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LendingTree began with Doug Lebda, a Bucknell University graduate who worked at Price Waterhouse in Pittsburgh from 1992. While arranging his first mortgage in the mid-1990s, he saw how slow it was to visit banks, collect documents, wait for replies, and compare offers. In June 1996, he registered CreditSource USA, built around the idea of making lenders compete for borrowers.

A year later, the company became LendingTree. In 1998, the platform opened nationwide. Users filled out one application, and several lenders could respond with competing offers for mortgages, auto loans, or consumer credit. Its slogan, “When Banks Compete, You Win,” became closely tied to the brand.

On 15 February 2000, LendingTree listed on NASDAQ during the dot-com boom and later faced the market crash that year. It survived the pressure and acquired HomeSpace Inc. in 2000, entering online real estate. In May 2003, Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp bought LendingTree in a $734 million stock deal, adding it to a group that included Ticketmaster, Home Shopping Network, and Match.com. In 2004, IAC bought HomeLoanCenter.com, forming LendingTree Loans.

In 2008, IAC split into five public companies, and LendingTree, RealEstate.com, GetSmart.com, HomeLoanCenter.com, and related assets became Tree.com, Inc., which traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TREE. The financial crisis hit the mortgage market hard, forcing cuts and a narrower model. In 2012, LendingTree Loans was sold to Discover Financial. On 1 January 2015, Tree.com returned to the name LendingTree, Inc. In 2016-2017, it expanded into insurance, student loans, and deposits, while Bankrate remained a nearby competitor in financial-product aggregation.