How Often Should You Check Your Credit?

Checking your own credit is a soft inquiry and has zero effect on your score. That said, a cadence helps.

For most people - Quarterly is enough for a baseline read - Monthly if actively working on utilization or a strategy - Weekly during a mortgage or major-loan process

For business owners - Quarterly at minimum on all three business bureaus - Immediately before any funding application

Free monitoring services Many are legitimate; some upsell aggressively. Use one, avoid using ten.