Rates live from WSJ Prime, 7.00% today
SBA Express Loans Guide
Up to $500,000 with a 50% SBA guaranty. Today's rate caps, the rules with their sources, and every lender ranked from SBA's own loan file.
How much does your business need?
Start my loan request- Free, no obligation
- About two minutes
- The lender makes the credit decision
Janover Capital LLC is not a lender and is not the SBA. The lender makes the credit decision. A lender or marketplace may pay us a referral fee if we connect you, at no cost to you. Advertiser disclosure.
- Maximum loan, with a 50% SBA guaranty
- $500,000
- SBA rate cap today: Prime plus 3.0% to 6.5%, by loan size
- 10.00% to 13.50%
- Longest line of credit, including any term-out
- 10 years
- Lenders need not take collateral at or below this amount
- $50,000
Sources: sba.gov, 13 CFR 120.214, SOP 50 10 8.1. Data as of June 30, 2026. See the SBA Express data.
How it works
Tell us what you need
Amount, purpose and a few facts about your business. Nothing to upload.
We route it to lending partners
Commercial Finance Partners receives every request. NerdWallet Small Business also receives it when the request meets that marketplace's minimums.
The lender decides
A partner contacts you and the lender makes the credit decision. We never decide, approve or fund a loan.
A lender or marketplace may pay us a referral fee if we connect you, at no cost to you. Advertiser disclosure.
Today's SBA Express rate caps
The highest variable rate SBA allows, by loan size. Updated from the live Prime feed.
- $50,000 or less
- 13.50%Prime plus 6.5 percentage points
- $50,001 to $250,000
- 13.00%Prime plus 6.0 percentage points
- $250,001 to $350,000
- 11.50%Prime plus 4.5 percentage points
- $350,001 to $500,000
- 10.00%Prime plus 3.0 percentage points
WSJ Prime is 7.00% as of Nov 10, 2026. Each cap is Prime plus the spread SBA allows at that loan size (13 CFR 120.214(d)). Lenders may charge less. Rate history and what lenders actually charged.
Find loans like yours
See how many SBA loans went to businesses like yours, which lenders made them, and at what rates.
Searches 161,856 SBA loans approved since FY2024. Approvals only, so it cannot show approval odds. Prefer lenders? Try the Lender Finder.
Explore SBA's own loan data
Every page is built from SBA's 7(a) loan-level file and the SBA rules, with the source named.
- 807Lendersranked from SBA's loan file
- 402Industriesloan counts, rates and lenders
- 580Citiesplus all 52 states and territories
- 411Franchisesloans by brand
- 412Answersplain answers to SBA rules
- FreeToolscalculators and lookups, no sign-up
- 11SBA programs7(a), 504, Express, microloans and more
- LiveRatesPrime and SBA's caps today
What SBA's loan file shows
Fiscal years run October 1 to September 30. Counts include Export Express, so they run a few loans above the program-only counts on the statistics page. Approvals only: the file has no declined applications.
Most active SBA Express lenders since FY2024
Top SBA Express industries since FY2024
Top SBA Express states since FY2024
Every number here comes from SBA's 7(a) loan-level file, as of June 30, 2026. Past loans do not describe any lender's current credit policy. See all the SBA Express statistics.
The rules, with sources
An SBA Express loan is a 7(a) loan or line of credit of up to $500,000 with a 50% SBA guaranty, where the lender makes the credit decision. Open any panel for the rule and where it comes from.
What an SBA Express loan is
An SBA Express loan is a 7(a) loan or line of credit of up to $500,000. A bank or other lender with SBA Express authority makes it. SBA guarantees 50% of it, and the lender makes the credit decision without prior SBA review (SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. B, Ch. 2; App. 16, Para. B.2).
Most SBA Express loans are small lines of credit. 69.2% of the 130,232 approved since FY2020 were lines, and the median loan was $50,000. Since FY2024 the line share is 77.3%. Read how an SBA Express line of credit works.
A Standard 7(a) loan runs up to $5,000,000, with a guaranty of 85% on loans of $150,000 or less and 75% on larger loans. The SBA Express limit and guaranty are smaller, and the lender decides without a separate SBA credit review. Compare SBA loans.
SBA Express loan terms
| Term | The rule |
|---|---|
| Maximum loan | $500,000, counting all outstanding SBA Express loans of the applicant and its affiliates (SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. B, Ch. 2, Para. B.1) |
| SBA guaranty | 50% of the loan (SOP 50 10 8.1, App. 16, Para. B.2) |
| Maximum rate | Prime plus 3.0 to 6.5 percentage points, depending on loan size (13 CFR 120.214(d)). Today's maximums are in the rate caps above. |
| Term loans | On term loans, the standard 7(a) maximums apply: 10 years for working capital, generally 10 years for equipment (up to 15 years if the IRS asset class supports it) and 25 years for real estate (SOP 50 10 8.1, App. 17, Para. A) |
| Lines of credit | Up to 10 years, including any term-out period, with no advances after the first 60 months (SOP 50 10 8.1, App. 17, Para. B.3) |
| Collateral | Lenders are not required to take collateral at or below $50,000. Above that, the lender may use its own collateral policies for similar non-SBA loans (SOP 50 10 8.1, App. 19, Para. B.3) |
| Who decides | On SBA Express, the lender makes the credit decision without prior SBA review (SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. B, Ch. 2, Para. C.2) |
| Timing | SBA publishes no turnaround time for SBA Express; the lender makes the credit decision. Ask each lender for its own estimate. |
| Upfront guaranty fee | 2% of the guaranteed portion on loans of $150,000 or less and 3% of the guaranteed portion on larger SBA Express loans (FY2027). Veteran-owned businesses pay $0 (SBA Information Notice 5000-881797, p. 2) |
Read the full rules on SBA Express loan terms and the loan requirements.
What you can use it for
SBA Express proceeds can fund most business purposes, and they must be used only for business (SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. B, Ch. 2, Para. A).
- Working capital: payroll, rent, inventory and supplies
- Equipment, furniture and fixtures
- Buying, renovating or building real estate you will occupy
- A revolving line of credit
- Refinancing eligible business debt (check which debts SBA will refinance)
- Buying a business (the rules for buying with SBA Express)
SBA does not allow proceeds to pay past-due payroll or trust taxes, or to finance floor plans. Proceeds also cannot buy property held for sale or investment (SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. A, Ch. 3, Para. B). Lenders can add limits of their own.
Who can get one
To be eligible, a business must be an operating, for-profit business located in the United States that is small under SBA size standards and can show a need for the credit (13 CFR 120.100). The desired credit also must not be available on reasonable terms elsewhere (13 CFR 120.101). SBA sets no minimum credit score; the lender applies its own credit standards.
- Some businesses are not eligible, including nonprofits, lenders, passive businesses owned by developers and landlords, life insurers, businesses located in a foreign country, pyramid schemes, businesses earning more than one third of revenue from legal gambling, and illegal businesses, among others (13 CFR 120.110).
- Under SBA's citizenship rule, 100% of direct and indirect owners and required guarantors must be U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals with their principal residence in the United States, its territories or possessions (SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. A, Ch. 1, Para. F).
- Owners of 20% or more of the business must give a personal guarantee (SOP 50 10 8.1, Sec. A, Ch. 5, Para. A.1).
Run the free eligibility check or the size standard check. These eligibility answers cover the rest.
Who runs this site
SBA Express Loans is published by Janover Capital LLC, a Boca Raton, Florida company that also publishes Multifamily Loans, Commercial Real Estate Loans, SBA 7(a) Loans and HUD Loans. We are not a lender and we are not the SBA. We publish what SBA's own files say, name the source for every rule, and log every correction in public.
Janover Capital LLC6401 Congress Ave., Ste. 250Boca Raton, FL 33487(561) 559-9949hello@sbaexpress.loansAbout usHow we build these pagesEditorial standardsCorrections
Ask lending partners about your loan
Tell us what you need. We route your inquiry to lending partners. Free, with no obligation.
Janover Capital LLC is not a lender and is not the SBA. The lender makes the credit decision. A lender or marketplace may pay us a referral fee if we connect you, at no cost to you. Advertiser disclosure.