Home improvement financing for contractors means a third-party platform lets your customer pay monthly while a lender pays you the full job amount within a few business days. You are not lending money or taking credit risk. The cost is either a per-job fee (Wisetack starts at 3.9%) or a flat subscription (Hearth runs $1,499 to $4,999 per year), and for most shops the first saved job covers the cost of the entire program.
Key takeaways
- The lender pays you in full within 1 to 3 business days; the homeowner repays the lender, not you.
- Per-job platforms like Wisetack charge 3.9% standard, rising to 9.9% only when a customer picks a long 0% APR promo, per Wisetack's help center.
- Hearth charges a flat subscription ($1,499 to $4,999 per year plus a $99 setup fee, per its 2026 Capterra listing) with no per-job fee.
- The break-even between the two models sits around $38,000 to $46,000 in financed volume per year.
- Mention financing before you quote the price. Contractors who wait until the end lose the anchoring advantage.
What contractor financing actually is
Contractor financing is a point-of-sale loan arranged through a platform you sign up for, not credit you extend yourself. The homeowner applies through the platform, a lender in its network approves the loan, and you get paid the full job amount, usually within 1 to 3 business days. The homeowner then makes monthly payments to the lender. Once you are paid, you are out of the transaction.
Your cash flow works the same as a cash or check job, except the money arrives from a lender instead of the customer. What you give up is a fee: either a percentage of each financed job or a flat annual subscription, depending on the platform. What you gain is jobs that would not close otherwise. Homeowners who hear "$310 a month" say yes to projects they would decline at "$18,000 up front."
The demand side is large and steady. Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies projects homeowner improvement and repair spending to reach roughly $518 billion by the end of 2026, and most homeowners do not have five figures sitting in checking. If you cannot offer payments, the contractor who can will quote the same job in monthly terms and win it. We ran the revenue math on that scenario in the true cost of not offering financing.
The three fee models, and which one fits a beginner
Every contractor financing program charges you one of three ways. Understanding the model matters more than memorizing any single platform's rate card.
| Fee model | How it works | Example platforms | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per-job fee | You pay a percentage of each financed job (roughly 3.9% to 15% depending on loan product) | Wisetack, GreenSky | New or low-volume shops; no commitment |
| Flat subscription | One annual fee, unlimited financed jobs, no per-job charge | Hearth | Shops financing $40,000+ per year |
| Dealer program | Costs built into a manufacturer or lender dealer agreement | Regions Home Improvement Financing (formerly EnerBank), Service Finance | HVAC and remodel dealers with brand relationships |
Per-job fees are the easiest entry point. Wisetack charges a standard 3.9% merchant fee per transaction with no signup fee, and the fee only climbs (up to 9.9% for a 24-month 0% APR option) when a customer selects an extended promo, according to Wisetack's published fee documentation. GreenSky runs the same model at higher stakes: standard loans cost contractors roughly 3% to 6%, while 0% APR promotional products carry dealer fees of 8% to 15%. We broke down how those promo fees eat margin in our dealer fee guide and the mechanics of promos in how 0% APR contractor financing actually works.
Flat subscriptions flip the math. Hearth's 2026 plans list at $1,499 per year (Essentials), $1,799 (Pro), and $4,999 (Elite), plus a one-time $99 setup fee, per its Capterra listing and pricing page. After that, there is no per-job charge at any volume. Full tier-by-tier detail is in how much Hearth costs contractors.
Dealer programs such as Regions Home Improvement Financing (Regions acquired EnerBank USA and runs the program under its own name) power many manufacturer 0% seasonal promotions. The costs still exist; they are structured into the dealer agreement rather than billed per job.
The break-even math between per-job and subscription
The break-even point between a per-job fee and a flat subscription is the single number a beginner should calculate before picking a platform. Divide the subscription price by the per-job fee rate and you get the financed volume where the two models cost the same.
| Scenario (2026 list prices) | Math | Break-even financed volume |
|---|---|---|
| Hearth Essentials $1,499 vs Wisetack 3.9% | $1,499 / 0.039 | About $38,400 per year |
| Hearth Pro $1,799 vs Wisetack 3.9% | $1,799 / 0.039 | About $46,100 per year |
| Hearth Pro $1,799 vs GreenSky 8% promo fee | $1,799 / 0.08 | About $22,500 per year |
Read the table this way: if you expect to finance less than about $38,000 in jobs in your first year, a per-job platform costs you less. Above roughly $46,000, or at any real volume of 0% promo loans, the flat subscription wins. Two average kitchen or roofing tickets can clear that bar, which is why higher-ticket trades tend to land on Hearth quickly. For a deeper head-to-head, see Hearth vs Wisetack.
What you need to sign up
Signing up for an entry-level platform takes 20 to 30 minutes and most contractors are approved within hours to a few business days. There is typically no credit check on your business at Wisetack or Hearth. Have these four things ready:
- An active business bank account where lender deposits will land
- A contractor or business license valid for your state and trade
- Legal entity name, EIN, and years in operation
- A verifiable business address and phone number
Brand-new companies get more scrutiny than established ones, but a short operating history is not a disqualifier on most per-job platforms. If you are under two years old, start with offering financing as a new contractor, which covers the workarounds.
How to introduce financing on your first estimate
The right moment to introduce financing is before you quote the price, not after. Once a homeowner hears "$18,000," they anchor to it and start mentally shopping their savings account. The question that works is a low-pressure version of this:
"Before I put the numbers together, do you have a preference on how you'd like to handle payment, or would it help to see monthly payment options too?"
Asking early does two things. First, it frames financing as a normal option offered to everyone, not a rescue offered to people who look short on cash. Second, it lets the homeowner opt into payment framing before the total lands. When they say yes, the follow-up is simple: "We work with a lender network that spreads the cost over one to ten years. Checking your options takes about two minutes and the prequalification check does not affect your credit score."
That soft-pull line removes the most common hesitation. The exact mechanics of what a financing application does to a customer's credit are covered in how contractor financing affects homeowner credit scores, and the full kitchen-table walkthrough is in how to pitch financing to homeowners.
What approval odds and loan terms look like
Approval depends on the customer's credit profile, income, and the amount requested, and platforms deliberately keep the bar reachable. Wisetack states that homeowners can qualify for its interest-bearing options with credit scores in the low 500s, while its longer 0% APR promos generally require scores in the low 700s. Wisetack loans run $500 to $25,000 with APRs from 0% to 35.9% and terms from 3 to 120 months, per its consumer disclosures. Hearth's multi-lender network follows a similar floor; we covered its published minimum in FICO scores and contractor financing.
Plan on a meaningful minority of applicants not getting an offer. When a decline happens, two moves recover many of those jobs:
- Run a second network. Platforms draw from different lender pools. A customer declined on one can be approved on another, so having two active accounts before you need them costs nothing on per-job platforms.
- Ask about a smaller amount. A homeowner declined at $18,000 may be approved at $10,000, which can fund the highest-priority scope now and the rest later.
Is it worth it if you only finance a few jobs a year?
Financing pays for itself at very low volume as long as you match the fee model to that volume. On Wisetack at 3.9%, five financed jobs at $10,000 each cost you $390 each, $1,950 for the year. If even one of those five customers would have walked without a monthly option, financing netted you about $9,600 on that job alone after fees. The question is never whether the fee stings in isolation; it is how many jobs you lose each year to "I need to think about it," which is usually code for a payment problem. We unpacked that objection in why "I need to think about it" means you lost the sale.
The three mistakes first-time contractors make
Mentioning financing only at the end of the estimate. By then the homeowner has anchored to the full price. Introduce the option before the number lands, every time.
Offering it only to customers who "seem to need it." Guessing at wallets insults good customers and misses affluent ones who simply prefer keeping cash invested. Present payments to everyone, the way a dealership presents lease versus buy on every car.
Signing up and never bringing it up. A platform account that lives in your confirmation email closes nothing. Put the payment question in your estimate script, print the monthly figure on proposals, and rehearse the responses in 10 homeowner financing objections.
How we put this together
We compared the published 2026 fee structures of Wisetack, Hearth, GreenSky, and Regions Home Improvement Financing using vendor pricing pages, Wisetack's help center, Hearth's Capterra listing, and Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies remodeling forecasts. Break-even figures are straight arithmetic from those list prices. Facts were last verified in July 2026; platform fees change, so confirm current rates before signing an agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Does offering financing cost the contractor anything up front?
Per-job platforms like Wisetack cost nothing up front; you pay only when a customer finances, starting at 3.9% of the job. Subscription platforms like Hearth charge the annual fee ($1,499 to $4,999 in 2026) plus a $99 setup fee before your first financed job.
Does the contractor take on any credit risk?
No, the lender carries all repayment risk once the loan funds. You are paid in full within a few business days, and if the homeowner later defaults, that is between the homeowner and the lender.
How fast does the contractor get paid on a financed job?
Most platforms deposit the full job amount within 1 to 3 business days of loan funding or job completion, minus any per-job fee. Wisetack, for example, deposits the financed amount directly to your business account after the job is done.
Can a customer with bad credit still get approved?
Often yes, because interest-bearing loan options reach further down the credit range than promo offers. Wisetack indicates homeowners can qualify for interest-bearing options with scores in the low 500s, though the best 0% APR terms generally require scores around 700 or higher.
Should a beginner start with Wisetack or Hearth?
Start with a per-job platform like Wisetack if you expect under roughly $38,000 in financed volume in year one, because there is no cost until you close a financed job. Switch to (or add) Hearth's flat subscription once volume clears the $38,000 to $46,000 break-even range.
Is it legal to raise prices to cover dealer fees?
Most platform agreements prohibit charging financing customers a different price than cash customers, so surcharging the fee onto financed jobs specifically can violate your contract. The compliant approach is building your overall cost structure, including average financing costs, into your standard pricing for everyone.
If the subscription math above fits your volume, you can see Hearth's current plans here; otherwise a no-commitment per-job platform is the lower-risk first step.
