Dental Patient Financing Compared: Sunbit vs CareCredit vs Kleer vs Pearly vs Wisetack

The Two Models You're Actually Choosing Between

Before we compare specific platforms, let's be precise about what we're comparing. "Dental patient financing" covers two fundamentally different business models, and the platforms in this guide fall cleanly into one or the other.

Point-of-sale (POS) lending: A third-party lender (Sunbit, CareCredit, Wisetack) extends credit to the patient at the time of service. The patient pays the lender over time. The practice gets paid upfront (minus a merchant fee). The lender takes on credit risk. Patient qualification happens at the point of care.

In-house membership / direct care: A software platform (Kleer, Pearlyy)) helps the practice build and administer a subscription-based dental membership plan. Patients pay the practice directly — monthly or annually — in exchange for a defined package of preventive care and discounts on additional services. No third-party lender involved. No insurance company involved.

• POS lending solves the problem of a patient who wants a crown today but can't pay $1,200 upfront
• Membership plans solve the problem of an uninsured patient who doesn't have a financial relationship with a practice

Many practices benefit from having both. But the decision to add each is independent, and the ROI math is different.

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Point-of-Sale Lending Platforms

Sunbit

Sunbit is the newest major entrant in dental POS lending and has captured significant market share since their 2019 entry into the dental vertical. Their core product claim: the highest approval rate in the category.

Approval rate: Sunbit markets an 85%–90% approval rate across all applicants. In the dental context, this means they're approving patients that CareCredit would decline. They achieve this through a proprietary credit model that relies less on traditional FICO scores and more on alternative data. This is a genuine differentiator — dental practices routinely see patients with credit profiles that disqualify them from traditional financing.

• Patient applies at checkout using a tablet or phone; application takes under 60 seconds
• Approval decision is immediate
• Approved patients choose repayment terms (typically 3–72 months)
• Practice receives payment in 1–2 business days, minus the merchant fee
• Patient repays Sunbit over the chosen term

• Merchant fee: Sunbit does not publish their fee structure. Practitioner-reported fees range from 4–8% depending on repayment term length — longer terms carry higher merchant fees because Sunbit is taking more duration risk.
• No monthly fee or platform subscription for standard access
• No patient interest for promotional terms (0% if paid within X months) — Sunbit absorbs the cost; the merchant fee reflects it

• Simple tablet/iPad-based setup; no PMS integration required (though some PMS integrations exist)
• Training is minimal — most practices are live within 1–2 days
• Customer support is a strength; Sunbit's dental-specific support team is consistently well-reviewed

Winner scenario: Your practice has a significant percentage of patients who've been declined by CareCredit and you're losing cases. Sunbit's higher approval rate captures patients other platforms miss. Particularly effective in practices serving middle-income and lower-income patient populations where traditional credit scores don't reflect actual payment willingness.

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CareCredit

CareCredit is the Kleenex of dental patient financing. It's been in the market since 1987, has over 12 million cardholders, and is recognized by patients — which is a genuine advantage at the point of care.

Approval rate: Lower than Sunbit's. CareCredit uses traditional credit scoring as a primary input, and their dental-specific approval rates run approximately 55–70% in practices serving mixed demographics. In higher-income markets, approval rates are better. In mixed or lower-income markets, the gap versus Sunbit becomes significant.

• Patient applies for a CareCredit credit card (revolving credit, not a loan)
• Once approved, they have a reusable credit line that works at any CareCredit-accepting healthcare provider
• Patient pays the minimum (or more) each month
• Practice receives payment in 2–3 business days minus merchant fee

• Merchant fee: 3–8% depending on promotional period length (interest-free 6-month, 12-month, 24-month promotions increase the fee)
• Monthly subscription fee: None for basic participation; enhanced marketing materials and portal access have associated costs
• CareCredit charges reduced merchant rates on standard (non-promotional) transactions

The patient card advantage: Because CareCredit is a revolving credit line, patients who already have a card can apply their existing credit to dental treatment immediately — no new application. In established practices, a meaningful percentage of patients may already carry CareCredit cards from other healthcare contexts.

Patient perception: CareCredit's brand recognition actually helps case acceptance. Patients who have used it for LASIK or veterinary care are already comfortable with the product. This familiarity reduces friction at the financing conversation.

Winner scenario: You're in a mid-to-high-income market where patients are likely to qualify for traditional credit. Your patient base is established (higher likelihood of existing CareCredit cardholders). You want a brand patients already recognize.

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Wisetack

Wisetack is the least dental-specific of the three POS lenders — they started in home services and have expanded into healthcare/dental. But they've built an interesting product: a multi-lender marketplace model that routes patient applications to the lender most likely to approve them.

The marketplace model: When a patient applies through Wisetack, their application is evaluated by multiple lender partners, not just one underwriting model. The patient sees offers from multiple lenders simultaneously and selects the best terms. This increases approval rates (different lenders have different credit appetites) and gives patients more options on rate/term combinations.

Approval rate: Comparable to or slightly above CareCredit for standard credit profiles, with improved coverage for edge cases due to the multi-lender routing. Wisetack is transparent that approval is lender-dependent and can vary.

• Completely digital application — patient uses their phone (SMS link from practice)
• Multiple loan offers presented simultaneously
• Loan terms are fixed-term installment loans, not revolving credit — some patients prefer this psychological framing
• Practice receives funds within 1–2 days

• Merchant fee: Wisetack publishes a 3.9–7.9% merchant fee range depending on loan terms and lender
• No monthly subscription fee
• No minimum transaction volumes required

PMS integrations: Wisetack has invested in integrations with several practice management and patient communication platforms (Weave, NexHealth, and others), which enables financing offer presentation within patient communication flows.

Winner scenario: You want digital-first patient communication workflows where financing is offered proactively in treatment plan delivery (through Weave or NexHealth), not just at checkout. Also works well for practices that want to present patients with competitive loan options rather than a single lender's terms.

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In-House Membership Platforms

Kleer

Kleer is the dominant in-house dental membership plan platform. They've processed over $200M in membership payments and serve thousands of practices. If you're evaluating membership plans, they're the reference point.

What it solves: The uninsured patient problem. Approximately 77 million Americans have no dental insurance. These patients don't have a pre-arranged discount structure with your practice, often delay care due to cost uncertainty, and have a higher treatment plan decline rate. Membership plans give them a predictable annual cost for preventive care and a defined discount on additional services.

• Practice uses Kleer's platform to design their membership plan (annual preventive care bundle + discount percentage for additional services)
• Patients subscribe online or at the front desk; payment is annual upfront or monthly recurring
• Kleer handles billing, renewals, and patient portal
• Practice pays Kleer a platform fee; patients pay the practice directly

• Kleer members visit more frequently than uninsured non-members (1.4–1.8 visits/year vs 0.8–1.0 for uninsured)
• Average treatment plan acceptance among Kleer members is 20–30% higher than uninsured patients
• Patient retention: Kleer reports 70%+ renewal rates in established practices

• Kleer charges the practice a platform fee of approximately $149–$199/month plus a percentage of member payments (typically 2–4% transaction fee)
• Practice sets the membership price and keeps all patient revenue above the platform fee
• A practice with 100 active Kleer members at $300/year is generating $30,000 in annual recurring revenue — outside of insurance entirely

Design flexibility: Kleer allows practices to offer multiple plan tiers (adult, child, perio maintenance) and customize the discount structure for non-bundled procedures. The practice owns the patient relationship; Kleer provides the billing infrastructure.

Winner scenario: Your practice has a significant percentage of uninsured patients who delay care, your hygiene schedule has availability (membership patients fill the time), and your area is underserved by insurance coverage. Also strong for practices seeking predictable monthly revenue that isn't dependent on insurance adjudication cycles.

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Pearlyy)

Pearly is the primary Kleer competitor, with a slightly different go-to-market and product emphasis. Where Kleer built a self-service plan design and administration tool, Pearly leans harder into marketing and patient acquisition — specifically, getting new uninsured patients to find your practice through Pearly's network.

The Pearly network: Pearly operates a patient-facing marketplace where consumers can search for dental membership plans in their area. A practice on Pearly gets listed in this directory, which can drive net-new patient acquisition in addition to converting existing uninsured patients.

• Marketplace exposure for patient acquisition (Kleer is practice-facing only)
• Slightly different plan design interface — Pearly's is arguably more flexible in some custom discount scenarios
• Pearly charges a monthly platform fee of approximately $129–$179/month; transaction fees are comparable to Kleer
• Pearly's patient portal and communication tools are slightly more modern in design

• Practices that want the potential upside of marketplace-driven patient acquisition, not just existing patient conversion
• Practices in markets with higher uninsured populations where the Pearly directory has traffic
• Practices that want a second-look comparison before committing to Kleer

The Kleer vs Pearly decision: If patient acquisition through the membership platform is important, Pearly's network exposure is a differentiator. If you're primarily converting existing patients, Kleer's deeper practice history and larger existing customer base may provide more reference points. Functionally, the products are close enough that pricing, support quality, and integration with your specific PMS should drive the decision.

Winner scenario: You're in a market with meaningful uninsured patient population and you want membership plan adoption to also serve as a patient acquisition channel. The Pearly marketplace listing gets you visibility to patients actively looking for a membership-based practice.

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Side-by-Side: The Numbers That Matter

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The Practice Economics Analysis

POS Lending ROI Model

For POS lending, the ROI question is: how much production do you recover by offering financing that you would have otherwise lost?

Case scenario:
Practice presents 20 treatment plans per month averaging $1,800. Without financing, conversion rate is 45% = 9 cases accepted = $16,200 collected.

• 20 patients presented
• 12 apply for financing (60% of those presented)
• 10 approved at 85% approval rate
• 9 of the 10 approved patients accept treatment = 9 additional cases
• Total accepted cases: 18 (original 9 + 9 from financing conversion)
• Additional production: 9 × $1,800 = $16,200
• Merchant fee at 6%: $972
• Net additional production from financing: $15,228/month

This is an aggressive scenario, but directionally accurate for practices that weren't previously offering financing. Even at half these rates, the ROI on the merchant fee is compelling.

Membership Plan ROI Model

For membership plans, the ROI calculation is different: you're trading a small platform fee for a reliable, recurring patient revenue stream outside insurance.

Case scenario:
100 Kleer members × $350/year = $35,000 annual membership revenue
Kleer platform fee: $1,800/year + 3% of $35,000 ($1,050) = $2,850/year
Net membership revenue: $32,150/year

Additional production from member visits: 100 members × 1.6 average visits × $250 average additional treatment = $40,000
Kleer discount offset (let's say 15% discount on average): -$6,000
Net additional treatment revenue: $34,000

Total annual value of 100 Kleer members: $32,150 + $34,000 = $66,150
Annual platform cost: $2,850

The question is whether you can drive 100 members. In most practices, the first 50 members come from existing uninsured patients. Members 51–100 require active marketing and/or the Pearly network approach.

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Building a Complete Patient Financing Stack

The most effective practices don't pick one solution — they layer complementary approaches:

Layer 1: In-house membership plan (Kleer or Pearly)
Captures the uninsured patient relationship before they need treatment. Creates predictable hygiene revenue and increases treatment plan conversion.

Layer 2: High-approval POS lending (Sunbit)
Handles the case where any patient — insured or membership — needs to finance a large treatment amount. High approval rate ensures you're not losing cases.

Layer 3: Brand-recognized revolving credit (CareCredit)
For established patient populations who may already carry CareCredit, and for practices in higher-income markets where approval rate is less of a concern.

The total cost of running all three: Kleer at ~$150/month + Sunbit at no monthly fee + CareCredit at no monthly fee = $150/month. Against the production recovery, this is a rounding error.

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How to Present Financing Without Seeming Pushy

The financing conversation is where most of the ROI is lost in execution. Here's what works:

1. Lead with treatment, not payment. Present the recommended treatment first. Establish the value. Then introduce payment options as the enabler.

1. Don't ask if they need financing — tell them it's available. "We offer flexible monthly payment options for this — would you like to see what your monthly payment would look like?" vs. "Do you need financing?" The former assumes they'd want to know. The latter implies they can't afford it.

1. Make the application trivial. Have the tablet or application link ready before the conversation. Eliminating friction at application time meaningfully increases conversion.

1. Normalize it. Most patients feel awkward asking about payment options. "Most patients take advantage of our payment plans" or "A lot of patients find monthly payments easier to manage" normalizes the option.

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Bottom Line

Patient financing is one of the highest-ROI category investments a dental practice can make because the payoff — higher case acceptance, more production, better patient access — compounds over time. A patient who gets into a membership plan stays for years. A patient who accepts a crown because financing made it feasible becomes a loyal patient.

• Uninsured patient problem → Kleer or Pearly first
• Case acceptance on large treatment plans → Sunbit first (highest approval rate)
• Established practice, higher-income market → CareCredit remains a strong complement
• Digital-first workflows, multi-lender comparison → Wisetack

For most practices, the answer is to layer at least two: a membership platform and a high-approval POS lender. The incremental cost is trivial against the production recovery.