The specs
CrediblyShopify Capital
Product typeMulti-productMCA
Amount range$5K – $600K$200 – $2M (varies by store volume)
Cost (factor / APR)Factor 1.11+ (MCA); APR varies (term)Single fixed fee (factor 1.10 – 1.18 typical); no APR / no compounding
Speed to fundAs fast as 4 hours2 – 5 business days after acceptance
Min time in business6 months3 months
Min monthly revenue$15,000~$5,000+ in Shopify processed sales typical floor
Min credit score550+No FICO pull — underwrites entirely against Shopify sales history
Products
- MCA
- Working capital LOC
- Short-term term loan
- Embedded merchant cash advance (Shopify stores only)
Verdicts by use case
- Shopify-native e-commerce merchant with strong store-sales history — Winner: Shopify Capital. Shopify Capital's algorithmic underwriting against Shopify sales history typically prices offers at factor 1.10 – 1.18 — competitive with Credibly's A-paper band (1.11 – 1.25) and with zero application friction (offers appear in Shopify admin). For Shopify-native stores with 3+ months of consistent processing the embedded product is faster (no docs, no underwriting wait) and matches Credibly on cost. Repayment is a fixed % of daily Shopify sales, which means weak sales weeks pay less — a structural advantage over Credibly's fixed daily/weekly ACH debit.
- Non-Shopify merchant or merchant with sales outside Shopify — Winner: Credibly. Shopify Capital requires Shopify processing and only counts Shopify-processed sales toward the cap. Merchants on WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix, or who run multi-channel businesses with significant non-Shopify revenue (Amazon, eBay, wholesale, retail storefront) have no path to a Shopify Capital offer that reflects their full revenue base. Credibly's bank-statement underwriting captures total revenue from all channels: 550+ FICO, 6+ months TIB, $15K+/mo total deposits qualifies. For multi-channel merchants Credibly underwrites against the full revenue picture where Shopify Capital sees only the Shopify slice.
- Merchant needing capital on their own timeline (can't wait for an offer to appear) — Winner: Credibly. Credibly's API V2 + Cloudsquare lets merchants apply and fund in as fast as 4 hours on their schedule. Shopify Capital offers appear when Shopify's algorithm decides — you can't trigger an offer review, and merchants in a capital pinch can't force Shopify to surface a new offer. For predictable, pull-based capital access Credibly is the right tool; for opportunistic-when-it-appears free capital Shopify Capital is the right tool.
- Larger deal size ($600K+) — Winner: Shopify Capital. Credibly caps MCA at $600K. Shopify Capital deal sizes scale with Shopify processing volume — high-volume Shopify Plus merchants and DTC brands processing $200K+/mo through Shopify can access $1M – $2M offers. For genuinely large Shopify-native files Shopify Capital reaches deal sizes Credibly cannot.
- Processor-portability and platform-lock-in risk — Winner: Credibly. Shopify Capital requires that Shopify Payments remain the active processor through the payback period — pausing Shopify Payments, switching to a third-party gateway, or migrating off Shopify triggers immediate balloon repayment. Credibly's MCA has no processor or platform lock-in; merchants can migrate from Shopify to BigCommerce or to a custom stack mid-payback with zero effect on the Credibly contract. For merchants planning a re-platform or considering processor changes Credibly is materially safer.
The honest takeaway
Credibly and Shopify Capital solve overlapping but distinct problems. The right choice depends on three things you already know about your business: how fast you need the money, how long you've been operating, and whether the capital need is one-time or recurring.
Frequently asked questions
- I have a $50K Shopify Capital offer and qualify for Credibly — which is cheaper?
- Probably Shopify Capital at typical pricing. Shopify Capital factor 1.13 on $50K = $6.5K fixed fee; payback aligned to daily Shopify sales means actual APR-equivalent depends on sales velocity (typically 18 – 28% APR-equivalent on a 9 – 12 month payback). Credibly on $50K A-paper typically quotes factor 1.20 – 1.26 = $10K – $13K fixed fee on a 9 – 12 month payback (40 – 55% APR-equivalent). The Shopify offer is materially cheaper on pure cost when it exists. Take the Shopify offer if: (1) you don't plan to migrate off Shopify in the next 12 months, (2) Shopify-processed sales make up >70% of your revenue (so the % of daily sales repayment doesn't crush a non-Shopify channel), and (3) you don't need additional capital beyond what Shopify offers (Shopify caps at ~1× annualized Shopify volume).
- Can Credibly fund my non-Shopify revenue alongside an active Shopify Capital advance?
- Yes, technically, but disclose it. Credibly's bank-statement underwriting captures total deposits across all channels — Shopify, Amazon, wholesale, retail. Credibly will pull business credit, see the active Shopify Capital advance, and factor that debt service into the underwriting decision and pricing. Disclose proactively: list the Shopify Capital balance and remaining payback amount on the Credibly application. Hidden Shopify Capital balances discovered mid-underwriting typically trigger decline or factor markup. For a multi-channel merchant the combined-debt-service ratio matters more than any single underwriter's policy — if Shopify Capital is debiting 15% of daily Shopify sales and Credibly's ACH adds another 10 – 15% of total revenue, total debt service may push above 25% and break cash flow regardless of underwriting approval.
- What happens to my Shopify Capital balance if I migrate to BigCommerce or Salesforce Commerce Cloud?
- Shopify Capital's contract requires that Shopify Payments remain the active processor through payback. Migrating off Shopify or switching payment processor inside Shopify (to a third-party gateway like Stripe direct) triggers immediate balloon repayment of the remaining balance — typically 14 – 30 day notice. For a $50K Shopify Capital advance with $35K remaining, a re-platform decision creates a $35K immediate capital need. Plan financing accordingly: many merchants take a Credibly MCA or bank LOC to retire the Shopify Capital balance as part of a re-platform budget, so the re-platform itself doesn't trigger a balloon payment surprise.