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The post The Best LendingTree Alternatives for Comparing Business Loans appeared first on Penny Pinchin' Mom.
If you’re a small business owner looking at funding options, one site that you’ve probably stumbled upon during your search is LendingTree. LendingTree is a popular business loan marketplace, and it’s a strong choice for comparing a range of options and getting personalized loan offers.
However, business owners don’t usually find the exact loan they need from the first site they visit. In fact, it’s actually a better idea to spend time on several dedicated business loan marketplaces or comparison sites before deciding, as they each present you with a different selection of lenders.
Here are some of my top picks for LendingTree alternatives.
LendingTree Alternatives: At a Glance
- Lendio: Best for personalized loan offers
- Nav: Best for monitoring funding readiness
- BestMoney: Best for quick comparison
- Forbes Advisor: Best for data-driven comparison
- NerdWallet: Best for business loan education
Lendio: Best for Personalized Loan Offers
Lendio is one of the closest matches to LendingTree. Like LendingTree, it’s not a lender itself but is instead a marketplace tool that can match you with offers. And even if you don’t fill out a formal application through the site, it’s still a reliable resource for learning more and comparing your options.
Business Loan Coverage
Lendio covers several categories of funding options, including accounts receivable financing, business lines of credit, SBA loans, short-term loans, business term loans, revenue-based financing, equipment financing, and business credit cards, among others. Lendio has over 75 lenders in its network, and if you choose to fill out an application through the site, it can match you with your top options from their network.
And if you’re using it mainly for research, you can look through its list of the best small business loans. This list showed me 13 options, along with the loan type (loan term, line of credit, SBA loan, etc.), loan/financing amount, minimum credit score, and funding time. Since the list isn’t very long, Lendio doesn’t provide you with filters to sort through the list, but it does sort the lenders into categories, such as “best for line of credit” or “best for revenue-based financing.”
Ratings and Reviews
Unlike LendingTree, Lendio doesn’t publish lender reviews, so you’ll have to visit another site if you want to read through in-depth editorial write-ups.
Articles and Guides
Lendio’s Lending Library contains plenty of informative articles that can help you learn more about business financing. Some of the blog topics include business loan prequalification, startup business loans, and the best business loans for bad credit.
There are also several calculators you can use to get an idea of your potential loan payments. There’s a general business loan calculator, as well as specific calculators for ACH loans, business credit cards, lines of credit, short-term loans, SBA loans, commercial mortgages, and equipment loans.
Pros
- Unified application for matching you with loan offers
- Several business loan calculators
- In-depth articles
Cons
- No ratings and reviews
- No filters
- No side-by-side comparison tool
Nav: Best for Monitoring Funding Readiness
While Nav is known for its tools for monitoring your business’s funding readiness, credit health, and cash flow health, it’s also a marketplace. You can use it to shop for products like business credit cards, business loans, business insurance, accounting software, and payment processors, among others. You can sign up for a Nav account to get matched with options based on your business’s profile, or you can use it strictly for comparison.
Business Loan Coverage
For business loans, Nav presents you with enough lenders without overwhelming you; it showed me 23. For each lender, it presents the funding amount range, the cost (factor rate, origination fee, or APR), the repayment speed, and the funding terms.
Nav also has several filters you can use to narrow down the list. These include filters based on your funding goals, the funding speed, the financing type, your estimated annual revenue, your time in business, and your credit score range.
Ratings and Reviews
Nav’s team doesn’t publish detailed reviews of the lenders in its marketplace, but each lender gets a list of pros and cons, which gives you a broad overview of what you’re looking at. There’s also a brief “Our Recommendation” section for each lender, which can help you see which types of businesses a particular lender is best for.
Articles and Guides
Nav has resources you can view to learn more about small businesses, including funding options. There’s a blog with articles sorted into the following categories: business credit 101, financial foundations, cash flow and bookkeeping, business financing, and payroll services. Nav also publishes short video clips covering business credit topics, and they have a podcast, Main Street Makers, targeted toward small business owners.
For business loans, there are downloadable e-books on topics such as SBA loans and finding the right financing for your business. Plus, Nav has calculators for invoice financing, term loans, and SBA loans.
Pros
- Several lender options
- Can filter to narrow down the list
- Plenty of educational resources
Cons
- Doesn’t assign scores to lenders
- No in-depth lender reviews
- No side-by-side comparison
BestMoney: Best for Quick Comparison
BestMoney sits in a slightly different spot than Lendio and Nav, since it’s better described as a comparison site rather than a marketplace. Also, it doesn’t have an exclusive focus on businesses. Instead, it covers a range of financial products for both individuals and businesses, spanning loans, insurance, and credit cards.
Business Loan Coverage
BestMoney showed me a total of 10 options for small business loans. While this isn’t as many as some competing sites, it is still enough to get an idea of the lending landscape, and it could also be preferable for quick searches. BestMoney presents a few data points for each, such as the loan amount and requirements for your time in business, monthly revenue, and minimum credit score. You can filter by these three requirements, as well as by the loan type (business loan, line of credit, SBA loan).
You can also use BestMoney to get a more tailored loan recommendation by completing their “Find Your Match” quiz. You’ll answer questions pertaining to your business, like how much funding you’re seeking, how many years you’ve been in business, and whether you have a business bank account, among others.
Ratings and Reviews
BestMoney rates and reviews each of the lenders on its site. The ratings are on a 10-point scale and consider a lender’s popularity, brand reputation, features, and benefits. There are also subscores for the online experience, customer service and support, variety of loan types, loan amount range, and eligibility, which are all out of 10 points as well. The reviews are detailed, covering variables like loan features, the application process, rates and fees, and customer service.
Articles and Guides
Beyond comparison, you can also read through BestMoney’s articles to learn more about business loans in general. Some of the article topics include grants vs. loans, how to prepare a business loan application, how to refinance a business loan, and business loans for nonprofits. While the article library is extensive, BestMoney doesn’t have any business loan calculators for figuring your monthly payments.
Pros
- Can filter to narrow down loan options
- Rates and reviews each lender
- Loan matching quiz
Cons
- Limited number of lending options
- No business loan calculators
- No user reviews
Forbes Advisor: Best for Data-Driven Comparison
Forbes Advisor is another comparison-focused site that can help both businesses and consumers make important financial decisions. Its product coverage is broad, including options for insurance, credit cards, banking, mortgages, loans, online brokers, retirement plans, and tax software.
Business Loan Coverage
Forbes Advisor has separate lists for the best small business loans, startup business loans, bad credit business loans, lines of credit, and financing with no credit check. However, there aren’t too many options in each category. For example, the “best small business loans” list only has ten entries.
For each lender, Forbes Advisor presents the APR range, loan amounts, and minimum credit score. There aren’t any filters, which isn’t too much of an issue given the shorter list of lenders. However, every lender has a “best for” superlative, like “best for easy application” or “best for short-term loans.” There are also charts for comparing user opinions, the consumer sentiment index, interest rates and costs, and eligibility criteria for the highlighted lenders. And you can take a quiz to get matched with possible lenders.
Ratings and Reviews
Forbes Advisor assigns scores out of five to each lender, which factor in the loan cost, loan details, eligibility, customer experience, and application process. Its team also publishes reviews, and although many of them are fairly short, they give you an idea of any standout features. Plus, there are lists of pros and cons.
Articles and Guides
Forbes Advisor publishes articles and guides on business funding topics, including how to get a business loan with bad credit, whether you should sign a personal guarantee for a business loan, and the difference between business loans and business lines of credit. The site also has a business loan calculator, which shows you the monthly payment and total interest.
Pros
- Plenty of data points for thorough comparison
- Loan matching quiz
- Business loan calculator
Cons
- Limited number of lending options
- Funding options aren’t all unified on one page
- No filters
NerdWallet: Best for Business Loan Education
NerdWallet occupies a similar space as BestMoney and Forbes Advisor, being a comparison site for both individuals and businesses. On the business side, NerdWallet covers products across funding, banking, credit cards, accounting software, and payment processing. For many of the product types, including business loans, you can complete a quiz to be matched to the top contenders for your situation.
Business Loan Coverage
Under the umbrella of small business funding, NerdWallet covers several types of products: small business loans, SBA loans, lines of credit, grants, and startup loans. Focusing on small business loans, NerdWallet’s team maintains an updated list of the best options in this category. The list isn’t very long, at 13 entries in total, but it’s enough to get a broad look at potential funding options.
For each lender, NerdWallet presents the maximum loan amount, minimum time in business, minimum interest rate, and term length. You can filter the list by any of these variables. Plus, it tells you what each lender is best for, such as “best for fast funding” and “best for low-revenue businesses.”
Ratings and Reviews
NerdWallet’s editorial team publishes expert reviews for most of its lenders, although a few startup lenders are currently unreviewed. The reviews begin with a quick look at the loan details and qualification requirements, and then they dive deeper into the advantages and disadvantages. Also, each lender gets a rating on a five-star scale. The overall score factors include variables like responsible lending practices, cost, impact on business credit score, transparency, and customer experience.
Articles and Guides
One area where NerdWallet particularly shines is with its educational resources. NerdWallet’s team regularly publishes articles on relevant small business topics, like equipment financing, whether you can get a business loan without a business bank account, and whether you should restructure your business loan.
While the small business articles aren’t all about lending, many of them are, and there are several pages of blog posts to explore. Plus, NerdWallet provides data on the average interest rates for business loans and SBA loans, along with calculators for both loan types.
Pros
- Can sort by loan amount, time in business, interest rate, and term
- Detailed editorial reviews and ratings
- Extensive article library
Cons
- Fewer lenders than some competing sites
- No filters
- Some lenders are unreviewed
Which Site is the Best Alternative to LendingTree?
While LendingTree is a great site for comparing business loans, it’s not perfect for every situation. And even if you’re satisfied with LendingTree, it’s important to visit other sites to ensure you get a well-rounded look at what’s out there.
Between Lendio, Nav, BestMoney, Forbes Advisor, and NerdWallet, there’s not a clear winner here, as it really comes down to what you’re using each site for. If you’re looking for something that’s more of a marketplace than a comparison site, I’d steer you toward Lendio or Nav. However, if you want a more straightforward comparison tool, you might prefer BestMoney, Forbes Advisor, or NerdWallet.
Of these, I’d say that BestMoney is the most user-friendly for a quick search, Forbes Advisor is solid if you want to dive deep into lender data, and NerdWallet is an excellent resource for learning more about business loans in general. No matter which sites you visit, be sure to review the lenders carefully before applying.
The post The Best LendingTree Alternatives for Comparing Business Loans appeared first on Penny Pinchin' Mom.
