The specs
CrediblyStripe Capital
Product typeMulti-productMCA
Amount range$5K – $600K$10K – $5M (varies by Stripe volume)
Cost (factor / APR)Factor 1.11+ (MCA); APR varies (term)Single fixed fee (factor 1.06 – 1.20 typical); no APR / no compounding
Speed to fundAs fast as 4 hoursNext business day after acceptance
Min time in business6 months6 months
Min monthly revenue$15,000Stripe processing required; no public floor (algorithmically chosen)
Min credit score550+No FICO pull — underwrites entirely against Stripe payments history
Products
- MCA
- Working capital LOC
- Short-term term loan
- Embedded merchant cash advance (Stripe + Stripe Connect platforms)
Verdicts by use case
- High-volume Stripe-native SaaS / marketplace processing $50K+/mo through Stripe — Winner: Stripe Capital. Stripe Capital's algorithmic underwriting against Stripe processing history typically prices an A-paper offer at factor 1.06 – 1.12 — meaningfully below Credibly's 1.11 – 1.25 A-paper band. For Stripe-native merchants who already see Stripe Capital offers in their dashboard, the embedded product is materially cheaper on cost-of-capital and requires zero application friction (no docs, no bank statements). The only catch is you can't apply — Stripe selects who gets offers.
- Non-Stripe merchant or low Stripe volume — Winner: Credibly. Stripe Capital is invitation-only and tied to Stripe processing volume. Merchants who don't process through Stripe (most restaurants, brick-and-mortar retail, trucking, service businesses) or who process below Stripe's algorithmic floor have no path to a Stripe Capital offer. Credibly's bank-statement underwriting works regardless of processor — 550+ FICO, 6+ months TIB, $15K+/mo deposits qualifies independent of payment stack.
- Merchant who needs to apply on their own timeline — Winner: Credibly. Credibly's API V2 + Cloudsquare lets merchants apply and fund in as fast as 4 hours on their schedule. Stripe Capital offers appear when Stripe's algorithm decides — you can't trigger a manual offer review, and merchants in a capital pinch can't force Stripe to surface a new offer. For predictable capital access on the merchant's timeline Credibly's pull-based model is structurally the right tool.
- Processor-portability and concentration risk — Winner: Credibly. Stripe Capital repays as a fixed percentage of all Stripe charges and pauses the merchant inside Stripe's payment rail — switching processors, pausing Stripe Connect, or losing the Stripe account triggers immediate balloon repayment of the full remaining balance within 60 days. Credibly's MCA has no processor lock-in; switching from Stripe to Adyen or Braintree mid-payback has zero effect on the Credibly contract. For merchants who value processor optionality Credibly's structure is materially safer.
- Larger deal size ($600K+) — Winner: Stripe Capital. Credibly's MCA caps at $600K. Stripe Capital's deal ceiling scales with Stripe processing volume — high-volume Stripe Connect platforms and large SaaS marketplaces can access $1M – $5M offers directly from Stripe. For genuinely large Stripe-native files Stripe Capital reaches deal sizes Credibly cannot.
The honest takeaway
Credibly and Stripe 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
- Why can't I just apply to Stripe Capital like Credibly?
- Stripe Capital is structurally pre-qualified, not apply-and-underwrite. Stripe's algorithm continuously evaluates every Stripe account against processing history, chargeback rate, refund patterns, and account-age signals. When an account scores above the threshold an offer appears in the Stripe dashboard with no application required. There's no application form, no merchant-initiated underwriting, and no appeal process if you don't see an offer. The trade-off is that when offers do appear they price at the lowest end of the MCA cost spectrum (factor 1.06 – 1.12 typical) because Stripe is underwriting against its own real-time payments data. For merchants who need capital on their own timeline regardless of processor, Credibly's pull-based application with 4-hour API V2 funding is the right alternative.
- If I have a Stripe Capital offer for $50K, should I still shop Credibly?
- Usually no — if your Stripe Capital offer is at factor 1.10 or below, it's almost certainly cheaper than what Credibly will quote on the same file (Credibly's A-paper band starts at 1.11 and typical quotes for $50K land 1.18 – 1.24). Two scenarios where shopping Credibly still makes sense: (1) you anticipate switching off Stripe within the payback window — Credibly's processor-agnostic structure removes the balloon-repayment risk Stripe Capital triggers on processor change; (2) you need larger capital than the Stripe offer (Stripe offers expand only when processing grows) — Credibly can quote up to $600K against bank statements while Stripe's offer is locked at the algorithmically chosen amount.
- What happens to my Stripe Capital balance if I pause Stripe processing?
- Stripe Capital's contract requires that the full remaining balance is repaid within 60 days of Stripe processing pausing or terminating. If you switch off Stripe to another processor mid-payback, the contract converts from percentage-of-Stripe-charges repayment to a balloon payment due in 60 days. For high-volume merchants this is meaningful — a $200K Stripe Capital balance with $130K still outstanding becomes a $130K balloon if you migrate to Adyen. Credibly's MCA has no equivalent processor-pause trigger; the ACH debit schedule continues from the merchant's primary operating account regardless of payment-processor changes.