💳 Save money on credit card processing with one of our top 5 picks for 2025
An unsecured line of credit might be exactly the type of funding your small business needs. Check out our top picks.
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Last updated onUpdated
REVIEWED BY
Editor & Senior Staff Writer
An unsecured line of credit can be a versatile source of working capital for small businesses with limited assets. Rather than receiving a lump sum through a loan, businesses can draw upon an unsecured line of credit as needed for its duration.
Below you’ll find our top picks for unsecured lines of credit, accounting for different types of business borrowers and their wide-ranging needs.
Learn More About Our Top Picks
| Company | Best For | Next StepsBest For |
|---|---|---|
BusinessLoans.com
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Lendio
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OnDeck
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Rapid Finance
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Wells Fargo Business Loans
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| Show More Options | ||
American Express Business Blueprint
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| Show Fewer Options |
Read more below to learn why we chose these options.
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The best unsecured lines of credit for small businesses combine flexible terms, reasonable interest rates, and minimal junk fees.
| Credit Limits | Draw Term Lengths | Draw Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BusinessLoans.com | $5,000 - $ 3 million | 3 months - 5 years | Varies |
| Lendio | $1,000 - $250,000 | 6 - 18 months | Varies by lender |
| OnDeck | $6,000 - $100,000 | 12 months | None |
| Rapid Finance | $5,001 - $250,000 | 3 - 18 months | Undisclosed |
| Wells Fargo Business Loans | $5,000 - $150,000 | 1 year - indefinite | 3% (ATM, over-the-counter bank withdrawals), 4% (wire transfers) |
| American Express Business Blueprint | $2,000 - $250,000 ($150 for first time borrowers) | 6, 12, or 18 months | None |
Pros
Cons
BusinessLoans.com is a small business lender that offers unsecured lines of credit through its online marketplace. Rather than originate loans itself, BusinessLoans.com serves as a hub for a network of partnered lenders. That means businesses can apply to the entire network with a single application! Additionally, BusinessLoans.com specializes in matching borrowers with bad credit to lending options, so if you’ve had trouble getting approved through other channels, you may have better luck here.
With its accessible funding and excellent self-service options, we think BusinessLoans.com provides one of the better borrower experiences for merchants with bad credit.
Get Started With BusinessLoans.com
Pros
Cons
Lendio, one of our most highly rated lenders with a Merchant Maverick rating of 4.8 out 5, is a versatile small business lender marketplace that offers convenient access to a network of over 75 lenders with a single application. Many of those lenders offer unsecured lines of credit.
If you don’t have the time to apply to several lenders, Lendio provides some of the best results you can hope for from just one application. We think merchants will appreciate Lendio's excellent customer service and, if all goes well, the ability to compare offers from multiple lenders.
Pros
Cons
If time is of the essence, and it often is, OnDeck can get you an unsecured line of credit within a business day or two. In some states, it’s even possible to get your money by the end of the same day in which you apply!
While OnDeck isn’t the cheapest option, we do appreciate its transparency in terms of its rates and fees, so there shouldn’t be any unpleasant surprises for the prepared applicant.
Pros
Cons
High-risk merchants can face challenges when it comes to getting funding, even if they're running a mature business and have an excellent credit rating. For companies that have been turned down due to their industry, we think Rapid Finance is one of the better ways to get a line of credit.
Rapid Finance offers a wide variety of funding options to small businesses, including unsecured lines of credit. Interest rates and fees can be high with Rapid Finance, but the lender serves borrowers that may otherwise have a hard time getting capital, whether due to poor credit, time in business, or being in a high-risk industry.
Get Started With Rapid Finance
Pros
Cons
When it comes to the lowest rates for small business financing, banks are still where it’s at. We've found Wells Fargo to be one of the more accessible big banks for small business lending, offering two different unsecured lines of credit with rates that start just a bit above Prime. These lines of credit have longer draw terms than you’ll typically see in the alternative market, making them a good option for businesses seeking a rainy day fund to draw upon.
While a good number of businesses will struggle to make the cut, Wells Fargo shouldn’t be out of reach for mature, profitable businesses.
Get Started With Wells Fargo Business Loans
Pros
Cons
We recommend that merchants who don’t want to deal with a loan marketplace or a big bank consider American Express’s lines of credit. Formerly Kabbage, American Express Blueprint offers simple terms and fees, quick disbursements, and fairly lenient borrower qualifications, and three term lengths to choose from. We've found American Express Blueprint to offer most of the conveniences of an alternative fintech lender with few of the drawbacks.
Get Started With American Express Business Blueprint
We spend hours researching and evaluating each business loan and funding product that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings.
When rating lenders and funding providers, we use a 31-point rubric that looks at rates and fees, services, eligibility requirements, application, sales and advertising transparency, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating. This rubric is applied to traditional term loans, as well as short-term loans, start-up loans, lines of credit, online lending products, merchant cash advances, and equipment financing products.
Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we examine specific attributes like terms lengths, conditions of repayment, credit score and revenue requirements, ease of application, length of time to funding, the ethics involved in promoting the lending product, customer support, and the overall reputation of the lender or funding provider.
Read more about how we rate small business lenders.
If you’ve ever used a credit card, you’ve utilized a kind of unsecured line of credit. That is to say, you were extended a certain amount of credit that you could draw upon at will. What makes it unsecured is that you aren’t required to put up collateral when you accepted the credit card offer.
But where credit cards are designed for retail use and carry very high-interest rates on month-to-month balances, the best lines of credit grant access to working capital at lower interest rates.
Some factors to keep in my when you’re evaluating an unsecured line of credit:
Every small business has different needs when it comes to capital, so the best unsecured line of credit for one company may differ from that of another. While you always want to minimize the cost of borrowing in terms of interest rates and fees, you’ll also want to keep in mind whether your needs or long- or short-term, and how quickly you need access to your money.
Not sure if an unsecured line of credit is the right option for your business? Cast your net wide with our list of best small business loans.
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Our expert reviewers found BusinessLoans.com to have a quick and easy application process alongside excellent support and guidance for borrowers.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
Our expert reviewers found BusinessLoans.com to have a quick and easy application process alongside excellent support and guidance for borrowers.
Start A Quick Application
