Credit Karma vs Experian vs MyFICO: Why Your Credit Scores Never Match
Open Credit Karma, the Experian app, and MyFICO on the same morning and you will get three different numbers for the same you. The gaps can run 20, 40, sometimes 60 points. Nothing is broken and nobody is lying. Each service is answering a slightly different question, and once you can name the two variables behind every gap, the mystery evaporates.
Those two variables: which scoring model does the math, and which bureau's file feeds it. Credit Karma, Experian, and MyFICO make different choices on both. This guide walks through exactly what each service shows, why the numbers diverge, and which score deserves your attention before a card, auto, or mortgage application.
What each service is actually showing you
Credit Karma is free and always has been. It shows VantageScore 3.0, calculated twice: once on your TransUnion file and once on your Equifax file. The business model is the offer wall, and the score is what keeps you coming back to see it. That does not make the number fake, but it does make it a VantageScore, which matters more than most users realize.
The free Experian app shows a FICO Score 8 built on your Experian report. It is the one place among the big free services where you see a genuine FICO number without paying, and Experian sells paid tiers on top with extra monitoring and more score versions.
MyFICO is FICO's own storefront and the only one of the three that charges from the start: plans run roughly $30 to $40 a month as of mid 2026. The fee buys version depth. Beyond FICO 8, MyFICO shows the older mortgage scores (FICO 2, 4, and 5) plus the auto and bankcard variants lenders actually order, across one or all three bureaus depending on plan.
Reason one: two companies, two recipes
FICO and VantageScore are competing companies, not two names for the same formula. Both score from 300 to 850, which creates a false sense of comparability. They weigh the same file differently: FICO 8 and VantageScore 3.0 each put payment history first, then diverge on how they treat utilization, inquiries, thin files, and small balances.
So a file with one high-utilization card and a recent inquiry can land meaningfully higher on one model than the other, and the direction is not predictable in advance. Gaps of 20 to 50 points between a VantageScore and a FICO score are commonly reported, and neither number is the wrong one. They are two instruments reading the same patient.
Reason two: the bureaus hold different files
The second variable is the data itself. Lenders are not required to report your accounts to all three bureaus, and some report to only one or two. Statement balances land on different days at different bureaus, so your utilization snapshot differs by timing alone. A dispute can resolve at one bureau weeks before another. The occasional error lives in a single file.
Stack the two variables and the three-app experience makes sense: Credit Karma runs one model on two files, Experian runs a different model on a third file, and MyFICO runs a whole family of models on up to all three.
The three services side by side
Here is the map in one view. Prices are list prices as of mid 2026 and change; confirm on each site.
| Service | Cost | Score model | Bureau data | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Karma | Free | VantageScore 3.0 | TransUnion and Equifax | Everyday monitoring and alerts |
| Experian app | Free core, paid tiers | FICO Score 8 | Experian | Seeing a real FICO before a card application |
| MyFICO | Roughly $30 to $40 a month | FICO 8 plus mortgage, auto, and bankcard versions | One or all three bureaus by plan | The months before a mortgage |
Which score the lender will actually pull
FICO says more than 90 percent of top US lenders use FICO scores in their decisions, and the versions are product-specific. Card issuers typically pull FICO 8 or a bankcard variant. Auto lenders often order a FICO Auto Score. Conventional mortgage lenders have for years pulled the older FICO 2, 4, and 5 from all three bureaus and qualified you on the middle number.
That mortgage convention is finally moving. Regulators have approved newer models, FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0, for conforming loans, and the industry is partway through that transition as of mid 2026. Until your specific lender confirms otherwise, assume the older scores still decide, and note that they are exactly the set none of the free apps show.
The practical translation: your Credit Karma number is a monitoring instrument. It tracks the same underlying file a FICO model reads, so it rises and falls for mostly the same reasons, but the level itself can sit well away from the number a lender sees on pull day.
When free is enough, and when MyFICO earns its fee
For most of the year, free coverage is genuinely sufficient. Use it for what it is good at:
- Direction. If your VantageScore rose 30 points after you paid down a card, your FICO scores almost certainly improved too. The factors overlap heavily even where the weights differ.
- Alerts. A new account you did not open, a collection appearing, a sudden drop: the free services catch these fast, and speed is what matters there.
- Error patrol. Between Credit Karma and the Experian app you can watch data from all three bureaus without paying anyone.
Pay for MyFICO in one situation above all: the months before a mortgage. The scary point gap people describe at preapproval is usually just FICO 2, 4, and 5 being older, stricter models than anything the free apps display. Seeing them early costs a couple of months of subscription and removes the surprise, along with the temptation to make panicked last-minute moves.
How to use scores that refuse to agree
Compare each score only against its own history, never across services. Judge progress by the delta inside one app, not by which app flatters you. Before an application, ask which score type and bureau the lender uses, then check that one if you can. And remember that looking is always safe: checking your own scores through any of these services is a soft inquiry, so nothing dents no matter how often you refresh. Your full reports remain free to review weekly at the federally mandated report site, which is where actual errors get fixed.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my Credit Karma score higher than my FICO score?
Credit Karma shows VantageScore 3.0, which weighs the same file differently than FICO models and reads only TransUnion and Equifax data. Gaps of 20 to 50 points in either direction are common and do not mean either number is wrong.
Is the score on the Experian app a real FICO score?
Yes. The free Experian app shows a FICO Score 8 calculated on your Experian report. A lender may still use a different FICO version or a different bureau, so treat it as one real data point rather than the final word.
Which credit score do mortgage lenders actually use?
Conventional lenders have long pulled the older FICO 2, 4, and 5 from all three bureaus and qualified you on the middle score. Regulators have approved FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 for conforming loans, but the transition is still under way as of mid 2026, so the older scores usually still decide.
Is paying for MyFICO worth it?
Mostly in the run-up to a mortgage, when the version-specific scores it shows are the ones lenders order. Plans run roughly $30 to $40 a month as of mid 2026. For everyday monitoring, the free services track the same trends for nothing.
Whichever app you watch, the same handful of moves drives every model: on-time payments, lower utilization, older accounts, fewer new applications. If you want to see how a specific move typically lands before you make it, the credit score simulator shows the usual direction and point range by score band, with no login and no credit pull.