BorrowerDocs vs ARIVE: Standalone doc portal vs. full broker LOS

ARIVE is one of the more interesting platforms built specifically for independent mortgage brokers. It combines a loan origination system, a point of sale, a products and pricing engine, and a lender marketplace in one place. The pitch is that the average broker uses five or more separate tools to manage a loan, and ARIVE replaces all of them.

That is a real problem worth solving. And if you are shopping for a full LOS, ARIVE deserves a close look.

The question is whether you need all of that, or whether you just need a clean way to collect documents from borrowers.

Quick comparison

	BorrowerDocs	ARIVE
Built for	Solo residential mortgage brokers	Independent mortgage brokers + non-del correspondents
What it is	Standalone borrower document portal	Full LOS + POS + PPE + Lender Marketplace
Pricing	Free; Starter $19/mo; Pro $49/mo	~$60/user/month (Broker Core); higher for Pro and Non-Del
Free plan	Yes	Free trial only
Mortgage-specific	Yes	Yes
Borrower document collection	Yes (core feature)	Yes (embedded in LOS workflow)
Doc portal requires 1003 first	No	Yes
Per-item status tracking	Yes	Via loan conditions
Re-upload requests with notes	Yes	Yes (via conditions)
UW packet export	Yes	Yes
Products and pricing engine	No	Yes
AUS integration	No	Yes
Lender marketplace	No	Yes
eSigning	No	Yes (Broker Pro plan)
Income analysis	No	Yes

What ARIVE does

ARIVE is a full origination platform. From the moment you have a lead, ARIVE can handle pricing, application intake, document collection, AUS, lender submission, and pipeline management. Their lender marketplace lets you digitally submit loans and receive status updates back, all within the same platform.

The borrower-facing piece works as a document portal that activates once a borrower fills out their loan application through ARIVE's POS. As the borrower completes the 1003, document needs are generated based on their answers. That doc collection workflow is tightly integrated with the loan file.

Pricing starts around $60 per month for an Originator seat on the Broker Core plan. The Broker Pro plan adds Zapier integration and built-in eSigning. Support seats for processors and assistants are available at a lower tier.

ARIVE is mortgage-specific. Everything in it, from the terminology to the workflow to the lender connections, is built around how broker loans actually work.

What BorrowerDocs does

BorrowerDocs is a standalone borrower document portal. It does not originate loans, run pricing, connect to lenders, or process applications. It collects documents.

You create a loan file, pick a loan type template (W-2, self-employed, or bank statement), and send the borrower a magic link. No application required. No login required on their end. They upload what is on the checklist, you track each item through five statuses, leave notes on anything that needs to be resubmitted, and export a packaged UW submission when the file is complete.

That is the entire product. The scope is intentional.

Feature-by-feature

When the doc portal activates

This is the most practical difference for how you actually use these tools day to day.

ARIVE's document portal is part of the loan workflow. It opens up after the borrower submits their application. That works well if you are using ARIVE as your full LOS and the borrower is moving through a structured origination process.

BorrowerDocs does not require an application first. You can send a borrower a magic link before you have even taken a full 1003, before a pre-approval has been issued, before you are committed to a specific lender or loan program. Some brokers use this to pre-collect documents during the initial consult, so by the time they run an application the file is already mostly complete.

Pricing

ARIVE starts at roughly $60 per user per month. For a solo broker, that is one seat. For a broker with a processor, that is two seats. The pricing reflects the breadth of what you get, a full LOS, PPE, and lender marketplace is worth more than a document portal.

BorrowerDocs starts free. The Starter plan is $19 per month for up to 10 active files. Pro is $49 per month for up to 50 files with automatic reminders and custom templates.

If you already have an LOS and are paying for ARIVE or another platform, adding BorrowerDocs as a standalone doc collection layer costs $19 per month and handles the borrower-facing piece independently.

Full LOS vs. focused tool

ARIVE replaces five tools. That is its value proposition, and for a broker who wants everything in one place, it is a good one. The tradeoff is complexity. A platform that handles origination, pricing, documents, AUS, and lender submission is a significant system to learn, configure, and operate. There is setup time, a learning curve, and a monthly cost that reflects the full scope of what it does.

BorrowerDocs does one thing. You can start a file in under five minutes with no onboarding. There is nothing to configure beyond picking a loan type template.

Who should use ARIVE

ARIVE makes sense if:

You want a single platform for origination, pricing, documents, and lender submission
You are building out a broker shop and want to reduce the number of systems you manage
You need a products and pricing engine with lender marketplace access built in
You want AUS integration and income analysis in the same tool as your LOS
You process enough volume to justify a $60/month per-seat investment in a full platform

Who should use BorrowerDocs

BorrowerDocs makes sense if:

You already have an LOS and just need a cleaner borrower-facing doc collection tool
You want to pre-collect documents before a borrower has filled out a full 1003
You want to start free and pay $19 per month for a tool that does exactly one thing well
You need per-item status tracking and re-upload requests with notes, without the overhead of a full origination platform
You want something a borrower can use without a login, an account, or an app download

A note on using both

Some brokers use ARIVE for origination and BorrowerDocs for early-stage document collection before the borrower is in the LOS. The doc portal in any full LOS is tied to the loan workflow. BorrowerDocs is useful in the space before that workflow starts, when you are still in early conversations with a borrower and want to get ahead on documents before committing to a platform for that file.

The verdict

ARIVE is one of the better-built platforms for independent mortgage brokers. If you are shopping for a full LOS that handles origination through submission, it is worth evaluating seriously.

BorrowerDocs is not a competitor to a full LOS. It is a standalone doc portal for brokers who want a focused, affordable tool for the borrower-facing piece of their workflow, whether or not they use a full LOS for everything else.

Try BorrowerDocs free. No credit card required.