For most home improvement contractors, Hearth is the better financing platform in 2026: a flat subscription starting at $1,499 per year, no dealer fees on funded loans, and a lender network that approves FICO scores down to 550. GoodLeap still makes sense for one group, solar installers, because its product depth in solar lending remains unmatched. GoodLeap is also carrying baggage right now: an active Minnesota Attorney General lawsuit, a consolidated federal class action over its dealer-fee model, and a solar lending sector that spent 2025 in turbulence.
Key takeaways
- Hearth charges a flat annual subscription ($1,499 to $4,999 per year plus a $99 setup fee, per Hearth's 2026 pricing page) with zero per-loan dealer fees.
- GoodLeap enrollment is free, but contractors pay a dealer fee on each funded loan; the Minnesota AG complaint states GoodLeap's average fee on solar loans was 19.32 percent.
- Hearth's 18-lender network approves borrowers down to a 550 FICO and offers loans from $1,000 to $250,000 with terms of 2 to 12 years.
- GoodLeap is not in bankruptcy: it closed its 24th securitization in December 2025 (PR Newswire), but it faces the Minnesota lawsuit, a federal MDL, and 1,289 BBB complaints over three years.
- Verdict by trade: solar installers should evaluate GoodLeap; roofing, HVAC, remodel, and every other residential trade gets a better fit and lower cost from Hearth.
Quick verdict
Choose Hearth if you are a non-solar residential contractor: the flat fee protects your margin on every job, the 550 FICO floor approves more of your customers, and the platform bundles estimates, contracts, and payments. Choose GoodLeap if solar is your core business: no general-purpose platform matches its solar loan structures, milestone funding, and installer network. There is no scenario where a tie makes sense: the two platforms were built for different customers, and the overlap zone (solar-adjacent trades like roofing with panel work) still tilts toward Hearth unless solar is the majority of your revenue.
Hearth vs GoodLeap at a glance
| Feature | Hearth | GoodLeap |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to contractor | Flat subscription, $1,499 to $4,999 per year | Free enrollment, dealer fee per funded loan |
| Built for | All residential home improvement trades | Solar first, expanding into general home improvement |
| FICO floor | 550 | Varies by product; solar approvals typically favor mid-600s and up, per SolarReviews |
| Loan range | $1,000 to $250,000 | Varies by product; solar loans commonly $20,000 to $100,000+ |
| Loan terms | 2 to 12 years | Up to 25 years on solar products |
| Funding speed | As fast as 24 hours for some offers | Milestone-based on solar; varies by product |
| Bundled tools | Estimates, contracts, invoicing, payments | Dealer portal and project workflow |
| Legal and regulatory | No material public actions | Minnesota AG lawsuit (2024, still active), federal MDL over dealer fees |
Fee model: flat subscription vs dealer fees
The fee structures are opposites. Hearth charges you a known annual amount and takes nothing from individual loans, so a $40,000 kitchen loan costs you the same as a $4,000 repair loan: nothing extra. GoodLeap charges nothing upfront and instead deducts a dealer fee from each funded loan, which means your cost scales with your volume and gets baked into how you price jobs.
Dealer fees in solar lending are not small. The Minnesota Attorney General's complaint states GoodLeap's average fee was 19.32 percent of each loan, and SolarReviews reports solar dealer fees across the industry commonly run 15 to 30 percent of system price. GoodLeap's general home improvement products carry different, lower fee schedules that depend on your dealer agreement, but the model is the same: the fee comes out of every job. Hearth's own fee explainer pegs typical per-loan competitor fees in home improvement at 5 to 20 percent. Even at the bottom of that range, a contractor financing $100,000 per year pays $5,000 in dealer fees versus $1,799 for a Hearth Pro subscription. The break-even lands near $30,000 to $36,000 in annual financed volume; our dealer fee math breakdown walks through the calculation trade by trade.
Winner: Hearth for any contractor financing more than roughly $30,000 per year outside solar.
Approval odds and credit floors
Approval rates decide whether financing actually closes jobs at the kitchen table. Hearth routes one application across 18 lending partners and returns offers for FICO scores as low as 550, with loan amounts from $1,000 to $250,000 and terms from 2 to 12 years, per Hearth's published product pages. That multi-lender fan-out is the reason a declined customer with one lender can still get an offer; we explain the mechanics in how Hearth's 18-lender network works.
GoodLeap underwrites primarily as a direct platform, and its approvals skew toward stronger credit. SolarReviews notes solar lenders typically look for scores around 680, with counteroffers at higher rates for weaker files. For contractors serving working-class neighborhoods where a 580 to 640 score is common, that gap is the difference between a signed contract and a dead lead. If subprime approvals matter to your close rate, read our guide to FICO scores and Hearth's 550 minimum.
Winner: Hearth, and it is not close for sub-650 customers.
Trade coverage and product depth
Trade fit is where GoodLeap earns its keep. GoodLeap built the largest residential solar lending platform in the country, with more than $30 billion financed for over 1.2 million homeowners since 2018 according to its own releases. It understands milestone-based funding, system-size loan structures, and the long 20-to-25-year terms solar buyers expect. It has expanded into HVAC, roofing, windows, and batteries, but solar remains the center of gravity.
Hearth was designed for the general residential contractor from day one: the pre-qualification flow runs on a phone during an in-home estimate, and the loan products match typical remodel and repair ticket sizes. We cover trade-specific setups in our guides for roofing contractors and HVAC contractors.
Winner: GoodLeap for solar installers; Hearth for every other trade.
Stability and regulatory record in 2026
GoodLeap's recent history deserves a clear-eyed look before you build your sales process on it. The solar lending sector had a rough 2025: Sunnova filed Chapter 11, several lenders paused products or tightened credit, and industry coverage (Built In's 2026 company outlook among it) notes GoodLeap's revenue dipped slightly against 2024. GoodLeap itself is not in bankruptcy and kept accessing capital markets, closing its 24th securitization in December 2025 per PR Newswire. Operationally, it is stable.
The legal picture is heavier. The Minnesota Attorney General sued GoodLeap, Mosaic, Sunlight Financial, and Dividend in March 2024, alleging roughly $35 million in concealed fees on more than $200 million of solar sales between 2017 and 2023. Federal court records on CourtListener show the case still in active litigation as of 2026, with no settlement announced. Separately, a federal multi-district class action consolidates claims that GoodLeap's dealer-fee model added undisclosed markup of 22 to 30 percent to financed systems, and the Better Business Bureau lists 1,289 GoodLeap complaints over the past three years. None of this targets GoodLeap's home improvement products specifically, but a lender's disclosure practices are your problem the moment a homeowner disputes a loan you presented. We saw a similar pattern play out in our Hearth vs Sunlight, Mosaic, and EnerBank comparison.
Hearth, by contrast, is a marketplace rather than a balance-sheet lender, so its risk profile is different: the lenders carry the loans, and Hearth has no comparable public enforcement actions.
Winner: Hearth on regulatory record; call it a caution flag on GoodLeap, not a disqualifier.
Business tools included
Tooling is a real cost line, not a footnote. A Hearth subscription bundles digital estimates, contracts with e-signature, invoicing, and payment collection alongside financing, which can replace one or two smaller software subscriptions for a small crew. GoodLeap provides a dealer portal and project workflow oriented around loan status and milestone funding, which is what a solar operation needs but not a replacement for sales documents. If bundled tools matter to you, compare tiers in our Hearth plan comparison before choosing a level.
Winner: Hearth for general contractors who want fewer subscriptions.
Pricing by tier
| Plan | Price (2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hearth Essentials | $1,499 per year + $99 setup | Financing access and core tools |
| Hearth Pro | $1,799 per year + $99 setup | Most popular; full estimates, contracts, payments |
| Hearth Elite | $4,999 per year + $99 setup | Larger teams and multi-user operations |
| GoodLeap | Free enrollment | Dealer fee deducted per funded loan, varies by product and agreement |
Pricing above comes from Hearth's pricing page and Capterra's Hearth listing as of mid-2026. GoodLeap does not publish dealer-fee schedules; you get them in your dealer agreement, so ask for the fee table in writing for every product you plan to activate. A full cost walkthrough is in how much Hearth costs contractors.
What contractors and homeowners report
User sentiment splits along the same trade line. Contractor reviews of Hearth on Capterra and in our own Hearth reviews roundup center on approval breadth and the in-home flow, with the flat fee cited as the reason high-volume users stay; the recurring complaint is that low-volume contractors struggle to justify the subscription in year one. GoodLeap's homeowner-facing reviews are rougher: the BBB complaint file (1,289 in three years, 471 closed in the last 12 months) clusters around payoff delays, lien releases, and fee disputes tied to the solar dealer-fee model, while its installer partners generally praise funding reliability at scale. Weigh homeowner sentiment heavily: the borrower's experience with the lender lands on your reputation.
Choose Hearth if, choose GoodLeap if
- Choose Hearth if you run a roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, remodel, window, or exterior business and finance more than about $30,000 per year.
- Choose Hearth if your customer base includes fair-credit homeowners and approvals drive your close rate.
- Choose Hearth if you want estimates, contracts, and payments in the same subscription.
- Choose GoodLeap if solar installation is the majority of your revenue and you need milestone funding and 20-plus-year terms.
- Choose GoodLeap if you sell large solar-plus-storage packages that exceed typical personal-loan structures.
- Choose neither yet if you finance only a few small jobs a year; a pay-per-use option may fit better, see our Hearth vs Wisetack comparison.
Final verdict
Hearth wins this comparison for the audience that is actually asking the question: general home improvement contractors. The flat $1,799 Pro subscription beats dealer fees past a modest volume threshold, the 550 FICO floor approves customers GoodLeap's underwriting would decline, and there is no regulatory cloud to explain to a homeowner. GoodLeap keeps a defensible position in exactly one lane, solar, where its scale and product structures remain the industry standard despite the lawsuits and a bumpy 2025. Match the platform to your trade mix and revisit the choice annually, because the solar lending market is still moving.
How we put this together
We compared published pricing, credit floors, loan ranges, and fee models from Hearth's pricing and product pages, Capterra's Hearth listing, GoodLeap's press releases, SolarReviews' GoodLeap analysis, BBB complaint records, and federal court filings on the Minnesota case via CourtListener. Figures were last verified in July 2026; GoodLeap dealer fees are stated as attributed ranges because the company does not publish them.
Frequently asked questions
Is GoodLeap in financial trouble in 2026?
GoodLeap is not in bankruptcy and remains the largest residential solar lender in the US, closing its 24th securitization in December 2025 per PR Newswire. The company did navigate a difficult 2025 for solar lending, a year that saw Sunnova file Chapter 11, and it faces active litigation, so due diligence is warranted before enrolling.
Does GoodLeap charge contractors to sign up?
No, GoodLeap enrollment is free, and the company earns through dealer fees deducted from each funded loan. Those fees vary by product and dealer agreement, so request the full fee schedule in writing before activating any product.
What credit score does Hearth financing require?
Hearth's lender network returns offers for homeowners with FICO scores as low as 550, according to Hearth's product pages. Rates and amounts scale with credit quality, so a 550 borrower sees higher APRs and smaller offers than a 720 borrower.
Can non-solar contractors use GoodLeap?
Yes, GoodLeap offers general home improvement financing for HVAC, roofing, windows, and similar trades. Its deepest product expertise, milestone funding, and longest terms still sit in solar, so non-solar contractors usually find Hearth's structure a better match.
What happened with the GoodLeap lawsuit?
The Minnesota Attorney General's March 2024 suit against GoodLeap, Mosaic, Sunlight, and Dividend over roughly $35 million in allegedly concealed fees was still in active federal litigation as of 2026, with no settlement announced per CourtListener records. A separate federal MDL consolidates class claims over GoodLeap's dealer-fee disclosures.
How much does Hearth cost in 2026?
Hearth costs $1,499 per year for Essentials, $1,799 for Pro, or $4,999 for Elite, each with a $99 setup fee, per Hearth's pricing page. There are no per-loan dealer fees on top of the subscription.
