Fundera vs. Lendio

Let’s start with the basics: Fundera and Lendio are both lending marketplaces. They are not direct lenders. Neither Lendio nor Fundera actually extend any loans (or other types of financing)―but they partner with lenders that do.

But what does that mean, practically speaking? Well, when you fill out your application, Lendio and Fundera take that application and shop it around to their different lending partners.

With any luck, they’ll find a few lenders willing to approve you, and you get multiple loan offers to choose from. You’ll be able to compare things like loan types, loan amounts, and interest rates. Hopefully, you’ll find a loan offer that you like best. Then you just have to finalize the loan with that lender.

Whether you apply with Lendio or Fundera, here’s what your loan application process looks like:

1. Submit an application with the lending marketplace.
2. Wait for the marketplace to find lenders willing to fund you.
3. Compare loan offers and choose your favorite.
4. Finalize your loan application with your chosen lender.
5. Get your working capital.

Since they both operate as marketplaces, Lendio and Fundera have a lot in common. But before we cover those commonalities, we want to point out a couple of key differences that set them apart.

Fundera is a business lending marketplace, but it can also help you get a personal loan to be used for your business. (In contrast, Lendio doesn’t offer personal loans.)

Why do some business owners use personal loans rather than business loans? Well, young businesses can have a hard time getting approved for funding. But if you’re applying for a personal loan, the length of time you’ve been in business probably won’t matter. Likewise, businesses that haven’t built up business credit might get rejected for business financing. But with personal loans, your business credit doesn’t matter―just your personal credit score.

Of course, personal loans aren’t ideal for business, or everyone would use them. Personal loans have low maximum loan amounts, and they often have shorter terms and higher interest rates than business loans do.

Still, personal loans can be a valuable source of financing for some businesses. If you think that might be the path for you, then Fundera’s probably your lending marketplace. And who knows? You might get a better business loan offer than you expect.

As we said above, both Fundera and Lendio offer many types of business financing, from term loans to accounts receivable financing. They can both meet many, many business needs. But Lendio offers one type of business funding that Fundera doesn’t: commercial real estate loans.

In fact, Fundera’s largest advertised term loans go up to $500,000. That’s not a bad-sized loan, but it won’t be enough for many large commercial purchases.

Lendio, on the other hand, can get you commercial mortgages that go as high as $5 million (with lengthy loan terms of up to 25 years).

Sure, Fundera could partner with real estate lenders in the future. But for now, if you need a commercial real estate loan, Lendio’s the clear choice.

Now that you’ve got an idea of what sets Fundera and Lendio apart, let’s dig more into what makes them similar. Heads up: it's quite a lot.

Both Fundera and Lendio partner with a bunch of lenders. They both have a slower funding time than direct lenders do (because matching you with offers takes time). And they both offer many types of loan products, including these:

• Long-term loans
• Short-term loans
• Startup loans
• Lines of credit
• Invoice financing
• Merchant cash advances
• Equipment financing
• SBA loans

In other words, Fundera and Lendio work pretty similarly. If you want to compare business loan offers, either one can help. And we’re comfortable recommending both of them.

Fundera and Lendio both partner with a number of business lenders, though Lendio’s website lists more partnerships than Fundera’s does.

For example, both Lendio and Fundera work with several of our favorite alternative lenders (also known as online lenders):

• BlueVine
• Fundbox
• Funding Circle
• Kabbage
• OnDeck

They also both have partnerships with some traditional lenders (banks and credit unions), including Chase and American Express.

The two don’t completely overlap, though. As far as we can tell, Lendio partners with several lenders that Fundera doesn’t, including Lending Club, StreetShares, and Bank of America. And Fundera has some partnerships that Lendio doesn't, such as Capital One.

So if there’s a specific lender you want to consider, you might want to make sure either Lendio or Fundera works with that lender. Or you can always apply to the lender directly and compare it to other offers from either lending marketplace.

If you’ve never encountered a lending marketplace before (and many business owners haven’t), then you might wonder if marketplaces like Lendio and Fundera are, well, on the up-and-up. After all, if they’re not making interest on your loans, what incentive do they have to help you?

Well, we have good news: both Lendio and Fundera are perfectly legitimate.

Online lending marketplaces like Fundera and Lendio make money off of referral fees. You can think of it like a sales commission. They do some matchmaking magic to get you with the right lender, and when you get your loan, the lender pays the online marketplace that referral fee.

And don’t worry―that doesn’t mean that Lendio or Fundera will try to match you with any old loan. Think of this way: It’s in their best interest to get you to take out a loan (because that’s how they get paid). That means they need to match you with a loan that you can actually get and that you actually want.

They may not do a perfect job, and you may not love every loan offer you get. But you can generally assume that marketplaces like Lendio and Fundera are safe, legit ways to compare loan options.

Both Lendio and Fundera have excellent customer reviews, though Lendio’s skew slightly higher.
On Trustpilot, Lendio has almost 19,000 reviews, averaging 4.8 out of 5.¹ Fundera also averages 4.8 out of 5 from nearly 900 ratings on the same site.² And for what it’s worth, both Lendio and Fundera have an A+ from the Better Business Bureau.^3,4 

The two lending marketplaces have similar reviews. Both Fundera and Lendio reviews often praise specific loan reps, the quick funding turnaround, and the ease of the application process.

The few negative reviews for Lendio and Fundera complain about high interest rates on offers, lack of communication, and misleading reps.

Put simply, based on the high number of positive reviews, you’re likely to have a good experience with either Lendio or Fundera.

Lendio and Fundera by Nerdwallet are two lending marketplaces with a lot in common. Sure, there are some small differences: most notably, Lendio offers commercial mortgages while Fundera offers personal loans.

But both business loan marketplaces offer plenty of loan products from many lenders. They’re both reputable, well-liked companies.

So honestly, you should feel good about going with either Fundera or Lendio. They can both help you meet your cash flow needs just fine. We like them both, and we think you will too.

No matter which marketplace you choose, make sure you know how to compare your business loan offers with our guide to APR.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.