--- title: "Earnest vs Sallie Mae: Which is searched more in the United States?" description: "Is Earnest or Sallie Mae more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Student loan lenders set in the United States. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/us/compare/earnest-loans-vs-sallie-mae" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Earnest vs Sallie Mae: Which is searched more in the United States? Is Earnest or Sallie Mae more popular in search? Compare estimated monthly branded-search demand and Share of Search inside the Student loan lenders set in the United States. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Compared**: Earnest and Sallie Mae - **Competitive set**: Student loan lenders - **Market**: United States - **Month measured**: Sep 2026 - **Earnest Share of Search**: 2% - **Sallie Mae Share of Search**: 74.5% ## Is Earnest or Sallie Mae more popular in search? - In September 2026, Sallie Mae had more branded searches than Earnest among student loan lenders in the United States. Sallie Mae had about 246,000 branded searches, while Earnest had 6,600. Sallie Mae made up 74.5% of all student loan lender searches we track, and Earnest accounted for 2%. - Sallie Mae was ahead of Earnest in every measured month of the 12 months ending September 2026. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Earnest’s share of searches among student loan lenders in the United States moved from 1.3% to 2%, and its estimated monthly branded searches moved from 4.4K to 6.6K. - Across the 12 months ending September 2026, Sallie Mae’s share of searches among student loan lenders in the United States moved from 75.3% to 74.5%, and its estimated monthly branded searches held steady at 246K. ## How did search popularity change for United States student loan lenders in September 2026? - In September 2026, SoFi overtook Earnest and Ascent to rank 3rd among student loan lenders in the United States, with 3% of the searches. - In September 2026, Sallie Mae gained share of searches among student loan lenders in the United States, from 70.3% to 74.5%. - In September 2026, Earnest lost share of searches among student loan lenders in the United States, from 2.8% to 2%. ## Month by month | Month | Earnest estimated searches | Earnest Share of Search | Earnest rank | Sallie Mae estimated searches | Sallie Mae Share of Search | Sallie Mae rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | 4.4K | 1.3% | 4 | 246K | 75.3% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | 3.6K | 1.3% | 5 | 201K | 74.4% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | 4.4K | 1.6% | 4 | 201K | 73.5% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | 8.1K | 2% | 4 | 301K | 74% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | 6.6K | 2% | 4 | 246K | 74% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | 6.6K | 1.7% | 4 | 301K | 76.8% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | 8.1K | 2.1% | 4 | 301K | 77% | 1 | | May 2026 | 5.4K | 1.6% | 4 | 246K | 73.7% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | 8.1K | 2.4% | 4 | 246K | 72.7% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | 14.8K | 3.4% | 3 | 301K | 68.4% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | 14.8K | 2.8% | 3 | 368K | 70.3% | 1 | | Sep 2026 | 6.6K | 2% | 4 | 246K | 74.5% | 1 | ## How each brand is measured Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using Earnest’s and Sallie Mae’s names. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for these branded terms can be used to understand whether interest in the brands is growing, holding steady, or fading. - **Earnest**: Measured on the search term “earnest student loans”. - **Sallie Mae**: Measured on the search term “sallie mae”. - [Earnest profile](/demand/us/brands/earnest-loans) - [Sallie Mae profile](/demand/us/brands/sallie-mae) - [All student loan lenders in the United States](/demand/us/categories/us-student-loan-lenders): The set both shares are measured inside, 6 brands. ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Earnest or Sallie Mae more popular in search? In September 2026, Sallie Mae had more branded searches than Earnest among student loan lenders in the United States. Sallie Mae had about 246,000 branded searches, while Earnest had 6,600. Sallie Mae made up 74.5% of all student loan lender searches we track, and Earnest accounted for 2%. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Earnest vs Sallie Mae: Which is searched more in the United States?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/us/compare/earnest-loans-vs-sallie-mae This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/us/compare/earnest-loans-vs-sallie-mae. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.