Hometap vs Unison: Your Credit Score and What Each One Shares In Decide It

Hometap vs Unison is a choice between two ways of pricing the same idea. Both give you cash now and ask for no monthly payments. Hometap earns a percentage of what your home is worth on the day you settle. Unison shares only in how much that value changes, measured from a starting number set below your appraisal. That one difference decides which is cheaper, and the answer flips depending on what your home does.

Hometap and Unison at a glance

Every figure below is from each company’s own website, as we published it in our reviews. Neither has monthly payments, and both record a lien on the home to secure their interest.

Hometap’s minimum amount varies by state, and its maximum depends on your home value and equity percentage. More in our reviews: Hometap review, with costs, requirements, pros and cons, and the Unison review.

The differences that decide the outcome

Credit score and what each one looks at

Hometap publishes a minimum FICO score of 575 and has no income or employment requirements. Unison says applicants generally need a mid-FICO score of at least 620, and it reviews your income and your property too. For Unison, the allowable loan-to-value and debt-to-income levels go down as the credit score goes down, and an applicant with excellent credit could have a maximum loan-to-value of 70%. If your score sits between 575 and 619, Hometap is the only one of the two worth a look.

What each one shares in

Hometap calls its approach a share of home value. You receive a percentage of your home’s current value in cash, and Hometap earns an agreed percentage of the home’s value on the day you settle. Under its pricing from June 2026, the Hometap Percentage is 1.65 times the percentage you received if you settle in years 0 to 5, and 1.8 times in years 6 to 10. Receive 10% and that’s 16.5% or 18% of the home’s value. The Hometap Share is the lesser of that amount and the Hometap Cap.

Unison shares in the change. It takes your appraised value, knocks off a 5% Risk Adjustment, and calls the result the Original Agreed Value. When the agreement ends, you owe what you received, plus or minus Unison’s Investor Percentage of the difference between that starting value and the ending value. Unison says its percentage is typically four times the percentage it invested, so receive 10% and it shares in 40% of the change.

Two details matter. Unison’s starting number sits 5% under your appraisal, so a home that sells for exactly what it appraised for still costs more than you received. And if you sell in the first five years, or buy Unison out at any point, it doesn’t share in a loss. Hometap’s percentage applies to whatever the home is worth, so a drop lowers the dollar amount, though it could still be more than you received.

How long you have to settle

A Hometap Investment has a 10-year term and its percentage steps up after year 5. Unison runs up to 30 years. With either one you could settle sooner. Neither term is open ended: if you haven’t settled by the end of the term, Hometap says it may acquire a percent ownership interest in the property and then work with you to sell it. Unison says that at 30 years you need to buy it out or sell, and that a refinance to fund the buyout might be possible but isn’t guaranteed.

Unison also says it isn’t right for you unless you plan to stay at least five years. If you may move in two or three years, that’s worth weighing against Hometap’s 16.5% tier for settling in years 0 to 5.

The same home, settled in year 10

Here’s the part that matters most. Take one home and one amount, apply each company’s published method, and see what comes due.

The assumptions, every one of them ours: a home appraised at $500,000, $50,000 received (10% of the home’s value), a settlement in year 10, an Investor Percentage at Unison of exactly 40%, and no renovation or maintenance adjustments at either company. The Hometap figures use 18%, the percentage for years 6 to 10 on a 10% investment. The four home values come from Hometap’s own calculator: a drop of 8% in total, no change, and growth of 3.25% and 8% a year.

The two lines cross at a home value of about $636,364, a gain of 27.3% over the decade, or roughly 2.44% a year. Below that, Unison is the cheaper in this illustration. Above it, Hometap is. At 3.25% a year the gap is small ($123,920 against $135,379). At 8% a year it’s wide: $194,303 against $291,785. Unison says in its own words that its share of strong growth could exceed the total interest you might have paid on a loan.

There’s a floor on the Unison side that the table doesn’t show. In the first five years, or on any buyout, Unison doesn’t share in a loss. In this illustration that means you’d owe at least $60,000: the $50,000 you received plus 40% of the $25,000 Risk Adjustment. Unison’s Equity Appreciation Limit caps its return in the first five years too, but it doesn’t publish the rate.

What does that leave? If you expect the home to hold its value or grow slowly and you can wait, Unison’s method looks cheaper. If you expect strong growth, or you need to settle early, run Hometap’s calculator and Unison’s estimate for your own address.

Fees, and how much you could access

At Hometap, fees are deducted from your investment proceeds rather than paid upfront. Its fee is 4.5% of the Investment amount, up to $20,000. Unison deducts a 3.9% transaction fee at closing.

Third-party costs vary by state and county. Hometap’s published examples are an appraisal of $60 to $299 if it’s done virtually or $500 to $1,000 in person, a $650 closing fee (not charged in Pennsylvania), title insurance of $30 to $3,075 and government recording and transfer charges of $370 to $1,000. Unison publishes an appraisal of $450 to $1,250, a home inspection of $650 to $1,050 and settlement costs of $700 to $1,750, which cover title, state taxes and recording.

On how much you could access, Hometap’s limit is higher. It invests up to 27% of a home’s value and Unison up to 15%. On a $400,000 home that’s $108,000 against $60,000, before either company weighs your equity and existing liens. Hometap goes to $600,000 and Unison to $500,000.

Who qualifies

Both evaluate each home individually, so treat these as published starting points. Meeting them doesn’t mean an approval.

States served by each company

Hometap makes home equity investments in 27 states. Unison covers 22 states and Washington, D.C. Nineteen states are on both lists.

Getting an estimate from each

Neither estimate commits you to anything. Hometap says its estimate takes less than 2 minutes, and that wiring the money typically takes four to seven business days after you sign, with the whole process taking as little as 30 to 45 days.

Unison says a quote takes 2 minutes. You then apply online or with one of its home equity specialists, and Unison schedules an independent appraisal and uses a soft credit pull to review your credit report.

When neither is the right fit

Sometimes the honest answer is somebody else.

Your credit score is under 575. That’s below the published minimum at both. Point and Splitero each publish a minimum of 500.

You have less equity than they want. Hometap asks for at least 25% equity in your home. Unison’s maximum loan-to-value is 70% even with excellent credit. Paying down your traditional mortgage, or waiting for the home to appreciate, could get you there.

Your state is on neither list. Point covers Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland and Washington. Nada includes Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Unlock includes Vermont and Wyoming. In Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia we have no home equity agreement company to point you to, and in Texas only one lists the state. A HELOC or home equity loan is usually the practical route there.

You’d rather have a credit line. If the payment fits your budget, a HELOC is the product to price. Our HEI vs HELOC comparison goes through the trade-offs, and the full list of home equity agreement companies covers the wider field.

Hometap vs Unison in short

Hometap is the shorter arrangement with more of its pricing in public view: a 10-year term, percentages and a cap you could look up before you apply, and access to as much as 27% of your home’s value. Unison is the longer one with a different bet built in: up to 30 years, a cost that follows the change in value, and a higher credit bar.

More: See more home equity agreement companies, compared

Hometap vs Unison questions, answered

How we put this comparison together

This comparison is Banks Done Right’s editorial view. Every figure about Hometap and Unison comes from our own published reviews of each company, which are built on the companies’ product pages, FAQs, help centers and Hometap’s public pricing calculator, read on October 6, 2026. We did not give either company a score. The year 10 table, the break-even value and the fee table are our own arithmetic from the published methods, and the state overlaps are counted from the two published lists.

Sources (2)

The company figures were read on each company’s own website on October 6, 2026. Our reviews list those pages.

1. Banks Done Right. Hometap Review 2026. banksdoneright.com. Accessed October 13, 2026. Company figures in it were read from hometap.com, including its pricing calculator.
2. Banks Done Right. Unison Review 2026. banksdoneright.com. Accessed October 13, 2026. Company figures in it were read October 6, 2026 from unison.com.