I have been researching the same thing, all I learned was that therma Tru uses Different companies to stain and build their door components. Wayne dalton said they do not use therma tru's vendors, I called both companies. The skins on the entry doors have different undertones,and depending on which species of faux wood you selected, it would cause difference in stain outcome. Do you mind me asking, which one is darker? Can you share picture. I'm so nervous about these two purchases as well. The cost to have entry door factory stained is 1200.00 . We are looking at rustic collection, and the door style looks exactly the same as one in mahagony category, which worries me that it will stain up kinda reddish.

Agree that the wood/fiberglass match will be tough to match exactly, but I would think you could get it close. Here's a pic of our mudroom entry - thermatru stained door with wood trim. The wood is reclaimed chestnut with a natural sealer/finish. And the thermatru door is walnut (i think)single application. The thermatru door is finished with the thermatru stain product. (pic was taken before we had walkways/lawn done, so ignore the ugly grass you see here) :)

Two years ago we replaced the steel Jeld-Wen door in our 1996 built home. It was rotting around the base. This was a door with sidelights and elliptical window above. Cost of steel door was around $5700 plus installation. We couldn't find any other dealers/brands that could "fit" the opening in our brick home or were interested in dealing with it. Needless to say even the new Jeld-Wen door didn't quite fit as expected after numerous measurements by dealers before ordering. If you're getting a door with sidelights make sure it's a continuous seal along the bottom. That helps so the dividers don't wick up moisture & rot. We also went with a non-wood product so the dividers won't rot plus it's covered so we'll never need to paint. We went with a factory paint finish on the door that I hated after installation so immediately had an auto body company repaint. We've had no problems with denting in the 14 years of a steel door on any of our doors. I do use a magnetic door plate at the base- ordered from Amazon I think. We have had problems with leaking with both the old Jeld-Wen and the new Jeld-Wen door around the windows when we get a hard driving horizontal rain. Recently I took some auto-sealant around the windows on the exterior to seal any cracks and that seems to have solved the problem. We went with steel because we get direct sunlight from the south and don't have any major overhang to protect the door. We were told the fiberglass would fade and perhaps have more problems than the steel. We were also told not to get a storm door due to the heat build-up. Hope this helps a little. I have no experience with the other brands or fiberglass. Therma-tru was the brand I wanted to get at replacement, but their elliptical was a different shape. In hindsight, I kind of wish we had a fiberglass. We have an oval window that the guys in our house wanted. Now wish we had a full rectangle - it seems to be more modern. Good luck with your decision.

Mixed bag. Thermatru's upper line is well built. That said, they use third party finishers and the quality can vary wildly in my experience. Could hit, could miss. Albany is fine. Some things I like, somethings not so much. You could do worse than either of these two. That said, I think you could also do better. I like Homeguard & Provia as top tier options, and I hear great things about HMI out east.