Hearth is the better fit for most field-based contractors in 2026: a flat subscription of roughly $1,799 per year, zero dealer fees on funded loans, and a marketplace of 18 plus lenders that accepts FICO scores down to 550. Synchrony HOME makes more sense for showroom and retail-adjacent businesses that want a bank brand homeowners already recognize, plus promotional financing offers backed by one of the largest consumer lenders in the country. Both programs are active and enrolling contractors in 2026, and the right choice comes down to how you sell and how much you finance per year.
Key takeaways
- Hearth charges a flat subscription (about $1,799 per year for Pro, plus a $99 setup fee) with no per-job dealer fees; Synchrony charges merchant fees per funded transaction, and its own Home Specialty calculator defaults that fee to 7% when a merchant does not know their rate.
- At a 7% merchant fee, Hearth's subscription pays for itself at roughly $25,700 in annual financed volume; at 5% the break-even is about $36,000.
- Hearth offers installment loans from $1,000 to $250,000 through 18 plus lenders with a 550 FICO floor; Synchrony HOME issues a revolving credit card with a 34.99% purchase APR on new accounts (as of July 31, 2025, per Synchrony's cardholder terms).
- Synchrony does not publish a single minimum credit score; approval criteria vary by product, so the 620 minimum repeated around the web is not an official figure.
- Synchrony HOME integrates with ServiceTitan (integration announced April 2024) and is accepted at over a million retail locations, which matters if you sell through a showroom or manufacturer program.
Quick verdict: pick by how you sell
The quick verdict splits by sales model, not by brand loyalty. If you sell at the kitchen table or from the driveway (roofing, HVAC replacements, remodels, exterior work), Hearth wins: the mobile application fits the estimate moment, fixed monthly payments are easier to pitch, and the flat fee protects your margin on every funded job. If you run a showroom, sell through a manufacturer financing program, or live inside ServiceTitan, Synchrony HOME wins: homeowners know the brand, promotional offers are built for point-of-sale retail, and there is no annual subscription to justify. For the typical independent contractor financing $30,000 or more per year in projects, Hearth is our overall pick.
Hearth vs Synchrony HOME at a glance
| Feature | Hearth | Synchrony HOME |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Multi-lender marketplace (18 plus lenders) | Single issuer (Synchrony Bank) credit network |
| Contractor cost | Flat subscription, about $1,799/yr (Pro) plus $99 setup; $0 dealer fees | No subscription; merchant fee per funded transaction (calculator default: 7%) |
| Product type | Installment loans, fixed monthly payment | Revolving credit card with promotional financing periods |
| Amounts | $1,000 to $250,000, terms 2 to 12 years | Set by the homeowner's credit limit; promo tiers start at $299 |
| Credit floor | 550 FICO across the lender network | No published single minimum; varies by product |
| Homeowner APR | From about 7.99% depending on lender and credit | 34.99% purchase APR outside promo periods (new accounts as of 7/31/2025) |
| Application flow | Mobile link sent at the estimate | Direct-to-device application, Synchrony Toolbox portal, ServiceTitan integration |
| Extras | Quotes, contracts, invoicing, payments bundled | Brand recognition, accepted at 1 million plus retail locations |
Cost structure: flat subscription vs merchant fees
Cost structure is the biggest practical difference between these two programs. Hearth charges contractors a flat annual subscription (about $1,799 for the Pro plan as of early 2026, plus a one-time $99 setup fee) and takes nothing per transaction, so financing $60,000 or $500,000 in projects costs the same. We break the full fee picture down in our Hearth cost breakdown for 2026.
Synchrony flips that model: enrollment costs nothing up front, and you pay a merchant fee on each funded transaction. Synchrony does not publish a public fee schedule, and Build Folio's 2026 overview of the program notes that fees vary by product, with standard-rate products generally cheaper than 0% promotional offers. The most honest public signal comes from Synchrony itself: the Home Specialty cost of credit calculator on synchronybusiness.com defaults to a 7.00% merchant fee when a contractor does not know their actual rate. Here is what that means for break-even against Hearth's subscription:
| Your Synchrony merchant fee | Annual financed volume where Hearth's $1,799 fee wins |
|---|---|
| 3% | About $60,000 |
| 5% | About $36,000 |
| 7% (Synchrony's calculator default) | About $25,700 |
One more cost note: Synchrony's merchant agreement prohibits passing credit surcharges to the customer, so the fee comes out of your price or your margin. Our guide to dealer fees in contractor financing shows how those percentages compound over a year of jobs.
Winner: Hearth for any contractor financing more than roughly $30,000 per year. Below that, Synchrony's pay-per-use model is cheaper.
Credit products: installment loans vs a promotional credit card
The credit products behind each program shape the homeowner conversation. Hearth's lenders issue installment loans: a fixed amount, a fixed monthly payment, a fixed payoff date, with terms of 2 to 12 years and rates starting around 7.99% APR for strong credit. Homeowners hear one number ("$212 a month") and know exactly what they signed.
Synchrony HOME issues a revolving credit card with promotional financing tiers. Per Synchrony's own cardholder terms: purchases under $299 earn 2% cash back, purchases of $299 to $1,998.99 get 6 months of promotional financing, purchases of $1,999 or more get 12 months, and participating retailers can offer 12 to 60 month promotions. The catch is deferred interest: if the balance is not paid in full by the end of the promo period, interest is charged from the purchase date at the card's 34.99% purchase APR (the rate on new accounts as of July 31, 2025). Some longer equal-payment promotions also carry a promo fee of 2% of the amount financed. If you sell promotional financing, know how it works before your customer asks; our explainer on how 0% APR contractor financing actually works covers the deferred interest trap in detail.
Winner: Hearth for payment clarity on big-ticket jobs. Fixed payments close faster and generate fewer angry callbacks than expired deferred-interest promos.
Approval odds and credit requirements
Approval range decides how many of your estimates can actually convert. Hearth pre-qualifies a homeowner against 18 plus lenders with one soft-pull application, and its lending partners work with FICO scores as low as 550. One application producing multiple offers means a decline from one lender is not the end of the conversation; see what Hearth's 550 minimum really means for the mechanics.
Synchrony is a single issuer, so one underwriting decision settles it. Contrary to the 620 minimum you will see repeated on contractor blogs, Synchrony does not publish a single minimum score; Build Folio's 2026 program review confirms the criteria vary by product and are not disclosed. As a prime-leaning bank card, approval reaches fewer subprime homeowners than a 550-floor marketplace, but a homeowner who already holds a Synchrony HOME card needs no new application at all if their credit limit covers the job.
Winner: Hearth for approval reach across mixed-credit customer bases.
Brand recognition and integrations
Brand trust is Synchrony's strongest card. Synchrony runs consumer credit programs for major national retailers, and the Synchrony HOME card is accepted at more than a million retail locations, per Synchrony's newsroom. Older homeowners and buyers wary of fintech apps often say yes faster to a bank name they have seen at the register for decades. Synchrony also announced a ServiceTitan integration in April 2024 (per Synchrony's press release), letting contractors send a direct-to-device financing application and receive the decision without leaving ServiceTitan, and enrollment runs through Synchrony's Contractor Toolbox portal.
Hearth is a contractor-facing brand: homeowners generally have not heard of it, but they do not need to, because the offers come from named lenders. Its edge is workflow, not fame. The subscription bundles quotes, contracts, invoicing, and payment collection, and the financing application is a link the homeowner opens on their own phone during the estimate. Our step-by-step guide to using Hearth during an in-home estimate shows that flow in practice.
Winner: Synchrony HOME if you run ServiceTitan or sell to a brand-sensitive demographic; Hearth everywhere else.
Loan sizes and project fit
Project size should steer the decision more than most contractors expect. Hearth's marketplace covers loans from $1,000 up to $250,000, which comfortably spans a water heater swap through a full home addition. Synchrony HOME purchases are capped by each homeowner's revolving credit limit, and Synchrony does not publish typical limits. Promotional tiers keyed at $299 and $1,999 tell you where the product was designed to live: appliance, flooring, HVAC, and furniture tickets, not $80,000 remodels. For a $45,000 kitchen, a card limit is a real constraint; for a $4,000 repair with a 12-month no-interest promo, the card is genuinely attractive.
Winner: Hearth for projects above roughly $20,000; Synchrony HOME holds its own on small and mid-size retail-style tickets.
What each program costs, tier by tier
| Program and tier | Upfront cost | Ongoing cost | Per-transaction cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hearth Pro | $99 setup | About $1,799/yr (as of early 2026) | $0 dealer fees |
| Hearth Starter/Essentials | Quoted at signup | Lower subscription, fewer features | $0 dealer fees |
| Synchrony HOME merchant | $0 | $0 | Merchant fee per funded sale; varies by product, 7% calculator default |
Hearth's tiers differ mainly in tooling, not in loan access; our Hearth Pro vs Starter comparison walks through which subscription level fits which shop. On the Synchrony side, promotional products with longer 0% windows carry higher merchant fees than standard-rate purchases, so your actual per-sale cost depends on which offers you lead with.
Pros, cons, and what users say
Hearth holds a 4.6 rating on Trustpilot from more than 1,000 reviews. Contractors praise faster closes and higher ticket sizes, while the recurring complaints are funding conversion (approved homeowners who never complete a loan) and the sting of the annual fee in slow seasons. We collected field feedback in our roundup of Hearth reviews from working contractors.
- Hearth pros: zero dealer fees, 550 FICO floor, $250,000 ceiling, mobile-first estimate workflow, bundled quoting and payment tools.
- Hearth cons: the subscription is due whether or not you fund loans, no consumer brand recognition, pre-qualification does not guarantee funded jobs.
Synchrony HOME's consumer reviews skew toward cardholder experiences. WalletHub's 2026 review of the card highlights the 2% cash back and long promo windows as positives and flags the 34.99% APR and deferred interest as the main risks. For merchants, the trade press take (Build Folio, 2026) is that terms are consistent and manufacturer partnerships sometimes subsidize fees, but setup is slower than newer fintech platforms and the fee schedule is opaque until you enroll.
- Synchrony HOME pros: trusted bank brand, no subscription, promotional offers built for point of sale, ServiceTitan integration, repeat purchases on an existing card.
- Synchrony HOME cons: per-sale merchant fees you cannot surcharge, deferred interest can burn customers, credit limits cap big projects, unpublished approval criteria.
Choose Hearth if, choose Synchrony HOME if
- Choose Hearth if you sell in the field at the estimate, finance more than about $30,000 per year, serve mixed-credit customers, or regularly close projects over $20,000.
- Choose Hearth if you also want quoting, contracts, and payment collection in the same subscription instead of separate tools.
- Choose Synchrony HOME if you run a showroom or retail counter, your volume is under about $25,000 a year, or your manufacturer already has a Synchrony program with subsidized fees.
- Choose Synchrony HOME if you are on ServiceTitan and want financing decisions inside your existing workflow, or your customer base strongly prefers established bank brands.
Final verdict
For the field-based residential contractor this site serves, Hearth is the stronger program in 2026: predictable cost, wider approvals, bigger loan ceilings, and a workflow built for the kitchen table rather than the register. You can see Hearth's current plans here. Synchrony HOME remains a legitimate, fully active program, and the right answer for showroom sellers, ServiceTitan shops, and low-volume financers; some contractors sensibly run both, leading with promotional card offers on small tickets and Hearth loans on large ones. If you are still mapping the market, our Hearth vs GreenSky fee math makes a useful third data point.
How we put this together
We compared published terms from Synchrony's cardholder and merchant pages (including the 34.99% APR effective for new accounts as of July 31, 2025, and the Home Specialty calculator's 7% default merchant fee), Hearth's pricing and product pages, Trustpilot's Hearth listing (4.6 from 1,000 plus reviews), WalletHub's 2026 card review, Build Folio's 2026 program overview, and Synchrony's April 2024 ServiceTitan announcement. Break-even figures are simple division of Hearth's $1,799 subscription by assumed merchant fees. Facts were last verified in July 2026; confirm your actual merchant fee with Synchrony before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
Is Synchrony HOME still active for contractors in 2026?
Yes, Synchrony HOME is active and enrolling merchants in 2026 through the Contractor Toolbox portal on synchrony.com, and the consumer card continues with expanded acceptance at over a million retail locations. Nothing in Synchrony's current materials indicates the program is winding down.
What merchant fees does Synchrony charge contractors?
Synchrony does not publish a merchant fee schedule; fees vary by product and promotion, and its own Home Specialty cost of credit calculator uses 7.00% as the default when a merchant does not know their rate. Longer 0% promotional products generally carry higher fees than standard-rate purchases, so ask for the full product-by-product schedule during enrollment.
What credit score do homeowners need for Synchrony HOME?
Synchrony does not publish a single minimum score, and approval criteria vary by product, per Build Folio's 2026 review of the program. As a bank-issued revolving card it generally reaches fewer subprime buyers than Hearth's marketplace, where lending partners accept FICO scores down to 550.
Can a contractor offer both Hearth and Synchrony HOME?
Yes, nothing in either program prevents you from enrolling in both. A common split is Synchrony promotional offers on small and mid-size tickets where the card's 6 or 12 month promos shine, and Hearth installment loans on projects too large for a card limit.
What happens if a homeowner misses a Synchrony deferred interest deadline?
Interest is charged retroactively from the purchase date at the card's purchase APR, which is 34.99% for new accounts as of July 31, 2025, per Synchrony's cardholder terms. On a $5,000 balance that can add well over $1,000 in backdated interest, which is why you should explain the payoff date clearly at the sale.
How big a loan can a homeowner get through Hearth?
Hearth's lending partners offer installment loans from $1,000 up to $250,000 with terms of 2 to 12 years, per Hearth's product pages. Actual offers depend on the homeowner's credit profile and the individual lender, and one application returns offers from multiple lenders in its 18 plus network.
