What’s the difference between a personal loan and a personal line of credit?

A personal line of credit works a lot like a credit card. There’s a limit to how much credit you can use, it’s available to you on a rolling basis, and the interest rate can be subject to change.

A personal loan, on the other hand, is a fixed amount that you get all at once, with a locked-in interest rate on a fixed repayment term. So instead of borrowing a little here and paying a little back there, you borrow your lump sum all at once, use it for whatever you need, then pay it back in steady monthly increments that don’t change over time.