The specs
OnDeckStripe Capital
Product typeMulti-productMCA
Amount range$5K – $400K (term); $6K – $200K (LOC)$10K – $5M (varies by Stripe volume)
Cost (factor / APR)Term APR 27%+; LOC APR 30%+Single fixed fee (factor 1.06 – 1.20 typical); no APR / no compounding
Speed to fundSame-day for approved filesNext business day after acceptance
Min time in business12 months6 months
Min monthly revenue$8,000Stripe processing required; no public floor (algorithmically chosen)
Min credit score600+No FICO pull — underwrites entirely against Stripe payments history
Products
- Term loan
- LOC
- Embedded merchant cash advance (Stripe + Stripe Connect platforms)
Verdicts by use case
- Stripe-native merchant with strong processing history — Winner: Stripe Capital. Stripe Capital's algorithmic underwriting against Stripe processing history typically prices A-paper offers at factor 1.06 – 1.12. OnDeck's term loan at 27%+ APR or LOC at 30%+ APR materially undercuts on cost for Stripe-native files where a Stripe Capital offer exists. For Stripe merchants the embedded product is structurally cheaper and faster (next business day with no application) than OnDeck's same-day-after-approval timeline.
- Non-Stripe merchant (restaurant, retail, services, contractor) — Winner: OnDeck. Stripe Capital requires Stripe processing — the vast majority of SMB merchants (restaurants on Toast, retail on Square, contractors on bank deposits) have no path to Stripe Capital. OnDeck's bank-statement underwriting works regardless of processor: 600+ FICO, 12+ months TIB, $8K+/mo revenue qualifies. For non-Stripe merchants OnDeck is in the cascade where Stripe Capital isn't.
- Established merchant needing $200K+ term loan with multi-year amortization — Winner: OnDeck. OnDeck's term loan goes up to $400K on 12 – 24 month amortization with a documented direct-lender contract and same-day funding on approved files. Stripe Capital is structurally a one-shot MCA against Stripe charges — repayment is percentage-of-Stripe-volume, not a fixed monthly amortization, and the maximum offer is algorithmically tied to trailing Stripe volume. For predictable multi-year capital deployment on a single fixed-payment schedule OnDeck's term structure is the right product shape.
- Pure cost-of-capital comparison on a Stripe-native A-paper file — Winner: Stripe Capital. Stripe Capital factor 1.08 on a $100K, 12-month payback ≈ 16% effective APR. OnDeck term loan at 27% APR on $100K, 12-month payback ≈ $15K in interest. On pure cost the Stripe Capital number is materially better when the offer exists. The catch: Stripe Capital is invitation-only — you can't apply and force a quote.
- Processor-portability and account-stability risk — Winner: OnDeck. Stripe Capital pauses the merchant inside Stripe's payment rail — switching processors, losing the Stripe account, or pausing Stripe Connect triggers balloon repayment of the full remaining balance within 60 days. OnDeck's term loan or LOC repays from the merchant's primary operating account on fixed schedule regardless of which processor handles transactions. For merchants who value processor optionality or who are concerned about Stripe account-stability risk (Stripe is known for sudden account freezes on flagged industries) OnDeck's processor-agnostic structure is materially safer.
The honest takeaway
OnDeck 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
- I'm a Shopify merchant who processes through Stripe — should I take Stripe Capital or OnDeck?
- If a Stripe Capital offer exists in your Stripe dashboard at factor 1.06 – 1.12, take Stripe Capital — it's structurally cheaper than OnDeck's 27%+ APR products on the same file. If no Stripe Capital offer exists and you need capital, OnDeck is the better path: pull-based application with same-day funding on approved files. Don't wait for a Stripe Capital offer to materialize; Stripe's algorithm makes the decision on its timeline, not yours. If timing matters apply to OnDeck and shop the Stripe offer separately if/when it appears.
- Why is OnDeck more expensive than Stripe Capital on equivalent A-paper files?
- Different underwriting data and different risk transfer. Stripe Capital underwrites against real-time payments data on Stripe's own platform — chargeback patterns, refund rates, transaction velocity, settlement consistency — which is the highest-fidelity merchant-risk signal in the market. OnDeck underwrites against bank statements, which captures less of the merchant's transactional health. The cost gap (typically 8 – 15 points of factor on equivalent A-paper) reflects the underwriting fidelity gap. OnDeck's premium also covers the cost of processor-agnostic underwriting and the optionality the merchant retains to switch processors mid-payback.
- Can I have an active OnDeck loan and accept a Stripe Capital offer at the same time?
- Yes — neither product has explicit anti-stacking language preventing the other. Stripe Capital doesn't pull business credit and doesn't see the OnDeck loan on the business credit file. OnDeck does pull business credit at origination but typically doesn't re-pull mid-loan unless servicing flags a concern. The risk is cash-flow concentration: OnDeck's daily/weekly ACH debit plus Stripe Capital's percentage-of-Stripe-charges deduction can compress operating margin on a revenue base that needs to support both. Run the combined debt-service-to-revenue ratio before accepting the Stripe offer on top of an active OnDeck loan; if combined debt service exceeds 18 – 22% of trailing revenue, decline the second offer.