Lendio review
A small-business loan marketplace that turns a single application into quotes from a panel of 75+ lenders — useful for borrowers who don't already know which lender fits.
Pros
- Single application surfaces offers from 75+ partner lenders — broad coverage in one shot
- Covers SBA, term loans, lines of credit, equipment financing, invoice factoring and merchant cash advances
- Soft-pull pre-qualification keeps the credit file clean during initial shopping
- Free to use — Lendio is paid by the lender, not the borrower
- Dedicated funding manager assigned to each application — useful for first-time borrowers
Cons
- Marketplace, not a lender — Lendio doesn't set the rate, the funding partner does
- Multiple lender contacts can mean multiple sales calls and emails
- Final APR varies wildly based on which partner approves — quote quality is uneven
- Some marketplace partners are merchant-cash-advance providers with very high effective costs
- Direct application sometimes prices better when you already know the right lender
What Lendio actually is
Lendio is not a lender. We are not a lender either, but Lendio specifically is a brokerage and matchmaking platform — you fill out one application, Lendio's system and human funding managers route it to a subset of their 75+ partner lenders, and offers come back over the next hours and days. Some of those partners are names you'd recognize (Bluevine, OnDeck, Funding Circle and similar appear on the panel); others are smaller specialty lenders, equipment-finance shops and merchant-cash-advance providers. The marketplace's value is breadth: rather than applying separately to five direct lenders, you apply once and let competition surface. Whether that beats applying directly depends entirely on whether you already know which direct lender best fits your file.
Best for
Lendio is the right call for a first-time business borrower who doesn't yet have a relationship with a specific lender, isn't sure whether they qualify for an SBA loan vs. an online term loan vs. a line of credit, and wants a single intake to surface options across all of them. It's also useful for borrowers in industries where conventional banks tend to decline (construction, restaurants, transportation, certain retail) — the marketplace structure means you can find specialty lenders who actively want those files. Funding managers add real value for owners who haven't done this before.
Not for
If you already know exactly what you need, going direct usually beats the marketplace. A borrower who's clearly an SBA candidate is better off applying straight to Live Oak Bank; a borrower who needs a flexible LOC is usually better off applying to Bluevine directly; an established two-year business looking for a clean term loan can save time by going straight to Funding Circle; and a same-day-funding situation is often quickest direct at OnDeck. The marketplace also funnels some borrowers toward merchant-cash-advance products that are genuinely expensive, including in some cases more expensive than Fundbox on weaker files; if you don't want those offers, tell your funding manager up front.
How application works
The online intake takes about 15 minutes and uses a soft pull. You connect your business bank account, upload tax returns and a financial statement, and identify your funding need. Lendio's system pre-screens the file against partner-lender criteria and routes it to the lenders most likely to approve. A human funding manager calls within one business day to walk through results and answer questions. Offers typically begin returning within 24 to 48 hours; final approvals and funding follow each individual lender's process — same-day for some, weeks for SBA. Estimates only — final terms are set by the chosen funding partner, not by Lendio or Cankicker Finance.
How to use it well
Three rules. First, tell the funding manager exactly what you want and don't want — if you don't want merchant-cash-advance or factor-rate offers, say so before they generate. Second, when offers come back, convert any factor-rate quotes to APR before comparing — the marketplace will surface both APR-quoted and factor-quoted products, and they aren't directly comparable on their face. Third, after Lendio surfaces an offer from a specific lender, it can sometimes be worth checking that lender's direct site before signing — occasionally direct pricing differs from marketplace pricing, and you'll want to know which is better for you.
Lendio vs. going direct
The honest answer is "it depends, and you'll know which after you do this once." For an experienced borrower who has done five business loans before, Lendio adds friction with limited upside — go direct. For a first-time borrower who genuinely doesn't know whether they're a Live Oak file, a Funding Circle file, a Bluevine file or none of the above, Lendio's value is real: a single intake reveals which doors are actually open. Cross-shop the surfaced offer against the direct application at the same lender — that's the honest test. Compared to direct alternatives, see Live Oak Bank, Bluevine, Funding Circle, Fundbox and OnDeck.
Estimates only. Final APR, term and approval are determined by the funding partner sourced through Lendio, not by Lendio or Cankicker Finance. We may earn a referral fee — see Advertising Disclosure.