Bobtail vs Tetra Capital: Which Should You Use?
A field-by-field comparison of Bobtail and Tetra Capital — published terms, positioning, who each suits, and what to check before signing. Our commercial position on both is stated up front.
Our position on both
We have no commercial relationship with Bobtail. We have no commercial relationship with Tetra Capital. See the full rate card.
Bobtail and Tetra Capital both provide freight factoring, and on the surface the products look similar. The differences that matter are in positioning, contract posture and what each company is willing to publish. This page puts them side by side on the same fields.
Published terms, side by side
| Field | Bobtail | Tetra Capital |
|---|---|---|
| Advertised rate | Negotiable, max 3.24% | Not published |
| Contract | No long-term commitment (first 90 days) | No long-term contracts |
Bobtail terms from bobtail.com · Tetra Capital terms from www.tetracapital.com — read 2026-07-29. We re-check monthly.
Only terms at least one company publishes are shown. Neither publishes: typical small-operator rate, advance rate, recourse, monthly minimum. We never fill a gap with an estimate. Method →
What each is actually optimising for
Bobtail
Built its entire marketing around price transparency — one of the only factors publishing a rate ceiling.
- Max 3.24% published
- No long-term commitment first 90 days
- Same-day pay at no extra charge
- Fuel card
- Credit checks
Tetra Capital
Small-fleet specialist publishing both a no-contract stance and a selective-factoring model.
- No long-term contracts published
- Spot factoring — no obligation to factor every load
- Collections 2–3 days faster than average claimed
- Fuel card
- Dispatch
Choose Bobtail if
- Carriers who want a number before a sales call
- Owner-operators who want to test a factor without a long commitment
- Anyone who values same-day pay not carrying a surcharge
Choose Tetra Capital if
- Carriers who want to factor some loads and not others
- Small fleets that dislike whole-ledger commitments
- Operators testing factoring for the first time
Where each one is the wrong choice
Skip Bobtail if
- You need a large bundled ecosystem — Bobtail is deliberately narrower
- Your volume is high enough that a negotiated rate elsewhere beats a published ceiling
Skip Tetra Capital if
- You want the lowest rate — selectivity costs more per invoice
- You need a large bundled ecosystem
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What to check with each before signing
Bobtail
"Negotiable rates, max 3.24%" is a ceiling, not your quote. Ask what rate YOU get, and what happens to the no-commitment terms after the first 90 days.
Tetra Capital
They claim collections 2–3 days faster than industry average. Ask what that is measured against, since faster collection directly reduces your cost on a per-period rate.
How to actually decide between them
With rate data incomplete on both sides — which is the normal condition of this market — the decision comes down to four things you can establish yourself in one phone call to each.
- Will they take you? Authority age, business size or industry, and volume floor. This eliminates one of them more often than price does.
- What does a slow month cost? The monthly minimum, not the rate, is what hurts at low volume. Price your worst realistic month under each.
- How do you get out? Term, notice window, termination fee, UCC release speed. Ask for all four in writing.
- What does the non-recourse actually cover? Request the covered-event definition, and one example of a claim each has declined.
Then put the two written offers in front of each other. Quoted terms in this market move when there is a credible alternative on the table, and they rarely move without one.
Our read on each
Bobtail: The most price-transparent factor we track. That transparency is itself the product.
Tetra Capital: The selective, no-contract model is genuinely useful for irregular operations.
Both judgements are about published positioning and structure, not about a rate verified for your specific business.
Full reviews
- Bobtail review — published terms, who it suits, what to check
- Tetra Capital review — published terms, who it suits, what to check
Compare against all 34 companies in the index →