The four numbers, worked
Merchant cash advance, $50,000 at 1.3 over six months: $65,000 back, $15,000 of cost, about $516 every business day. At 1.2 it is $10,000; at 1.45, $22,500. Where you land depends on your deposits and history, not your credit score.
Working capital loan, $50,000 over nine months: priced either as a factor, in which case it looks like the advance, or as interest at rates that in this market commonly run from the twenties to the fifties annualized, in which case nine months might cost $8,000 to $18,000 and repaying early saves real money.
Line of credit, $50,000 drawn for ninety days at a mid-teens rate: roughly $1,500 to $2,500 of interest, plus any draw or maintenance fees, and nothing when undrawn. Harder to qualify for; this is why it is worth having.
Equipment financing, $50,000 over five years at a rate in the high single digits to low teens: total interest in the range of $12,000 to $17,000 over the whole five years, or a few thousand a year, on an asset that is working the whole time.
Why the cheapest product is not always the answer
The equipment loan is cheapest per year because it is secured by a machine and lasts five years; it cannot fund payroll. The line is cheap because it is drawn for weeks; it needs two years of clean statements you may not have yet. The advance is the most expensive because it is unsecured, fast and available to businesses the others decline. Each is priced for its job. The expensive mistake is using the fast product for the long job — a $50,000 machine on a six-month advance costs several times what it costs as equipment.
How to compare two offers for the same job
Total repayment minus amount received, fees inside, for each. Then the term, because the same cost over a longer term is a smaller payment and a lower annualized rate. Then whether the cost is fixed or accrues, because that decides whether repaying early saves anything. The calculator on this site takes an amount, a factor and a term and shows the number.