Quick answer: how do I check my business credit score for free?

Nav's free plan is the most direct route to a first look. As of 2026-10-06, the Free plan costs $0 and shows business credit summaries from all three bureaus. Dun & Bradstreet also lists a free tier of D&B Credit Insights at $0. A summary is a snapshot, not full monitoring, and for a new LLC with no reporting accounts yet, a snapshot is often all there is to see. Paid monitoring makes more sense once the business has something to watch.

Where does monitoring fit for a new LLC?

The SBA lays out five steps for building business credit. First, choose a business structure that makes the company a distinct legal entity, such as an LLC, LLP or corporation. Second, obtain an EIN, which the SBA says can be applied for free through the IRS assistance tool. Third, open a business bank account. Fourth, establish credit with vendors and suppliers who report. Fifth, monitor business credit reports.

Monitoring comes last for a reason. It watches a file that already exists, and a brand-new company has little or nothing in it. The SBA also describes starting to build credit in the company's own name as the foundation for keeping business and personal finances separate.

This is the stage where ZenBusiness is relevant, and only here. It does not sell credit monitoring, a card or any credit-building service. What it covers are the first two steps in the SBA's order, forming the entity and handling the EIN, and it offers a free accounting consultation to customers who form with it. A reader who has not yet formed the company is better served finishing those steps before choosing any monitoring product.

The IRS issues an EIN for free. Paying a third party for the number itself is never necessary.

What does Nav offer?

Nav is a business credit monitoring service. As of 2026-10-06, it has four plans:

  • Free: $0
  • Track: $39.99 per month
  • Build: $49.99 per month
  • Expand: $74.99 per month

The free tier is the part that answers how to check business credit for free. It shows business credit summaries from all three bureaus, so a reader can see what each bureau holds without paying.

Nav's pricing page lists what the paid tiers add beyond that. The names suggest a progression from tracking to building to expanding, but the names are not a feature list, so read what each tier includes before paying.

Nav also matters for a reader looking at Equifax. Equifax does not sell business credit reports directly. Its monitoring is sold through Nav, so a reader who wants Equifax monitoring may end up on Nav regardless.

What is a free summary good for, and what is it not?

A summary tells a reader whether a business file exists and what a bureau shows at that moment. That is useful for confirming that a new LLC is recognized, and for catching an error early. It is not the same as continuous monitoring, which watches the file and flags changes over time.

For a new LLC, the free tier covers most of what there is to learn. The case for a paid plan grows once the company has a bank account, reporting vendor accounts or a card, because then there is activity to track.

Nav's pricing page is where to check whether a given tier includes score changes, alerts or other features. The free tier shows summaries from all three bureaus, and paid plans start at $39.99 per month.

How does Nav compare with the other options?

The list below is alphabetical, which is not a ranking. Each figure is dated as of 2026-10-06.

Dun & Bradstreet lists D&B Credit Insights with a Free tier at $0. The paid tiers are Basic at $49 per month or $499 per year, Plus at $149 per month or $1,499 per year, and Premium at $199 per month or $1,999 per year. The CreditSignal name has been retired.

Equifax lists $49.99 for a one-time report and monitoring from $39.99 per month. It sells through approved resellers: eCredable for the one-time report and Nav for monitoring. That is a real difference from Experian and Dun & Bradstreet, which sell their own reports.

Experian sells its own reports. The CreditScore Report is $59.95 and the ProfilePlus Report is $69.95, both one-off. Business Credit Advantage is $199 per year and Business CreditScore Pro is $1,995 per year.

Nav's free tier is the broadest no-cost option, because it covers all three bureaus in one place. Where a reader wants a report straight from one bureau, going to that bureau directly is the cleaner route, and that is the one concession worth making.

Do the card and spend providers matter here?

Not for monitoring, though they come up in any search on this subject. They matter because the SBA's third and fourth steps, the bank account and the reporting accounts, are what give a monitoring tool something to watch.

American Express sells business credit cards. Annual fees vary by card, so no single figure applies, and each card's own page lists its fee.

Brex is a corporate card and spend platform. Essentials is free, Premium is $12 per user per month and Enterprise is quote-only.

Chase issues business cards and sells business banking. Business Complete Banking is $15 per month, Performance Business Checking is $40 per month and Platinum Business Checking is $95 per month. Each fee is waivable on stated balance or activity conditions.

Ramp is a corporate card and spend platform. Its Free plan is $0 per user per month, Plus is $15 per user per month and Enterprise is quote-only. The corporate card itself is free on every tier.

What happened to the D-U-N-S number?

Much of the content on this topic gets this wrong. The General Services Administration announced that on April 4, 2022, SAM.gov and its other systems would switch to the Unique Entity ID, which is obtained at SAM.gov. The federal government no longer uses the D-U-N-S number as its identifier.

The number has not disappeared. It remains Dun & Bradstreet's own commercial identifier and still matters for D&B credit files. A reader who needs a federal identifier goes to SAM.gov, and one who wants a D&B file will still meet the D-U-N-S number.

What should be avoided when looking for credit help?

Some services promise fast business credit for a fee. The FTC says banks and other legitimate lenders will not promise or guarantee a loan or credit before an application. It also says any up-front fee collected before a loan is granted is a cue to walk away, especially one described as insurance, processing or paperwork.

The FTC lists ad language used by scam operators, including "Bad credit? No problem" and "No hassle, guaranteed." A monitoring subscription is a different thing from a guarantee. A bureau or reseller selling monitoring is selling visibility into a file, not an outcome, and no plan can promise to build credit on its own.

Is Nav worth it for a new LLC?

The free plan is, because it costs nothing and shows summaries from all three bureaus. The paid plans are a harder case for a company with no reporting accounts, since there is little to monitor, and what each paid tier adds is set out on Nav's pricing page.

A sensible order is the SBA's: form the entity, get the EIN, open a separate business account, set up vendor accounts that report, and then consider paid monitoring. Until then, the free tiers from Nav and D&B are enough to see what exists.

Sources

This is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice, and requirements vary and change.