You can check a FICO score through myFICO or a participating bank, card issuer, auto lender, or mortgage servicer. Before relying on the number, note which credit bureau and FICO model it uses: a lender may use a different bureau, FICO version, or another kind of score. Checking your own score does not hurt it, according to myFICO.
Ways to check your FICO score
Start with a score source that identifies the score as FICO. A free score can be useful for monitoring, but “free” alone does not tell you which bureau file or model produced the number.
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Check through a bank, card issuer, or lender
FICO says it works with more than 130 financial institutions that provide some customers free access to some FICO scores through its Score Open Access program. Participation, bureau coverage, and the score version available vary. Check your institution’s app or account site, or ask it directly which score it provides. FICO Score Open Access
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Check through myFICO
myFICO’s plans provide different combinations of bureau coverage, update frequency, and score versions. Its page accessed in 2026 listed the following plans and monthly prices; terms can change, so confirm them on the myFICO plans page before signing up.
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| Plan | Bureau coverage and updates | Price listed by myFICO (accessed 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Equifax; monthly updates; FICO Score 8 | Free |
| Basic | Experian; monthly updates | $19.95/month |
| Advanced | Three bureaus; updates every three months | $29.95/month |
| Premier | Three bureaus; monthly updates | $39.95/month |
Paid plans include additional score-version features; consult myFICO’s current plan details for the versions included. More coverage can help you inspect more scores, but it cannot guarantee a match to the score a particular lender uses.
What lenders may see
There is no single score used by every lender. FICO says FICO Score 8 is its most widely used base score, while lenders may also choose other base versions, industry-specific versions, or a non-FICO score. FICO reports that 90% of top U.S. lenders use FICO Scores, based on third-party data for all versions of FICO Scores sold to lenders—not specifically Score 8 and not a prediction of what any one lender will use. FICO Score versions and uses
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Mortgage scoring is a common source of confusion. myFICO lists these bureau-specific versions as used in mortgage lending:
| Credit bureau | FICO mortgage score version listed by myFICO |
|---|---|
| Experian | FICO Score 2 |
| Equifax | FICO Score 5 |
| TransUnion | FICO Score 4 |
These are versions listed for mortgage lending, not a guarantee that a particular lender currently uses them for your application. Mortgage lenders typically pull scores from all three bureaus; many credit-card and general credit evaluations typically use one bureau score. Practices vary, so ask the lender or loan officer which bureau and scoring process applies to your application.
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Why your FICO scores can differ
A FICO score is calculated from information in a particular bureau’s credit file at the time it is requested. Bureau files may contain different information, and creditors may report updates at different times. FICO also notes that bureau-specific model design can produce different results even when the underlying information is identical. A difference between two scores therefore does not, by itself, mean one is wrong.
FICO base scores use a 300–850 range. Its industry-specific scores use a 250–900 range, so do not assume every FICO score follows the base-score range.
How to compare the scores you find
Before treating two numbers as comparable, record these details for each:
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- Bureau: Does it use Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion data?
- Model/version: Is it Score 8, a mortgage version, an auto or bankcard version, or another model?
- Date: When was the score calculated or last updated?
If any of those details differ, the numbers are not a like-for-like comparison. A score from one bureau or date can still be useful for monitoring, but it may not reproduce the score used in a credit application.
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What to do before a mortgage or other major application
Do not assume a generic score shown in a free app matches the bureaus and versions a mortgage lender will use. Ask the lender or loan officer which bureau data and scoring model apply to your specific application. If you want to review mortgage-specific scores yourself, check whether the service explicitly includes the bureau-specific mortgage versions rather than only a base score such as FICO Score 8.
If a score is unexpectedly high or low, review the corresponding credit report as well as the score. The score reflects file data; checking the report can help identify missing, outdated, or differing information that may explain the result.
What checking your own score does—and does not—tell you
myFICO says checking your own credit does not hurt your score. But even an accurate FICO score is not an approval, rate, or outcome guarantee: lenders choose their own score models and bureaus, and use additional criteria in their decisions. As myFICO puts it, “Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO Score than the version you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether.” Learn about FICO Score versions and their uses
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