Acorn Finance and Hearth both connect homeowners to multiple lenders through a single application. On the surface, they look like competitors. But the way contractors interact with each platform is fundamentally different, and that difference has real implications for how you close jobs and how much control you have over the financing conversation.
Here is the full breakdown of how Acorn Finance and Hearth compare and which one gives you more leverage in the sales process.
The Core Difference: Consumer-Facing vs Contractor-Controlled
Acorn Finance (acornfinance.com) is a consumer-facing multi-lender marketplace. Homeowners can go to Acorn Finance directly, without any involvement from a contractor, and apply for a personal loan or home improvement loan. There is no contractor enrollment required. The homeowner applies, gets offers from multiple lending partners, and picks one. The contractor has no role in that process until the homeowner decides to bring it to the table.
Hearth is a contractor-facing platform. The contractor enrolls, pays the annual subscription, and controls when and how homeowners are presented with financing. You send the pre-qualification link at the moment of the estimate. You know when the homeowner pre-qualifies. You can frame the financing as part of your proposal. The entire flow is designed around you controlling the offer moment, not waiting to see if the homeowner did their own research.
This is not a minor distinction. Where in the sales conversation the financing offer appears is one of the biggest variables in whether financing actually closes deals. Contractors who present financing at the estimate have significantly higher adoption than those who mention it as an afterthought at billing.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hearth | Acorn Finance |
|---|---|---|
| Primary user | Contractor (controls the offer) | Consumer (applies directly) |
| Fee to contractor | ~$1,499 to $1,799/yr flat subscription | No dealer fees (consumer-direct model) |
| Contractor enrollment | Required (paid subscription) | Not required |
| Financing initiation | Contractor sends pre-qual link at estimate | Homeowner initiates independently |
| Lender network | 18+ lending partners | Multiple lending partners |
| FICO minimum | 550 | Varies by lender (some as low as 580) |
| Loan maximum | $250,000 | Up to $100,000 for home improvement |
| Contractor visibility into pre-qual | Yes (contractor dashboard) | No (homeowner applies independently) |
| Designed for field sales | Yes (mobile link, point-of-estimate flow) | No (consumer applies on their own time) |
| Bundled contractor tools | Yes (estimates, contracts, payments) | No |
The Timing Problem with Consumer-Direct Financing
When a homeowner goes to Acorn Finance on their own to get pre-qualified before hiring a contractor, that can actually be useful. They show up to estimates knowing they have financing available, which can reduce friction. But this scenario is the exception. Most homeowners do not self-research financing before calling a contractor for an estimate.
More commonly, what happens is the homeowner gets an estimate, says they will think about it, and then either shops it against other contractors or never follows through. The financing conversation never happened at the right moment.
Hearth is designed to solve that specific problem. When you send a pre-qualification link at the end of the estimate appointment, while the homeowner is still engaged and the project is fresh in their mind, the conversion rate is meaningfully higher than when financing comes up later in the process.
When Acorn Finance Makes Sense for Contractors
Acorn Finance is genuinely useful in one contractor scenario: referring customers who are shopping around and want to understand their financing options independently. Some contractors put an Acorn Finance link on their website or quote documents so homeowners can check their options without involving the contractor in the conversation. This works as a passive lead-capture play rather than an active sales tool.
There is also no cost to the contractor. If you are in a situation where you want homeowners to have a financing resource but you are not ready to invest in a contractor platform subscription, Acorn Finance is a zero-cost option to reference.
Who Hearth Is Designed For
Hearth is built for contractors who want to control the financing offer in the sales conversation. If you want to say “let me send you a quick link right now to see what you qualify for” during the estimate appointment, and have the homeowner pre-qualified before you leave the driveway, Hearth is built for that workflow. The $1,799 annual subscription pays for itself quickly for any contractor financing more than $30,000 to $35,000 in projects per year.
Bottom Line
Acorn Finance is a consumer-facing tool that homeowners can use independently without any contractor involvement. It is free for contractors to reference, but it does not give you control over the financing moment in your sales process. Hearth is a contractor subscription that puts the pre-qualification link in your hands and lets you present financing at the exact moment a homeowner is deciding whether to move forward. For contractors who want financing to actually close more jobs (not just be available as an option homeowners discover on their own), Hearth’s model is built around that goal.
Ready to See If Hearth Makes Sense for Your Business?
Hearth gives contractors access to 18 plus lenders at a flat annual rate with no per-job dealer fees. If you finance more than $36,000 in projects per year, the math almost always works in your favor.