Hearth and Acorn Finance both let a contractor offer homeowners point-of-sale financing through a multi-lender marketplace, but they charge you in opposite ways. Acorn Finance is completely free for contractors with no dealer fees, while Hearth is a flat subscription of $1,499 to $4,999 per year plus a $99 setup fee. For most contractors financing several jobs a month, Hearth's larger loan ceiling ($250,000 vs $100,000) and bundled sales tools justify the fee. If you only finance a handful of jobs a year, start with Acorn.
Key takeaways
- Acorn Finance charges contractors nothing: no subscription, no setup cost, and no dealer fees. It earns its revenue from lenders instead.
- Hearth's 2026 pricing page lists three tiers: Essentials at $1,499 per year, Pro at $1,799, and Elite at $4,999, plus a one-time $99 setup fee.
- Hearth's 18-lender network funds projects from $1,000 up to $250,000 with FICO scores starting at 550; Acorn Finance caps loans at $100,000.
- Both platforms use a soft credit pull for pre-qualification, so a homeowner can check offers without hurting their score.
- On Trustpilot, Acorn Finance holds roughly 4.7 stars from about 1,269 reviews, while Hearth sits near 4 stars with recurring complaints about auto-renewal billing.
Quick verdict
Hearth wins for contractors who sell big-ticket work and want financing built into every estimate. Its $250,000 loan ceiling covers full kitchen guts, roof replacements, and whole-home HVAC, and the Pro plan bundles quotes, contracts, and payment collection around the financing link.
Acorn Finance wins for contractors who finance occasionally or run on thin overhead. A free account with a shareable financing link and zero dealer fees is hard to argue with when you only need financing on a few jobs a quarter.
One correction worth making up front, because older comparisons (including an earlier version of this article) got it wrong: Acorn Finance is no longer a consumer-only marketplace. Contractors can now enroll free, get a personalized financing link, and send it by text, email, or inside an estimate, according to Acorn Finance's own contractor pages. The old "Hearth is for contractors, Acorn is for homeowners" framing is out of date. The real 2026 difference is paid platform with deep tooling versus free link with none.
Hearth vs Acorn Finance at a glance
| Feature | Hearth | Acorn Finance |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to contractor | $1,499 to $4,999 per year plus $99 setup | $0 (no subscription, no dealer fees) |
| Loan amounts | $1,000 to $250,000 | $1,000 to $100,000 |
| Lender network | 18 lending partners | Multiple national lenders (Acorn's pages cite figures from 12+ upward) |
| Minimum FICO | From 550, varies by lender | Roughly 550 to 720+, varies by lender |
| Typical terms | 2 to 12 years | Up to about 12 years on most offers |
| Pre-qualification credit pull | Soft pull, no score impact | Soft pull, no score impact |
| Dealer fees | None (flat subscription instead) | None |
| Bundled tools | Quotes, contracts, payments, reminders (Pro and up) | None built in; integrates with JobTread, FieldPulse, AccuLynx |
| Trustpilot rating | About 4 stars, 1,200+ reviews | About 4.7 stars, roughly 1,269 reviews |
Cost to the contractor
Cost is the loudest difference between these two platforms. Acorn Finance charges contractors nothing at any point: no enrollment fee, no monthly charge, and no per-transaction dealer fee. Acorn states on its contractor pages that it makes money by charging lenders in its network, not the businesses sending applicants. For a contractor, the only cost of trying Acorn is the ten minutes it takes to set up the link.
Hearth flips that model. You pay a flat annual subscription (three tiers, covered in the pricing table below) plus a one-time $99 setup fee, and in exchange no dealer fee ever comes out of a funded job. That flat-fee structure is Hearth's core pitch against per-job programs like GreenSky, where fees can eat 5 to 12 percent of a project; our breakdown of dealer fees in contractor financing runs that math in detail. Against Acorn, though, Hearth's flat fee is a pure added cost you have to earn back.
The break-even is simple. Hearth Pro costs $1,898 in year one ($1,799 plus $99). If presenting financing on every estimate closes even one extra $15,000 job at a 35 percent gross margin, that is $5,250 of margin against a $1,898 cost. Close nothing extra, and you paid $1,898 for software Acorn gives away. Your financing volume decides this section, not the platforms.
Winner: Acorn Finance. Free beats paid until Hearth's tools demonstrably close jobs Acorn's bare link would not.
Loan sizes, rates, and approval reach
Loan capacity is where Hearth pulls ahead. Hearth's network of 18 lending partners funds projects from $1,000 up to $250,000, with terms of 2 to 12 years, advertised rates starting near 7.99 percent APR, and FICO acceptance starting at 550, per Hearth's own financing pages. Funding can land in as little as 24 hours after final approval. We cover how the multi-lender structure lifts approval odds in how Hearth's 18-lender network works.
Acorn Finance tops out at $100,000. That ceiling comfortably covers bathrooms, decks, windows, and most HVAC changeouts, but it leaves out large remodels and additions that routinely quote past six figures. Acorn's lender network also spans subprime to prime (roughly 550 to 720+ minimum scores depending on the lender), uses the same soft-pull pre-qualification, and charges no prepayment penalties, though its FAQ notes some lenders add a 1 to 6 percent origination fee on loans under $40,000.
Both platforms hand the homeowner an unsecured personal loan in most cases, which means funds typically go to the homeowner, who then pays you like any cash customer. Neither platform inserts itself between you and your money the way stage-funded programs do.
Winner: Hearth. A $250,000 ceiling, a published 550 floor, and 18 named lenders give your estimates more room to say yes.
The sales workflow: who controls the financing moment
Workflow control used to be the whole argument for Hearth, and it still matters most at the kitchen table. Hearth is built around the in-home estimate: you text a pre-qualification link from the app while you are still in the driveway, the homeowner sees monthly-payment offers in about a minute, and your dashboard shows who pre-qualified and for how much so you can follow up the same day. Our step-by-step guide to using Hearth during an estimate walks the exact sequence.
Acorn Finance has closed part of this gap. A contractor account now generates a personalized financing link you can text, email, embed on your website, or drop into an estimate. What Acorn does not give you is the surrounding machinery: there is no pre-qualification dashboard comparable to Hearth's, no automated payment reminders, and no monthly-payment display wired into your quote document. You send the link, and the homeowner takes it from there.
That visibility gap has a real cost. Knowing a homeowner pre-qualified for $40,000 changes your follow-up call; presenting a $30,000 kitchen as "around $460 a month" changes the close. Scripts for that conversation are in our kitchen table guide to pitching financing.
Winner: Hearth. Both let you initiate financing, but only Hearth shows you what happened after you hit send.
Pricing by tier
Hearth's published 2026 tiers, per gethearth.com/pricing and Capterra's current listing, against Acorn's single free tier:
| Plan | Annual price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Hearth Essentials | $1,499 + $99 setup | Financing link and core platform; no quotes, contracts, banking, or automated reminders |
| Hearth Pro | $1,799 + $99 setup | Full feature set for up to 5 users: financing, quotes, contracts, payments, reminders |
| Hearth Elite | $4,999 + $99 setup | Pro features for 10 users, aimed at larger sales teams |
| Acorn Finance | $0 | Contractor account, personalized financing link, software integrations |
Two notes on the Hearth column. Subscriptions bill annually up front with no monthly option, and the $300 gap between Essentials and Pro buys the tools most contractors actually want, so Pro is the realistic entry point; we compare the two in Hearth Pro vs Starter. For the full fee picture including what renewal looks like, see how much Hearth costs contractors.
Reviews and user sentiment
Review-platform sentiment favors Acorn. Acorn Finance holds about 4.7 stars on Trustpilot from roughly 1,269 reviews as of mid-2026, with about 86 percent of reviewers leaving five stars, mostly homeowners praising fast offers and funding. That matters to you because the homeowner is the one filling out the application; a smooth borrower experience protects your close.
Hearth's Trustpilot profile sits near 4 stars across 1,200+ reviews. Contractors praise the support staff and the in-estimate workflow, but the recurring complaint pattern is billing: annual auto-renewal charges and cancellation friction show up repeatedly in the one-star reviews. If you sign up, calendar your renewal date and read the cancellation terms before you pay, a caution we also raise in our honest assessment of Hearth for small contractors.
Winner: Acorn Finance. A higher rating, a friendlier borrower experience, and no renewal contract to get burned by.
Choose Hearth if
- Your average financed ticket is large: remodels, roofs, or system replacements where the $250,000 ceiling and 12-year terms keep monthly payments sellable.
- You run in-home estimates and want pre-qualification visibility while you are still in the house.
- You want quotes, contracts, and payment collection in the same tool instead of stitching apps together.
- You finance enough volume that one extra closed job per year clears the $1,898 first-year cost.
Choose Acorn Finance if
- You finance only a few jobs a year and cannot justify any subscription.
- Your projects rarely exceed $100,000.
- You already run JobTread, FieldPulse, or AccuLynx and want financing embedded in the estimates you send today.
- You want a zero-risk way to test whether offering financing moves your close rate at all before paying for a platform.
Final verdict
Acorn Finance is the better starting point, and Hearth is the better growth tool. A free financing link removes every excuse for not offering monthly payments on your next estimate, and for low-volume shops Acorn may be all you ever need. Once financing becomes part of every sales conversation, Hearth's pre-qualification dashboard, bigger loan ceiling, and bundled sales documents start earning back the subscription, which is why it remains our pick for contractors selling five-figure projects week in and week out. If you are weighing a wider field than these two, our Hearth vs Wisetack comparison covers the other free-to-contractor model worth knowing.
Ready to see the paid side firsthand? Get started with Hearth here and compare its demo against your free Acorn account before committing to either.
How we put this together
We compared published pricing, loan terms, and credit requirements from Hearth's pricing and financing pages (gethearth.com) and Acorn Finance's contractor pages and FAQ (acornfinance.com), then checked user sentiment on Trustpilot for both companies. All figures were verified in July 2026; subscription prices and lender terms change, so confirm current numbers with each platform before signing anything.
Frequently asked questions
Is Acorn Finance really free for contractors?
Yes, Acorn Finance charges contractors nothing: no enrollment fee, no monthly subscription, and no dealer fees on funded loans. Acorn earns revenue from the lenders in its network, so the contractor account, financing link, and software integrations all come at zero cost to your business.
Does pre-qualifying through Hearth or Acorn Finance hurt a homeowner's credit?
No, both platforms use a soft credit pull for pre-qualification, which does not affect the homeowner's credit score. A hard inquiry only happens later, if the homeowner accepts a specific lender's offer and completes a full application.
What credit score does a homeowner need on each platform?
Hearth's lender network accepts FICO scores starting around 550, while Acorn Finance's lenders range from roughly 550 to 720+ minimums depending on the lender matched. In both marketplaces, a lower score means fewer offers and higher rates rather than an automatic decline. For what to tell customers about the impact, see how contractor financing affects homeowner credit scores.
Can a contractor use both Hearth and Acorn Finance at the same time?
Yes, nothing in either agreement prevents running both. A practical setup is a free Acorn link on your website for self-serve visitors while using Hearth's app and dashboard for in-home estimates, then dropping whichever one your closed-job data says is not pulling weight.
Who actually pays the contractor when a loan funds?
The homeowner does, in most cases on both platforms. These are unsecured personal loans, so the lender typically deposits funds to the homeowner, who then pays you like a cash customer. Hearth's Pro plan adds invoicing and payment collection tools on top, but neither platform holds your money in stages the way some dealer-fee programs do.
Does Hearth charge dealer fees on top of the subscription?
No, Hearth's flat annual subscription replaces dealer fees entirely, so a funded $60,000 job costs you the same as a funded $6,000 job. That is the core trade against per-job programs like GreenSky, where the fee scales with project size; our GreenSky alternatives roundup compares the models side by side.
