Who runs the scholarship sites in 2026: lenders, nonprofits, media groups and startups

Why ownership is worth a look

When you create a scholarship profile you agree to the terms and privacy policy of the company behind the site, which is not always the name on the logo. Ownership also tells you how a free site is likely to pay for itself. This post lists who runs each site we reviewed, from the pages we.

The lineup, by owner

• Appily is the new name of Cappex. Its own page says "Cappex Is Now Appily", and it says "Appily is owned by EAB", which provides free college planning tools. Appily also says colleges can use profile information to send admission offers to students who match their criteria.
• Scholly now appears as "Scholly Scholarships by Sallie" on the website of Sallie Mae, a student lender. Sallie Mae says the service is free to search, find and apply. We did not read when the change happened.
• Fastweb says it was founded on May 22, 1995 by Larry Organ, and that "In 2001, Fastweb was sold to Monster Worldwide". Its current privacy policy, last updated December 17, 2025, is issued by Iron Corp US Inc. Its App Store app is listed under Monster Worldwide.
• Unigo says it is owned and operated by Unigo LLC, and that Unigo and ScholarshipExperts.com were acquired by EDPlus Holdings, LLC in 2013 and 2014 and combined in 2015.
• BigFuture is part of the College Board, a nonprofit, and says it has awarded over $23 million to over 24,000 students since 2019.
• Scholarships.com is run by Scholarships.com, LLC, with a copyright line going back to 1998. Its parent company is not stated on the pages we read.
• Bold.org's app is sold by Bold.org, Inc.
• ScholarshipOwl is operated by Scholarship Services, Inc., doing business as ScholarshipOwl, in Wilmington, Delaware, per its FAQ and privacy policy.
• Niche's ownership was not read for this edition.

One closure

Going Merry is closed. Its website no longer loads, and it was reported to have shut down in March 2026. If you used it, look for the scholarships you had saved on the funders' own pages; we do not know whether any data was transferred elsewhere.

What the owners tell you

Three patterns stand out.

First, several sites sit close to other parts of the college business. A lender runs Scholly, EAB, a company that provides college planning tools, owns Appily, and the College Board runs BigFuture. That is not a problem in itself, but it explains why some of these sites talk about admission offers or loans alongside scholarships.

Second, the brand and the legal entity can differ. Fastweb's privacy policy is issued by a company whose name does not appear in the Fastweb logo. ScholarshipOwl's legal name is Scholarship Services, Inc. When you read terms or ask for your data to be deleted, use the legal name in the policy.

Third, ownership changes over time. Cappex became Appily, Scholly moved under Sallie Mae, and Going Merry closed. A profile you create today may live under a different company in a few years.

What to do with this

1. Before signing up, scroll to the footer and the privacy policy to see who runs the site.
2. Read the sell and share section of that policy. Our privacy guide quotes each one we could read.
3. Keep your own list of saved scholarships, with links to the funders' pages, so a site change does not wipe out your work.
4. If a site closes or changes owner, check your email for notices about your data and use the contact route in the policy if you want it deleted.

How this affects our scores

Ownership is not a scoring criterion. It shows up indirectly: in privacy, through what each policy allows, and in transparency, through how clearly a site says who funds and runs its awards.