Hearth Alternative for Remodeling Contractors (2026): RemodelFin vs Hearth
Hearth is a contractor financing platform that helps homeowners apply for loans. It offers payment processing and financing links but does not provide job costing, profit tracking, or real-time margin dashboards.
Last verified: March 2026 · Pricing and features change — confirm at vendor's official site
Pricing at a Glance
Hearth
$89/mo (Plus plan)
Hearth also charges dealer fees (2–8% per financed job) on top of the subscription. A $30K financed job at 5% dealer fee = $1,500 off the top.
Visit Hearth site →RemodelFin ✓
$29/mo
All job costing, change order tracking, and embedded financing features included. No dealer fees. 14-day free trial.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Hearth | RemodelFin |
|---|---|---|
| Core Focus | Homeowner financing links | ✓ Job costing + profit tracking + financing |
| Real-Time Job P&L | Not available | ✓ Live per-job margin dashboard |
| Dealer Fees on Financed Jobs | 2–8% per job (eats margin) | ✓ No dealer fees |
| Starting Price | $89/mo + dealer fees | ✓ $29/mo flat |
| Change Order Tracking | Not available | ✓ Built-in change order workflow |
| Labor Burden Tracking | Not available | ✓ Per-trade burden rates on every job |
| Homeowner Financing Application | Full lender network | Embedded contractor financing |
| Estimate Creation | Basic payment links | ✓ Detailed estimate builder with margin |
| Implementation Time | 1–2 days | 1 day |
Hearth pricing and dealer fee ranges are based on publicly available information as of Q1 2026. Rates vary by loan product and lender. Verify current Hearth fees at gethearth.com before making a decision.
What Hearth Does — and What It Doesn't
Hearth built its business around one pain point: homeowners who want to finance their renovations but don't have a way to apply. Hearth gives contractors a link they can send to clients, who apply for a loan through Hearth's lending partners. It's a useful tool for closing jobs where sticker shock kills deals.
But Hearth stops there. Once the job is signed, Hearth has no role in how the job performs financially. There's no job costing. No labor burden tracking. No change order system. No margin dashboard. You know a client got approved for financing — but you have no visibility into whether you're actually making money on the job itself.
This is the gap RemodelFin fills. Contractors using only Hearth often discover at job closeout that the financed project they were thrilled to close actually ran 15% over on labor and they have no idea where the money went.
The Dealer Fee Problem with Hearth
Hearth's financing is not free money. Every job financed through Hearth carries a dealer fee — typically 2–8% of the financed amount — that comes directly out of the contractor's payment.
On a $30,000 kitchen remodel with a 5% dealer fee, that's $1,500 that never hits your bank account. On a $60,000 addition, a 6% dealer fee is $3,600 gone.
Most contractors don't build dealer fees into their bids because the exact rate depends on the loan type the homeowner selects. That unpredictability makes margin management nearly impossible without a live job costing system watching every cost line in real time.
RemodelFin lets you model dealer fee cost into the job estimate upfront, so you bid with the net margin you actually need — not the gross margin that evaporates when Hearth takes their cut.
RemodelFin: Financing as a Sales Tool, Not a Standalone Product
RemodelFin treats financing as one feature inside a complete profitability platform. When you send an estimate through RemodelFin, the client sees a monthly payment option built directly into the proposal — no separate Hearth link required.
Meanwhile, RemodelFin's job costing engine is tracking your labor, materials, subcontractors, and overhead in real time. The moment any cost line runs more than 10% over estimate, you're notified — not four weeks later when QuickBooks reconciles, but while there's still time to act.
That's the difference: Hearth helps you close the sale. RemodelFin helps you close the sale *and* make sure you actually profit from it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Hearth dealer fees actually cost contractors?
Hearth dealer fees range from 2% to 8% depending on the loan product the homeowner selects. On a $25,000 job at 5% dealer fee, that's $1,250 deducted from your payment. Across 20 financed jobs per year at an average of $30,000, dealer fees can cost a contractor $18,000–$36,000 annually. RemodelFin's embedded financing has no dealer fee structure — you keep the full contract amount.
Does RemodelFin offer homeowner financing like Hearth?
Yes. RemodelFin includes embedded financing that clients can access directly from the estimate. Homeowners see monthly payment options without leaving the proposal flow. Unlike Hearth's standalone link approach, RemodelFin keeps the financing experience inside your branded estimate and job workflow.
Can I use both Hearth and RemodelFin?
Yes, though many contractors find it redundant once they see RemodelFin's financing feature. If you have existing Hearth relationships and lender approvals, you can continue using Hearth for financing while using RemodelFin for job costing and profit tracking. Most contractors consolidate to RemodelFin within 60 days.
What does Hearth lack that RemodelFin provides?
Hearth has no job costing, no labor burden calculator, no change order tracking, no real-time margin dashboard, and no estimate builder with profit visibility. If your goal is to not just close more jobs but actually profit from them, Hearth alone is insufficient.
Honest verdict: when to choose Hearth instead
We believe in helping contractors make the right call — even if that means recommending a competitor. Hearth is likely the better fit if you:
- → Run a large team (10+ field staff) and need enterprise-grade scheduling and RFI management
- → Require deep CRM features with lead tracking and proposal pipelines built in
- → Have a dedicated office manager or operations coordinator to handle software administration
RemodelFin is purpose-built for small-to-mid remodeling contractors ($200k–$5M revenue) who need real-time job costing without enterprise complexity. If that's you, we're likely the better fit.
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