You have more than one credit score, and the one in your app may not be the one a lender pulls. Here's how the three most common models weigh your credit, side by side.
Pick one to see which model you're probably looking at.
The weights below will highlight the model that matches.
These are the general weights FICO and VantageScore publish. They're a guide, not a formula: FICO says how much each category matters can vary from one person to another. FICO's mortgage, auto and card versions and FICO 10T use the same five categories, but FICO doesn't publish separate percentages for them.
The two biggest pieces of every model are paying on time and how much of your available credit you're using. Neither one is a credit trick. Both come down to knowing what's coming in, what's due and when, before the bill shows up.
A missed payment usually isn't about not caring. It's a due date that landed before payday, or a card that quietly carried this month's groceries. A spending plan puts those dates and balances where you can see them.
The bigger differences between models are in what data they read and how far back they look.
FICO 8 and VantageScore 3.0 look at your balances as of the latest report. VantageScore 4.0 looks back up to two years, and FICO 10T also uses trended data.
Paying a card down steadily shows up as a pattern, not a one-month blip.
FICO needs an account at least six months old and some activity in the last six months. VantageScore can score you with a single account on file, even a new one.
Just starting out? You may have a VantageScore before you have a FICO.
The newer models can include rent payments when they're reported to the credit bureaus. Most rent isn't reported unless your landlord or a rent-reporting service sends it.
On-time rent only helps if it's on your report.
For decades, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans required Classic FICO. That's changing. Updated October 2026.
The agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac picks FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 as the newer scores for their loans.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac start accepting VantageScore 4.0 from approved lenders in a limited rollout. FHA says it will allow both newer models.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac expand VantageScore 4.0 after being told to approve all lenders to use it.
FHA loans can use VantageScore 4.0 or FICO 10T alongside Classic FICO.
FICO 10T for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.
Until your lender switches, expect Classic FICO: one older FICO version from each of the three bureaus, with the middle score usually deciding your rate.
IDKmy budget
Paying off debt? Start by seeing what you've got to work with. Enter your take-home pay, put your bills and minimum payments in first, and assign every dollar after that with a zero-based spending plan. Whatever's left is what you can throw at your balances.
Try MyBudget →Book a free 45-minute session. We'll build a spending plan around your real take-home pay and payments, so you know what you can put toward your balances each month.
Not ready for a call? Get a free budget review.
Weights. FICO: myFICO, What's in my FICO Scores. VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0: VantageScore, The Complete Guide to Your VantageScore. The "side by side" view is IDK's own grouping so the models can be compared: FICO's amounts owed is compared with VantageScore's utilization, balances and available credit; FICO's length of history and credit mix with VantageScore's depth of credit; FICO's new credit with VantageScore's recent credit. "Paying on time + keeping debt low" adds payment history to that debt group.
Which score. FICO Score 8 is the version most widely used by lenders, and mortgage lenders use FICO Score 2, 5 and 4 from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion: myFICO, FICO Score versions. Free apps: Credit Karma and Chase Credit Journey show VantageScore 3.0. Score ranges and minimum scoring rules: Experian.
Mortgages. FHFA's October 2022 decision; FHFA and HUD, April 22, 2026; ICBA, September 11, 2026 (FHA's January 1, 2027 date and the expansion to all lenders).
This page explains how scoring models work in general. It can't estimate your score; only a score pulled from your own credit report can.