How the true cost is calculated

The standard scenario

• $100. A round amount nearly every app publishes a price for, and close to the average first advance the apps that report one give: EarnIn about $85 when signing up, Tilt $96 for first-time customers, Possible $85 (each on its app page, with the source).
• Repaid in 14 days. About one biweekly pay period. Several apps set repayment on your next payday; Varo lets you pick 15–30 days and Albert sets 6. The calculator lets you change the days.
• Delivered instantly. Instant delivery is the part these apps charge for, so it’s where the costs differ. The cost of waiting for the free transfer is shown next to it everywhere.
• No tip. Tips are optional on every app that asks for one. A tip costs you exactly like a fee; the calculator lets you add one.

What counts as a cost

1. The membership the app asks for. If the app’s normal sign-up needs a paid plan to get an advance, one full month is counted against the advance, because you pay it whether you take one advance or three. (The calculator splits it if you take several.) Where the app’s terms also allow an advance without the membership on request — Brigit, Cleo, Tilt, FloatMe, Grid, Credit Genie — we say so on the app’s page, but still count the membership, because that is what the app’s own flow charges.
2. Any fee on every advance, such as Dave’s 5% overdraft fee or Varo’s flat fee.
3. The cheapest instant delivery the app offers. Where you choose where the money goes (the app’s own account or your bank’s debit card), we use the cheaper choice and say which one.

When the price isn’t one number

• A range, or an “up to” price (Brigit’s $0.99–$5.99 express fee, Klover’s “up to $9.49”): we use the top. It’s the most the terms allow the app to charge, and the app may show you less.
• A price that depends on your finances (Varo’s fee is lower with $800 of deposits to Varo; Payactiv is free if your pay goes to its card): we use the price without the condition and show the lower one.
• A price that depends on your state (EarnIn, Klover): we use the app’s standard price and list the state exceptions on its page.
• A price shown only in the app (Current’s Instant Access fee, Albert’s fee for sending an advance straight to an outside account): we don’t estimate it. If it’s needed for the standard scenario, the app is listed as “not ranked”.

How apps are ordered

Lowest total cost for the standard scenario first. Ties are broken by the lower APR (an app that takes its fee out of the $100 gives you less money for the same fee), then by the lower cost if you wait for the free transfer, then by the higher published maximum advance, then alphabetically. Apps whose cost can’t be worked out from published terms are listed after, alphabetically, without a position. There are no stars, scores or “best for” badges, because we can’t measure service quality fairly from outside.

Apps your employer has to offer (DailyPay, Payactiv, Branch, Rain, Clair, OnePay @Work) are ranked separately on the earned wage access page, by the same rule. Overdraft features that cover card purchases (Chime SpotMe, Current’s Fee-Free Overdraft) and installment loans with their own APR disclosures (Possible Loan) are described but not ranked, because they don’t fit the same scenario.

Colours

Green is an APR of 36% or less, the cap the Military Lending Act sets for consumer credit to service members and their families. Amber is up to 100%. Red is over 100%. The colours are only a reading aid.

Where the facts come from

Every fee, limit and rule comes from the app’s own website, help centre, terms of service, account or advance agreement, or its App Store or Google Play listing. We don’t use review sites, other comparison sites or forums. 30 apps and products, 246 distinct source pages, all checked on November 8, 2026. Each fact on the site links to its page. Where an app’s own pages disagree with each other, we say so and use the newest or the most formal document (the terms over a marketing page).

Regulatory actions (27 listed) come only from official sources: the FTC, the CFPB, the Department of Justice, and state attorneys general and financial regulators. A complaint is an allegation, and we say so.

What this leaves out

• Bank overdraft or returned-payment fees your own bank may charge if a repayment bounces. They depend on your bank, not the app.
• Fees for other products the same app sells (cards, credit builders, investing).
• Whether you’ll be approved, or for how much. Apps decide that individually and don’t publish the rules in full.
• Service quality, speed in practice and customer support.

Updates and corrections

Fees are checked by hand against the apps’ pages. Every page shows the date of the last check. If something here is wrong or out of date, email hello@bestcashadvanceapps.com with a link to the app’s page that shows the current figure. Corrections are made with a new check date.