Dave is worth using if your income is gig work or irregular, or if you plan to bank with it. Skip it if you only need $25 to $100 now and then: the fees take 10% to 40% of a small advance, and the cheaper apps below do the same job.
Dave ExtraCash at a glance
Best for gig income and advances of $300 or moreThe takeaway A $100 advance costs $10 before any express fee: the $5 fee plus up to $5 for the month of membership. At $300 or more, the 5% fee is a fair price for same-day money.
Fees and limits are from Dave’s own site and disclosures at this update. Dave says plainly that few members qualify for the full $500.
Dave is one of the best-known cash advance apps in the country, and its pitch is simple: up to $500 before payday with no interest, no credit check and no late fees. That part is true. What the ads leave out is that every ExtraCash advance now carries a mandatory fee of $5 or 5%, whichever is bigger, on top of a membership that runs up to $5 a month. If you take $100, you are handing back $10 of it in fees before you even think about the optional express charge.
That does not make Dave a bad app. It makes Dave a mid-priced app that is sold as a nearly free one, and it means a few competitors will get you the same $100 for less. Here is what Dave actually costs today, straight from its own disclosures, who it still makes sense for, and the apps we would try first.
What is Dave ExtraCash?
Dave launched in 2017 as a tip-based overdraft alternative, and ExtraCash is still the reason most people download it. Technically it is not a loan. Dave opens a small deposit account for you at its partner bank, lets that account go negative by up to $500, and calls the negative balance an overdraft. The distinction matters for regulators more than it matters for you. From your side it works like every other cash advance app: you link the bank account your paycheck lands in, Dave reads your income and spending, and it offers you an amount it thinks you can cover on your next payday.
Dave uses its own model, which it calls CashAI, to size that offer from 180 or more data points, including gig and irregular income, so freelancers and DoorDash drivers are not shut out the way they are at EarnIn. The offer you see in the app is good for 24 hours, and most new users start well below the $500 ceiling. That is normal for this category. Every app raises your limit as it watches you repay on time.
Alongside ExtraCash, Dave bundles a checking account with early direct deposit, a Goals savings account, a side hustle board, and low balance alerts. Those extras are fine, but they are not why you are here, and none of them are worth paying for on their own.
What Dave costs, with the math done
Dave updated its disclosures on April 2 of this year, and the fee structure is now the most important thing to understand about the app. There are three separate charges, and two of them are not optional.
| Fee | Amount | When it applies | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Membership | Up to $5 a month | Required to use ExtraCash. It renews on the date you joined and keeps billing until you cancel | Cancel in the app when you stop borrowing |
| ExtraCash fee | $5 or 5%, whichever is greater | Every advance. Dave lists it as an overdraft fee and adds it to the balance you repay on settlement day | You cannot, apart from the first-advance promo |
| Express fee | Shown in the app before you confirm. Dave’s site lists an optional 1.5% fee for external debit card transfers | Only if you send the money to an outside debit card to get it within the hour | Use Dave Checking, free in seconds, or an outside bank, free in up to 3 business days |
| Tips | Optional | Offered when you take an advance | Skip it. Dave says your limit does not depend on whether you tip |
Dave used to charge $1 a month for membership, and a lot of older reviews still say so. That number is gone.
Here is what that looks like on real amounts, assuming you skip the express fee and the tip:
| Advance | Fees | Cost as a percent |
|---|---|---|
| $25 | $10: $5 fee plus $5 membership | 40% |
| $100 | $10: $5 fee plus $5 membership | 10% |
| $500 | $30: $25 fee plus $5 membership | 6% |
Dave gets cheaper as the advance gets bigger, and it is a reasonable deal at $300 or more. At the small end, where most new members actually start, it is one of the pricier apps on the market.
For comparison, EarnIn charges no monthly fee and no per-advance fee, so a $100 cash out costs $0 if you can wait 1 to 3 business days, or from $3.99 if you want it in minutes. MoneyLion Instacash has no membership either, and its Turbo delivery runs $0.49 to $8.99. Dave’s first-advance promo, which waives the ExtraCash fee and the first month of membership, closes the gap for exactly one advance and then the regular pricing kicks in.
How Dave ExtraCash works, step by step
The setup takes about ten minutes if your bank connects cleanly.
Before you start Link the account where your income arrives. Dave reads the last couple of months of activity to build your offer.
The ExtraCash tab tells you whether you are eligible and for how much. The offer is valid for 24 hours, and you can take less than the maximum.
Then you pick where the money goes. Dave Checking is instant and free. Your own bank is free but takes up to 3 business days. Your own debit card is within 1 hour for the express fee.
Dave picks your next payday as the settlement date by default. On that date, or earlier if your deposit shows up early, it pulls the advance plus the fee from your linked account.
One thing to know before you sign up: the ExtraCash balance is repayable on demand. In practice Dave waits for your settlement date, and if the money is not there it retries on the next day it sees enough funds, without charging a late fee. But the account agreement gives Dave a security interest in any money you hold with it, so a balance in Dave Checking or Goals can be used to cover an unpaid advance. Keep that in mind if you plan to use Dave as your everyday bank.
MoreIs Dave legit?
Who Dave is right for
- Your income is gig work, tips or irregular deposits and EarnIn cannot verify your earnings
- You will move your direct deposit to Dave Checking, which makes every advance instant and free to deliver
- You borrow $300 or more at a time, where the 5% fee is a fair price for same-day money
- You need $25 to $100 once in a while, where the $5 minimum fee plus membership is a 10% to 40% haircut
- You want to keep your current bank and get the money fast, since that route adds the express fee
- You are paid W-2 on a set schedule, because EarnIn or Current will do the same job for free
Better alternatives to Dave right now
Dave’s advance limit is competitive. Its pricing is not. The apps below all skip the credit check and the interest the same way Dave does, and most of them beat it on either the monthly fee, the per-advance fee, or both. Dave is the first row of the table so you can compare each one against it.
| App | Max advance | Monthly fee | Fee per advance | Instant delivery fee | Free delivery time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave | $25 to $500 | Up to $5 | $5 or 5%, whichever is greater | Shown in the app | Up to 3 business days, or seconds to Dave Checking |
 EarnIn | $200 a day, $1,000 a pay period | $0 | $0 | From $3.99 | 1 to 3 business days |
 Current | $25 to $1,000 | $0 | $0 | Shown in the app | Within 3 days |
 MoneyLion Instacash | $500, or $1,000 with MoneyLion direct deposit | $0 | $0 | $0.49 to $8.99 per $100 | 2 to 5 business days |
 Tilt | $10 to $500 | $8 after a 14-day trial | $0 | $1 to $8, or 3% at $300 and up | About 1 business day |
 Brigit | $25 to $500 | $8.99 or $15.99 | $0 | Small fee, free on the $15.99 plan | Up to 3 business days |
 Grant | $25 to $500 | $9.99, or free by email | $0 | $2 to $21 | About 3 business days |
Limits and fees are from each app’s own site and terms at this update. Each app sets your limit, and most people start below the maximum.
EarnIn
Cheapest if you are paid on a regular scheduleCompared with Dave No membership and no per-advance fee. A $100 cash out costs $0 if you can wait 1 to 3 business days, against $10 at Dave.
The catch EarnIn has to confirm your earnings with a work email or location tracking, which shuts out most self-employed people. Our EarnIn review walks through how the verification works.
Current
Best if you will move your direct depositCompared with Dave A higher ceiling than Dave, $1,000 against $500, with no membership and no per-advance fee. If you were going to switch banks for Dave anyway, Current is the cheaper version of that decision.
The catch You need payroll deposits of $200 or more landing in a Current account, and instant delivery costs a fee shown in the app. Read our Current review for the full picture.
Paycheck Advance is offered by Finco Advance LLC to eligible customers only. Current is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Member FDIC, and/or Cross River Bank, Member FDIC.
MoneyLion Instacash
Best with no membership and no bank switchCompared with Dave No monthly fee, no per-advance fee and no need to change banks. Wait 2 to 5 business days and the advance costs nothing.
The catch You can take only $100 per request, and Turbo delivery to an outside account runs $1.99 to $8.99 each time. Our MoneyLion review covers the Credit Builder Plus side too.
Tilt
Best if you borrow most monthsCompared with Dave Tilt, formerly Empower, charges a flat $8 a month and no per-advance fee. That beats Dave’s $5 plus 5% once you are taking a few hundred dollars regularly.
The catch The $8 bills every month whether you borrow or not, and Tilt says its average first offer is $96. Details in our Tilt review.
Brigit
Best if overdrafts are the real problemCompared with Dave Brigit charges no per-advance fee, and it warns you when your balance looks too low to cover your expenses, so you can request an advance before an overdraft hits.
The catch It costs more per month than Dave, $8.99 or $15.99 depending on the plan, and money in minutes costs a small extra fee unless you are on the $15.99 plan. See our Brigit review.
Grant
Best for a second opinion on your limitCompared with Dave Worth a try if Dave’s CashAI offered you less than you hoped. Grant Plus is $9.99 a month with no per-advance fee, or you can ask for a free advance by email.
The catch First advances are small. Grant’s own data puts the average at $66 for first-time users. Read our Grant review.
Want more options than these six? Our best cash advance apps list ranks the whole category.
The bottom line on Dave
Dave is a cash advance app that fronts $25 to $500 before payday through its ExtraCash account, with no interest, no credit check and no late fees, bundled with a checking account and a savings goal tool.
We rate it 4 stars. The $500 ceiling, the 5-minute approval and the willingness to work with gig income make Dave one of the more accessible apps out there. But the mandatory $5 or 5% fee plus up to $5 a month makes it one of the pricier ones on small advances.
Try EarnIn or Current first if you are paid on a schedule. Use Dave if your income is irregular or you will bank with it, and sign up at dave.com.
Common questions about Dave
On small advances, almost anything. EarnIn has no monthly fee and free standard delivery, so a $100 cash out costs $0, or $3.99 if you want it in minutes, against $10 at Dave once you add the $5 fee and the membership. Current has no subscription and a $1,000 ceiling if you move your direct deposit. MoneyLion Instacash has no membership and its Turbo delivery runs $0.49 to $8.99. Grant is the one to try if Dave offered you less than you need. Our apps like Dave roundup compares them all.
Two required charges and one optional one. Every advance carries a fee of $5 or 5% of the amount, whichever is greater, and the Dave membership runs up to $5 a month. Express delivery to an outside debit card adds a fee that Dave shows in the app before you confirm; transfers into Dave Checking are free and instant, and transfers to an outside bank are free in up to 3 business days. Tips are optional. Dave updated these disclosures on April 2 of this year, so any review quoting a $1 membership is out of date.
No. Dave does not run a credit check at any point, and repaying an advance does not build credit either. Eligibility comes from the bank account you link, where Dave reads your income and spending to size an offer between $25 and $500. If you want an advance that also reports to the bureaus, MoneyLion Credit Builder Plus and Brigit both offer a credit-builder track alongside the advance.
Approval typically takes under 5 minutes. Where the money goes decides how fast it arrives: seconds into a Dave Checking account with no fee, within 1 hour to your own debit card for the express fee, or up to 3 business days to your own bank account for free. If speed without a fee is the priority and you would rather not open a Dave account, EarnIn gets standard transfers there in 1 to 3 days at no cost.
Yes. Dave is a publicly traded company, its accounts are held at partner banks that are FDIC members, and ExtraCash works the way the app describes. The things to read before you sign up are the fee schedule above and the account agreement, which gives Dave the right to use any balance you hold with it to cover an unpaid advance. We cover the safety side in more depth in Is Dave legit?.
