Best Groundfloor Alternatives in 2026 (One Platform Has a Going Concern Warning)

Corrected October 16, 2026 — Fundrise prospectus date. Earlier versions of this page gave the date of the Fundrise Flagship and Income prospectuses as April 29 or April 30, 2026. Both are dated May 1, 2026: EDGAR accepted each Form 486BPOS on the evening of April 29, gave it a filing date of April 30 and made it effective on May 1 (Flagship filing index, Income filing index). The fee figures cited are unchanged.

Corrected October 15, 2026. An earlier version of this page described the FY2024 report as the latest and gave Groundfloor Notes as 5.0-8.5% (September 12, 2026). Groundfloor's own Notes page (groundfloor.com/notes, read October 15, 2026) lists the 12-month Signature Note at 8.0%, open to all from $1,000; the 8.5% on that page is the 12-month Preferred Note, which is for accredited investors only (Preferred Notes run 7.0% to 9.0%). The latest annual report is the FY2025 Form 1-K filed April 1, 2026 (SEC accession 0001104659-26-038396): the auditor repeated its going-concern doubt, as it has in each of Groundfloor's nine annual reports since fiscal 2017.

The Going Concern Issue First

Most articles comparing Groundfloor alternatives skip straight to yield tables. I'm not going to do that, because there's material information you need before choosing any platform — including Groundfloor itself.

In Groundfloor's FY2025 annual report filed with the SEC on April 1, 2026 (and in its FY2024 report before it), the company's independent auditors included a going concern paragraph (their opinion was not modified). The auditor's words: the company "has incurred losses and negative cash flows from operations since its inception, resulting in substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern." The company reported an accumulated deficit of $64.8 million as of December 31, 2025 ($54.4 million as of December 31, 2024).

A going-concern paragraph doesn't mean the platform is shutting down next week. It means the auditors — who are legally required to flag this — see enough financial stress that they can't confirm the company will keep operating for at least 12 months without the situation being publicly disclosed.

What it means practically for investors:

• If Groundfloor faced a liquidity crisis, your individual loans wouldn't disappear (they're secured by real property), but the platform infrastructure you rely on for servicing, updates, and foreclosure management could be disrupted
• Notes are secured by the assets of the Groundfloor subsidiary that issues them (for Groundfloor Yield LLC, principally receivables owed by the parent, per its audited FY2025 1-K), not by a single property — platform stability matters more here
• The delinquency picture is worse than the 4.71% "default rate" repeated across the web (a third-party figure, not in any filing): its FY2025 Form 1-K (accession 0001104659-26-038396, filed April 1, 2026) shows 73.4% of the $88.4 million legacy loan book more than 90 days past due at December 31, 2025 ($64.9 million of $88.4 million), up from 27.5% a year earlier, with $50.8 million of loans on nonaccrual and a going-concern doubt from the auditor, as in every Groundfloor 1-K since fiscal 2017

I'm not recommending you pull your money out of Groundfloor today. I am recommending you know this before putting new money in.

How We Evaluated Alternatives

The comparison criteria below reflect what matters for Groundfloor investors specifically — people who came for short-term real estate debt exposure, zero fees, and accessible minimums.

We evaluated on:

• Yield: Comparable to Groundfloor's 5-15% loan range or 5.0-8.0% open-to-all Notes range (the 8.5% Preferred Note is accredited-only; October 10, 2026)
• Time horizon: Short to medium-term (under 24 months preferred)
• Accreditation requirement: Non-accredited access is a meaningful differentiator
• Default history: Disclosed and verifiable, not marketing language
• Platform stability: Company financial health, regulatory history, operating track record
• Fees: Investor-facing fees matter for net returns

Platforms we excluded: DiversyFund (active SEC enforcement, 28,000 investors locked in since 2022, F-rated BBB, federal lawsuit), Yieldstreet (multiple fund losses, high minimums, complex structures that underperformed), PeerStreet (defunct — filed for bankruptcy June 2023).

The Alternatives: Side-by-Side

Arrived Private Credit Fund — Best Non-Accredited Alternative

Arrived's Private Credit Fund is the closest structural analog to what Groundfloor does well. It's short-duration real estate debt (bridge loans and DSCR loans secured by single-family residential properties), open to non-accredited investors at a $100 minimum, with no investor fees. If you're weighing Groundfloor's debt model against Arrived's equity rentals more broadly, our Groundfloor vs Arrived Homes head-to-head lays out the debt-vs-equity trade-off in detail.

The numbers: 8.6% annualized target yield. Quarterly liquidity window (vs. Groundfloor's loan-term lock or maturity date for Notes). The fund launched in 2024, so it doesn't yet have a long default history to disclose — that's a real caveat. But the underlying collateral structure (first-lien mortgages on SFR properties) is conservative relative to some of Groundfloor's fix-and-flip exposure.

Why it works as an alternative: If you're using Groundfloor Notes for their stability, Arrived PCF is now slightly behind on yield (7.44% on its August 2026 declaration vs 6.0-8.0% for Groundfloor's open-to-all 3-12 month Notes as of October 10, 2026) at a lower minimum and with quarterly exit windows rather than hard maturities. (For the forensic single-product read on Groundfloor's Notes program itself — the first-priority security interest in GFY's assets, the going-concern paragraphs in the FY2024 and FY2025 1-K filings, and the substantive-consolidation risk most aggregator reviews skip — see our Groundfloor Notes review.)

The catch: It's new. A fund with one year of history is not the same as a platform with a decade. Don't concentrate here. And Arrived's parent company is backed by Jeff Bezos — which is a PR statement, not a guarantee.

Best for: Non-accredited investors wanting short-duration RE debt as a Groundfloor Notes replacement at higher yield.

Fundrise Income Fund — Best Passive Alternative

Fundrise runs differently from Groundfloor — it's a managed equity-plus-debt fund, not individual loan selection. But for investors who found themselves defaulting to Groundfloor Notes because picking loans was too much work, Fundrise Income Fund is worth a serious look.

The numbers: 8%+ annualized distributions (2024 results), paid quarterly, with quarterly redemption access. $10 minimum. 0.85% management fee, and total annual fund operating expenses of 2.13% per the Income Real Estate Fund's prospectus dated May 1, 2026; these are paid inside the fund, so reported returns are already net of them. Correction, October 14, 2026: an earlier version said a 1% fee that was not deducted from returns. Non-accredited friendly.

Why it works: Fundrise Income Fund focuses on real estate debt — mortgage loans, not equity ownership — which gives it a priority claim on cash flows similar to what Groundfloor loan investors hold. The fund's diversification (thousands of loans across the portfolio) makes individual default events nearly invisible at the portfolio level.

Platform stability advantage: Fundrise has been SEC-qualified since 2012, manages $3.5B+ in assets, and has no going-concern paragraphs in its history. Comparing platform risk between Fundrise and Groundfloor right now is not close.

The catch: 2.13% in total annual fund expenses (prospectus) versus Groundfloor's $0. On a $10,000 investment, that's about $213/year (our arithmetic: $10,000 x 2.13%), already reflected in the fund's reported returns — meaningful but not disqualifying. Also, quarterly redemption is subject to liquidity limits; it's not instant cash.

Best for: Passive investors who want real estate debt returns without picking individual loans or worrying about platform stability.

EquityMultiple Alpine Notes — Best Accredited Alternative

If you're accredited, EquityMultiple's Alpine Notes are the most direct Groundfloor Notes competitor on the market — and on multiple dimensions, they win.

The numbers: 6.0-7.5% target APY depending on term (October 2026), terms of 3, 6 or 9 months, $5,000 minimum. EquityMultiple has reported a 0% default rate on Alpine Notes since the product launched in 2022. Zero. Not "under 1%." Zero.

Structure: Alpine Notes are backed by short-duration real estate bridge loans — the same type of underlying collateral as Groundfloor's best products. EquityMultiple sources the loans, you buy a note, they pay fixed yield on schedule.

Platform stability: EquityMultiple is privately held, but they've been operating since 2015, they're institutional-grade (their investor relations and reporting are significantly more detailed than Groundfloor's), and they've never had a SEC enforcement action.

The catch: Accredited investors only. $5,000 minimum versus Groundfloor's $10. These two facts exclude most Groundfloor users. If you qualify, this is the cleanest swap.

Best for: Accredited investors who want short-term real estate debt with a clean default record and institutional reporting quality.

Concreit — Best for Micro-Investors

Concreit runs the lowest-barrier real estate debt product in the industry: $1 minimum, 6.30% annualized, weekly distributions. For investors who used Groundfloor's Stairs app (notes at 4% to 10% in 2023-2024, per GFY's offering circular) or kept small amounts in Groundfloor Notes, Concreit offers a step up in yield with similar accessibility.

The numbers: 6.30% annualized (October 2026 filing; it was 7.00% until October 2025), paid weekly. Withdrawals go through a monthly redemption queue, with a 2%/1%/0% exit cost by holding period. Underlying collateral is real estate first-lien mortgages.

Honest limitations: Concreit is the least transparent platform on this list. Their default history is not publicly disclosed. Their portfolio composition is described in broad terms. You're trusting the platform more than you're verifying it. For small amounts, that's an acceptable tradeoff. For large amounts, it isn't.

Best for: Investors with small balances ($1-$1,000) who want weekly income and don't mind limited transparency.

Percent.com — Best High-Yield Accredited Option

Percent.com isn't real estate debt — it's private credit across multiple asset classes including real estate, consumer, SMB, and specialty finance. But for accredited investors who came to Groundfloor chasing the 12-15% grades on E-G loans, Percent is where that risk-return conversation gets serious.

The numbers: 14-16% net annualized yield (historical average). Terms of 3-36 months. $500 minimum per deal (accessible by accredited standards). The platform reports a 2.67% historical loss rate — lower than the 4.71% lifetime figure circulated for Groundfloor by third-party reviews (its FY2025 Form 1-K shows 73.4% of the legacy loan book more than 90 days past due), and at meaningfully higher yields.

Why it competes: Percent deals are typically blended notes (you own a fractional position in a portfolio of loans, not a single loan), which reduces concentration risk relative to Groundfloor's individual loan model. The diversification is built in.

The catch: Not real estate specifically. Some investors want real estate exposure specifically for inflation hedging, tangibility, or familiarity. Percent's underlying assets are often trade finance, consumer loans, or specialty finance — different risk drivers.

Best for: Accredited investors who care more about yield and default rates than real estate specifically.

What Happens to Your Groundfloor Money Now?

If you have existing Groundfloor investments, the going-concern paragraph doesn't immediately change your position. Individual loans (LROs) are secured by property — if Groundfloor fails, the underlying loans still exist, though servicing and recovery would need to transfer to a third party. Notes are different: they're secured by the assets of the issuing Groundfloor subsidiary, which for Groundfloor Yield LLC are principally receivables owed by the parent, making platform survival more central to repayment.

Practical guidance:

• Existing individual loans: Hold to maturity. Don't add new capital to concentrate here.
• Existing Notes: Evaluate whether you want to roll them at maturity or let them run off
• Stairs app funds: Stairs Notes are Groundfloor Yield LLC notes secured by the same GFY assets as its other notes, and the interest is forfeited if you withdraw before maturity
• New capital decisions: The alternatives above deserve serious consideration as you decide where to deploy fresh money

Who Should Stay vs. Switch

Stay with Groundfloor Notes (for now) if:

• You have existing Notes at good rates and maturities inside 6 months — let them run
• You're using Notes as a small portion of a diversified portfolio and the yield makes sense at your allocation
• You actively monitor Groundfloor's financial disclosures (their SEC Reg A+ filings are public)

Switch if:

• You're deploying new capital and platform stability matters to you — it should
• Your Groundfloor exposure is more than 20-25% of your fixed income allocation
• You're non-accredited and can use Arrived PCF or Fundrise Income Fund as higher-yield, more stable alternatives
• You relied on the Stairs app for short-term cash parking — move this to a high-yield savings account or money market fund instead

If you're accredited and want short-term RE debt: EquityMultiple Alpine Notes at 6.0-7.5% (October 2026; the company says it has never missed a payment) is the clearest upgrade from Groundfloor Notes at 5.0-8.0% for investors who are not accredited (October 7, 2026; its accredited-only Preferred Notes run 7.0% to 9.0%) with an auditor that flags going concern doubt.

See the full Groundfloor review for a complete breakdown of their loan grades, default rate analysis, and Notes track record. For a forensic read of the FY2025 and FY2024 audits and what "going concern" actually means for your $10 LROs and Notes, see Groundfloor's Going Concern Warning Explained. For the structural answer to whether your LROs are bankruptcy-remote (spoiler: they aren't, per Groundfloor's own offering circular), see Bankruptcy-Remote Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms. For the Notes-vs-LROs decision specifically (yields, lock-up periods, bankruptcy treatment side-by-side), see Groundfloor Notes vs LROs (2026). For a broader comparison across all short-term real estate platforms, read real estate crowdfunding returns: what platforms actually pay in 2026.

Last updated: October 15, 2026 for the Groundfloor going-concern, loan-book and Notes-rate figures; other data as of April 2026. Platform yields, minimums, and financial disclosures change frequently. Groundfloor going concern information sourced from the company's FY2024 and FY2025 Form 1-Ks filed with the SEC under Regulation A+. Arrived PCF yield from official platform disclosure (2024). EquityMultiple Alpine Notes default record from EquityMultiple investor relations. Fundrise Income Fund distributions from Fundrise 2024 annual investor update. Percent.com loss rate from platform disclosure. This article contains no affiliate links for the platforms reviewed. Past returns are not guarantees of future performance.