You’re standing in a homeowner’s kitchen at 2 PM on a Thursday, looking at the same layout drawing the three previous contractors have looked at this month. The estimate is $68,000 for a full gut remodel — new cabinets, quartz counters, backsplash, lighting, flooring, and relocated plumbing to move the dishwasher. The homeowner is a second-grade teacher, her husband runs a small insurance office, and they’ve been saving for two years. They don’t have $68,000 in the bank. They want to do this project now. Your job in the next twenty minutes is to show them a monthly payment that works.
The two financing options in your pocket that can handle a $68K ticket: Hearth and GreenSky. Wisetack — the platform most contractors use for everything else — caps out at $25K per job and can’t finance this one. Hearth’s ceiling is $250,000. GreenSky’s is $100,000. Both products work. The question is which one you should actually have on your phone when a $68K job is on the line.
Here’s the short version the rest of this page backs up: for most contractors evaluating fresh in 2026, Hearth wins the big-ticket category. The multi-lender marketplace produces better offers than GreenSky’s single-lender model, the $1,499-$1,799/year subscription is cheaper than GreenSky’s 7-15% dealer fees above $45K/yr in financed volume, self-serve enrollment takes 30 minutes versus GreenSky’s weeks-long invite process, and Harper AI Receptionist is genuinely bundled into the Hearth price. The legitimate catch: Hearth’s auto-renewal pattern across 91 BBB complaints means you must calendar the renewal date. For enterprise HVAC dealers and solar installers already deeply embedded in GreenSky’s network, the switching math is more complicated — but the 2021 CFPB enforcement and 1.5/5 TrustPilot consumer sentiment are real brand-risk factors worth building into a 12-24 month migration plan.
This page walks through why the loan ceiling difference matters less than the marketplace architecture, how the subscription-vs-dealer-fee math actually works at real contractor volumes, where each platform’s customer experience data concerns different stakeholders (merchants vs homeowners), why most big-ticket contractors actually need Wisetack as a second layer regardless of which of these two they pick, and how the GoHighLevel + Jobber + Wisetack integration chain shapes the decision for contractors building modern marketing-plus-operations stacks.
The Loan Ceiling Split ($250K vs $100K) Isn’t The Real Decision
Both Hearth and GreenSky handle the work that falls between $25,000 (where Wisetack caps out) and around $80,000. That’s roughly 60-70% of all big-ticket contractor financing — full re-roofs, mid-sized kitchen remodels, whole-house HVAC replacements, solar systems — and both platforms cover it without structural limitation.
The ceiling difference matters only in two segments:
- Whole-house remodels and major construction ($100K-$250K) — Hearth’s $250K ceiling covers this. GreenSky’s $100K cap doesn’t. For general contractors doing full-home renovations and additions, Hearth is the only option between these two.
- Elite-tier solar installations ($100K+) — Residential solar systems above $100K (larger homes with battery storage, EV charging integration) exceed GreenSky’s cap. Hearth handles them.
For the $25K-$100K segment where both platforms operate cleanly, the loan ceiling is not the decision. The actual decisions are about:
- Multi-lender marketplace vs single-lender model. Hearth’s underwriting goes to multiple lending partners simultaneously, which produces competitive offers and higher approval rates on borderline applicants. GreenSky routes everything through Synovus Bank (partner since 2015). For homeowners with 720+ FICO, Hearth’s marketplace typically produces better APR offers. For 600-700 FICO borrowers, the marketplace approval rate advantage is even more material.
- Subscription vs per-transaction cost structure. Hearth’s $1,499-$1,799/year flat versus GreenSky’s 7-15% per-transaction dealer fees flips the math as volume scales. Above $45K/year in financed volume, Hearth wins decisively. Below $25K/year, GreenSky’s dealer fees are actually cheaper on pure math.
- Modern self-serve vs legacy invite-network. Hearth enrollment takes 30 minutes online with self-serve approval. GreenSky requires an invite-based merchant network application that takes weeks and isn’t guaranteed to approve new contractors.
The loan ceiling is a binary filter. If your average ticket is above $100K, you need Hearth. If it’s under $100K, the decision is about the three factors above.
The Pricing Math: Subscription vs Dealer Fees at Real Volumes
The subscription-versus-dealer-fee dynamic is the single most under-analyzed aspect of this comparison. Most contractors never do the per-volume math on GreenSky’s typical 7-15% promotional fees, and most never calculate whether Hearth’s $1,799 subscription pays for itself at their current volume. Three scenarios:
Year-One Cost at Three Big-Ticket Contractor Profiles
Hearth Pro subscription ($1,799/yr + $99 setup) vs GreenSky typical dealer fees on promotional products
The pattern in the math: Hearth wins at essentially every volume above $30K/year in financed work once you factor the promotional-product dealer fees most contractors actually pay on GreenSky. The rare case where GreenSky’s standalone math is cheaper is a low-volume contractor doing under $20K/year primarily through GreenSky’s standard-APR products (0.99-3% dealer fees). That profile doesn’t describe most big-ticket contractors.
The number that matters most: at $120K/year financed through promotional products, the typical Hearth vs GreenSky gap is roughly $11,000/year. That’s a full-time entry-level salary worth of dealer fees the contractor keeps instead of paying to the financing platform. Scale that at $300K/year volume and you’re looking at $25,000+ in annual savings.
Harper AI vs GreenSky’s Portal: Modern Architecture vs Legacy Network
Hearth’s November 2025 AI Dashboard integration moved Harper — the branded AI Receptionist — directly inside the main Hearth app. Call logs, recordings, transcripts, weekly statistics all live alongside the financing pipeline. Harper handles inbound calls 24/7, qualifies leads, screens spam, books appointments into your calendar, and drops call recordings into the same interface where you manage the financing loans those calls produce.
This is a 2025-era software product: modern UI, integrated AI, self-serve onboarding, single-login workflow, regular feature updates shipped via AI Advantage newsletter.
GreenSky’s merchant portal is a 2006-era dealer-network platform: web-and-mobile portal, no AI features, portal-only loan management disconnected from any CRM workflow, invite-based enrollment process, infrequent feature updates. The product has operated essentially unchanged since Goldman Sachs acquired it in 2021 and divested it to the Sixth Street consortium in March 2024.
For contractors evaluating the two platforms fresh, the architecture difference is the single biggest signal of which product will still be competitive five years from now. Hearth is actively investing in AI and workflow integration — the November 2025 Premium lending tier (up to $50K at 8.99% APR for 680+ FICO, 15-year terms), the HELOC expansion planned for Texas, Rhode Island, Delaware, and South Carolina, and the continuous Harper improvements indicate a company shipping new capability. GreenSky under Sixth Street ownership is running for operational stability, not product innovation — which is fine for existing merchants but a weaker bet for contractors making new platform commitments.
Integration Reality: What Plugs Into Your Field Service CRM
Neither Hearth nor GreenSky has native integrations with the major contractor field service CRMs (Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, JobNimbus). This is where the comparison gets more complicated for most contractors — because Wisetack does, and the practical 2026 setup for big-ticket contractors involves running Wisetack as the primary financing layer inside the CRM quote alongside Hearth or GreenSky as the big-ticket overflow:
How Each Fits Your Existing Workflow
The practical answer usually involves layering Wisetack underneath for small-ticket
For contractors running the modern GoHighLevel + Jobber stack — the configuration we recommend across the site as the strongest under-$500/month marketing-plus-operations foundation — the practical financing layer is Wisetack (native in Jobber, native chain with GHL) plus Hearth for big-ticket overflow. See the GoHighLevel vs Jobber comparison for the full stack context.
Trade-by-Trade: Where Each Big-Ticket Platform Wins
Both platforms cover enough ground that the right choice depends heavily on trade-specific ticket patterns:
Which Big-Ticket Platform Wins By Trade
Based on typical ticket range and loan ceiling fit
The pattern across trades: Hearth wins everywhere it handles the ticket size, primarily because the multi-lender marketplace + subscription math + modern UX create compounding advantages. GreenSky’s remaining strongholds are legacy enterprise dealer networks in HVAC and solar where contractors are already embedded and switching costs are genuinely high.
Why Most Big-Ticket Contractors Run Wisetack Underneath
Here’s the part of the comparison that almost no other review site mentions: most big-ticket contractors end up running Wisetack as a small-ticket layer regardless of whether they pick Hearth or GreenSky for the big-ticket work.
The reason is operational. Wisetack has native integrations with Jobber, Housecall Pro, JobNimbus, ServiceTitan, FieldPulse, and 13+ other field service CRMs — meaning financing attaches automatically to every residential quote between $500 and $25,000 without any manual workflow. For a roofing contractor whose average is $35K full re-roofs but who also does plenty of $8K storm repairs, Wisetack handles the storm-repair tier without friction. Same for a GC who does both $150K whole-house renovations and $12K bathroom refreshes. Same for a solar installer who does $45K residential systems plus $5K battery storage add-ons.
Running Wisetack + Hearth or Wisetack + GreenSky as a two-layer stack captures:
- Native in-quote financing on every job under $25K (via Wisetack)
- Big-ticket coverage up to $250K on Hearth or $100K on GreenSky
- Zero manual link workflow for the majority of jobs that fall under $25K
- 3.9% flat fee on the small-ticket layer versus the 7-15% GreenSky would charge or the monthly-Hearth-math-that-doesn’t-pencil at lower volumes
The practical 2026 financing stack for most big-ticket contractors:
- Wisetack for everything $500-$25K (inside the CRM quote, native, flat 3.9%)
- Hearth for everything $25K-$250K (big-ticket overflow, subscription pays for itself at ~$45K/yr volume above the Wisetack cap)
- Total combined cost typically under $3,000/year for mid-volume operations
For contractors comparing Hearth and GreenSky as single-platform solutions without considering Wisetack underneath, the decision math looks different than it actually plays out in working contractor operations.
GoHighLevel as the Marketing Layer
Neither Hearth nor GreenSky has a native GoHighLevel integration. But the practical experience of pairing GHL with each platform matters, because GoHighLevel’s September 2025 native Jobber integration combined with Wisetack’s native Jobber integration creates the cleanest end-to-end marketing-plus-financing chain in the contractor stack.
GoHighLevel + Jobber + Wisetack + Hearth: the modern big-ticket contractor stack. AI Voice answers inbound calls and books appointments into Jobber → crew builds the quote with Wisetack financing attached (under $25K) or sends a Hearth financing link (over $25K) → Jobber syncs the completed job back to GoHighLevel → GoHighLevel fires the review request, referral, and rebook automations. Harper AI (bundled with Hearth) handles inbound calls that neither GoHighLevel’s AI Voice nor Jobber’s AI Receptionist catch. The whole stack runs roughly $500-$700/month combined for a mid-market contractor.
GoHighLevel + Jobber + Wisetack + GreenSky: same stack except financing breaks the automation chain for big-ticket work. GreenSky’s portal sits outside GHL. Crew has to manually track GreenSky loan status. Post-job nurture doesn’t fire automatically on GreenSky-financed jobs because data doesn’t flow back to GHL. The GreenSky layer is a manual step added onto an otherwise automated stack.
For contractors building their tech stack fresh in 2026, the GoHighLevel + Jobber + Wisetack + Hearth configuration is materially cleaner than GreenSky alternatives. See the GoHighLevel vs Jobber comparison for the full stack-level context.
Conditional Picks: Who Should Actually Choose Each
Pick Hearth if:
- Your average big-ticket job is $25,000 to $250,000 (full re-roofs, solar systems, remodels, whole-house work)
- You’re doing $45,000+/year in financed volume above the Wisetack $25K cap
- You want self-serve enrollment (30 minutes online, instant approval)
- You want Harper AI Receptionist bundled with financing instead of paying separately for a standalone AI product
- You want a multi-lender marketplace that produces competitive APR offers versus single-lender products
- You can manage annual renewal discipline (calendar the date 30 days out, cancel in writing if not renewing)
- You’re running the modern GoHighLevel + Jobber + Wisetack stack and want the big-ticket layer that fits cleanly alongside
Pick GreenSky if:
- You’re already embedded in the GreenSky dealer network with trained sales teams and existing customer loans in flight
- Your business is a legacy enterprise HVAC or solar dealer where switching costs are genuinely material
- You need custom API integration at enterprise scale that Hearth doesn’t currently offer
- Your loan volume is under $20,000/year primarily on standard-APR products where GreenSky’s low-end dealer fees (0.99-3%) are cheaper than Hearth’s subscription
Pick neither (use Wisetack + something else) if:
- Your average ticket is under $25,000 — Wisetack alone handles you more cheaply and with native CRM integration
- You want the cleanest end-to-end GHL + Jobber marketing + operations + financing chain — Wisetack alone is the right pick; add Hearth only if you have a material volume of $25K+ tickets
- You don’t trust either platform’s customer experience data and want clean regulatory history — Wisetack (never part of Goldman’s fintech portfolio, 85 NPS across 20,000+ surveys) is the safer choice
Run both in parallel if:
- You’re a mid-to-large big-ticket contractor with meaningful volume above AND below $25K
- You want native CRM integration on small-ticket work (Wisetack) AND $250K loan ceiling on big-ticket work (Hearth)
- Combined cost typically stays under $3,000/year and captures the full spectrum
The honest bottom line on this comparison: Hearth is the better modern platform on product quality, pricing math, enrollment friction, bundled AI, and architecture. GreenSky’s advantages are almost entirely about scale and legacy — real for contractors already embedded, not compelling for fresh evaluations. For contractors making this decision in 2026 without existing merchant network relationships, the answer is usually Hearth (with Wisetack underneath for small-ticket work).
Full write-ups on both: Hearth review and GreenSky review. For the small-ticket financing layer most contractors pair with either of these, see the Wisetack review. For the marketing + operations stack that pairs with Wisetack natively, see the GoHighLevel vs Jobber comparison.