Searching for an OnDeck alternative?

Anyone looking at an OnDeck alternative is usually weighing up two different ways of paying a loan back. OnDeck offers short term loans that are cleared gradually by automatic payments over 6 to 24 months. BizLoansFast offers short-term loans secured by property that are cleared in one go, on the day a sale settles, a refinance completes or a big payment arrives. Which one suits you comes down to where your repayment money is coming from.

What does OnDeck offer, according to its website?

OnDeck’s product is a flexible term loan for Australian small businesses, according to its website (as at October 2026), with terms running from 6 to 24 months. Its home page shows loans of $10,000 to $150,000, and its business loans page lists a minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $250,000. That page describes the loans as unsecured and says OnDeck values cash flow, not just assets, when it evaluates a business.

On timing, OnDeck says its online application takes about 10 minutes and that funding can arrive in as fast as one business day. It lists automatic daily and weekly payment options.

Instalments or a single exit: how do they compare?

An instalment loan is repaid a little at a time from trading income, while an exit-based loan is repaid in full from one identifiable event. Neither is better in general. They answer different cash-flow shapes.

Think about what the borrowed money does for you. If it pays for a marketing push, a new hire or extra stock that sells over the coming months, the benefit trickles in, and paying the loan down at the same rhythm makes sense. A short-term instalment loan matches that pattern.

If the money bridges a gap until something specific happens, the pattern is different. You might be waiting on a property settlement, the release of a retention, a tax refund or a refinance with your bank. Until that day, regular payments come out of the same cash flow you borrowed to protect. An exit-based loan avoids that: you pay the interest upfront or let it accrue onto the loan, and the whole amount is repaid when the event lands. Our guide to business loan exit strategies explains what counts as a strong exit.

OnDeck and BizLoansFast compared

Which OnDeck alternative matches your timeline?

Ask yourself one question: on what date, and from what source, does this money come back? Then match the answer:

• Gradual benefit, no property to offer. A turnover-based term loan is the natural fit, and OnDeck sits among the revenue-based lenders we profile on the cash flow lenders Australia page.
• Known lump sum on a known date, property available. A fast bridging loan or fast caveat loan repaid from that event usually fits.
• Customers paying slowly, property available. Our fast cash flow loans carry the business through the slow-paying stretch and are repaid when the debtors pay.
• More than you can borrow unsecured. Property security lifts the ceiling to $5,000,000.

Because we never order a valuation and assess the property ourselves, the usual week-long wait for a valuer’s report is not part of our timeline. Clear files are often approved on the day they arrive. If your timing is tight, tell us the deadline in a quick enquiry.

What do we need to move quickly?

Speed on an exit-based loan comes from having the exit and the property paperwork ready, not from business financials. On most files we ask for:

• Photo ID for every owner on the title and every director involved.
• A recent council notice for the property, plus the most recent statement from whoever holds the current mortgage.
• Evidence of the exit: a signed contract of sale, a refinance approval, a progress claim or invoice, or an ATO notice of assessment showing a refund.
• Payout figures for any debts the loan is clearing.

Have those ready when you enquire and the file can move from approval to settlement in a day or two. Missing exit evidence is the single most common cause of delay, so if yours is not yet in writing, tell us what stage it is at.

Swapping regular payments for one exit

Owners sometimes come to us partway through one or more instalment loans, often with daily debits from several lenders, wanting a single property-secured loan instead. The process is short:

1. Get a payout figure from each current lender, including any early-payout terms.
2. Give us the figures, the property address, its estimated worth and the existing mortgage balance.
3. We confirm the loan amount, the security position and the exit, usually the same day.
4. Documents are signed, the security is registered or the caveat lodged, and we pay each lender at settlement.

From that point, there are no further daily or weekly payments until the exit date.

Illustrative example

Illustrative example: an electrical contractor has an instalment loan with about $90,000 left to pay and is owed $400,000 on a commercial job that is due to be paid in five months. Automatic payments are squeezing wages. The director owns a home worth around $1,100,000 with $500,000 owing. We lend $200,000 by caveat, clear the existing loan and cover a quiet month of wages, with interest capitalised. When the job is paid, the contractor repays us in full and we withdraw the caveat.

When is OnDeck the better choice?

OnDeck is likely the better choice for a trading business without property that wants a moderate sum and is comfortable paying it down over months from steady revenue. A property-secured loan offers little advantage there, and a short unsecured term loan keeps things simple. Our compare hub lists other lenders worth considering.

Talk to someone who knows urgent lending

Your first enquiry does not trigger a credit check, and your file is not sent off to a queue of lenders. An experienced lender reads it, works out whether a property-secured loan fits, and tells you honestly, including when it does not. Answer the form accurately, particularly the property details and the exit, and you will get a reliable answer first time. If you would rather talk first, ring 1300 852 150. Otherwise, begin your enquiry online and we will come back to you quickly.

Names are trademarks of their owners. BizLoansFast is not affiliated with any lender named on this page. Lender details are summarised from each lender's own website as at October 2026 and can change — check with the lender directly.

Written by the BizLoansFast lending team · Updated 2026-10-06