Internet with no credit check
Most providers pull your credit before they'll connect you, and ask for a deposit if the file is thin. A handful don't check at all — and they're no longer the slow, embarrassing option.
NOW Internet is the best no-credit-check plan in the country: $30/mo all-in for unlimited 100 Mbps on Xfinity's cable network, billed monthly, cancel whenever. If it isn't available where you live, Mint's Home MINTernet is the 5G alternative — cheaper still if you need a phone line, but it wants the year up front.
The options, ranked
Credit check policy by provider
Who runs a check, who doesn't, and what happens if your file is thin. Policies vary by market — confirm on the order page before you commit.
| Provider | Credit check | If your credit is thin | Deposit |
|---|---|---|---|
| {{ r.a }} | {{ r.b }} | {{ r.c }} | {{ r.d }} |
Why ISPs check your credit at all
Postpaid internet is a small loan. The provider hands you a gateway worth a couple of hundred dollars, gives you a month of service, and bills you afterwards — so it wants some evidence you'll pay. A thin or damaged credit file usually doesn't mean rejection; it means a deposit, typically $50 to
Prepaid plans invert the risk. You pay before you use the service, so there's nothing to underwrite and no reason to run a check. That's the entire mechanism behind every plan on this list — not a special program for people with bad credit, just a different billing model that happens to skip the credit bureau.
Hard pull, soft pull, and why the difference matters
A soft pull doesn't affect your score and often doesn't even appear to other lenders. A hard pull does both, and several of them in a short window compounds the damage. If you are shopping around while also applying for a car loan or a mortgage, ask which kind the provider runs before you give them your details — and note that every prepaid plan above runs neither.
What you give up
Speed ceilings are the main one: expect 100 to 400 Mbps down and 20 to 55 up, not gigabit fiber. You'll also self-install, sometimes on refurbished equipment limited to a single outlet, and you'll miss the reward cards and bundle discounts that live on the postpaid side. Some prepaid plans sit outside their parent brand's money-back guarantee, so check your out before you pay for a long term.
What you don't give up is worth naming too: no contract, no early-termination fee, no promotional rate that doubles in month 13, and — on the plans above — taxes and equipment already inside the advertised price. For a lot of households that's a better deal than what a good credit score would have bought them.
If you'd rather have a postpaid plan
Three things reliably reduce or remove a deposit. Ask whether enrolling in autopay and paperless billing waives it — it often does. Ask whether you can bring your own modem, which cuts the equipment the provider is risking. And ask whether a prior account in good standing with the same company counts, because it usually does even if your credit file has since changed. Our no-deposit guide goes through each in detail.
It's also worth checking assistance programs before you settle. Several providers run low-cost plans for households on federal benefits, and those are postpaid, cheaper than everything on this page, and don't hinge on credit either. See the low-income internet options.
Watch out for these
Common questions
The bottom line
No credit check no longer means bad internet. Start with NOW if Comcast serves your address, because $30 all-in on a wired connection billed monthly is the lowest-risk, best-value option available. Look at Mint if you're outside that footprint or you want a phone line in the same price. And if you qualify for an assistance program, check that first — it will beat both.
Jean founded ShopHighSpeed after trying to find one straight answer about business internet in his own town. He has been a Comcast and Verizon Fios customer, and builds the site’s rankings from the availability data providers file with the FCC rather than from provider marketing.