Hard inquiries are associated with all kinds of purchases. If you are going to be buying something, there will probably be a hard credit pull that is done against your credit. If you are just qualifying for a loan, the lender may only need to do a soft credit pull which should not affect your credit score. At Acorn Finance you can check offers with no impact on your credit score. However, if you accept and proceed with an offer the lender will likely need to do a hard credit pull before funding the loan. A hard credit pull can cause your FICO score to drop five points.