The specs
OnDeckFunding Circle
Product typeMulti-productTerm
Amount range$5K – $400K (term); $6K – $200K (LOC)$25K – $500K
Cost (factor / APR)Term APR 27%+; LOC APR 30%+APR 7.49 – 24.99% (fixed-rate, fully-amortizing term loans)
Speed to fundSame-day for approved filesFunding in 48 hours to 1 week after approval
Min time in business12 months24 months
Min monthly revenue$8,000$50,000+/yr business revenue (~$4,000/mo floor)
Min credit score600+660+
Products
- Term loan
- LOC
- Fixed-rate business term loans (3 – 7 years)
- SBA 7(a) loans via partner banks
Verdicts by use case
- Cheapest cost of capital on a qualifying term loan — Winner: Funding Circle. Funding Circle's fixed APR (7.49 – 24.99%) over 3 – 7 year amortization lands materially below OnDeck's term loan APR (27%+ as of 2026-06-28) for most qualifying borrowers. Same dollar amount, same merchant — Funding Circle wins on total interest paid by a wide margin, especially on a 3+ year hold. For A-paper merchants who can clear both underwriting bars this is not close on cost.
- Speed to fund on emergency capital — Winner: OnDeck. OnDeck funds same-day on approved + verified files via direct-lender underwriting. Funding Circle takes 48 hours to a full week for conventional term loan underwriting and 30 – 60 days for SBA 7(a) partner-bank fulfillment. For genuine cash-this-week emergencies OnDeck wins outright in this pair.
- Larger deal size up to $400K with fast funding — Winner: OnDeck. OnDeck term loans cap at $400K and fund same-day on approved files. Funding Circle caps conventional term at $500K but is materially slower to fund. For fast access to $200K – $400K on an emergency timeline OnDeck wins on the speed-plus-size tradeoff; for $400K – $500K with a 1-week timeline Funding Circle's lower APR wins on cost.
- Predictable amortization with no prepayment penalty over 3 – 7 years — Winner: Funding Circle. Funding Circle is a fully-amortizing fixed-rate conventional term loan with no prepayment penalty — clean balance sheet treatment, no early-exit fee, predictable monthly payment. OnDeck term loans have prepayment discount options but the structure is daily/weekly ACH on 12 – 24 month terms — different cash-flow shape that doesn't match multi-year capex payback profiles.
- Lower FICO floor (600 – 659 band) — Winner: OnDeck. As of 2026-06-28 OnDeck accepts 600+ FICO on its term loan and LOC products. Funding Circle requires 660+ FICO with no exceptions. A 620 – 659 FICO merchant is structurally OnDeck-only in this pair. For B-paper files in that FICO band Funding Circle is not a viable application.
The honest takeaway
OnDeck and Funding Circle 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
- Both are term loans — why does the structure feel so different in 2026?
- OnDeck uses daily or weekly ACH on a relatively short term (typically 12 – 24 months) with a total interest cap baked into the contract. Funding Circle uses monthly amortization on a much longer term (3 – 7 years) with a true APR structure. The math differs even at identical headline cost: Funding Circle's longer amortization means lower monthly payment but more total interest paid over the life; OnDeck's shorter term means higher monthly burden but lower total cost and faster balance-sheet cleanup. The cash-flow shape is fundamentally different — OnDeck reads like a high-velocity working-capital paydown, Funding Circle reads like a traditional capex term loan.
- I want $200K with the cheapest monthly payment as of mid-2026 — which?
- Funding Circle, by a wide margin. A 5-year amortization at 14% APR has a materially lower monthly payment than OnDeck's 18 – 24 month daily-ACH structure on the same $200K. Total interest paid will be higher on Funding Circle (longer amortization compounds more interest), but monthly cash-flow burden is dramatically lighter — roughly $4,700/mo on the Funding Circle structure vs $11,000+/mo equivalent on the OnDeck daily-ACH structure. If monthly cash-flow capacity is the binding constraint Funding Circle wins clearly.
- Can I get approved by both in 2026?
- Possible if you clear 660+ FICO and 24+ months TIB. Worth running both applications in parallel to compare apples-to-apples offers. Funding Circle's bank-style 5C underwriting (character, capacity, capital, collateral, conditions) may decline files that OnDeck's data-driven cash-flow-and-bank-statement model approves — the two underwriting philosophies don't always agree on the same file. As of 2026-06-28 the realistic split: if your tax returns and P&L are clean and current, both lenders likely approve and you choose on price+speed; if your documentation is messier or your last fiscal year showed a loss, OnDeck's cash-flow-focused model is more likely to approve where Funding Circle's bank-style review may decline.