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Equipment financing, explained
The fundamentals every business owner should know before signing for a machine — written independently, in plain English, with no lender selling you anything. Start here, then dig into the guide for your specific equipment.
- How Equipment Financing Works: A Plain-English GuideThe foundational guide — what equipment financing actually is, why the machine being collateral changes everything, and what to expect from application to funding.
- Equipment Loan vs. Lease: Which Is Right for Your Business?The decision that trips up the most buyers. When owning beats leasing, when leasing beats owning, and how to read the fine print on buyout structures.
- Equipment Financing for Startups & Bad Credit: What's Actually PossibleNew business or a rough credit history? Equipment's collateral value makes this far more approvable than most borrowing. Here's how to get a yes.
- Section 179 & Equipment Financing: The Tax Angle ExplainedThe tax deduction that makes financing especially powerful — expense the whole machine now, pay for it over years. What it is and why December is equipment's busiest month.
- Equipment Loan vs. Merchant Cash Advance: Don't Confuse the TwoThe most expensive mistake in equipment buying: using fast, unsecured money for a purchase that qualifies for cheap, secured money. Here's the cost difference, in dollars.
- How to Compare Equipment Financing Offers (and Save 1–3 Points)The single habit that saves the most money in equipment buying: getting and comparing two real offers. Here's exactly what to compare and the questions to ask.
Free tools & data
Equipment Loan Rates (2026) — typical APRs by credit score and equipment type.
Section 179 Deduction Calculator (2026) — estimate your first-year tax savings on an equipment purchase.
Know the concept, need the specifics? Browse financing guides for 51 specific equipment types — each with real prices, a payment calculator, and the underwriting quirks lenders won't volunteer.