TL;DR
Lendio is a marketplace, not a broker. Their funding specialist gets paid based on which lender funds the loan, including MCA companies that pay the highest commissions. Frank only works with traditional banks. We package your file, present you to the bank, not the bank to you. One conversation, one application, one human who works for you. Bank rates from 6% APR. Pre-approved in 3 minutes. Funded in as fast as 72 hours. $0 fees.
Side by side
Built for trades and services operators
Generic small business
Frank charges you nothing. We never broker MCAs.
Lendio's funding specialists are paid by lenders. Some of those lenders are MCA companies whose effective APRs exceed 100%. The "free" Lendio service includes routing operators to those products. Frank works with traditional banks only. Our incentive is closing real bank loans, not maximizing commission per file.
Lendio is a real platform with real scale. Founded in 2011, they've helped facilitate over $15 billion in financing through more than 300,000 loans. Don't dismiss them — understand them.
The breadth is real. Lendio has 75+ lenders in their network, including names you've heard of (Bluevine, OnDeck, American Express) and dozens you haven't. If your business is unusual or sits outside the typical bank credit box, the marketplace model gives you more shots on goal than going to one bank.
One application is genuine. You fill out one 15-minute form, and Lendio's algorithm matches you with lenders most likely to approve you.
Soft credit pulls during matching. Lendio uses soft inquiries during the matching phase, so your initial shopping won't ding your credit score. Hard pulls only happen when you formally apply with a chosen lender.
Trustpilot reviews are strong. They have over 21,000 reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.7 score, and an A+ BBB rating. The platform itself works — operators do get funded.
They have an SBA path. Lendio works with SBA preferred lending partners and can route SBA applications to faster-processing banks within their network.
The Lendio model has structural issues that most operators don't see until they're three weeks in.
Your data goes to dozens of lenders. When you apply through Lendio, your business name, contact info, revenue, credit profile, and funding need are shared with the lenders matched to your profile, sometimes 5, sometimes 15. Each of those lenders can then contact you directly. Multiple operators have reported phones blowing up for weeks after applying, including from MCA companies whose calls don't stop.
MCAs are in the network. Lendio's marketplace includes merchant cash advance providers — the highest-cost form of financing in the industry, with effective APRs that frequently exceed 100%. If you don't qualify for cleaner products, the funding specialist may steer you toward an MCA without the warning labels you deserve. Frank does not broker MCAs. Period.
The "funding specialist" isn't your advocate. Lendio's funding specialists are paid based on closed loans, and not all loan products pay the same commission. The incentive structure pushes specialists toward the products that pay highest, which is rarely the best deal for the operator. Real broker relationships work the other way around.
Soft pulls don't always stay soft. Multiple Trustpilot reviewers report hard inquiries appearing on their credit reports after using Lendio, originating from individual lenders Lendio shared their data with. Lendio itself uses soft pulls — but the lenders they route you to don't always.
Customer service complaints are common. The same Trustpilot page that shows the 4.7 score also shows a steady stream of complaints about callbacks that never happen, representatives going dark, and difficulty getting answers when something goes wrong with an active application.
When Frank is the better fit
Frank is built deliberately differently. Here's when we win.
You want one human shopping your deal, not an algorithm. When you apply with Frank, you get one trade-business specialist who reviews your file, identifies the right bank for your specific situation (industry, revenue stage, geography, capital need), packages the application, and submits it. You don't get a phone tree. You don't get 12 lenders calling you. You get one person who understands HVAC margins or GC retainage cycles or landscaping route density math.
You want bank rates, not marketplace rates. Lendio's network includes lenders whose rates start at 6% and lenders whose rates effectively exceed 100%. The funding specialist won't always tell you which is which. Frank works with traditional banks and SBA-approved lenders — bank term loans from 6% APR, SBA 7(a) from 9.75%, SBA 504 from 5%, invoice financing from 1% per period. We don't broker MCAs, factor-rate products, or anything dressed up to look like a loan that isn't one.
You want fast bank financing. 3-minute pre-approval. As fast as 72 hours to funding. That's faster than most Lendio loan products actually fund — the Lendio "24-hour funding" applies to a few products, but their SBA loans take 30-90 days and many term loans take 1-2 weeks.
You don't want your data sold to 75 lenders. When you apply with Frank, your information goes to one or two banks where you have a real shot at approval — not the entire marketplace. Your phone stays quiet. Your inbox stays clean.
You're a trade or services operator. Frank specializes in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, GC, landscaping, restoration, solar, pest, cleaning, septic, masonry, and painting. Lendio is generic small business — they don't know what a 15% bid bond requirement means for a commercial GC, or why a landscaper's spring rampup cash crunch is different from a restaurant's. We do.
How to decide
Are you genuinely unsure what loan type you need and want to see lots of offers? → Frank
Are you a trade or services operator who wants a bank loan, packaged properly, with one human running the deal? → Frank.
Have you tried Lendio already and got steered toward an MCA or a 60% APR term loan? → That's exactly the situation Frank exists to solve. Apply and we'll tell you what a real bank loan looks like for your business.
FAQ
Is Lendio a lender? No. Lendio is a marketplace. They don't fund loans themselves — they match you with lenders who do. The actual loan, terms, and customer service all come from the lender Lendio routes you to.
Why does Lendio say it's free? Lendio is paid commissions by lenders when applications close. The borrower doesn't pay Lendio directly. But "free" doesn't mean neutral — Lendio's revenue depends on closed loans, and that creates the same incentive problems as any commissioned broker model.
Are MCAs really that bad? MCAs are the most expensive form of small business financing in the United States. Effective APRs commonly exceed 100% and can reach 200%+. They're priced as factor rates (e.g., "1.4x") which obscures the true cost. We've seen operators destroyed by MCA debt cycles. Anti-MCA positioning is core to why Frank exists.
Can I get an SBA loan through Lendio? Lendio routes SBA applications to participating lenders in their network. The actual SBA loan still goes through that bank — Lendio is just the intake. Frank does the same thing but with deeper bank relationships and trade-business expertise.
What's the difference between a marketplace and a broker? A marketplace shows you a list of options and takes commissions on whichever closes. A broker has fiduciary-style alignment with you, packages your file, and presents you to the lender. Lendio is a marketplace. Frank is a broker.
Does Frank work for free too? Yes. Like Lendio, we're paid by the bank when a loan closes. The difference is alignment — we work with traditional bank lenders whose products are vanilla, transparent, and competitively priced, so the commission structure doesn't pull us toward bad outcomes for operators.
One application. One advisor. Bank rates from 6%. No phones blowing up. No MCAs.
Frank pre-qualifies your business in 3 minutes and presents you to the bank most likely to fund your specific deal. Funded in as fast as 72 hours. $0 fees, ever.
Let's talk