Affirm Alternatives

Klarna matches Affirm on four fronts: interest-free splits, monthly plans, a card and payment plans on Apple Pay. Pay in 4 splits an order into four interest-free payments collected every two weeks, the first one when the order ships. Pay in 30 days lets you pay up to 30 days later with no interest when you pay on time, which suits clothes you may send back. Pay over time spreads bigger purchases over 3 to 24 months, at 0.00% to 35.99% APR depending on your credit and the term. Klarna's own example: a $1,000 purchase over 6 months at 13.99% APR costs $173.53 a month, so about $1,041 in total.

Where Klarna pulls ahead of Affirm is reach. Outside partner stores, the Klarna Card works anywhere Visa is accepted, and Klarna payment plans are offered on Apple Pay online and in store. Splitting a card purchase is not free, though: Pay in 4 on the Klarna Card is applied for in advance, with a service fee of $1.29 to $5.99 and at least 25% down; Klarna's example is a $248 purchase with a $4.99 fee, which is 35.68% APR. Pay in 4 uses a soft credit check that does not affect your score. The fine print to read: a missed payment is retried once, then added to your next payment with a late fee of up to $7, and late fees on one order are capped at 25% of its value. On a $60 order, that cap is $15. Pay in 4 is not offered in Hawaii, in US territories other than Puerto Rico, or to APO/FPO/DPO addresses. Tip: if you buy clothes in several sizes, Pay in 30 days means you only pay for what you keep. Already on Klarna and unhappy? Our guide to switching from Klarna covers the other direction.

Afterpay built its name on one plan: pay a quarter today and the rest in three payments over six weeks, interest-free at partner brands. It now does more. Pay Monthly offers 3, 6, 12 and 24 month plans on purchases over $100 at select merchants, with up to 24 months on orders over $400, at 0.00% to 35.99% APR. Afterpay's example: a 12 month $1,000 loan at 21% APR totals $1,117.40, so $117.40 of interest. Pay Monthly has no late fees or origination fees, but it is not offered in West Virginia, New Mexico, Nevada or Hawaii.

In stores, you add the digital Afterpay Card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet and tap to pay in 4. The app lets you reschedule payment dates, which helps when a paycheck lands late. Two numbers matter on Pay in 4. Late fees reach up to $8 per installment, and all late fees on one order never exceed 25% of its value. And some Pay in 4 loans now carry a finance fee: Afterpay's own example is a $110 loan at 36% APR, with $27.50 down and three payments of $28.26. Check whether your plan shows a fee before you confirm. Tip: pay the first installment from a debit card with money already on it, since a failed charge is what triggers fees.

PayPal Pay Later is two products inside the PayPal wallet you may already use. Pay in 4 covers purchases from $10 to $2,000, is always interest-free, and has no late fees or sign-up fees. Pay Monthly covers purchases from $49 to $10,000 over 3, 6, 12 or 24 months with $0 down, at a fixed APR of 0% to 35.99%, also with no late fees or sign-up fees. PayPal's example: a $200 purchase at 26% APR over 3 months costs $8.68 in interest, $208.68 in total. Applying for Pay in 4 may need a soft credit check that does not affect your score.

Compared with Affirm, the strength is penalties: PayPal states no late fees on both plans, so a missed payment does not snowball into fees. You also pay wherever the store offers Pay Later at PayPal checkout, which covers online stores that never added a separate BNPL button. One catch: PayPal warns that missed payments may affect your credit score, even though there is no fee. The limits are geography and terms. Pay in 4 is not available to Missouri residents, and Pay Monthly is not available in Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii or Washington. Offers depend on the merchant and may not apply to some recurring subscriptions. Tip: Pay in 4 is the interest-free half of the product; take Pay Monthly when the APR shown is 0% or below your credit card's rate. Merchants weighing PayPal's wider fees can read our guide to switching from PayPal.

Sezzle offers three plans: Pay in 4 over 6 weeks, Pay in 5 over 8 weeks, and Pay Monthly over 3 to 48 months for bigger purchases. That is twice the 24 months of Klarna, Afterpay and PayPal; Sunbit, which finances bills paid in person, goes to 72. Pay Monthly runs at 0.00% to 35.99% APR. Sezzle's example: a $1,000 loan over 6 months costs $166.67 a month at 0% APR or $184.29 at 35.99%, a difference of about $106 on the same purchase.

Sezzle Up lets you opt in to credit reporting, so on-time payments can build your history; Sezzle warns that all payments, late ones included, are then reported. Two features sit behind a paid subscription: Sezzle Anywhere, a virtual Visa card for US purchases wherever Visa is accepted, and Sezzle Premium, which opens Sezzle at over 350 brands. Now the fine print that most guides skip. Sezzle's own Pay in 4 example is a $300 loan with $75 down plus a $7.49 service fee, which it states as 45.0% APR; service fees range from $0 to $7.49 depending on the price and the product. Pay in 5 shows 0% APR with a paid subscription, and a paid subscription may be required for other plans. So "interest-free" depends on which plan and subscription you hold. Tip: compare the total shown at checkout with the price of the item before you tap confirm.

Zip, formerly Quadpay, lets you split a purchase into 4 or 8 installments due every two weeks, or some purchases into 2 payments, and its app creates a virtual card so you can use it at almost any US store, online or in person through your digital wallet. You do not get a fixed limit: Zip shows an estimated spending power and reviews each purchase, and on-time repayments can raise it. Zip states that 94.67% of customers who paid off 5 plans on time received an estimated spending power increase.

The cost is the origination fee, charged with the first payment and shown at checkout, from $0.00 to $140.00 depending on the purchase. Zip's own examples make the APR visible: a $1,100 purchase in 2 payments carries a $7.50 fee, which is 35.70% APR; a $400 purchase in 4 payments carries an $8 fee, 34.75% APR; the same $400 in 8 payments carries $18.97, 34.99% APR. That last one is almost 5% of the price for 14 weeks of time. A fee may also apply if you change a payment date. Zip only works for US purchases, and some merchants, products and services are excluded. Tip: the shorter the plan, the smaller the fee as a share of the price: $7.50 on $1,100 in 2 payments is 0.7%, against $18.97 on $400 in 8 payments, 4.7%.

Sunbit finances services paid in person, such as auto repair, dental care, eye care, vet care and healthcare. You apply at the counter of a partner business. Loans run from $50 to $20,000, over 3 to 72 months, at 0% to 35.99% APR, and a payment is due at checkout. Sunbit states that the majority of people who apply are approved, and that there are no late fees, origination fees, penalty fees or penalty APRs.

That fee policy is better than most of the shopping apps above, and the 72 month ceiling is longer than Affirm's usual plans, which makes Sunbit the realistic alternative when the bill is a crown or a transmission rather than a pair of shoes. The rate depends on your state as well as your credit: in Colorado, loans over $3,000 are capped at 0% to 14.99% APR, and in Iowa at 0% to 20.99%. The minimum loan can be higher at some merchants, the largest amounts and longest terms are not available everywhere, and only the most creditworthy applicants get the lowest rates and longest terms. You need a bank-issued debit card for the payment due at checkout. Checking your eligibility is a soft inquiry; accepting the loan may be reported to a major credit bureau. The limit is reach: you can use Sunbit only where a business has signed up, and online stores are not its market. Tip: if your dentist or garage offers Sunbit, ask before the work starts, since the plan is set up at checkout.

Splitit works differently from the other tools here: it splits a purchase into equal installments charged to the credit card you already have. There is no lengthy application, no credit check and no account to create, and every installment still earns your card's cashback, points or miles. Your card's purchase protection and fraud cover stay active too. Splitit adds no interest on credit card installments, so if you pay your card balance in full each month you pay nothing extra.

The trade-off is that you need enough available credit on your card for the purchase, and your card's own terms still apply if you carry a balance. Two other products sit next to it: Pay After Delivery keeps your money where it is until your order arrives, and Digital Wallet Installments split a wallet payment but carry a finance charge, shown before you confirm. Splitit is offered by the merchant at checkout, so check the payment options before you count on it; it sells to merchants in ecommerce, education, healthcare, home services and retail. Tip: pick the card with the best rewards for the category, since every installment earns on it.