The Best Small Business Term Loans in 2026

A business line of credit is the right tool when you need flexible, revolving access to cash. A term loan is a different instrument: a lump sum, deposited once, repaid on a fixed schedule you can plan around. We already cover lines of credit elsewhere; this list is specifically about lenders that will hand you a single lump sum with a set term, and we priced out the total cost of borrowing, not just the advertised rate, because the two are often very different numbers.

OnDeck Business Term Loan

OnDeck lends $5,000 to $400,000, though that top end is reserved for borrowers with strong credit and verified revenue; most applicants will see a lower ceiling. Repayment runs up to 24 months on a fixed daily or weekly schedule, and funding can land the same day if you're approved and complete checkout before 10:30am ET on a weekday. To qualify you generally need one year in business, a business checking account, $100,000 in annual revenue, and a personal FICO score of at least 625, with no hard credit pull just to apply.

The number to pay attention to is not a teaser rate. OnDeck discloses an average APR of 53.2% across term loans originated in the six months ending June 30, 2026, and says the lowest rates are available to very few borrowers. Origination fees run 0% to 4%, with 0% reserved for prior renewal customers. Prepayment terms matter here too: qualifying borrowers get a full waiver of remaining interest, while others owe 75% of what's left unless their loan agreement says otherwise. OnDeck doesn't lend in North Dakota and restricts some industries. Treat it as a fast, accessible option for short-term needs, not a low-cost one.

Lendio (loan marketplace)

Lendio isn't a direct lender, it's a broker that matches you to partner lenders, so think of it as a shortcut to comparison shopping rather than a single product. Lendio's own stated minimums are a 600+ credit score, $8,000 in monthly revenue, and one year in business, though its own FAQ separately cautions that businesses under two years old are unlikely to be a good match, so treat the one-year figure as a floor, not a real target. Funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours through some partners, though 1 to 3 business days is more typical.

Loan amounts across Lendio's partner network run from roughly $5,000 up to several million dollars, depending on which lender you're matched with, and terms range from 6 months to 10 years. Lendio does not publish a rate range itself, since pricing is set entirely by whichever partner lender picks up your application; third-party sites cite anywhere from the high single digits to the high 20s, but we could not verify that directly against Lendio's own disclosures, so get the actual number in writing before you sign. One detail worth knowing upfront: applying through Lendio is a soft pull, but accepting an offer from a matched lender triggers a hard credit check.

SBA 7(a) loan

The SBA 7(a) program is the loan to shop first if you can tolerate a slower process in exchange for a meaningfully lower rate. The maximum loan amount is $5 million, backed by a partial government guarantee that lets banks lend to businesses that wouldn't qualify for a conventional loan on their own. Eligibility, per the SBA itself, requires a for-profit U.S. business that meets SBA size standards, cannot get credit elsewhere on reasonable terms, and is otherwise creditworthy.

Rates float with the prime rate plus a lender spread; as of a March 2026 rate guide, fixed-rate 7(a) loans topped out around 18.5% to 21.5% depending on loan size, while variable-rate loans ranged from roughly 9.75% up to about 13.25%, using a 6.75% prime rate as the base. Terms run up to 10 years for working capital and up to 25 years if the loan is financing real estate. Expect the process to take time: Live Oak Bank, one of the more active SBA 7(a) lenders, describes underwriting of up to 10 business days after documents are submitted, with SBA approval and closing typically taking 30 to 45 days overall, and funds released within 24 hours of closing. Live Oak's own overlay requires a 680+ FICO score, with startups considered case by case. Expect a personal guarantee if you own 20% or more of the business, and collateral requirements above roughly $50,000 in loan size.

National Funding

National Funding lends up to $500,000, split across two structures: equipment financing repaid over 2 to 5 years in monthly installments, and working capital loans repaid over 4 to 24 months on a daily or weekly schedule. Funding is advertised as fast as 24 hours after approval. The lender's own site does not publish an APR or factor rate, saying only that it reviews a borrower's full profile rather than applying a hard credit-score cutoff, though it notes most customers carry a personal FICO of 600 or higher.

The detail most likely to catch a borrower off guard is geography: National Funding's own page states that in sixteen states, including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, it only offers sales-based financing rather than a standard term loan structure. If you're in one of those states, confirm which product you're actually being offered before you compare it to a term loan elsewhere on this list.

SBG Funding

SBG Funding offers lump-sum term loans from $5,000 up to $10 million, repaid over 6 to 48 months on a fixed weekly or monthly schedule, with funding claimed as fast as 24 hours after approval and documentation. To qualify, SBG asks for at least 6 months in business, a 500+ FICO score, $150,000 or more in annual revenue, and four recent business bank statements.

Read the rate disclosure carefully here. SBG's published figure is "from 1.75%" on its homepage, but that is an average fixed monthly percentage, not an annual rate, and it varies by state and lender criteria. Do not treat that number as an APR without converting it, since a monthly rate compounds very differently over a multi-year term. SBG says there are no upfront fees and no stated prepayment penalty, though larger loan amounts may require tax returns and the underwriting process reportedly weighs more than 50 factors.

Bank of America Business Advantage Term Loan

If you already bank with Bank of America and can meet its underwriting bar, this unsecured term loan starts at $10,000 with no stated maximum on the product page, repaid over 1 to 5 years. Qualifying requires two years in business under the same ownership and $100,000 in prior-year annual revenue, subject to credit approval. There's a flat $150 origination fee deducted from your proceeds, though you still owe the full face amount of the loan. Bank of America also offers a secured version of this term loan starting at $25,000, with a lower rate in exchange for collateral, per third-party coverage we did not independently re-confirm on the lender's own page.

Bank of America doesn't publish a fixed rate range; pricing depends on your creditworthiness, banking relationship, and loan length, though the bank was running a limited-time 0.50% rate reduction for applications in the back half of 2026. This is the slowest-to-qualify, most paperwork-heavy option on this list, and it rewards an existing banking relationship more than any other lender here. It's the right starting point if you already clear the revenue and tenure bar and want a traditional bank rate rather than an alternative lender's premium.

Comparison at a glance

Lender	Loan amount	Term	Time to funding	Minimum eligibility
OnDeck	$5K to $400K	Up to 24 months	Same day possible	1 yr in business, $100K revenue, 625 FICO
Lendio (marketplace)	~$5K to millions (varies by partner)	6 months to 10 years	24 hrs to 3 days	600 FICO, $8K/mo revenue, 1 yr (per Lendio's own minimums)
SBA 7(a)	Up to $5M	Up to 10 yrs (25 yrs for real estate)	30 to 45 days typical	Creditworthy, can't get credit elsewhere on reasonable terms
National Funding	Up to $500K	2 to 5 yrs (equipment) / 4 to 24 mo (working capital)	As fast as 24 hrs	~600 FICO (not a hard cutoff per lender)
SBG Funding	$5K to $10M	6 to 48 months	As little as 24 hrs	6 mo in business, 500 FICO, $150K revenue
Bank of America	From $10K	1 to 5 years	Not disclosed	2 yrs in business, $100K prior-year revenue

How to choose

If you need cash within a day or two and can accept a high cost of capital for it, OnDeck or SBG Funding are built for that turnaround. If you want to compare several offers without applying to each lender separately, Lendio's marketplace saves time, but verify the final number in writing since Lendio itself doesn't set the rate. If your business can wait six to eight weeks and you want the lowest realistic cost of capital, the SBA 7(a) program is worth the paperwork, especially for amounts large enough that OnDeck's or SBG's shorter terms would mean an uncomfortably large monthly payment. If you're an equipment-heavy business, National Funding's equipment financing terms are longer and likely cheaper than its working-capital product. And if you already bank with Bank of America and clear its two-year, $100,000-revenue bar, that relationship is usually worth a lower rate than an alternative lender will offer.

Verdict

There is no single best small business term loan, only the right match for your timeline and your credit profile. Treat any "starting at" rate as marketing, not a quote, and always ask a lender to show the total repayment amount and the APR, not just a factor rate or a monthly percentage, before you compare offers against each other.