VantageScore vs. FICO

Maybe this sounds familiar: You check your credit score in a free app, and it looks pretty good. Then a lender quotes you a different number when you apply for a loan. 

Which one is right? Usually, both.

A credit score is a three-digit number that lenders use to estimate how likely you are to repay what you borrow. It comes from a scoring model, a formula that turns the information in your credit report into that number. Two major companies build those models: Fair Isaac Corporation, known as FICO, and VantageScore.

Once you know which model produced each number, the gap starts to make sense. And you'll know what to work on before you apply.

What is a VantageScore?

A VantageScore is a credit score built by VantageScore, a company created in 2006 by the three major consumer credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. FICO Scores come from a separate company, Fair Isaac Corporation, which has been around since the 1960s.

Both kinds of credit scores are calculated from your credit report from one of the credit bureaus. (A few new kinds of credit scores, such as VantageScore 4plus, can also read bank data.) 

You can check your credit reports for free once per week through AnnualCreditReport.com. Your free credit reports don't include a score, though, so you'll need to check your scores separately. Many credit card issuers offer free credit scores, as do some banks and personal finance apps.

VantageScore vs FICO: What's the difference?

The most common versions of VantageScore and FICO look at broadly the same kinds of information. Where they differ is in how much weight they give each piece. The VantageScore versions you're most likely to see are 3.0 and 4.0, which we cover in more detail below.

Here's how the two models compare. Where a row differs by version, it says which one. If your score comes from a version not covered here, ask the company that gave it to you.

Do VantageScore and FICO weigh the same factors?

Mostly, yes. Both look at similar factors, and in both, paying on time is the single most important thing you can do for your score.

FICO sorts your credit information into five categories:

• Payment history: 35%
• Amounts owed: 30%
• Length of credit history: 15%
• New credit: 10%
• Credit mix: 10%

VantageScore 4.0 uses six categories. What FICO lumps under its amounts owed category, VantageScore breaks into utilization and balances categories:

• Payment history: 41%
• Depth of credit: 20%
• Utilization: 20%
• Recent credit: 11%
• Balances: 6%
• Available credit: 2%

Besides payment history, the age of your credit accounts (length of credit history for FICO, and depth of credit for VantageScore) and your credit utilization are the most important. 

Credit utilization is how much of your revolving credit, such as credit cards, you're using. For example, a $1,500 balance on a card with a $5,000 limit is 30% utilization. VantageScore counts utilization as its own factor, while FICO counts it under amounts owed.

Keep in mind that all of these weights are averages. How much each factor counts for you often depends on what's in your own credit report.

How much credit history do VantageScore and FICO need?

VantageScore can give you a score with less credit history than FICO. To calculate your score, FICO needs an account at least six months old and activity in the last six months. VantageScore can score you with just one month of credit history and one account reported to a credit bureau within the past 24 months, and no “deceased” in your file.

If you're new to credit, you may have a VantageScore before a FICO Score.

How do the models treat hard inquiries?

A hard inquiry happens when a lender checks your credit report because you applied for credit. Each one can nudge your score down a little.  

How much does an inquiry cost you? According to FICO, one inquiry takes fewer than five points off most people's FICO Scores. It might impact your score more if you have few accounts or a short credit history. A hard inquiry stays on your report for two years, but it affects your FICO Scores for only 12 months.

Checking your own score or report is different. That's a soft inquiry, and soft inquiries don't affect your credit scores.

Additionally, both models let you shop around for a loan without counting every single application against you. The two models handle this a little differently, though. 

FICO ignores inquiries for the first 30 days. Then, FICO counts multiple inquiries coming from the same type of lender (mortgage, auto loan, or student loan) as one if they fall within a rolling 45-day shopping window (4 days in older FICO versions). VantageScore groups hard inquiries in a rolling 14-day window. If you're shopping for a mortgage or car loan, keeping your applications within 14 days covers you under both.

What are VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0?

VantageScore and FICO both have different versions of their scoring models. For VantageScore, the most commonly used are VantageScore 3.0 and VantageScore 4.0. (The free credit score you get through creditors or finance apps is often VantageScore 3.0.)

VantageScore 4.0 came out in 2017 and added what's called trended data. Older models read your report as it stands on a single day. Trended data also looks back over the past 24 months. Think of it as a short video instead of a photo. For example, version 4.0 considers whether your credit utilization has been rising or falling over time, not just where it is today.

Two newer models have followed: VantageScore 4plus in May 2024, and VantageScore 5.0, released in April 2025 and made available to lenders in July 2026. Still, 3.0 and 4.0 are the ones you're most likely to run into.

If you want to see your scores, the bureaus' own websites are a good place to start. TransUnion and Equifax give you a free VantageScore 3.0, and Experian gives you a free FICO Score 8.

How are collections treated by FICO vs. VantageScore?

First, a quick definition. A collection account is a debt your original creditor has turned over to a debt collector. It can stay on your credit report for up to seven years, even if you pay or settle it. The seven-year clock starts 180 days after you first fell behind on the debt.

Whether paying off a collection helps your score depends on the model. It could raise your scores under VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0, and under FICO 9 and 10. But many lenders may still use older FICO versions, such as the widely used FICO Score 8, where paying it off doesn’t make it disappear from your score calculation.

Here's how each one treats collections:

• VantageScore 3.0 and newer ignore paid collections.
• FICO 9 and 10 ignore paid third-party collections (ones handled by a separate collection agency), including settled ones reported with a zero balance.
• FICO 8 counts a third-party collection with an original amount of $100 or more, whether you've paid it or not.

Medical debt follows its own rules. Paid medical collections have been off credit reports since July 1, 2022. And since April 11, 2023, a medical collection shows up only if its first reported balance was $500 or more. When an unpaid medical collection does appear, VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0 ignore it, while FICO 9 and 10 count it less than other collections.

What is a good VantageScore?

Everyone defines a good credit score a little differently. Each lender sets its own credit score standards, and they can vary a lot from lender to lender. VantageScore and FICO both have their own scoring tiers, too.

VantageScore sorts scores into four tiers, which apply to both VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0. A score in the prime tier (661 to 780) is generally considered a good VantageScore:

FICO, by contrast, uses five tiers with different labels:

In general, it's best to look at how your credit score is changing—whether it's going up or down over time—rather than focusing on the specific number at any given time.

Which lenders use VantageScore?

Credit card issuers, banks, credit unions, online lenders, and some auto lenders use VantageScore. Mortgage lenders can use your VantageScore 4.0, too. 

For the most part, each lender picks its own scoring model and credit bureau to use. That's why it's worth asking before you apply: "Which score model and which bureau's report will you use?" The lender doesn't have to answer, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

If a lender turns you down or offers you worse terms based on your credit report, though, federal law requires the lender to tell you the score it used. The notice will also list the score's range and the key factors that hurt it.

Do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use VantageScore?

Yes. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the government-sponsored companies that buy mortgages from lenders. For decades, loans sold to them required a single scoring model, Classic FICO. Now lenders can choose either Classic FICO or VantageScore 4.0. 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, approved VantageScore 4.0 on October 24, 2022 for those loans. Approval for all lenders came a few years later.

If you apply for a home loan, the lender must give you the credit score it uses.

Why is my VantageScore different from my FICO score?

Even when two models read the exact same report, each will generally give you its own number. The good news is that over time, your scores tend to rise and fall together.

Your scores could be different because they came from different sources, or were calculated on different days. The score in your free app and the one your lender pulls may come from different models, versions, and/or bureaus. For example, your app might show a VantageScore using TransUnion data, while the lender uses FICO Score 8 from Equifax.

Is VantageScore accurate?

Yes. Scores from both models are largely accurate, and neither one is necessarily more accurate than the other.

You may notice that some free score sources call theirs an "educational" score. For most people, it's similar to the scores lenders use. Any bureau that gives you a score must also tell you that a lender may use a different one. Keep in mind, too, that free credit score services don't always show the Classic FICO Scores or VantageScore 4.0 that mortgage lenders generally use. 

The best time to check your reports is well before you apply, since errors could drag down your score. If you see anything that looks wrong or inaccurate, you can file a dispute with the credit bureau.

Bills Action Plan

1. Find out which model is behind each score. Look for the label next to the score in your app or bureau account, such as "VantageScore 3.0" or "FICO Score 8." If there's no label, ask the company that gave you the score.
2. Check all three of your credit reports. You can get them free every week at AnnualCreditReport.com. If you find an error, dispute it with both the bureau and the company that reported it.
3. Focus on what both models weigh most. Pay every bill on time, since payment history is the top factor in most scores. Also, keep your credit card balances low compared with your limits, and only apply for new credit when you need it.

The same habits could help both scores, and they fit right into your wider personal finance plan.

Key Terms

Credit scoring model: The formula that turns your credit report into a score.

VantageScore: A credit score from the company of the same name, set up by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

FICO Score: A credit score from Fair Isaac Corporation. Base FICO Scores run from 300 to 850.

Trended data: How your balances and payments have moved over time, which VantageScore 4.0 reviews over 24 months.

Collection account: A defaulted debt a creditor has passed to a debt collector.