One fixed-rate loan replacing several balances: a single payment, often at a lower rate. Whether it saves you money depends on two numbers, and only one of them is the rate.
Consolidating wins only if the new total interest is lower than the old one. A smaller monthly payment is not the same thing: stretching a 3-year balance over 7 years lowers the payment and raises what you pay. Compare total cost, not monthly.
The origination fee comes off the top. A 1% to 8% cut is deducted from the money you receive, so a $20,000 loan at a 6% fee hands you $18,800 and charges interest on the full $20,000. A 9% loan with a 6% fee costs more than an 11% loan with none.
Consolidating frees the cards. Paying off three cards with a loan leaves three cards at a zero balance and an open limit. Running them up again turns one debt into two, and it is the single most common way this makes things worse.
Listed in no particular order. An APR range cannot be ranked honestly: the rate you are offered depends on your credit file, and sorting by the advertised low end would just promote whoever quotes the least obtainable number. Ranges are read from each lender’s own page on the date shown.
Prequalify first. Most of these run a soft check that shows your real rate without touching your score. Only the final application is a hard pull.
Check your credit report. A forgotten collection account changes the rate you are offered. Free once a week at annualcreditreport.com, the only federally authorized source.
If the payment is already unaffordable, this is not your answer. A consolidation loan requires qualifying, and if the minimums already exceed what you can pay, the application is a decline. A nonprofit credit counselor negotiates rates directly with issuers instead. The NFCC is the member body; we are paid nothing for saying so.
Card debt specifically may do better on a 0% balance-transfer card than a loan, if you can clear it inside the intro window.