BizBuySell reviews 2026: Finding the listing vs funding the purchase.
BizBuySell calls itself the internet's largest business-for-sale marketplace, and this page does not argue with it. Owners and brokers pay to list, and buyers search for free. Raises.com does a different job: it builds the fund or SPV, the offering documents, the model and the data room the purchase is financed through, then makes the debt and equity introductions. One finds the listing, one funds the purchase, and plenty of buyers use both.
- BizBuySell reports over 4 million visits a month and says it has facilitated more than 200,000 business sales. It has been part of CoStar Group since 2012.
- Buyers browse free. Sellers pay to advertise: $74.95, $99.95 or $199.95 a month on a six-month term, and nothing when the business sells.
- Raises.com does not list or broker businesses. It structures and raises the capital behind the one you pick, for a flat fee published on the booking page.
- In BizBuySell's own Q2 2026 survey, 90% of buyers expected seller financing. Only 29% of owners planned to offer it, so the gap usually lands on the buyer's equity.
BizBuySell lists the business. Raises.com funds the purchase. When each is the right call, and when you need both.
Where Raises.com does something different from BizBuySell, and who that difference is for.
What BizBuySell does
Owners and brokers pay to advertise a business. Buyers search by industry and location, save searches and send inquiries. BizBuySell says a listing also appears on BizQuest and LoopNet, its sister sites, and it publishes the quarterly Insight Report on listed and sold businesses. Its FAQ is plain about the role: it charges advertising fees only and is not a brokerage firm.
What Raises.com does
Raises.com starts once the target exists. It forms the fund or SPV, drafts the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement and operating agreement, builds a CFA-reviewed financial model and the data room, then introduces debt and equity. It does not list businesses, and it does not promise meetings or a closed raise.
When BizBuySell is the right call
You want a main street or small business and the widest open inventory. BizBuySell analyzed 39,864 active listings in Q2 2026, and searching costs nothing. Price your offer off what closed rather than what was asked: listings asked 3.13 times cash flow on average, while the businesses that sold went for 2.65 times, at 93% of asking.
When Raises.com is the right call
The business is picked and the money is the problem. From October 1, 2026, an SBA initial acquisition needs 10% equity, and seller debt and passive minority investors can cover no more than half of it. On larger 2026 deals, lenders sized senior term loans at about 3x EBITDA and asked buyers to show 10 to 20% of the price in net worth or liquidity. The equity above that has to be structured and documented before anyone wires.
When you need both
Buyers whose target needs more equity than they hold. The listing comes from the marketplace, the lender sizes the debt, and the rest has to be raised. On a July 2026 Texas HVAC transaction, a seller note plus rollover equity closed the gap, and the lender that quoted three weeks took two months. BizBuySell's own survey says most sellers will not carry a note, so plan the equity without one.
Feature by feature
Raises.com from its own scope of work, BizBuySell from its own published materials, set side by side for people buying a business or real estate.
| Feature | Raises.com | BizBuySell |
|---|---|---|
| The job | Funds the purchase: structures the capital and raises it | Lists the business: owners and brokers advertise, buyers search and send inquiries |
| Who it is for | Buyers of a business or real estate who have to raise or structure the purchase money: independent sponsors, search funds, acquisition entrepreneurs, syndicators | Main street and small business buyers, owners selling on their own, business brokers and franchisors |
| Typical size | Built around one named acquisition, business or real estate | Main street: Q2 2026 listings asked a median $406,500, on median cash flow of $172,487 |
| What you receive | Fund or SPV, private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, operating agreement, CFA-reviewed financial model, data room, debt and equity introductions | Listing search, saved searches and inquiry tracking; with Edge, a serious-buyer badge, valuation reports, popularity data and industry benchmarks |
| How deals reach you | It does not source deals. You bring the target | Open search by industry and location; you contact the owner or the broker through the listing |
| Pricing model, as each states it | Flat engagement fee, published on the booking page. No success fee, no carry, no percentage of the raise | Free to browse. Edge $24.95 a month or $239.95 a year. Sellers pay advertising fees of $74.95 to $199.95 a month on a six-month term |
| When the fee lands | Paid for the engagement, not tied to the close | Listing terms of 3, 6 or 12 months, then month to month until cancelled. Nothing is charged on the sale |
| Financing | Debt and equity introductions once the structure and documents exist | A Finance Center that lists three SBA 7(a) lenders. Its terms say it is not a lender or a loan broker |
| Investor vehicle and offering documents | ||
| Financial model lenders underwrite to | ||
| Data room for your investors | ||
| Business listings | ||
| What it does not do | List or broker businesses, run a buyer network, or promise a number of meetings or a closed raise | Verify listings, broker the sale, lend, or raise the buyer's equity. Its terms leave diligence to the buyer |
Raises.com client stories
BizBuySell reviews summary for 2026
What each side publishes that it does, so you can judge the fit yourself.
BizBuySell
Described from the published materials of BizBuySell. Raises.com does not score it.
Pros: The widest open inventory of US small businesses (39,864 active listings analyzed in Q2 2026), free search, published listing prices, quarterly data on what actually sold, and a Finance Center that lists three SBA 7(a) lenders
Cons: Nothing is verified, since its terms put no duty on it to check listings. It does not lend, broker the sale or raise the buyer's equity, and the typical listing is main street, with a median asking price of $406,500
Best for: First-time and main street buyers, searchers scanning public inventory, and owners who want to sell without a broker
Raises.com
What a standard engagement covers.
Pros: Built around one acquisition, done-for-you offering documents and investor materials, flat fee with no success fee and no carry
Cons: Focused on structuring and raising capital, not on ongoing fund administration
Best for: Independent sponsors, acquisition entrepreneurs and real estate syndicators raising for a specific deal
Found the business? Have the capital built around it.
Raises.com builds the fund or SPV, the offering documents, the model, the data room and the debt and equity introductions behind an acquisition. Book a strategy call and bring the listing.
Straight answers.
The questions evaluators ask before choosing between BizBuySell and Raises.com.
BizBuySell is an open marketplace where owners and brokers advertise businesses for sale and buyers search for free. Raises.com builds the capital behind a purchase: the fund or SPV, the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement and operating agreement, a CFA-reviewed model, the data room, then debt and equity introductions. One finds the listing and one funds the purchase. See how Raises.com funds acquisitions.
Buyers browse free. BizBuySell Edge, the optional buyer membership, costs $24.95 a month or $239.95 a year and renews until cancelled. Sellers pay advertising fees: on a six-month term, Basic listings are $74.95 a month, Showcase $99.95 and Diamond $199.95, with three-month terms priced higher and 12-month terms lower. BizBuySell takes nothing when the business sells; its FAQ says it charges advertising fees only and is not a brokerage. Full breakdown: BizBuySell pricing and listing fees (2026).
For the same kind of listings, BizQuest, which shares BizBuySell's owner, DealStream and BusinessesForSale.com. For commercial real estate, LoopNet. For companies above $2.5M of revenue sold through advisors, Axial. For broker-run sales, the Sunbelt and Transworld networks. For online businesses, Flippa, Acquire.com and Empire Flippers. Nine compared, with published pricing: BizBuySell alternatives (2026). For larger deals, see Axial vs Raises.com and the Axial alternatives.
As a free search, yes. BizBuySell analyzed 39,864 active listings in Q2 2026 and charges buyers nothing to look. The limits: its terms put no duty on it to verify listings, its "cash flow" figures are seller's discretionary earnings, and the typical listing is main street, with a median asking price of $406,500. Businesses that sold that quarter went for 93% of asking on average. The full review: BizBuySell review 2026.
Start with the lender's math. In BizBuySell's own Q2 2026 survey, 78% of buyers expected to use SBA financing. From October 1, 2026, an SBA initial acquisition needs a 10% equity injection and a debt service coverage ratio of 1.25, and seller debt and passive minority investors can cover no more than half of the injection. Larger deals run a structured stack: lenders on 2026 lower middle market deals put senior term loans at about 3x EBITDA and asked buyers to show 10 to 20% of the price in net worth or liquidity. Then the vehicle: an SPV or fund with a PPM, a subscription agreement and an operating agreement before any investor wires. Step by step: you found a business on BizBuySell, here is how the money gets raised. The lender numbers: acquisition financing benchmarks 2026. To work through your own deal, book a strategy call.
BizBuySell's own pages, read on September 22, 2026. The SBA rules come from SOP 50 10 8.1. The lender figures come from Tre Brown, Head of Capital Markets at Raises.com, on the Raises.com podcast capital markets episode, and from published client transactions such as the July 2026 Texas HVAC close. Raises.com does not rate BizBuySell.
- BizBuySell homepage: monthly visits, business sales facilitated
- BizBuySell About: founded 1996, CoStar Group since 2012
- BizBuySell listing FAQ: seller plans and terms
- BizBuySell Edge: buyer membership features
- BizBuySell Edge sign-up: monthly and annual prices
- BizBuySell sell page: listing syndication
- BizBuySell Finance Center: SBA 7(a) lenders
- BizBuySell terms of use
- BizBuySell Insight Report, Q2 2026
- BizBuySell Insight Report interactive data
- BizBuySell: a CPA's guide to seller's discretionary earnings
- SBA Information Notice 5000-880695: SOP 50 10 8.1
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