When you start shopping for contractor financing, GreenSky and Hearth are two names you keep running into. Both let you offer payment options to homeowners. Both get funds into your account within a couple business days. Both claim to help you close more jobs.
But the way they charge you is completely different, and that difference can be worth tens of thousands of dollars a year depending on your volume. Here is what you actually need to know before you decide.
The Core Difference: How Each Platform Charges You
GreenSky charges dealer fees. Every time a customer finances a project through GreenSky, a percentage gets cut from your payout before you ever see the money. Standard loans typically run 3 to 6 percent. Promotional financing, including 0% APR programs, pushes those fees to 8 to 15 percent or more. On a $20,000 roofing job at 10 percent, you net $18,000 and GreenSky keeps $2,000.
Hearth charges an annual subscription instead. Their Pro plan runs around $1,799 per year (as of early 2026), plus a one-time $99 setup fee. You pay that flat annual amount and can offer financing on every single project without paying a penny per transaction. Finance $500,000 this year and you still paid $1,799.
Which model saves you more depends entirely on your volume. The break-even point sits somewhere around $36,000 to $45,000 in annually financed projects.
Full Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Hearth | GreenSky |
|---|---|---|
| Dealer Fees Per Job | $0 | 0 to 26.6% |
| Annual Subscription Cost | $1,499 to $4,999 per year | No annual fee |
| FICO Minimum | 550 | Approximately 600 |
| Maximum Loan Amount | $250,000 | $100,000 |
| APR Range | 4.9 to 35.99% | 0 to 29.99% |
| Approval Rate | 75 to 85% | 70 to 80% |
| Contractor Payout Timeline | 2 business days | 2 business days |
| Credit Pull Type | Soft pull (no credit impact) | Hard pull |
| Business Age Required | None listed | 2 to 3 years minimum |
| Lender Network | 18 plus lending partners | Direct lender |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4.3 out of 5 | 1.6 out of 5 |
The Dealer Fee Math: Running Real Numbers
Let us actually run the numbers so you can see where the crossover point lands.
Say you are on GreenSky and averaging an 8% dealer fee on your promotional financing programs. Here is what that looks like at different annual volume levels:
- $100,000 financed: $8,000 in fees paid to GreenSky
- $250,000 financed: $20,000 in fees paid to GreenSky
- $500,000 financed: $40,000 in fees paid to GreenSky
- $1,000,000 financed: $80,000 in fees paid to GreenSky
With Hearth Pro at roughly $1,799 per year, you finance that same million dollars and pay $1,799. The difference is $78,201 staying in your pocket instead of GreenSky’s.
Now flip the math. If you only finance $15,000 in total projects all year, Hearth’s annual fee ($1,799) costs more than what GreenSky’s 8% would have charged you ($1,200). For very low volume operations, GreenSky’s pay-per-use model can cost less.
The crossover point sits between $22,000 and $45,000 in annual financed volume depending on which GreenSky fee tier you end up in. Above that threshold, Hearth wins on cost. The more you grow, the bigger the gap gets.
FICO Minimums: Who Actually Qualifies
Hearth accepts customers with credit scores as low as 550. GreenSky does not publish a hard minimum publicly, but industry reports consistently put their floor around 600. That 50-point gap matters more than it sounds in residential contracting.
A meaningful share of homeowner leads fall in the 550 to 599 credit range. If you are using GreenSky exclusively, those customers are automatically out of the conversation. On Hearth, they still get submitted through 18 different lending partners, each with their own underwriting criteria, and some of those partners work specifically with near-prime borrowers.
Hearth also uses soft credit pulls for pre-qualification. The homeowner can check what they qualify for without any impact to their credit score. This removes a major objection you hear in the field: “I do not want anything affecting my credit.” GreenSky typically requires a hard pull, which can suppress homeowners from even trying.
Loan Sizes and Term Lengths
Hearth can finance projects up to $250,000 with loan terms from 2 to 12 years. GreenSky caps individual loans at around $100,000. For most typical bathroom remodels or HVAC replacements this does not matter, but if you take on larger whole-home renovations or multi-phase projects, Hearth gives you more ceiling to work with.
The term lengths matter for monthly payment framing too. A 12-year term on a $50,000 addition brings the monthly payment down to a range that many homeowners can genuinely consider rather than declining outright.
GreenSky’s Regulatory History
Before you sign up for any financing platform, it is worth knowing the regulatory track record. In 2021, GreenSky entered a consent order with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau requiring $9 million in customer refunds and a $2.5 million civil penalty. The enforcement action centered on GreenSky allowing contractors to process loans on behalf of customers without proper consumer authorization.
GreenSky was subsequently acquired by Goldman Sachs and later sold to Sixth Street. The platform continues operating, but the complaint volume is notable. Their Trustpilot score sits at 1.6 out of 5 based on hundreds of reviews, with recurring complaints about deferred interest traps and billing disputes. Google reviews skew higher at 4.9, reflecting a split between merchants and end consumers.
None of this means GreenSky will cause you problems directly, but tying your customer relationships to a platform with a consumer complaint history is something to weigh.
Where Hearth Has Weaknesses
Hearth is not without its own issues. Reviews on Better Business Bureau and contractor forums point to a few recurring patterns: auto-renewal billing that catches contractors off guard, difficulty getting refunds after signing up and not using the platform, and inconsistent customer service when leads pre-qualify but never fund.
Some contractors report strong results with funded deals across a wide credit range. Others describe situations where pre-qualified homeowners were never contacted by lenders after submitting applications. The platform’s effectiveness varies by market and by how aggressively you push financing in your sales process.
The annual subscription also means you are paying regardless of usage. If you sign up, do not train your team on it, and let it sit, you can spend $1,799 for minimal results.
Which Industries Each Platform Serves Best
GreenSky has deep roots in HVAC and roofing, partly through manufacturer relationships and industry partnerships built over many years. If you are an HVAC dealer tied to a specific brand that has a GreenSky integration, switching may not make sense.
Hearth is built as a multi-trade platform covering roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, windows, siding, bathrooms, and kitchens. The software side of the platform (quotes, contracts, invoices, digital payments) adds value beyond just the financing, which is why many remodeling contractors prefer it.
Which Platform Makes More Sense for Your Business
Hearth is the better fit if you finance more than $40,000 per year in projects, want a flat predictable annual cost, serve customers with credit scores in the 550 to 600 range, prefer soft credit pulls that reduce friction, or want business software bundled with financing tools. It is also better if you are newer and do not meet GreenSky’s 2 to 3 year business age requirement.
GreenSky may work if your financing volume is genuinely low and you want to avoid an annual commitment, you have an existing relationship that is already working, or you specifically need their promotional 0% APR programs and your margins can absorb the dealer fees.
Many high-volume contractors run both. Use one as primary and the other as backup for customers who do not qualify with the first. The platforms are not mutually exclusive and running two options meaningfully increases your overall funding rate.
Final Take
For most contractors who are serious about making financing a consistent part of how they sell, Hearth’s flat subscription wins on cost at any meaningful volume level. The math is not close once you cross $50,000 or $100,000 in financed projects annually.
Run your own numbers against last year’s financed volume. If you crossed $36,000, Hearth is probably already the cheaper option. If you are just starting to offer financing and want to scale without per-job fees compounding as your volume grows, Hearth’s model is built for that trajectory.
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.