The 7 Best Buy Now, Pay Later Apps Explained

Gone are the days of layaway. The years of waiting to pay off an item before bringing it home are over. Consumers can now use various “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) apps to purchase their desired products for only one down payment, completing the remaining payments over time while using the product. While this concept has only recently revolutionized online shopping, it’s been around for a while. Home-shopping TV channels, like QVC and HSN, have had options to pay for items over time for several years. The caveat? You could only break up your payments at those home-shopping channels.

Now, with BNPL options available across retailers, free and downloadable BNPL apps make it easy to spread out your payments. Here’s an initial look at seven of the best apps, all of which you can access on desktop or mobile:

With such a variety of options, it might be hard to know which one(s) best suit your shopping habits. To help you decide on the best BNPL app for you, we’ve detailed answers to your common questions ahead, like how many payments are offered using the app? Will signing up impact my credit score? Does the app charge interest? And more.