By Chad Brooks, Business News Daily Senior Writer May 17, 2016

To help you find the right business loan, we researched and analyzed dozens of alternative lenders. Here is a roundup of the lenders we think are best and an explanation of how we chose them.

Best Working-Capital Loans: Fundation

Fundation offers conventional fixed-rate loans of between $20,000 and $500,000, with annual rates ranging from 7.99 to 29.99 percent. Online applications can be filled out in 10 minutes, with final approval taking place within 24 hours. To qualify, you must have been in business for at least two years and have at least three employees, annual revenue of at least $100,000 and good personal credit. Fundation provides excellent customer service over the phone and via live chat. Go here for our full review of Fundation.

Best Lines of Credit: Kabbage

Kabbage offers small businesses lines of credit of between $2,000 and $100,000. Each time you draw against your line of credit, you have six or 12 months to pay that money off. Instead of paying interest, however, you pay fees of between 1 and 12 percent each month. To apply, fill out an online application and link the system to either your business bank account or an online service you are already using, such as QuickBooks. Kabbage’s platform automatically reviews the data on those sites to determine if you meet the company’s standards for a loan. The process typically takes just minutes to complete. Once approved, you have instant access to your loan. Go here for our full review of Kabbage.

Best Startup Loans: Accion

Accion is a nonprofit microlender that specializes in small business loans. It offers loans specifically for startups that have been open for less than six months. Accion’s loan amounts and minimum requirements vary by state. Among the more common requirements are a minimum credit score of 575, sufficient cash flow and proof of income. Maximum loan amounts range from $10,000 to $100,000. Applications can be filled out online, with approval usually taking place within one month. Accion’s loans, most of which have annual percentage rates starting at 10.99 percent, are repaid on a monthly basis over the length of the loan. Go here for our full review of Accion.

Best Merchant Cash Advances: RapidAdvance

RapidAdvance offers merchant cash advances of between 50 and 250 percent of your monthly credit card volume. Loans are repaid by giving RapidAdvance a fixed percentage of future card receipts until the loan is paid off. To qualify, you need to have been in business for at least three months, have at least $2,500 in monthly credit card receivables and have a physical location for your business. You can apply for the advance online or over the phone. The approval process can be completed in 24 hours, with funds available within three days. Go here for our full review of RapidAdvance.

Best Bad Credit Loans: OnDeck

OnDeck offers fixed-rate loans of between $5,000 and $250,000. To qualify, you need a minimum credit score of 500 and an annual revenue of at least $100,000, and must have been in business for at least one year. Loans have lengths ranging from three to 24 months and are paid back on a daily or weekly basis. You can apply for a loan online or over the phone. Approval can be completed in just a few minutes, with funds deposited into your account within 24 hours. Go here for our full review of OnDeck.

Best Equipment Loans: Crest Capital

Crest Capital offers equipment financing of up to $1,000,000. Financial documents aren’t needed for financing of less than $250,000. The lender has a wide range of loan and lease terms, including fixed-rate loans, $1 purchase agreements, 10 percent purchase options, fair-market-value leases, guaranteed purchase agreements and operating leases. To qualify, you must have been in business at least two years and have a minimum credit score of 650. The approval process can be completed in as fast as 4 hours. Go here for our full review of Crest Capital.

Our Methodology

To determine the best alternative lenders, we started with a pool that included all of the lenders on the comprehensive list below. After some preliminary investigation, including a look at other best-pick lists and initial research into each lender, we interviewed small business owners to discover new lenders to add to our list. We also eliminated peer-to-peer lenders and online sites that match businesses with lenders, because these lenders didn’t fit into this year’s best-pick categories.

Ultimately, we settled on 28 alternative lenders to research as best picks: Accion, American Business Credit Services, American Capital Group, American Express, Amerifund, Ascentium Capital, Balboa Capital, BFS Capital, CAN Capital, Crest Capital, Dealstruck, Direct Capital, Fora Financial, ForwardLine, Fundation, Kabbage, Kalamata Capital, Keystone Leasing, Merchant Advisors, OCM Financial, OnDeck, PayPal, RapidAdvance, Rapid Capital Funding, Shield Funding, SnapCap and Square. (See below for the full list of alternative lenders.)

Next, we researched each lender by investigating the types of loans it offered, the amount of money that could be borrowed and for how long, the application and approval process, and repayment procedures. We also considered any general term-rates that were listed on these lenders’ websites. After narrowing the list to 18 final contenders, we contacted each lender’s customer-service department by phone, and live chat if possible, and posed as business owners in order to gauge the type of support each company offered.

In all, we analyzed each lender based on the following factors:

  • Application and approval process
  • What it takes to qualify
  • How long it takes to get a loan
  • Loan amounts
  • Loan terms
  • Repayment process
  • Customer service
  • Better Business Bureau ratings and complaints
  • Online user reviews

It’s important to note that our best picks were not selected based on the lender most likely to approve your business for a loan. Each lender evaluates businesses differently, and each business has a different financial makeup. Considering these factors, it would be impossible for us to try to determine any business’s likelihood of securing a loan with any of these lenders. In addition, our review process did not fully examine specific loan interest rates. These are determined individually for each business based on the amount of money being borrowed, the loan terms and the business’s financial makeup. We did, however, consider any average rates that were provided.