Working capital, line of credit, term loan, equipment, and SBA rate ranges entering Q1 2026 — with the file-strength bands behind each range.
Q1 2026 partner-network ranges across our lender mix: non-bank term loans 18-32% APR, working capital factor rates 1.22-1.45 over 6-12 months, lines of credit 14-28% APR, equipment financing 9-18% APR, SBA 7(a) Prime + 2.25-4.75%. Deposit consistency and FICO drive pricing more than any single factor.
These are the rate ranges we're seeing across our funding-partner network as Q1 2026 opens. Same caveat as always: ranges are illustrative across our lender partner network, and your specific file determines where you actually land. The file-strength bands underneath each range are usually more useful than the headline number.
The macro setup hasn't changed since our year-ahead view last week — banks tightened through Q4 2025, non-banks eased, and the rate gap between the two has widened.
Factor rates: 1.18 – 1.55. Effective APR: roughly 25 – 110% depending on term, with most 6–12 month deals landing in the 40 – 65% APR-equivalent range.
The bands by file strength:
Pricing on the upper-tier band tightened slightly through Q4 2025 — typically a cent or two off the factor for the cleanest files — as competition between non-bank funders increased. The mid-tier and higher-risk bands are essentially unchanged from where they sat in Q4. The biggest pricing lever, as always, isn't credit — it's deposit consistency. See How factor rates work for the math behind the conversion, and Minimum monthly revenue for a business loan for the deposit-floor question.
Bank line floors moved up modestly in Q4 2025 as tier-one banks tightened underwriting on revenue-quality. Non-bank line floors moved the other direction — down a couple hundred basis points for the cleanest mid-tier files as new capital entered the space. The directional pattern lines up with the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends survey, which has shown small-business borrowing intent climbing through early 2026 even as a net share of owners report their last loan was modestly harder to get than the prior one.
The practical effect: the cost gap between a bank line and a non-bank line is the narrowest it's been since 2022 for borrowers on the qualification bubble. If your file is borderline-bankable, the non-bank product is closer to bank pricing than it used to be — worth re-shopping. Business lines of credit explained covers the structural differences.
The alternative term-loan band is where Q4 compression was most visible. A 700 FICO / 36-month-old business that was paying 28–32% for a non-bank term loan in mid-2024 is closing closer to 21–24% in Q1 2026. If you took alternative debt in 2023 or 2024 and your file has stabilized, the refinance math is genuinely worth running again. We'll publish a deeper consolidation framework piece in February.
7 – 24% APR, depending on credit, equipment type, and resale market.
Equipment pricing has been the most stable category through the last several quarters — not much movement quarter-over-quarter, because pricing is anchored to the secondary market for the equipment itself rather than to broader risk appetite. See Equipment financing vs MCA for when to route there instead of working capital, and Down payment for equipment financing for the down-payment question.
Variable, capped at Prime + 3.0% on most 7(a) loans over $350,000, with higher caps for smaller balances (Prime + 4.5% on $250k–$350k, Prime + 6.0% on $50k–$250k, Prime + 6.5% on $50k or less). With Prime at 6.75% per the Federal Reserve H.15 entering 2026, that puts current SBA 7(a) pricing roughly in the 9.75 – 13.25% APR range for variable-rate loans depending on size, with longer terms (10 years for working capital, up to 25 for real estate) carrying the longest amortization available to small businesses.
Always check current SBA rate caps and Prime at sba.gov before assuming any specific number. The SBA timeline picture has improved meaningfully — clean files at Preferred Lenders are closing closer to 60 days than the historical 90 — see our SBA 7(a) timeline analysis when we publish it later this quarter, and How long does an SBA 7(a) loan take for the per-stage breakdown.
The directional summary across our funded-deal flow:
1. Bank line floors moved up modestly as tier-one underwriting tightened on revenue-quality. 2. Non-bank line floors moved down a couple hundred basis points for clean mid-tier files as new capital entered the space. 3. Alternative term loan pricing compressed for clean mid-tier files — several hundred basis points year-over-year on the cleanest end — as competition between non-bank lenders increased. 4. Working capital / MCA upper-tier band tightened slightly, with no movement in the mid- or lower-tier bands. 5. Equipment financing essentially flat quarter-over-quarter. 6. SBA 7(a) pricing tracking Prime, with timelines tightening at PLP banks.
The pattern is consistent with what we flagged in the year-ahead view: bank product harder to qualify for but still cheaper, non-bank product more competitive than it's been in two years.
These ranges are illustrative across our lender partner network — your actual offer depends on your specific file. The fastest way to see which products typically fit your profile, without a hard credit pull, is the funding calculator. If you want a real conversation about which product fits and a real offer, start an application — we'll route to the right partner.
We'll publish another rate snapshot at the start of Q2.
If you're going deeper on this topic, these are the next stops:
Non-bank term loans in our partner network priced at 18-32% APR in Q1 2026. Files with 700+ FICO and 24+ months in business landed at the low end; thinner files and weaker credit profiles ran higher.
Working capital factor rates ran 1.22-1.45 over 6-12 month payback windows. Strong revenue consistency at 600+ FICO compressed to 1.22-1.30; sub-580 FICO with thin deposit history priced 1.40-1.55.
SBA 7(a) variable rates are capped at Prime + 2.25-4.75% depending on loan size and term. With Prime in the 7.5-8% range during Q1 2026, that put effective APRs in the 9.75-12.75% range — the cheapest commercial-bank capital available to most small businesses.