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https://p2plendingsites.com/
P2PLendingSites.com is a comparison website designed for investors to compare different Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platforms. It offers a detailed and unbiased look at various platforms, comparing key factors such as returns on investments, platform features, and safety measures. Through reviews and comparison, it enables investors to make well-informed, confident decisions about where to invest their money in the P2P lending market.

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Looking for the best European P2P lending platforms in 2023? Compare peer-to-peer investment platforms in Europe here:

Find the best peer-to-peer lending sites for investors in Europe

Do you want to find the best peer-to-peer lending sites for investors? Then you've arrived at the right place. At the top of this page, you can get an overview of the industry's very best P2P lending platforms for investors from around the world.

This means that you can easily compare peer-to-peer lending sites, which allows you to quickly find your best choice and get started with P2P investing as soon as today.

The list of P2P lending platforms on this site consists of the best P2P platforms from Europe. The reason for the focus on Europe is mainly due to the fact that you can find a lot of international peer-to-peer lending sites in Europe that are available for investors from around the world.

Whether you are looking for the best P2P lending platforms in Europe, the United States, or maybe even South Africa, you will be able to find an opportunity that suits your needs. This would not be the case with platforms from the UK or the US, where international investors are often prohibited from joining online investment platforms and investing in P2P loans.

At the same time, compared to Asia and the Americas, the top equity crowdfunding platforms in Europe far outperform in terms of investment returns.

Do you have some questions you want to be answered before you try out a platform? Then take a look below, where you can find a lot of information about the crowdfunding market, what you should be aware of before investing, how you find the best peer-to-peer investing site for your needs, and much more.

What is a P2P lending platform?

A P2P lending platform is an online service within the alternative finance space where investors can invest in loans to other people or businesses that seek capital outside of the traditional banking system.

Here, investors usually invest a small amount of money into a large number of different loans. This means that each investor contributes only a little bit to each P2P loan. Therefore, it is not unusual for a P2P loan to be backed by hundreds of investors.

The concept of P2P investing is very similar to other crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter, where a lot of people come together to back up interesting projects. But instead of backing cool projects and maybe getting a product at the same time, P2P investors are lending out money with the expectation of earning a return on their invested capital. The returns can vary greatly, but it has actually been possible to earn a +10% annual return over the past few years by using some of the best peer-to-peer lending platforms in Europe.

Instead of getting financing from banks, P2P investing platforms make it possible for individuals and businesses to raise money in an alternative way.

Types of Peer-to-Peer lending sites for investors

There are many different types of peer-to-peer lending sites. Investors that want to get started with investing in P2P loans should take some time to understand and compare peer-to-peer lending platforms by type.

While it is possible to find P2P lending platforms in Europe that are only focused on one thing, most digital lending platforms give investors access to invest in multiple types of P2P loans.

1. Real estate lending platforms

Real estate lending platforms have gained a lot of popularity over the past years.

This is probably due to the fact that real estate P2P lending platforms generally are very safe. On most platforms, the projects are protected with a mortgage or other collateral.
Examples of real estate lending platforms:
When investing in this type of Peer-to-Peer lending site, your investments are very dependent on the overall real estate market.

2. Consumer lending platforms

Consumer lending platforms are the largest category of P2P lending platforms in Europe and internationally. This is probably due to the fact that Peer-to-Peer lending started out as consumer lending and later expanded to other areas.

When you invest on Peer-to-Peer lending websites for consumer and personal loans, your investments are often protected by a buyback guarantee.
Examples of consumer lending platforms:
Before deciding to invest in P2P lending platforms focused on consumer lending, you should be aware that this is the category of platforms where most have failed.

3. Business lending platforms

Business lending platforms are another interest category of Peer-to-Peer lending companies in Europe. Here investors can invest in loans to promising startups. Most business lending is focused on SME financing.
Examples of business lending platforms:
Investing in business financing can be very risky and you should take some time to investigate who you are lending to.

4. Crypto lending platforms

Crypto P2P lending platforms are one of the newest types of platforms for alternative lending. Here, investors can lend cryptos and earn high interest rates.

Using a crypto lending platform involves a lot of risk due to the nature of cryptos. You should consider very carefully if you really want to lend out your cryptos with the potential of losing your money.
Examples of crypto P2P lending platforms:
As Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency, most of the lending in crypto happens on Bitcoin P2P lending platforms. But you will also be able to find other platforms that are based on Defi and smart contracts to lend

What is the best P2P lending site?

According to AltFi's People Choice Award, the best P2P lending site is Mintos. Over the past few years, Mintos has consistently won this award, where investors are encouraged to pick and vote for their favorite peer-to-peer lending companies. With hundreds of thousands of investors on its platform, Mintos is indeed one of the most popular P2P platforms for investing in P2P lending.

However, depending on your investment goals and other factors, you will maybe be able to find an even better platform to invest with.

Mintos is a European P2P lending platform that is only available outside of the United States. If you live in the US, you should instead take a look at some other great platforms like LendingClub and Prosper.

Top 10 P2P lending platforms in Europe

Remember that though the companies mentioned above are from Europe, many of them are available for investors from all over the world. You can learn more about the platforms in the P2P website list at the top of this page.

Other crowdlending platforms in Europe

The list of crowdlending platforms in Europe is long, and a lot more great P2P platforms are launching each year. In the following you can see some more decent P2P lending marketplaces:

While the platforms listed above didn't make it into the top 10 list of the best European P2P lending platforms, they are also worth considering - especially if you want to use more than one platform.

Use these factors to compare peer-to-peer lending platforms

If you are searching for the best P2P lending platforms in Europe, for your investment needs, you should carefully evaluate the platforms you consider on various factors. You should look at the risk/reward ratio and the different features available on the platform. Here are some of the factors you should compare peer-to-peer lending sites with:

Protection: As a P2P investor you would want to invest via a safe reliable platform. Therefore, the protection scheme of the platform is a factor you should consider in order to determine where the least amount of risk is present.

Average interest rate: By looking at the average interest rate on the platform, you can learn how much you can earn on the platform. This factor is should be determined together with the protection in order to determine the risk/reward level.

Transparency of the platform: As the P2P lending market is very new and without much regulation, it is important that nothing is hidden from investors. When you go through the list of the best P2P crowdlending platforms in Europe at the top of the page you should remember to prioritize, the most transparent platforms.

Skin in the game: If a loan originator has a high amount of skin in the game, it shows confidence in the loans. In general, more skin in the game is preferred.

Years on the market: An older platform with a long and clean track record is generally more trustworthy than the platform that launched last month.

Number of investors: In general the best peer-to-peer lending sites provide the most value to investors, and are able to attract a lot of investors.

Auto invest: Having an auto investment feature makes it possible for P2P investors to create a passive income stream.

Exit opportunities: With any change of circumstance, P2P lenders should have the option to leave the platform with the help of a secondary market or similar.

To find the best peer-to-peer lending sites in Europe, all the above factors should been analyzed and taken into careful consideration.

Who can invest via European P2P lending sites?

The P2P companies featured on this website are primarily targeting European investors. However, if you are an investor from outside of Europe, a large number of P2P lending platforms in Europe are actually available to you as well.

In order to invest via most of the platforms, you will generally have to comply with the following:

Be at least 18 years old

Have a bank account within the European Economic Area (EAA)

If you are an international investor from outside of Europe, you can start your platform research by looking at the P2P lending list at the top of this page. Here you can simply sort out all the P2P websites that are only available in Europe.

From here, you can either contact the companies of your interest to hear if the platform is available in your country, and how you can start to invest. Alternatively, you can also check out each Peer-to-Peer lending platforms review, where it is sometimes stated which countries can actually invest.

Top countries for P2P lending and crowdlending in Europe

According to data from Google Trends, P2P lending and crowdlending is most popular in Western Europe. The following 15 countries are where people search the most for P2P lending and crowdlending-related topics:

All the aforementioned countries are listed in no particular order and investors from these countries are typically all allowed to invest via the European P2P platforms listed on this website.

Is P2P lending a good investment?

Investing in P2P lending is a great way to diversify and increase the overall returns on investments in your portfolio. And in today's low-interest-rate environment, P2P lending is a great alternative asset class that offers very attractive returns.

However, if you want to start investing in loans via either national or international P2P lending sites, you should also be aware that this form of investment comes with substantial risks that are worth some consideration.

Some of the main risks include:

The borrowers can default on their loans. A high default rate can be very costly.

The loan originator can go bankrupt with you being unable to recover the funds.

The peer-to-peer lending platform can go bankrupt with you being unable to recover the funds.

Other unforeseeable events can also occur and make you lose a substantial amount of your invested money.

Fortunately, you can do a lot to minimize the risks. But it is very important to understand that even though P2P lending can be a great addition to your overall portfolio, there are some major risks involved when investing in loans of some of the European P2P lending platforms.

What return can you get from Peer-to-Peer investing?

With most investments, the return you get corresponds with the risk you are taking. So if you are only willing to take a small bit of risk, the return you can expect from your investments will also be small - and vice versa.

For investors looking for the highest return possible, we have some of the best Peer-to-Peer lending platforms for investors in Europe been able to consistently earn +10% returns for a number of years in a row. However, the returns are not necessarily going to stay the same over the coming years.

The returns can also vary a lot depending on where you chose to invest. However, most of the largest P2P lending platforms have a statistics page where you can see what the average return among investors has been. This can give you a very good indication of what kind of return you can get.

The return from using some of the best P2P investment platforms is definitely higher than what a "risk-free" investment in AAA-rated bonds from ECB yields. But you just have to keep in mind that Peer-to-Peer investing is nowhere as safe as investing in government-issued bonds.

How much money do you need for Peer-to-Peer lending?

Most P2P lending platforms require very little cash for investors to use their platform. If you want to invest in Peer-to-Peer lending, you don't need more than around €5-10 to get started.

But be aware that if start investing with just a few euros, your return will very likely quickly be diminished by various transaction fees to and from your account. Preferably, you should first start investing via Peer-to-Peer lending platforms when you have some more cash to invest.

You could for example aim at a minimum of €100 per transaction. Generally, the larger the transactions the better it is in terms of not wasting your money on various bank fees.

When you send money to a European P2P lending site, it is often a good idea to send the money in the currency you intend to invest with on the platform. Otherwise, you will often have to pay even higher currency exchange fees on the platform than those you will have to pay to your bank.

Can you get rich from Peer-to-Peer lending?

Investing in P2P loans typically comes with higher interest rates than what you will get from your bank. However, the high reward comes with an increased risk of losing your capital as well.

While the yields from investments in P2P loans historically have been higher than the interest rates in the bank, you probably won't become rich by just investing via one of the many P2P lending platforms out there.

However, if you each month put aside a substantial amount of your income for investments, you can substantially increase your odds of becoming rich. Here you must keep in mind that it is rarely a clever idea to put all your capital into one type of investment.

Instead, it is often a good idea to diversify your investment between multiple types of investments such as stocks, bonds, gold, etc. From here you can further diversify your portfolio by using a European Peer-to-Peer lending platform to invest money in loans - but only if it suits your investment goals.

For most people, it would probably be a good idea to start out investing in more traditional assets that have stood the testing of time and then maybe invest a small.

At the end of the day, you just have to remember, that the higher reward that is possible to get from investment opportunities in this industry, does also involve a higher risk of losing your money. Your capital is at risk, so never put your entire nest egg in P2P lending in the pursuit of becoming rich.

Which P2P lending platform(s) to choose?

But what is the best Peer-to-Peer lending site, you might consider? If so, it's your lucky day. In the following, we are going to explain everything about just that.

When choosing between even some of the best Peer-to-Peer investment platforms, there are a number of things to consider. Which platform you should use depends a lot on your situation and the goals you have with your investments.

But other factors such as where you are from, also play a role in which platform you should choose. Let's look at some of the important factors to consider in the search for the best crowdlending platforms for you.

1. Location

Which P2P lending firms you should look at is largely based on where in the world you live. This is due to the fact that a number of platforms only can be used in a limited geographical area.

For example, many Peer-to-Peer lending platforms in the US, such as LendingClub and Prosper, are only available to investors from the United States. Conversely, investors from the US may not always be allowed to invest through European P2P lending sites.

So when you are looking to find the best platform for you, it's important to be aware of where it is available and whether you can use it or not. You can read more about this in our platform reviews.

There is an increasing tendency for P2P lending websites to offer Peer-to-Peer lending for international investors. This means that almost no matter where you are from, it is possible to find a great platform.

2. Currency

Another thing you should be aware of is that P2P lending companies in some cases only provide loans in a particular currency. For example, it can be USD, EUR, or even PLN.

Many investors tend to invest exclusively through their own currency. It is perceived as the safest. However, for a European investor, it may be a good idea to invest both in USD, EUR, and perhaps even a third national currency. This can help to minimize currency risk.

But before investing all your money in some small national currency, you should take a look at how stable the currency is in relation to your own. Because, if the currency constantly falls in value compared to your own currency, then it is perhaps best to keep your Peer-to-Peer investments in your own currency.

3. Time horizon

Before you throw your money into the first and best P2P investment, it is also important that you consider your time horizon. It is not all Peer-to-Peer lending websites that give you the opportunity to withdraw your money ahead of time. And if you need to do so, it can sometimes cost a large fee.

Fortunately, the vast majority of the top lending sites allow you to withdraw your money ahead of time. So whether you are in it for the long-term or prefer short-term Peer-to-Peer investing, you have the confidence of being able to withdraw your money ahead of time, if necessary.

If you are in doubt about your time horizon, look for a P2P marketplace that has a secondary market. You can check if a platform has a secondary market in our Peer-to-Peer lending sites list at the top of the page.

4. Loan types

Before you lend through P2P lending platforms, you should also consider what type of loans you want to invest in. There are a number of different P2P loan types to consider:

Some different loan types include:

Personal loans

Business loans

Car loans

Small loans

Short-term loans

Pawnbroking loans

Bridge loans

Home loans

Invoice financing

Student loans

Mortgage loans

Agricultural loans

Microloans

Consider whether some of the loan types are better suited to your portfolio than others. For example, if you want to invest in mortgage loans or real estate development projects, it may be a good idea to use one of the specialized real estate Peer-to-Peer lending platforms. Would you rather have personal loans in the portfolio? Then use one of the many Peer-to-Peer payday loan providers. You get the point.

Like most, you might just want to diversify your portfolio in order to minimize your risk. You do this best by choosing at least 2-3 different specialized Peer-to-Peer investing sites. Alternatively, you can also find a platform that offers many different types of loans.

5. Buyback guarantee

Many Peer-to-Peer loan platforms have started offering a buyback guarantee. That means either the P2P loan sites or the loan originators must repurchase the loans if a borrower is unable to repay. In our opinion, some of the best P2P lending sites for investors are those offering a buyback guarantee.

However, you must always be aware that a buyback guarantee is only as valid as the company behind it. Therefore, it is always a good idea to use some of the top Peer-to-Peer lending sites in the industry.

6. One or multiple P2P platforms

Having both some P2P payday loans and a bit of Peer-to-Peer investment property in your portfolio can be a really good idea. The first can be achieved with the platforms you can find in the overview at the top of this page, while the latter can be achieved by using real estate crowdfunding platforms.

As previously mentioned, good diversification can best be achieved by investing via several P2P platforms. However, there are also platforms like Mintos, where you can find almost all loan types.

If you are serious about starting to lend out your money, we recommend that you go to our P2P lending comparison section, at the top of the page, choose 2-3 platforms that specialize in different things, and invest through those. It is probably the best way to achieve good P2P investment diversification.

But if you just want to try your hand at P2P lending, then it might also be a good idea to simply choose a good all-around platform like Mintos.

Safest P2P lending platforms in Europe

It is impossible to definitively determine the safest P2P lending platforms in Europe. There are simply too many unknown factors. The only way to determine the safety of a platform is by looking at the track record. Here are some of the safest P2P lending platforms in Europe based on track record:
Safest P2P lending platforms in Europe:
No investment is without any risk, and even if you only invest your money on the safest P2P lending platforms, you can still end up losing some or all of your capital.

But you can significantly minimize the overall risks by doing a bit of due diligence and finding the best peer-to-peer lending website for investors in your country to invest with.

How to find a safe P2P lending platform?

If you are looking to find the safest P2P lending platforms in Europe to invest with, there are a number of indicators to look at before investing. Ask yourself at least some of the following questions before you invest:

How many years has the platform been on the market?

Does the platform have a long and great track record?

Is the platform transparent with its activities?

Who is behind the platform?

How are the contracts between investors, lending companies, and the platform?

How well are your funds protected on the platform?

There are a number of crowdlending platforms that are quite safe to invest in. You can find the most suitable option for you in the Peer-to-Peer lending sites comparison at the top of this page.

Most common P2P lending platforms risks to look out for:

There are a number of common P2P lending platforms risks to look out for when selecting where to invest your money. The following are some of the most common risks:

The company behind the P2P lending website can go bankrupt.

The lending companies that have loans on the platform can go bankrupt.

The borrowers can default on their loans and be unable to repay you.

Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of P2P lending platforms where one or more of the things mentioned above have gone wrong and investors have lost money. It is therefore crucial that you actually take the time to identify the best sites to ensure that you get the best conditions to invest with.

How do P2P platforms make money?

Generally speaking, most P2P platforms make money by either charging an upfront fee for investors and/or by charging the borrower a fee.
The investors on European P2P platforms are often charged fees such as:

Investment fees

Secondary market fees

Currency exchange fees

The borrowers/loan originators on the P2P platforms are often charged fees such as:

Administration fees

Origination fees

Overdue payment fees

Platform fees

On some of the best crowdlending platforms in Europe, investing is completely free, and all the rates and fees are charged to the borrower or loan originator. This means that it is easy for you as an investor to actually know how much you can potentially earn on each investment.

Is P2P lending legal?

In most places P2P lending is legal. However, the regulation of the industry widely depends on a number of factors such as where the crowdlending platform is located, who can invest in it, securities law considerations, and more.

In Europe, there are only very few regulations on the industry compared to other places like the United States where the SEC regulates the industry.

How you can use this website

It is our mission to help investors compare and find the best P2P sites for their needs. In order to find the best possible platform, you can benefit from using the following process:

1. Compare Peer-to-Peer lending sites

The focal point of our website is to make it easy to compare P2P lending platforms. At the top of this page, you can, therefore, find a huge list of firms in the industry. This allows you to easily find your best match.

As part of your platform research, we also recommend that you look at other P2P investing websites, such as this one, that write about the various P2P platforms featured on our site. If you compare information from several places, you will probably have a better foundation for choosing the right platform for your needs.

On our website, in the section for P2P investing comparison, you can compare the different platforms based on these relevant points:

Compare the following points:

Average return

Where the platform is available

Minimum investment

Year the platform has launched

If there is a secondary market

Whether auto-invest is possible

Whether a buyback guarantee is possible

If an investment bonus is available

Note: The contents of the items in our list of Peer-to-Peer lending sites are indicative. For example, a bonus might be mentioned. But if you want to know the circumstances under which it applies, you can read more about this in our P2P lending platform reviews. You can get to the review of the individual provider directly from the overview at the top of this page.

2. Read P2P lending platform reviews

If you have found a crowdinvesting platform that immediately meets your requirements, we actually recommend you do more in-depth research.

You can do this by reading a Peer-to-Peer lending sites review. A link to a review of an individual platform can be found just below the descriptive points about the platform at the top of the page.

In the reviews you can see our ratings on the following points:

Risk/reward

Beginner-friendliness

Investor protection

Return

In addition, you can find pros and cons about the platform, a brief summary, what the platform really specializes in, and much more.

We also typically include some tips and tricks. These will help you avoid common pitfalls, and get started crowdinvesting in the best possible way.

3. Choose your desired P2P lending platform

Once you've made a comparison of P2P lending platforms and read some reviews, it's time for you to choose.

We recommend choosing at least 2-3 different platforms. It will help you minimize your platform risk. But if you just want to dip your toes a bit in the crowdlending world, then you can of course also just try it out with a good all-around platform like Mintos.
Are you ready to go to our Peer-to-Peer lending comparison section? Press the button below to get to the top of the page. Here you can find some of the very best crowdlending sites, read reviews about them, and maybe even get started with P2P investing today:
Frequently asked questions

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16 Best Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending Sites in Europe - 2023

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Looking for the best peer-to-peer lending sites for investors? Use this website to compare the best P2P lending platforms in Europe.