Skip to content

Best Private Credit Platforms of September 2026

Platforms and funds that give US individuals access to private credit and other alternative assets: lending marketplaces, non-traded BDCs, real estate debt, farmland, art, and equity crowdfunding. Minimums, accreditation rules, fees, and realized losses vary enormously, and this category is tracked with its failures on the record.

27 products evaluated · 10 top picks · Updated September 2026

Key Takeaways
  • DLP Capital is our #1 pick for alternative investing in 2026.
  • We analyzed 27 alternative investing to create this ranking.

Retail private credit is scaling fast (interval and tender-offer funds hold roughly $247B, growing 25-30% a year) and the platform layer has been through a brutal shakeout: PeerStreet went bankrupt, Mainvest shut down, Heron Finance is winding down, and Yieldstreet rebranded to Willow Wealth after more than $200M in documented investor losses. Most comparison sites quietly drop the dead platforms. We list them, because knowing how platforms fail is the most decision-relevant information in this category. All return figures below are platform-reported.

7 top alternative investing compared

Minimums and platform-reported target returns. Returns are not guaranteed; fees and risks are on each platform's page.

Alternative InvestingMinimumTarget returnBest for
DLP Capital logo
DLP Capital
$100,0008% to 14% net annual depending on fund;…Solid pick
Groundfloor logo
Groundfloor
$100Platform-reported ~10% average…Non-accredited
FarmTogether logo
FarmTogether
$15,000Platform-reported target net IRRs…Solid pick
RealtyMogul logo
RealtyMogul
$5,000Income REIT historically targeted 6-8%…Solid pick
Wefunder logo
Wefunder
$100No distributions to speak of; venture…Solid pick
Republic logo
Republic
$10No realized-return dataset; Mirror…Lowest minimum
First National Realty Partners logo
First National Realty Partners
$50,000Targeted 12 to 18% average annual…Solid pick

How the Top Alternative Investing Compare

The alternative investing category is highly competitive in 2026, with DLP Capital and Groundfloor both ranking among the top choices on Financeradar's assessment, followed closely by FarmTogether. The tight competition reflects how mature this market has become.

The leading alternative investing tools are all paid, reflecting the enterprise-grade capabilities in this space. When evaluating ROI, both DLP Capital and Groundfloor indicate strong value for the investment based on features and user satisfaction.

Computed from live tool ratings, review counts, and editorial scores.Editorial policy

Top picks in Alternative Investing

01
DLP Capital logo

DLP Capital

Private real estate funds for accredited investors with $100,000 to $500,000 minimums targeting 8% to 14% net annual returns.

Target return
8%
Min. investment
$100,000
Accreditation
Required
Liquidity
Credit funds: redemptions with 90-day…

DLP Capital is a private real estate investment firm headquartered in St. Augustine, Florida, founded by CEO Don Wenner in 2006. It sponsors private funds focused on workforce and attainable housing: credit funds that make senior secured and preferred loans to housing operators, equity funds that buy and develop rental communities, and fixed-rate note offerings. The firm reports more than $5.5 billion in assets under management and about 4,000 current investors. Six offerings are open as of August 2026, all restricted to accredited investors. Minimums run from $100,000 (Living Fully Community Fund) to $200,000 (Preferred Credit Fund, Building Communities Fund, Series A notes) to $500,000 (Housing Fund and Lending Fund). Targeted net annual returns range from 9 to 10% on the Lending Fund up to 12 to 14% on the Building Communities Fund, with preferred returns of 6% to 10% paid monthly; the Series A notes pay a fixed 8% or 9% over five-year terms. DLP says no sponsored fund has missed a preferred return period through June 30, 2025, and that the Lending Fund distributed over $177 million from its 2014 launch through year-end 2024. The fee load is private-equity style: a 2% annual asset management fee on most funds (1.25% on the Preferred Credit Fund) plus a 20% performance fee on distributions above the preferred return, with rebates from $1 million invested. Liquidity is the bigger constraint: the credit funds allow redemptions with 90 days notice, the equity funds only annual windows, Series A notes lock capital for five years, and the Living Fully fund targets a 6 to 8 year hold. Exits depend on fund cash flow and manager discretion, not an SEC-mandated repurchase schedule. One structural caveat: DLP entities act as sponsor, manager, lender, and at times borrower across affiliated vehicles, so investors are underwriting the firm's internal discipline as much as any single deal. In May 2025 a critic, himself twice convicted of fraud, published leverage and related-party allegations against DLP; they remain unproven but sharpen the concentration question. Preferred returns are targets funded by portfolio cash flow, not guarantees. DLP fits accredited investors who can commit $100,000 to $500,000 for years, want monthly income from housing credit and equity, and accept concentrating that bet on one sponsor's underwriting. Skip it if you might need the money back within a year, if 2% plus 20% fees bother you, or if you want daily pricing and third-party custody; public REITs and interval funds cover those needs with far lower minimums.

  • +Targets 8% to 14% net returns by fund; preferred returns of 6% to 10% paid monthly
  • +Reports zero missed preferred-return periods across its funds through June 30, 2025
  • $100,000 minimum at best and $500,000 for the flagship funds, accredited investors only
  • 2% plus 20% fee structure on most funds; illiquid, with 90-day notice or annual windows
02
Groundfloor logo

Groundfloor

$10-per-loan fix-and-flip debt, no accreditation, going-concern risk at the operator

Target return
10%
Min. investment
$100
Accreditation
Not required
Liquidity
No early exit on LROs; 6-18 month terms

Groundfloor is a real estate debt crowdfunding platform, founded in 2013 and based in Atlanta, that lets anyone (no accreditation required) lend as little as $10 to short-term fix-and-flip and renovation projects. You buy Limited Recourse Obligations (LROs), notes tied to specific loans, and earn the same interest rate the borrower pays, graded A to G with yields from roughly 5.5% to 25%-plus. Terms run about 6 to 18 months and the account minimum is $100. Groundfloor charges investors no fees on standard LROs; borrowers pay origination and servicing, so the full interest yield flows to you. The exception is the Flywheel Portfolio (launched October 2024), which carries a 0.25% to 1.0% management fee on disbursements. Risk-first, the headline is solvency. Groundfloor's own auditor expressed substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern in the FY2024 audited financials, and that qualification carried into FY2025; FY2024 net loss was about $14.3 million with an accumulated deficit near $55.8 million by mid-2025. This matters because an LRO is an obligation of Groundfloor Finance itself, secured by the underlying loan; if the company failed, you would be exposed as a corporate creditor, not just to one flip. The company is improving: H1 2025 net loss narrowed to $1.5 million (from $6.2 million), 2025 revenue topped $40 million (up about 38.6%), and originations rose nearly 50%. But the going-concern flag has not been cleared. Returns and losses come next. Groundfloor reports roughly 10% average annualized returns since 2013 (9.91% as of July 2025) and a sub-1% loss ratio (0.94% in a July 2025 update). Independent analysis and the platform's own data put the life-of-platform uncured default rate near 4.7%, and workouts on defaulted loans can lock capital for two to five years. Some Reddit investors report far higher personal default rates (24% to 35%), a reminder that a small, undiversified position can trail platform averages badly. Grades are imperfect: disclosed data shows some B and C loans defaulting more than D loans. Liquidity is minimal. There is no early exit and no secondary market for LROs; capital is committed until the loan repays or the collateral is sold. The Notes product (now open to all investors, advertised around 8.5% fixed APY) is term-locked but offers more exit choices, and short Rollover Notes carry a 30-day cancellation window. A recent negative development: effective July 1, 2026, Groundfloor stopped covering IRA custodial fees, so IRA holders now pay Forge Trust directly. Because each LRO counts as a separate asset, per-asset fees stack fast; one investor with 84 notes reported over $8,500 in new annual charges. Trustpilot sits around 1.9 to 2.3 out of 5, with defaults and slow communication the top complaints. How it compares: the obvious alternative is Fundrise, a diversified real estate fund returning roughly 5.75% (2024) and 6.24% (2025) with quarterly, sometimes gated, redemptions. Groundfloor targets higher yield and returns capital faster through short terms, but it concentrates risk in individual flips and adds issuer solvency risk that Fundrise does not carry.

Groundfloor UI screenshot
  • +Lowest barrier to real-estate debt anywhere
  • +Borrower-paid fee model leaves investor yield intact
  • Going-concern warnings on the platform operator itself, two years running
  • Defaults are routine and workouts take months to years
03
FarmTogether logo

FarmTogether

$15,000 accredited permanent-crop farmland deals with deal-by-deal fee structures

Target return
6-13%
Min. investment
$15,000
Accreditation
Required
Liquidity
5-12 year holds; no liquidity

FarmTogether is the permanent-crop farmland specialist (nuts, citrus, and as of April 2026, its first avocado grove), accredited-only, with about $217M AUM across 51 properties in 8 states as of 3/31/26 (platform-reported) and an actively launching 2026 pipeline that shows the platform is healthy. Minimums: $15,000 on crowdfunded deals, $100,000 for the Sustainable Farmland Fund, $3M for sole ownership. Fees vary confusingly by deal: about 1-2% one-time at close, 1-2% annual management, plus net-operating-income fees (up to 5%, or 20% of gross lease revenue on some row-crop deals). Read each deal's structure. Platform-reported target net IRRs run about 6-13% depending on crop type, over 5-12 year holds with no liquidity. Founded in 2017 with no enforcement history and an SDIRA route via Alto. Permanent crops carry real operational risk (water, disease, commodity prices), and real minimums run higher than advertised.

  • +Deeper permanent-crop expertise than rivals
  • +Active 2026 pipeline proves the platform is healthy
  • Fee structures vary confusingly by deal
  • Permanent crops carry operational risk: water, disease, commodity prices
04
RealtyMogul logo

RealtyMogul

$5,000 non-traded REITs open to all; one REIT's distributions paused in 2026

Target return
6-8%
Min. investment
$5,000
Liquidity
Limited, discountable share repurchase…

RealtyMogul is one of the oldest survivors in real estate crowdfunding (founded 2012, over $1B invested, platform-reported), and it is visibly straining: the Income REIT cut from monthly to quarterly distributions in January 2026, and the Apartment Growth REIT has paused distributions entirely. A paused-distribution REIT is a live warning about NAV stress in the multifamily book, not a hypothetical. Both non-traded REITs require $5,000 and are open to non-accredited investors; private placements require accreditation and $25,000-$50,000. REIT fees run about 1-1.25% annually; private-placement fees are set per deal by sponsors. The Income REIT historically targeted 6-8% annualized distributions (platform-reported). Share repurchase programs are limited and discountable; treat this as multi-year money. There have been no enforcement actions in 14 years of operation, and the 1031-exchange offerings are a genuine differentiator. But the 2026 distribution cut and pause are the current story, and the REITs are fee-loaded relative to public REITs.

  • +One of the oldest survivors in the category
  • +Non-accredited REIT access with a long income history
  • Apartment Growth REIT distributions paused entirely: a live warning, not a hypothetical
  • Income REIT cut from monthly to quarterly distributions in January 2026
05
Wefunder logo

Wefunder

$100 community rounds for YC-adjacent startups; illiquid venture risk, past FINRA fine

Target return
No distributions to speak of; venture…
Min. investment
$100
Liquidity
Total illiquidity; venture timelines

Wefunder is the YC-flavored community-round leader: founded in 2012, YC-backed, with $983.7M raised for founders and over 1M registered investors as of mid-2026 (platform-reported), and the best startup quality signal of the big three portals. Disclose the record: FINRA fined Wefunder Portal $1.4M for Reg CF rule violations in the 2021-22 era; it is currently a FINRA member in good standing. The minimum is $100 (median check $250). Fees: a 2% ACH fee (min $8, max $150) on standard Reg CF investments, 5.5% plus $2 by card, and up to 20% carried interest on accredited-only Reg D SPVs, which is hedge-fund pricing for venture risk. Expect venture outcomes: no distributions to speak of, total illiquidity, and startup mortality. The Lead Investor (XX) syndicate model and founder-friendly reputation attract real deal flow.

  • +Best startup quality signal of the three big portals
  • +Founder-friendly reputation attracts real deal flow
  • Past FINRA fine: $1.4M for Reg CF rule violations
  • Up to 20% carried interest on accredited SPVs is hedge-fund pricing for venture risk
06
Republic logo

Republic

$10 crowdfunding plus $50 token-wrapped SpaceX exposure in a regulatory gray zone

Target return
No realized-return dataset; Mirror…
Min. investment
$10
Liquidity
Illiquid; Mirror Tokens carry a 1-year…

Republic is the crowdfunding pioneer now selling token-wrapped exposure to SpaceX and OpenAI: Mirror Tokens, launched June 2025, with a $50 minimum and a $5,000 per-investor cap. The structure is legally novel: the issuers are not involved and do not endorse the tokens, holders get no equity, and the tokens are unsecured derivative-like claims on Republic entities sitting in a securities-law gray zone regulators have not fully blessed. Core Reg CF investing runs $10-$150 typical minimums with a 2.5% investor administrative fee on many offerings ($5 min, $250 cap; some offerings are fee-free); Reg D deals are accredited-only. There is no realized-return dataset. The rOpenAI token closed January 1, 2026, and INX trading is planned after a 1-year hold (Republic agreed to acquire INX's parent in April 2026). Founded in 2016, Republic acquired Seedrs (UK) in 2021 for international reach, and its menu spans startups, real estate, crypto, and gaming. Core crowdfunding carries standard startup-mortality risk; the token program adds unresolved regulatory risk on top.

  • +Cheapest exposure to the hottest private names anywhere
  • +Huge international footprint via Seedrs
  • Mirror Tokens are unsecured derivative-like claims on Republic entities, not stock
  • Regulatory status of the token program is unresolved
07
First National Realty Partners logo

First National Realty Partners

Grocery-anchored shopping center deals for accredited investors at $50,000 per deal, currently facing investor fraud lawsuits.

Target return
18%
Min. investment
$50,000
Accreditation
Required
Liquidity
None; deal-by-deal Rule 506(c) private…

First National Realty Partners (FNRP) is a private equity real estate firm in Red Bank, New Jersey that syndicates individual grocery-anchored shopping centers to accredited investors. Founded in 2015, it focuses on necessity-based retail and runs acquisitions, leasing, and property management in-house. As of August 2026 its site reports 65+ properties and more than 12 million square feet across 26 states, and the firm's April 2025 ten-year retrospective cited close to $2 billion in commercial real estate acquired. The terms are institutional in size. Each offering is a separate Rule 506(c) private placement with a $50,000 minimum, and every additional property requires another $50,000; there is no pooled fund at that entry price. FNRP markets targeted average annual returns of 12 to 18% with 6 to 9% cash distributions paid quarterly over 3 to 7 year holds. Nothing is guaranteed, there is no secondary market, and capital stays locked until the property sells or refinances. The firm says it has paid investors more than $140 million in total distributions since 2015. Fees are the least transparent part. FNRP does not publish a fee schedule; costs are disclosed deal by deal in offering documents. Third-party reviews cite roughly 0.5 to 1.5% in annual asset management fees plus acquisition, property management, and disposition fees collected by FNRP affiliates. Because the firm is vertically integrated, it can sit on several sides of each transaction, and that structure is now being contested in court. The litigation is material to any 2026 decision. Two investor groups filed federal lawsuits in the District of New Jersey in 2025 alleging concealed fees, exaggerated projections, unregistered transaction-based sales compensation, and RICO violations, and a further complaint filed July 17, 2026 by investors seeking roughly $9.5 million alleges FNRP kept collecting fees while distributions on some deals were suspended. FNRP categorically denies all allegations and is defending the cases; no court has made any finding of liability. FNRP can fit accredited investors who want direct, single-asset exposure to grocery-anchored retail, will read a full offering memorandum, and can leave $50,000 per deal untouched for five years or more. Skip it if you need liquidity or diversification per dollar, want fee transparency before committing capital, or are unwilling to underwrite a sponsor with active fraud litigation pending. Public REITs cover the same asset class with daily liquidity.

  • +Necessity retail focus: 65+ grocery-anchored centers, 12M+ sq ft across 26 states
  • +$140M+ in total investor distributions since 2015, paid quarterly during holds
  • $50,000 minimum per deal, accredited only, no secondary market over 3 to 7 year holds
  • Fees not published publicly; layered affiliate fees disclosed only in offering docs
08
CrowdStreet logo

CrowdStreet

$25,000+ accredited CRE fund shop rebuilt after the $63M Nightingale fraud

Target return
Historical marketplace realized IRR…
Min. investment
$25,000
Accreditation
Required
Liquidity
Multi-year lockups; no redemption on…

CrowdStreet's defining fact is the worst investor-protection failure in the industry's history: the 2023 Nightingale fraud, in which sponsor Elie Schwartz stole $63M from more than 800 CrowdStreet investors (an 87-month federal sentence followed in 2025, and a $1B class action is pending). The direct-deal marketplace was suspended; as of mid-2026 the platform sells institutional fund products only, operating as a FINRA broker-dealer with rebuilt custody controls. Minimums run $25,000-$100,000 per fund, with $250,000 for Private Managed Accounts, accredited investors only. Historically there was no direct platform fee to investors (sponsor-paid); fund-level fees vary by product and managed accounts charge advisory fees. Historical marketplace realized IRR figures are no longer prominently marketed; treat all figures as platform-reported. Closed-end funds mean multi-year lockups with no redemption. Founded in 2013, with about $4.4B invested across 800+ deals. Beyond Nightingale, many 2021-22 vintage marketplace deals lost money. The post-scandal structure (broker-dealer custody and escrow controls, a rebuilt dashboard in Nov 2025, SDIRA integration in Apr 2026) fixes the exact hole that enabled the fraud, but the current product is essentially advisor-style fund distribution without advice.

  • +Post-Nightingale structure fixes the exact custody hole that enabled the fraud
  • +Institutional fund shelf is more diversified than single deals
  • The worst investor-protection failure in the industry's history happened here: $63M stolen from 800+ investors
  • Many 2021-22 vintage marketplace deals lost money
09
Blue Owl Credit Income Corp (OCIC) logo

Blue Owl Credit Income Corp (OCIC)

$2,500 via advisor: Blue Owl's senior-lending BDC, ~8.6% distributions, gated exits

Target return
8.6%
Min. investment
$2,500
Accreditation
Not required
Liquidity
Quarterly repurchases capped at 5% of…

Blue Owl Credit Income Corp (OCIC) is a large non-traded business development company (BDC) that makes senior secured, mostly floating-rate loans to private-equity-backed U.S. middle-market companies. It launched in 2020 out of the Owl Rock (now Blue Owl) direct-lending platform and held roughly $20.4 billion of investments across 344 borrowers as of Q1 2026, with about 82.6% in first-lien senior secured debt. You buy it through a financial advisor, not on an exchange. The practical minimum is $2,500 for the retail share classes (Class S, D, F), while the fee-free Class I carries a $1 million minimum that fee-based RIA platforms often waive. There is no formal accreditation requirement, but advisors apply state suitability standards. The income is the draw. OCIC declared an annualized distribution rate of roughly 8.6% on Class I NAV for its June 2026 declaration, paid monthly and recently covered about 101% by net investment income. The catch: the $2,500 retail buyer usually lands in Class S, which nets closer to 8.2% after its 0.85% servicing fee and can carry an upfront sales load of up to 3.5%. Fees are heavy. A 1.25% management fee on gross assets plus roughly 1.10x leverage works out to about 2.6% on your equity before a 12.5% incentive fee on income above a 5.0% hurdle and 12.5% on realized gains. That fee stack sits between you and the portfolio's roughly 9.7% gross debt yield. The bigger issue in 2026 is liquidity, and it is not theoretical. OCIC offers to repurchase only up to 5% of shares per quarter, and the board can cut or suspend that. In Q1 2026 investors asked to redeem 21.9% of shares outstanding, up from 5.2% the prior quarter, which Blue Owl blamed on fears of AI-related disruption to its software borrowers. The 5% cap held, so the fund returned about $988 million pro rata and satisfied only around 23% of what people asked to take out; the rest had to re-request the next quarter. On April 8, 2026 Moody's cut OCIC's outlook to negative citing the redemption surge, though it noted credit quality stayed strong (non-accruals under 1%) and about 90% of investors did not ask to exit. Demand eased in Q2 2026. As a warning from the same manager, sister fund OBDC II stopped taking redemptions in February 2026 and is effectively winding down over years. How it compares: the obvious peer is Blackstone's BCRED, which runs the same 1.25% plus 12.5% fee model and a nearly identical 5% quarterly gate but is far larger (over $80 billion). BCRED's headline Class I yield is higher, near 10%, but it cut its distribution twice in nine months (again in July 2026) as NAV slid, while OCIC held its distribution and kept NAV roughly flat near $9 through Q1 2026. If daily liquidity matters more than a steady NAV, Blue Owl's own listed BDC (OBDC) holds a similar portfolio on the NYSE, though it has traded around a 20% discount to NAV.

  • +Near-BCRED quality with slightly different sector tilts
  • +Long distribution consistency
  • Same structural fee drag as all perpetual BDCs
  • Gated liquidity: 5% quarterly repurchase cap
10
Masterworks logo

Masterworks

$15,000 stated minimum for fractional blue-chip art, no accreditation required

Target return
4.1-77.3%
Min. investment
$15,000
Accreditation
Not required
Liquidity
3-10 year target holds; thin internal…

Masterworks is the only scaled route to contemporary-art exposure: over $1B in art, fractional shares of Basquiat and Picasso under Reg A, open to non-accredited investors (onboarding is phone-gated). The fee stack, not the canvas, decides your return: 1.5% annual management (paid in equity dilution), 20% of profit on sale, and about a 10% one-time expense allocation embedded in the offering price. The standard stated minimum is $15,000 at $20 per share, though representatives can negotiate. Platform-reported results: 23 works sold as of early 2025 out of 430+ purchased, with net returns on sold works of 4.1-77.3%; unsold inventory dominates. Target holds are 3-10 years, with a thin internal secondary market. Founded in 2017 with no enforcement actions. Persistent critic concerns: markups at acquisition, fee drag, and selection bias in reported results (sold works are not a random sample). You cannot force a sale, and art pricing is opaque and cyclical.

  • +Only scaled route to contemporary-art exposure
  • +Sold-work record is genuinely positive so far (platform-reported)
  • Triple fee stack consumes a large share of gross appreciation
  • You cannot force a sale; 3-10 year target holds

Why these options didn't make our top 10.

We evaluated 27 products in alternative investing and these 17 ranked 11 through 27. They're solid options that fell short on one or two axes (review depth, fee transparency, terms), but worth a look if the leaders don't fit your needs or budget.

StartEngine logo
StartEngine
$100+ equity crowdfunding at scale; venture lottery tickets, never income
Apollo Debt Solutions BDC (ADS) logo
Apollo Debt Solutions BDC (ADS)
$2,500 via advisor: Apollo's retail BDC, biggest yield of the big three, gated exits
SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV) logo
SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV)
One share at any brokerage: the first private-credit ETF, liquid but diluted exposure
iCapital logo
iCapital
Advisor-gated alt-fund rails with $100,000+ feeder minimums; no direct retail signup
AcreTrader logo
AcreTrader
$10,000+ accredited farmland deals, Proterra-owned, decade-scale holds
Prosper logo
Prosper
$25 notes, no accreditation: the last surviving US retail P2P consumer lender
Vinovest logo
Vinovest
Wine and whiskey from $300, no accreditation; 2.5-2.85% all-in fees on managed tiers
Arrived logo
Arrived
$100 fractional rentals plus an 8%+ homebuilder credit fund, no accreditation
CAIS logo
CAIS
Advisor-only alts platform serving 7,400+ firms; institutional diligence, no retail door
Honeycomb Credit logo
Honeycomb Credit
$100 community loans to main-street businesses, open to all; defaults run high
EquityMultiple logo
EquityMultiple
$5,000 accredited CRE platform; fee-free short-term Alpine Notes are the flagship
Ark7 logo
Ark7
Fractional shares of US rental homes from $20 with monthly distributions and a 12-month lockup before resale.
Willow Wealth logo
Willow Wealth
$5,000 accredited multi-asset alts platform rebuilt after $208M in documented losses
Worthy Bonds logo
Worthy Bonds
$10 fixed-rate bonds open to all, funding property developers via one small issuer
Fundrise logo
Fundrise
$10 minimum, non-accredited real estate and credit funds with gated quarterly liquidity
Percent logo
Percent
$500 minimum, accredited-only marketplace for short-duration asset-backed private credit
Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) logo
Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED)
$2,500 via advisor: the largest non-traded BDC, ~9% distributions, gated exits

How to choose alternative investing

In this category the platform itself is a risk, not just the underlying loans. Screen in this order.

  1. Screen the platform's survival risk before the yield

    Read the operator's financials, not the marketing. Groundfloor has real going-concern language in its audited financials two years running; PeerStreet's investors are still waiting on pro-rata recoveries three years after its Chapter 11. A 10% target return means nothing if the platform holding your notes fails. Platform-level obligations (Worthy bonds, EquityMultiple's Alpine Notes) are only as good as the company issuing them.

  2. Check the track record including losses and regulators

    Willow Wealth (ex-Yieldstreet) carries an SEC settlement and a documented ~30% default rate on 30 real estate deals. CrowdStreet is where the $63M Nightingale fraud happened. These platforms still operate and may deserve consideration in their rebuilt form, but only with that history priced in. Our product pages list every settlement, loss tally, and wind-down verbatim.

  3. Understand the liquidity you are giving up

    Almost nothing here is liquid. Marketplace deals hold to maturity (6 months to 3 years at Percent), real estate equity locks 5 to 10 years, and the big non-traded BDCs (BCRED, OCIC, ADS) cap quarterly repurchases at 5% of shares and can suspend them. Only money you will not need for years belongs in this category.

  4. Count every layer of fees

    Fee stacks decide net returns. Non-traded BDCs charge 1.25% management plus 12.5% incentive plus servicing and placement fees. Masterworks stacks 1.5% annual, 20% of profit, and a ~10% expense allocation. Compare against the boring benchmark: a Treasury ladder pays about 4% with zero platform risk, so every point of promised premium has to survive the fees.

  5. Respect the accreditation lines

    Non-accredited investors have real options (Fundrise at $10, Groundfloor at $100, Arrived's credit fund at $100), and the marketing of accredited-only platforms sometimes blurs this. If a platform asks you to self-certify accreditation you do not have, walk away; the investor protections you would be waiving exist for exactly this category.

Honorable mentions

Tools that didn't crack the headline list but deserve a look depending on what you optimize for.

  • EquityMultiple logo
    EquityMultipleBest short-term notes for accredited investors

    Alpine Notes pay roughly 7.35% to 9.00% over 3 to 9 months with no investor-side fee and a perfect repayment record to date. They are unsecured obligations of the platform itself, not FDIC insured.

  • Arrived logo
    ArrivedCleanest 8%+ for non-accredited investors

    The Private Credit Fund lends short-term to homebuilders at a $100 minimum with quarterly redemption windows and zero defaults reported so far. The track record is short and spans no housing downturn.

  • SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV) logo
    SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV)The only liquid taste of the asset class

    The SPDR SSGA Apollo ETF (PRIV) trades daily at a 0.70% expense ratio. Its private-credit content is diluted by design and the yield is far below direct platforms; it is exposure, not the real thing.

How we ranked these alternative investing tools

We rank by real-world signal: verified user ratings aggregated from G2, Capterra, and our own community, the volume and recency of media coverage, and hands-on editorial review for the tools we cover in depth. Pricing is re-checked and the ranking refreshed monthly. We do not sell placement in this list.

Products reviewed
27
No fees
0%
Last updated
September 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best option for alternative investing in 2026?

Based on our analysis of 27 alternative investing products, DLP Capital ranks #1 on Financeradar's assessment. The runners-up are Groundfloor, FarmTogether, RealtyMogul. Our rankings weigh rates, fees, user reviews, and real-world research across 27 products.

What are the top 3 picks for alternative investing?

The top 3 picks for alternative investing in 2026, ranked by Financeradar, are: 1) DLP Capital, Private real estate funds for accredited investors with $100,000 to $500,000 minimums targeting 8% to 14% net annual returns.. 2) Groundfloor, $10-per-loan fix-and-flip debt, no accreditation, going-concern risk at the operator. 3) FarmTogether, $15,000 accredited permanent-crop farmland deals with deal-by-deal fee structures.

Are there no-fee options for alternative investing?

Most alternative investing products carry fees, and what you pay depends on the provider and how you use it. DLP Capital and Groundfloor are strong places to start. Check individual product pages on Financeradar for current rates and fees.

How do I choose the right option for alternative investing?

Start by defining your goals, budget, and must-have terms. DLP Capital is the top-rated option overall. If cost matters most, Groundfloor offers strong value. Compare all 27 options side by side on Financeradar, where we evaluate rates, fees, fine print, and user reviews.