Our Brigit review finds Brigit Instant Cash costs $8.99 a month on the Plus plan or $15.99 on Premium, so a $72 advance repaid in two weeks runs about 326% APR unless you use Brigit’s little-known free option. Our earned wage access guide explains the cheaper employer route.
Last checked: October 31, 2026, against each company’s own fee and terms pages.
Personal Profitability may earn a commission from partner links on this page, at no cost to you. Partners don’t decide what we recommend or where it ranks. Fees and terms are each company’s as of 2026-10-31. Confirm them on the company’s site before you apply.
Brigit review: key numbers
Brigit charges $8.99 a month for Plus and $15.99 a month for Premium, according to its help center pricing article, and both plans include Instant Cash advances of $25 to $500.
| Item | Brigit’s published terms |
|---|---|
| Company | Bridge It, Inc., doing business as Brigit |
| Product | Brigit Instant Cash, a paycheck advance based on your bank activity |
| Advance amounts | $25–$500 ($25–$250 in Maine). Brigit’s average advance was $72 from February 2018 to July 2026 |
| Plans | Free, Plus at $8.99 a month, Premium at $15.99 a month. Brigit’s terms list Plus at $5.99 to $9.99 |
| Free advance | Available by emailing Brigit and asking for an advance without a subscription |
| Standard delivery | Free, within 3 business days |
| Express Delivery | $0.99 to $5.99 on Plus, based on the advance size, per Brigit’s terms. Free on Premium. Brigit says it typically delivers within 20 minutes |
| Late fees and tips | No late fees. Brigit’s terms list no interest charge and no tips |
| Credit check | None for Instant Cash, and Instant Cash doesn’t affect your score |
| Credit Builder | Premium only. A reported installment loan through Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC |
| Repayment | Brigit withdraws the advance on the due date you pick. Extension credits can push the date back |
| App ratings | 4.84 on the App Store (579,326 ratings) and 4.78 on Google Play (408,823) as of October 2026 |
| Legal | Minnesota AG lawsuit filed June 10, 2026 (pending). FTC order from 2023 with $18 million for refunds |
Fees and terms verified 2026-10-31.
Key takeaways
- Brigit charges a monthly subscription whether you take an advance that month or not, so the cost per advance depends on how often you borrow.
- You can get a Brigit advance with no subscription by email, a free path Brigit puts in a footnote.
- Premium adds free Express Delivery and Credit Builder, for $7 more a month than Plus.
- Minnesota’s attorney general says Brigit is an unlicensed lender charging APRs above 300%. The case is pending.
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Brigit review: what you get
Brigit gives you small cash advances, budgeting tools, and credit tools in one app, and you choose among three plans with different features and monthly fees.
| Plan | Monthly cost | What’s included |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Budgeting and account monitoring, Deals & Offers, and an advance if you email Brigit to request an advance |
| Plus | $8.99 | Instant Cash, Credit Monitoring, Score Simulators, Identity Theft Protection, plus the Free tools. Express Delivery costs extra |
| Premium | $15.99 | Everything in Plus, Credit Builder, and free Express Delivery |
Brigit Instant Cash
Most members pay Brigit for Instant Cash. You connect a checking account in the Brigit app, Brigit reviews your transaction history, including your deposits and spending, and Brigit offers an advance of $25 to $500 if you meet its eligibility rules. “Not all users will qualify,” Brigit’s pricing article says, and the amount varies “depending on eligibility.” The advertised top end rarely matches what people get. Brigit’s own homepage puts the average advance at $72 from February 2018 to July 2026, so plan around $72, not $500.
Brigit doesn’t publish a minimum income, a deposit count, or a required number of recurring paychecks. Its help center lists two requirements: a smartphone and a connected checking account. Brigit also offers overdraft predictions, which it calls “advisory in nature,” and its marketing math assumes an average overdraft fee of $34 when it estimates what you’d save. Sources: Brigit’s homepage and How does Brigit work.
Brigit Credit Builder
Brigit Credit Builder is a small installment loan through Coastal Community Bank, Member FDIC, that Brigit reports to the credit bureaus, and you need Premium at $15.99 a month to open a Credit Builder account. Brigit says “impact to score may vary” and “some users’ scores may not improve,” and that customers starting at 600 or below “were more likely to see positive score change results.” Credit Builder isn’t available in every state. If building credit is the goal, compare Brigit’s $191.88 a year with the options in our guide to building credit from scratch, several of which cost less.
What Brigit costs, and the catch
Brigit costs $107.88 a year on Plus and $191.88 on Premium, and the catch is that you pay that subscription every month, even in the months you never take an advance.
| Fee | Amount | How to avoid the fee |
|---|---|---|
| Plus subscription | $8.99 a month (Brigit’s terms: $5.99 to $9.99) | Ask for a free advance by email instead |
| Premium subscription | $15.99 a month | Skip Credit Builder and stay on Plus or Free |
| Express Delivery on Plus | $0.99 to $5.99, based on the advance size | Take free standard delivery, within 3 business days |
| Express Delivery on Premium | Free | No fee to avoid |
| Late fees | None | No fee to avoid |
Fees and terms verified 2026-10-31. Brigit’s pricing article (updated October 27, 2026) lists Plus at $8.99 and says Express Delivery on Plus costs “a small fee.” Brigit’s Terms of Service (last revised March 31, 2026) put numbers on both. Section 7.6.3 says the Express Fee “may range from $0.99 to $5.99,” and that “larger Advances may result in higher Express Fees,” and section 7.2.1 says Plus “ranges from $5.99 to $9.99 per month.” Brigit shows your exact fee in the Brigit app before you accept the funds, so read that number.
The free option Brigit puts in a footnote
Brigit lets you get an advance without any subscription. Brigit’s pricing article tells you to email [email protected] “and state that you would like an Advance without subscribing to one of our Membership plans.” Section 7.7 of Brigit’s terms says the same thing: “You are not required to enroll in a Subscription in order to receive an Advance.” Pair that with free standard delivery and a Brigit advance costs $0. Brigit doesn’t say how a free-path advance compares in size with a Plus advance, so ask when you email.
The APR math on a Brigit advance
Brigit’s terms list no interest charge, but a monthly membership fee on a small, short cash advance still turns into a triple-digit APR. Divide the cost by the advance, multiply by 365, and divide by the days until you repay. These examples assume one advance a month.
| Advance | Cost that month | Days to repay | APR equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| $72, free plan by email, standard delivery | $0 | Any | 0% |
| $72, Plus, standard delivery | $8.99 | 14 | 326% |
| $72, Plus, standard delivery | $8.99 | 30 | 152% |
| $100, Plus, Express at the $5.99 maximum | $14.98 | 14 | 391% |
| $100, Premium, free Express | $15.99 | 14 | 417% |
| $250, Plus, standard delivery | $8.99 | 14 | 94% |
The CFPB’s 2024 Data Spotlight put the average fee at $3.18 on a $106 advance across employer-partnered providers. Brigit’s Plus fee alone is nearly three times that average, before any Express Fee. Our earned wage access fees table compares Brigit with pay-per-use apps.
What Brigit costs in a year
Keep Plus all year and you pay $107.88, and Premium runs $191.88. If you take an advance every month, Plus works out to $8.99 per advance. If you take three advances a year and forget to cancel in between, you pay $35.96 per advance. Pay-per-use apps such as EarnIn charge nothing in the months you don’t borrow, which is why our EarnIn vs. Brigit comparison favors EarnIn for occasional users. The $107.88 you’d spend on Plus is also a solid first deposit toward a starter emergency fund.
How Brigit repayment works
You pay Brigit back automatically on the due date you pick when you request the advance, and Brigit withdraws the money from your connected bank account.
- Due date: you choose the date when you request the advance, typically your next payday, and you can see the date in the app any time.
- Reminder: Brigit notifies you two business days before your due date.
- Extensions: Brigit offers extension credits, and its help articles disagree on the deadline. One says to apply at least two business days before the due date, and another says three, so apply three business days ahead to be safe.
- Debit timing: Brigit’s terms let Brigit debit you any time after the later of your due date or the day Brigit sees money come into your account.
- Early payoff: tap “make a payment” in the app.
- Overdraft risk: Brigit says it checks your balance before withdrawing, but its terms say Brigit isn’t responsible for overdraft or NSF fees your bank charges.
Brigit’s bank-debit repayment is the main difference from employer EWA. With DailyPay or Branch, your employer repays the provider through payroll. The CFPB’s December 23, 2025 advisory opinion says “covered EWA” isn’t credit, but covered EWA repays through payroll, and Brigit’s product falls outside that definition. Our guide to earned wage access vs. cash advance covers the split.
Is Brigit legit and safe to use? The FTC order and the Minnesota lawsuit
Yes, Brigit is a legitimate company, Bridge It, Inc., and it has also settled with the FTC for $18 million in 2023 and faces a pending lawsuit from Minnesota’s attorney general filed June 10, 2026.
FTC order (2023)
On November 2, 2023, the FTC announced a proposed order requiring Brigit to pay $18 million for consumer refunds. The FTC alleged that Brigit advertised “instant” advances of up to $250, though consumers rarely got the full amount and many got none. The FTC also alleged Brigit promoted “free instant transfers” while charging a 99-cent fee, kept members with an open advance from canceling the $9.99 Plus plan, and used dark patterns to make canceling confusing. The order bans misleading claims about advance amounts, speed, fees, and canceling, and it requires a simple way to cancel. Source: FTC press release.
The FTC sent more than $9.8 million in refunds in November 2024, then 1,052,038 more payments totaling over $6.8 million in May 2026, and the FTC says money remains in the fund. Source: FTC Brigit refunds page. Today’s terms reflect the order: Brigit’s terms let you cancel a subscription even with an advance outstanding.
Minnesota AG lawsuit (filed June 10, 2026)
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued Bridge It, Inc., calling Brigit an “unlicensed, unregistered, consumer small-loan and consumer short-term lender.” Ellison alleges APRs on Brigit advances “regularly exceed 300%, with some exceeding 700%,” against Minnesota’s 50% cap for short-term lenders, and says Brigit made tens of thousands of these advances to Minnesotans. These are allegations, and the case is pending. Source: Minnesota AG press release.
A private class action, Feeman v. Bridge It, in federal court in New York, alleges Brigit overcharged military borrowers. A judge denied Brigit’s motion to dismiss in April 2026, and Brigit appealed to the Second Circuit (No. 26-959). Our tracker of earned wage access laws shows how each state treats subscription advance apps.
Brigit review: pros and cons
Brigit’s biggest pros are no tips, no late fees, and a free path most members never hear about, and its biggest cons are a monthly subscription, low average advances, and a pending state lawsuit.
Pros
- No credit check, no tips, and no late fees.
- A $0 advance is available by email, with free standard delivery.
- Brigit works without your employer.
- Premium includes free Express Delivery and a credit builder loan.
- Extension credits let you move a due date if your paycheck shifts.
Cons
- The subscription runs every month, borrow or not.
- The average advance is $72, far below the $500 headline.
- Express Delivery on Plus costs up to $5.99, and Brigit’s pricing page calls that “a small fee” without a number.
- Brigit’s pricing article and its terms list different Plus prices.
- Minnesota’s attorney general has sued, and the FTC ordered $18 million in refunds from Brigit in 2023.
Who should use Brigit, and who should skip the subscription
Brigit fits someone who’ll use the free email option or wants Credit Builder anyway, and it’s a poor fit for anyone paying $8.99 a month to borrow a few times a year.
Brigit is a good fit if you
- Have no employer earned wage access program.
- Will email Brigit to request a free cash advance and wait up to three business days.
- Want a credit builder loan and would pay for one anyway.
- Need one small advance and plan to cancel when the gap closes.
Skip Brigit if you
- Have employer EWA through DailyPay, Branch, or another provider. Those programs offer free paths and repay through payroll. Our DailyPay review shows how to pay $0.
- Borrow only a few times a year. A pay-per-use app such as EarnIn or Klover charges nothing in the months you skip.
- Need more than $100. Brigit’s average advance is $72.
- Live in Maine and need more than $250.
- Need an advance every month. That’s a budget gap, and our guide to budgeting with irregular income will help more than a subscription.
How Brigit compares
Brigit costs more than pay-per-use cash advance apps for occasional borrowers because of its subscription, and Brigit can cost less than Dave or Klover for someone who borrows every month and takes standard delivery.
| App | Needs employer? | Free path | Cost on a $100 advance | Monthly fee | Repayment source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brigit Instant Cash | No | Only by emailing Brigit | $0 standard, up to $5.99 Express on Plus | $8.99 Plus, $15.99 Premium | Your bank account |
| EarnIn Cash Out | No | Standard, usually 1–2 business days, up to 3 | $0 standard, $5.99 Lightning Speed | None | Your bank account |
| Dave ExtraCash | No | None for the advance | $5.00 | Up to $5 | Your Dave or linked bank account |
| Klover | No | Standard, 2–5 business days | $0 standard, up to $9.49 express | Optional, $4.99 | Your bank account |
| Chime MyPay | No, but needs Chime direct deposit | Within 24 hours | $0 scheduled, $3 instant | None | Your Chime account |
| MoneyLion Instacash | No | To MoneyLion Spend, 1–2 business days | $0 standard, $7.50 Turbo to Spend | Optional | Your bank account |
| DailyPay | Yes | Next-business-day ACH or the DailyPay Card | $0 free path, paid instant transfers | None | Your paycheck |
Fees and terms verified 2026-10-31.
For head-to-heads, read Dave vs. Brigit and EarnIn vs. Brigit. Our Dave review, EarnIn review, and Klover review cover each rival. You can compare eight Brigit alternatives in our guide to apps like Brigit, and if your job has no pay-access program, start with earned wage access without an employer.
The Personal Profitability test
Brigit passes our test on its free path and its lack of tips, and fails on its subscription model and its legal record, which earns it a conditional yes for members who use the free option.
- Can you pay $0? Yes, if you email Brigit for an advance without a plan and take standard delivery.
- Is the paid option fair? No. $8.99 for a $72 advance over two weeks is about 326% APR.
- Does repayment protect you? Partly. Brigit offers extension credits, but Brigit debits your bank, not your payroll.
- Are the fees easy to find? Not on the pricing page. Brigit’s terms list the Express Fee range, and its pricing article doesn’t.
- Does it beat a payday loan? Yes. Our guide to earned wage access vs. payday loans shows the gap.
- Does it beat an emergency fund? No. One year of Plus costs $107.88, enough to fund a $100 buffer.
How to sign up for Brigit
You sign up for Brigit in the app by connecting your checking account, then either choosing a plan or emailing Brigit to request an advance with no subscription.
- Download the app from Brigit’s site and create an account.
- Connect the checking account where your paycheck lands.
- For a free advance, email [email protected] and ask for an advance without a subscription.
- If you choose Plus, pick standard delivery to skip the Express Fee.
- Pick a due date you can meet, such as your next payday, and add the date to your calendar.
- Cancel the plan in the app when the gap closes. Brigit charges you for the month you cancel.
Brigit review FAQ: common questions
Is Brigit worth the subscription? Our Brigit review verdict
Our Brigit review lands here: Brigit is worth using through its free email option, and Plus or Premium only make sense if you borrow every month or want Credit Builder anyway. If your employer offers EWA, use that first. If you borrow now and then, a pay-per-use app from our best earned wage access apps roundup costs less. And the $107.88 a year Plus would cost you can build a buffer that makes the next advance unnecessary. See our best on-demand pay apps for every other way to get paid early.
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