitor Options

Here’s how Experian Boost functions similarly and differently to other platforms.

Experian Boost vs. Credit Karma

Credit Karma is a different beast than Experian Boost, in that it doesn’t itself serve to improve your credit score. Instead, Credit Karma specializes in credit monitoring — specifically Equifax and TransUnion — and personalizing loan recommendations for you. Think of Credit Karma as a tool for long-term credit success — while Credit Boost is more of a quick win.

Experian Boost vs. myFICO 

Similarly, myFICO serves an entirely different purpose from Experian Boost. Its free membership allows you to monitor your Equifax credit score only, and focuses on helping you understand why your credit health is the way it is — and what you can do to improve it. There are no features similar to what you find iwth Experian Boost to help you quickly increase your score.

Experian Boost vs. Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame provides the same type of information and service as Credit Karma in terms of credit monitoring — TransUnion only, though, tailored loan recommendations, etc.

That said, it offers a unique way to help you build credit, which is similar to Experian Boost — though it requires a paid subscription to Sesame+. Credit Sesame will add your rent payments to your TransUnion report, boosting your on-time payment history and potentially bolstering your credit profile.

Final Take 

Experian Boost is best for those looking for a rapid improvement to their credit score for free. Check your credit score immediately after entering your banking details into Experian Boost, and you may well see a positive change.

Just remember that it’s only for those who already have accounts that report to credit bureaus. If you’ve never opened a loan or a line of credit, consider a credit builder loan or a secured credit card before making use of Experian Boost.

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