Build credit
Is Boom legit?
The short answer
Yes — Boom is a real rent-reporting app, and one of the cheaper ones.
- It reports your on-time rent to the bureaus for a low monthly fee.
- It can add past rent for a one-time fee, so a record builds faster.
- Legit doesn't mean every score counts it — many lenders use models that don't.
- The catch: ask your landlord first. Some report rent at no charge, and that's the same tradeline for nothing.
Is it a real service?
Yes. Boom is a known rent-reporting app that verifies your rent and reports the payments to the credit bureaus as a rental tradeline. Nothing about how you pay your landlord changes.
The real risk isn't Boom. It's impersonators — a text or email asking for an upfront fee to "unlock" your credit, or for your login. A real service never works that way.
What Boom costs
~$3–$5
Typical monthly fee
on the low end for the category
Past rent
It can add for a one-time fee
builds a record faster
Bureaus
It reports your rent to
confirm which before you pay
Illustrative — fee, bureaus, and lookback vary. See if it's worth it →
✓ Boom fits if
- Your file is thin and you pay rent on time.
- Your landlord won't report it at no charge.
- You want a low-cost way to add a rental tradeline.
✕ Skip it if
- You already have an established file.
- Your landlord already reports rent at no charge.
- Your lender's score is one that ignores rent.
⚠ The catch
A paid rent service only pays off if a lender uses a score that counts rent — and many still don't. So ask your landlord first.
Once your file is full, drop it. A rent-reporting subscription you no longer need is just a recurring bill. Check where it helps first.