Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma: Which Is the Right One for You?

Knowing your credit history can be a big help as you plan your financial future. Being able to track your credit score can help you see whether you qualify for certain financial products, interest rates, and services — and it can also help you gauge your credit building progress and look for important changes to your credit information.

Happily, checking your own credit score won’t hurt your credit. And using a service like Credit Sesame or Credit Karma can help you stay on top of your credit situation. But which should you use? Here’s an in-depth look at Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma.

Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma

Credit score used	VantageScore 3.0	VantageScore 3.0
Credit bureaus reported	TransUnion Equifax (premium) Experian (premium)	TransUnion Equifax
Cost	Free version Premium version for $19.99 a month	Free
Bank accounts	Sesame Cash	Credit Karma Money Save Credit Karma Money Spend
Main features	Free credit score Financial tips Daily credit score refreshes Credit score notifications Credit score recommendations 3-bureau credit reports (premium) Rent reporting (premium) Advanced monitoring (premium) 24/7 life expert access (premium) $1 million ID theft insurance (premium) Wallet protection (premium) ID monitoring (premium)	2 free credit score Financial tips Daily credit score refreshes TransUnion credit report Identity monitoring Credit score simulator Mortgage, debt repayment, and loan calculators
	Visit Credit Sesame	Visit Credit Karma

What is Credit Sesame?

Credit Sesame is a platform that offers credit score tracking, among other services. When you sign up for a free account, you can view your TransUnion VantageScore. Your VantageScore is based on a scoring model created by the three major credit bureaus. This is different from your FICO score, which has been the industry standard for decades and was developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation.

Credit Sesame gives you a general idea of your credit situation. The score you see on Credit Sesame is a base consumer score, and there might be differences in what a lender sees if they check your credit score when you apply for a loan. But you can still get an idea if your credit score is good.

With Credit Sesame, you can also view different aspects of your finances and get helpful suggestions. The platform offers various features. You can access some of these features for free, while others are perks only available for premium accounts, which cost $19.99 a month.  

Let's take a closer look at some of the main features.

Free credit score

You can receive information from Credit Sesame on different aspects of your credit and what contributes to your credit score. You can see a new credit score daily as it's updated every 24 hours.

Credit Sesame also explains the impact each factor has on your score as well as where you currently fall with each of them — and what you can do to improve.

Credit score notifications

You can check credit alerts on your Credit Sesame account as well. This includes information about when you receive a credit score increase, as well as when you’re past due on a payment. Credit Sesame will identify delinquent accounts and let you know how they’re impacting your score.

Credit Sesame also offers advanced options for credit and identity monitoring. With the free version, you’ll only see alerts from one credit bureau (TransUnion). If you pay a monthly fee of $19.99, you can get credit monitoring with the three main bureaus.

Sesame Cash

Credit Sesame also offers a Sesame Cash prepaid debit card issued by Community Federal Savings Bank. It also has a credit builder option, which involves opening a secured virtual credit card funded by your Sesame Cash card. 

As you use your debit card, Credit Sesame credits some of your debit purchases to your secured credit card each month and sets aside the money to pay for those purchases.

That means you're using your secured card regularly, which may help build your payment history.  Your payment history and credit utilization are reported to the major credit bureaus, which may increase your credit score over time.

Credit score recommendations

On top of helping you see your current situation, Credit Sesame also makes recommendations.

First, you can get recommendations on activities that can help improve your credit score in the "My Actions" section. Credit Sesame will also estimate how certain actions could potentially impact your score.

For example, if I were to add another credit card to my arsenal, I could potentially see an increase of 16 points to my credit score over the course of eight months. The highest potential could even be 54 points — although Credit Sesame also acknowledges that a new card could reduce my score by 17 points.

In addition to recommending actions, Credit Sesame suggests credit cards and other products that could help you reach your goals. This is where Credit Sesame makes money off of free accounts, as the company earns a commission when you choose a product.

However, that doesn’t mean a product suggestion is a bad idea. I was able to save $300 a month when I refinanced my home seven years ago using a company that Credit Sesame recommended.

Credit Sesame also includes approval odds, so you can make an educated suggestion about which products you’re likely to qualify for.

How you sign up for Credit Sesame

Signing up for Credit Sesame is fairly straightforward. All you have to do is enter your email address and then provide the following information:

• Name
• Address (and how long you’ve lived there)
• Birthdate
• Last four digits of your Social Security number
• Phone number

Once you provide this info, you may need to verify your identity by answering questions about some of the debt you’ve had in the past (or have now).

After that, you’ll be taken to your data and can see where you stand. Note that Credit Sesame uses bank-level encryption to keep your data safe.

What is Credit Karma?

Like Credit Sesame, Credit Karma uses VantageScore. However, Credit Karma also includes information from your Equifax report in addition to your TransUnion report.

Seeing multiple scores is useful, but it’s important to note that you won’t typically see one uniform score across the credit reporting bureaus. There might even be wide variations in your score, depending on the credit-reporting agency and the model used.

For example, my TransUnion score shows an improvement of nine points in the last month, while my Equifax score dropped 24 points.

Using these scores can help you track your progress and give you a general idea of where you stand, but they’re hardly set in stone. Plus, you might get yet another score when you go to actually apply for a loan.

Two free credit scores

Credit Karma provides two free credit scores along with an in-depth credit analysis that takes a look at the factors that make up your VantageScore. You can see what impact they have and dig into various aspects of your score to see what might be holding you back from credit score greatness.

With Credit Karma’s color-coded system, you can see what’s dragging you down and get an idea of how big of a deal any given factor is. You can then dig in to see why something is a particular problem. For example, I forgot two payments a little more than a year ago, which was a big issue because of the high impact payment history has on your credit.

If you dig deeper into that area, you’ll find that Credit Karma includes an explanation of what’s impacting your score and a pro tip to help you avoid the problem in the future.

On top of seeing what’s happening with your score, you can also get recommendations for products and services that fit your needs — and that might help you improve your credit score in the future. You can see your approval odds for credit cards and loans, then make a financial decision based on that information.

Identity monitoring

Credit Karma also offers detailed information about different aspects of your identity. Credit Karma will even let you know which data breaches have affected you and which of your passwords has been exposed. It will also provide you with information about freezing your credit.

You can use the information provided in the details to figure out which passwords should be changed and where you can go for more information about data breaches.

With data breaches becoming increasingly common, this information can help you stay on top of the situation. Credit Karma also offers helpful tips for protecting your information in the future.

Calculators

There are a number of helpful calculators on the Credit Karma website as well. You’ll find a mortgage calculator, amortization schedule, debt repayment calculator, and more.

One of the most interesting calculators, though, is the credit score simulator. The simulator lets you choose from a variety of options to play around with different scenarios.

For example, if I were to get a balance transfer credit card, my credit score would drop about four points, according to the simulator.

One of the coolest features is that Credit Karma will provide you with the reason your score could drop, offer some pros and cons, and give you a typical time for your score to recover from the impact.

Additional products and services

Credit Karma also provides you with a number of easy-to-use ways to find financial products and services.

You can even look at your current vehicle report and get help finding insurance or, if you have a loan, refinancing it. Credit Karma even provides your insurance score and a marketplace for finding new cars.

Some of the other products and services Credit Karma can help you with include:

• Tax preparation and filing
• Unclaimed money and property finder
• Various loans, including personal loans and home loans

Credit Karma also offers two bank accounts to help you manage your money. The Credit Karma Money Save account is a high-yield savings account with no fees and no account minimums.

Credit Karma Money Spend is an account with no penalties, overdraft fees, or minimum balance requirements, and it comes with a debit card. Both accounts are issued by MVB Bank, as Credit Karma isn’t a bank.

How you sign up for Credit Karma

With Credit Karma, you can sign up quickly and easily. You’ll start out by providing your email address and creating a password. After that, you’ll provide the following information:

• Name
• Address
• Birth date
• Last four digits of your Social Security number

Accept the terms and conditions, then move on to verify your identity by answering questions about past or current credit accounts — or both. Once you’ve done that, you can see your dashboard.

Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma

While there are some key differences between Credit Sesame and Credit Karma, it’s important to note that both just offer potential score results and general consumer information.

Additionally, since your information is based on VantageScore information, when you apply with a lender that relies on the FICO score, you might get a different result. Also, be aware that neither company offers information based on Experian.

Both Credit Sesame and Credit Karma are safe to use, offer you ways to protect yourself from identity theft, and provide mobile apps that are easy to use on your iPhone or Android phone. So, how do you pick between the two?

Here are some of the key things to consider when looking at Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma:

• Credit Karma shows TransUnion and Equifax. Credit Sesame just shows TransUnion.
• Credit Sesame offers better identity protection options.
• Credit Karma offers a more detailed credit score simulator.
• Credit Karma provides access to more financial services (like tax prep and the unclaimed money finder).
• Credit Sesame makes it easier to get an overall view of your situation on its dashboard.
• Credit Sesame’s recommendations are often more on-point than Credit Karma’s, in my own experience.

FAQs

Bottom line: Which should you choose?

Whether you're looking to apply for an auto loan or just shopping your options with various credit card companies, it's good to understand as much as you can about your credit score and how your credit report works.

For that reason, there’s really no reason to choose between Credit Sesame vs. Credit Karma. Both of these are free services at the basic level (although you can pay to add identity monitoring with Credit Sesame). I personally use both and find each of them helpful in evaluating my personal finances, getting a snapshot of my credit, and understanding credit score ranges.

Carefully consider your financial goals and what you hope to accomplish with your credit score. Look over the potential offerings of each service and sign up for what will give you the best experience — even if it means signing up for both for better coverage overall.