Scholarly

Scholarly vs Fastweb: a free list, or someone to fill in the forms?

Last updated October 2026 · By the Scholarly team

Short answer

Fastweb is a free, ad-supported scholarship database and one of the oldest names in the space; you search it, then apply on each provider's website yourself. Scholarly is a paid app that matches you to scholarships and submits the applications for you after you approve them. Pick Fastweb for the bigger list at no cost, Scholarly if the hours spent on forms are what's stopping you.

We make Scholarly, so weigh our take accordingly. Every fact about another company on this page links to its source at the bottom, checked in October 2026. Prices and features change; confirm on their site before you pay.

Side by side

Scholarly compared with Fastweb
Feature	Scholarly	Fastweb
Price	Free to set up. Swiping and auto-apply need a subscription: $59.99 a year or $19.99 a month on the web. On iPhone it's billed through the App Store.	Free
How you find scholarships	Swipe through scholarships matched to your profile. Anything you don't qualify for is hidden. Roughly 700 are open at a time.	Search and daily matches from your profile. Fastweb says it covers more than 1.5 million scholarship opportunities, each vetted by a person.
Applies for you?	Yes Fills in and submits each application after you review and approve it.	No It links you to each provider; you apply there.
Essay help	Stores one personal statement and reuses it. You edit it when you want; it isn't rewritten behind your back.	Articles and checklists. No essay storage or reuse.
Platforms	iPhone app (4.7 stars, 4,100+ ratings) and a web app that runs in any browser, Android included.	Website. Its iPhone app was last updated in 2020 and holds 2.7 stars from 85 ratings.
Business model	Subscriptions. No ads, no sponsored listings in the swipe feed.	Advertising and data. Operated by Iron Corp US Inc.
Data sharing	Never sold. Your details go only to the providers you swipe right on.	Privacy policy says your information "may be sold to colleges and leading companies." Identifiers are sold to ad networks and merchant partners. Opt-out available.

The real difference

Fastweb answers "what scholarships exist for someone like me?" It's good at that. The 1.5 million figure is huge, it sends deadline reminders by email, and it costs nothing. What it doesn't do is the slow part: opening each provider's site, making yet another account, typing your address and GPA again, and pasting the same essay into a new box.

Scholarly is built around that slow part. You fill out one profile and one personal statement during a five-minute onboarding, swipe right on the scholarships you want, read the filled-in application, and approve it. The trade is a smaller catalog and a subscription fee.

There's also the money question, and it cuts both ways. Fastweb is free because of ads and because its privacy policy lets it sell some of your data. Scholarly charges you directly and doesn't sell data at all. Neither model is a scandal, but you should know which one you're signing up for.

Pick Fastweb if…

You have no budget at all
You like browsing and want the biggest possible list
You want email reminders for big deadlines
You don't mind applying on each provider's site yourself

Pick Scholarly if…

You've already got a list and keep not finishing the applications
You'd rather review a filled-in form than type one
You want an app that works on your phone and in a browser
You don't want your profile sold to marketers

Can you use both?

Sure. Plenty of students keep a Fastweb account for its email alerts and use Scholarly to do the applying. If you spot something on Fastweb that isn't in Scholarly's feed, apply to it directly. If you sign up for Fastweb, look for the third-party contact prompt and decide whether you want colleges and marketers getting your details.

Questions people ask

Is Fastweb still free?

Yes. Fastweb calls itself a free scholarship search platform and its signup says "Join for free." It makes money from advertising and, per its privacy policy, from selling some user data.

Does Fastweb sell your information?

Its privacy policy, last updated December 17, 2025, says the information you supply "may be sold to colleges and leading companies," and lists identifiers such as name, email, and phone number among the categories sold to advertising networks and merchant partners. You can opt out of third-party contact when prompted or by emailing the address in the policy.

Who owns Fastweb?

Fastweb's privacy policy names Iron Corp US Inc. as the operator of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org. The old Fastweb iPhone app is still listed under Monster Worldwide and hasn't been updated since 2020.

How many scholarships does Fastweb have?

Fastweb says a profile gives you access to more than 1.5 million scholarship opportunities and that every listing is vetted by people. It doesn't publish how many are open at any one time.

Does Scholarly have as many scholarships as Fastweb?

No, not close. Scholarly keeps about 700 open scholarships in its feed at a time, limited to ones it can actually submit. Fastweb is the bigger index; Scholarly is the one that fills the forms.

Try Scholarly free

Scholarly is free to set up. You'll see which scholarships you qualify for before you decide whether auto-apply is worth paying for.

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More comparisons

Sources

Checked October 19, 2026.

Fastweb homepage (1.5 million opportunities, free, human-vetted): www.fastweb.com
Fastweb privacy policy (Iron Corp US Inc., data sales disclosure, updated Dec 17, 2025): www.fastweb.com/content/privacy
Fastweb College Scholarships on the App Store (last updated 2020): apps.apple.com/us/app/id1105307315
Scholarly on the App Store (rating, in-app purchase prices): apps.apple.com/us/app/id6761978211