Best Online Business Loans Of 2024

OnDeck was founded in 2006 and has since been a leading provider in the business lending space, offering both term loans and lines of credit. Today, they have extended $14 billion in funding to small businesses.

We picked OnDeck for its variety of business lending products and same-day funding. OnDeck offers a term loan between $5,000 and $250,000 with repayments terms of up to 24 months. You can also access a credit limit of $6,000 to $100,000 through its line of credit with a 12-month repayment term that resets after each withdrawal.

Note: OnDeck does not lend to businesses in Nevada, North Dakota or South Dakota. What’s more, while it lends to over 700 industries, there are some industries it cannot serve.

Eligibility

• Minimum credit score: 625
• Time in business: One year
• Minimum revenue: $100,000 per year

Turnaround time

You can apply and receive a decision from OnDeck on the same day.

OnDeck has carved a niche in the realm of alternative lending, offering expedited access to capital for businesses that may not qualify for traditional bank loans. Its big advantage is the availability of funds on the same day or next while not being affected by a hard credit pull. However, this aggressive lending practice also comes at a steep price.

— Abid Salahi, co-founder and CTO, FinlyWealth

Lendio is an online business loan marketplace that connects prospective borrowers with traditional banks and nonbank online lenders. By filling out one application, Lendio is able to connect business owners to over 75 lenders. Over its existence, Lendio has helped small business owners receive over $12 billion in funding nationwide.

Applicants may see Lendio as a one-stop-shop. You can apply for business loans, lines of credit, SBA loans, equipment financing, merchant cash advances (MCAs), commercial mortgages, invoice factoring and business acquisition loans. However, because Lendio is a marketplace and not a lender, it doesn’t publish specific terms. Instead, you’ll have access to its lending partners, and it will help you find the best offer for your specific needs.

Overview

Lendio is an online business loan marketplace that connects prospective borrowers with traditional banks and nonbank online lenders. Over its existence, Lendio has helped small business owners receive over $12 billion in funding nationwide.

Applicants may see Lendio as a one-stop shop. You can apply for business loans, lines of credit, SBA loans, equipment financing, merchant cash advances (MCAs), commercial mortgages, invoice factoring and business acquisition loans. However, because Lendio is a marketplace and not a lender, it doesn’t publish specific terms. Instead, you’ll have access to its lending partners while helping you find the best offer for your needs.

Eligibility

• Minimum Credit Score: 560
• Time in Business: Six Months
• Minimum Annual Revenue: $50,000

Funding time

Applying through Lendio takes 15 minutes. After you review your offers and are approved by your lender, you can receive your funds in as little as 24 hours.

American Express® Business Line of Credit (formerly Kabbage from American Express and Kabbage Funding™) gives business owners the chance to secure funding between $2,000 to $250,000. Repayment terms include six, 12, 18 and 24 months.

Line of credit customers incur a loan fee for each month they have an outstanding balance. Total monthly fees incurred over the loan term range from 3% to 9% for six-month loans, 6% to 18% for 12-month loans, 9% to 27% for 18-month loans and 12% to 18% for 24-month loans.

In addition to its line of credit, American Express Business Blueprint provides other tools beneficial to small business owners, including its own mobile app that provides comprehensive cash flow insights.

Eligibility

• Minimum credit score: 660 FICO at the time of application
• Time in business: One year
• Minimum revenue: At least $3,000 per month

All businesses are unique and are subject to approval and review.

Turnaround time

Funds can take up to three business days to appear in your account, depending on your bank.

The American Express® Business Line of Credit allows you to qualify at a credit score of 660 FICO at the time of application, so it’s not a great option for any business with a bad credit rating. Rather than a typical revolving line of credit, you must choose [from available terms] with varying fees. Every time you withdraw from your business line of credit, it’s treated as a separate installment loan rather than being added to existing loans.

One downside to the American Express® Business Line of Credit is the time it takes to receive your cash. You’ll need to wait [one to three] business days for your funds, while other lenders offer same-day options. If you need your cash fast, that delay becomes a problem.

— Jonathan Feniak, general counsel and head of finance, LLC Attorney

BlueVine is a financial technology company that provides financing solutions to small businesses nationwide. It specifically specializes in business lines of credit and checking accounts. As of December 2021, BlueVine no longer offers invoice factoring as one of its financing methods.

Small business owners looking to access a line of credit on an as-needed basis can receive funds between $6,000 and $250,000. BlueVine offers two payment structures: Flex 6 or Flex 12. Customers who choose Flex 6 make weekly payments over 26 weeks while Flex 12 customers make monthly payments over 12 months. What’s more, after 45 days of payment on Flex 6, or 90 days of payment on Flex 12, you may be eligible for a credit line increase.

BlueVine also charges weekly or monthly fees for its line of credit. Standard pricing is 1.7% per week or 7% per month for line of credit draws.

Note: BlueVine’s line of credit is available in all 50 U.S. states except North and South Dakota.

Eligibility

Eligibility varies on the specific program a business owner chooses.

Weekly plan

• Minimum credit score: 625
• Time in business: Two years
• Minimum revenue: $40,000 monthly or $480,000 annually
• Business type: Corporation or LLC
• Bankruptcies: No past bankruptcies

Monthly plan

• Minimum credit score: 650
• Time in business: Three years
• Minimum revenue: $80,000 per month or $960,000 annually
• Business type: Corporation or LLC

Turnaround time

After you submit your application, you can receive a decision in as quickly as five minutes and instant funding with a Bluevine business checking account. Borrowers who don’t have a Bluevine business checking account can receive funds within 24 hours.

Bluevine appeared in a search we did for clients during the mini-banking crisis of 2023. Bluevine offers a bank sweep program that will provide FDIC insurance to their clients for up to $3 Million. FDIC insurance usually doesn’t matter, but when banks start failing, it really matters.

— Herman Thompson, Jr., advisory board member

National Funding offers working capital small business loans between $10,000 and $500,000 with terms of four months to two years, paid daily or weekly. Borrowers can use their funds for all working capital needs, including inventory, payroll, marketing, taxes and more. National Funding also offers equipment financing up to $150,000 but applicants must have a minimum personal credit score of 575 to qualify for that financing method.

Unlike most business lenders, National Funding offers early pay-off discounts. Small business loan customers who repay their total remaining balance in full within the first 100 days of the contract will automatically receive a 7% discount off the total remaining balance. Equipment financing customers who repay the total remaining balance early, at any point during the term, will automatically receive a 6% discount off the total remaining balance.

Eligibility

• Minimum credit score: 600 (575 for equipment financing)
• Time in business: Six months
• Minimum sales: $250,000 per year

Turnaround time

Most loans are funded within 24 hours of approval, subject to receipt of required documentation, underwriting guidelines and processing time by your bank.

National Funding offers loans from $5,000 to $500,000, but two years is the maximum length for a large loan. I had a client that got excited by what he thought would be a lending source that could do $500k for five years, but the five-year loan was only offered at $100,000. A local banker made a collateralized loan for the large equipment purchase, and the client took a small short-term loan from National Funding to help with cash flow during a tough spot.

— Herman Thompson, Jr., advisory board member

Fundbox is an AI-powered business lending platform that speeds up the application, decision-making and funding process. It offers decisions within three minutes and funds as soon as the next business day.

Prospective borrowers have two business financing options through Fundbox. Business owners can apply for revolving business lines of credit up to $150,000 with repayment terms of 12 or 24 weeks. Your available credit goes back up as you repay your line of credit.

Eligibility

• Minimum credit score: 600
• Time in business: Six months
• Minimum revenue: $100,000 per year

Turnaround time

With a business line of credit from Fundbox, you can receive your funds as soon as the next business day.

The approval process is quick and Fundbox is available for the credit-challenged business. Credit approvals are usually small, so this [typically] isn’t an option for larger purchases. I had a small business client that had Fundbox integrated with her Stripe dashboard, which made it convenient.

— Herman Thompson, Jr., advisory board member

Funding Circle has been a direct lender specializing in small business loans since 2010. Since its inception, it has helped 100,000 businesses in 700 industries and lent $15.2 billion globally. We chose Funding Circle because it provides fast, affordable loans with a simple application process and funding in as little as 48 hours. Prospective borrowers have three options: business term loan, line of credit or SBA loan.

Funding Circle term loans range from $25,000 to $500,000 with repayment terms from six months to five years. If you choose to apply for a business line of credit, you can access credit lines between $6,000 and $100,000. However, Funding Circle doesn’t specify its line of credit repayment terms. You can also apply for SBA loans, which range from $25,000 to $500,000 with terms up to 10 years.

There are two main drawbacks of Funding Circle. First, there’s a one-time origination fee on each loan ranging from 3.49% to 6.99% of the approved loan amount. Second, due to state lending regulations, Funding Circle does not lend to businesses that operate out of Nevada, making it available in only 49 of the 50 U.S. states.

Eligibility

• Minimum credit score: 660 for most loans; 650 for SBA loans
• Time in business: Two years
• Minimum revenue: None for most loans; $400,000 per year for SBA loans

Turnaround time

Depending on the loan type, you can receive your funds within two days. However, SBA loan funding may take up to two weeks.

Funding Circle provides long-term loans that are essential for businesses planning significant investments in growth or infrastructure. The clear terms and lower interest rates compared to short-term loans make this an excellent choice for businesses with a stable financial outlook and a strategic long-term development plan.

— Cache Merrill, founder and CTO, Zibtek

Biz2Credit is a digital funding platform that provides three funding options—term, Revenue-Based Financing and commercial real estate (CRE) loans—ranging from $25,000 to $6 million. It only takes a few minutes to apply and, depending on the product, 24 hours to receive a decision.

Biz2Credit can connect business owners with Revenue-Based Financing loans between $25,000 and $2 million and term loans between $25,000 to $500,000. Revenue-based financing payments are flexible based on business performance, with a right to reconcile against actual business receipts while term loans are repaid through weekly, bimonthly or monthly payments over the course of 12 to 36 months. Biz2Credit also offers CRE loans between $250,000 and $6 million with payment plans ranging from 12 to 36 months; payments are due monthly.

In the event that Biz2Credit cannot provide a financial product, it may present third-party options to qualified prospective borrowers. However, Biz2Credit confirms that “in the vast majority of cases, [it] will make a financing decision without referral to any external party.”

Eligibility: To qualify for a Revenue-Based Financing loan, applicants must have a minimum personal credit score of 650 (see website for details), have been operating their business for at least six months and have a minimum annual revenue of$250,000 (see website for details). Term loans, on the other hand, require a minimum score of 650 (see website for details), 12 months+ (see website for details) in business and a minimum annual revenue of $250,000 (see website for details). CRE loans share the same minimum requirements as term loans but also require that prospective borrowers already own commercial property.

Funding time: Business owners can typically apply online fast, get a decision fast and fast funding (see website for details). However, CRE loan approvals may take longer.