Compare Forge Global and Hiive to Better Markets. Get zero fees, $1 minimums, and instant settlement for pre-IPO investing. No accreditation required.

Best Forge Global & Hiive Alternative 2026

Forge Global and Hiive are the heavyweights of institutional secondary markets. Between them, they've facilitated billions in private company transactions. If you're a family office or institutional investor moving eight figures, they're reasonable choices.

For individual investors, the picture is different. The minimums are steep. The fees add up. The settlement timelines extend for weeks. And the accreditation requirements exclude most people from participating at all.

This guide examines the limitations and explores alternatives.

Understanding the Institutional Secondary Market

Secondary markets for private company shares have existed for decades, but they operated in the shadows—private transactions between sophisticated parties, often brokered through personal relationships. Forge and Hiive represent the formalization of this market into structured platforms.

Forge Global went public in 2022 via SPAC merger. It's the largest pure-play secondary market platform, with hundreds of billions in historical transaction volume. The company serves primarily institutional clients—pension funds, endowments, large family offices—though it accepts individual accredited investors.

Hiive is newer, founded in 2020, with a focus on employee liquidity. The platform works directly with private companies to facilitate share sales from employees who want to convert paper wealth to cash. It's venture-backed and growing, but the economics remain institutional.

Both platforms built their business models around large transactions and sophisticated counterparties. The structures reflect that.

Forge Global: What Individual Investors Face

Forge has infrastructure and inventory. It processes meaningful volume in names like SpaceX, Stripe, and OpenAI. For institutional investors, the platform works.

For individuals, the friction is considerable.

Minimum Investment Requirements

Forge's minimums typically start at $25,000 per transaction—and often higher for specific companies or share classes. That's a significant commitment to a single private company, especially given the inherent uncertainty of pre-IPO investing.

At $25,000 per position, building a diversified portfolio becomes expensive. Spreading across ten companies requires $250,000 minimum, plus fees. For most individual investors, that's not realistic.

Fee Structure

Forge charges 2-5% per transaction, depending on deal specifics. The fees cover brokerage, legal work, and administrative overhead. They're not unreasonable given the complexity of traditional secondary transactions—but they're still 2-5% that could have been invested.

On a $25,000 minimum investment at 3% average fees, you're paying $750 before you own anything. Scale that across multiple positions and the numbers become meaningful.

Settlement Timeline

Forge transactions take 4-8 weeks to settle. The process involves legal documentation, company notification (and sometimes approval), shareholder verification, and various administrative steps. It's how traditional secondary markets have always worked.

During those weeks, your capital is committed but not deployed. Prices can change. Deals can fall through. The outcome isn't certain until settlement completes.

Accreditation Requirements

Like most traditional secondary platforms, Forge requires accredited investor status. The SEC defines this as $1 million net worth (excluding primary residence) or $200,000+ individual income ($300,000+ household) for consecutive years.

This excludes approximately 90% of American households. Whether that exclusion is appropriate for private markets in 2026 is worth questioning, but it's the current reality.

Hiive: Similar Constraints, Different Positioning

Hiive markets itself as a more modern alternative to legacy secondary platforms. The technology is newer. The focus on employee liquidity creates genuine value for startup workers who want to sell shares without waiting for an exit.

But for outside investors, the constraints are similar—and in some ways more restrictive.

Higher Minimums

Hiive's minimums often exceed Forge's, frequently starting at $50,000 or more per transaction. The platform prioritizes larger transactions that justify the operational overhead.

Ongoing Fees

Transaction fees run approximately 3%—lower than some Forge deals, but still meaningful on large positions.

Limited Inventory

Because Hiive sources primarily from employees, inventory depends on which companies have workers willing to sell and which companies allow it. Not every private company cooperates with employee sales on secondary markets. Some actively restrict them.

This means Hiive may not have the specific company you want when you want it. Availability is less predictable than on platforms with broader sourcing.

Same Accreditation Barrier

Like Forge, Hiive requires accredited investor status. The wealth gate remains.

Better Markets: Designed for Individual Investors

Better Markets was built from scratch to address these limitations. The differences are structural:

Feature	Better Markets	Forge Global	Hiive
Minimum Investment	$1	$25,000+	$50,000+
Trading Fees	$0	2-5%	~3%
Settlement Time	Instant	4-8 weeks	2-4 weeks
Accreditation Required	No	Yes	Yes
24/7 Trading	Yes	No	No
Real-Time Pricing	Yes	Request-based	Request-based

What This Means in Practice

The $1 minimum changes what's possible. You can spread $25,000 across 25 companies instead of concentrating in one. You can build positions gradually through dollar-cost averaging. You can test conviction with small amounts before scaling up.

Zero fees mean your capital works for you from day one. No 3-5% haircut on every transaction. Over a multi-year investment horizon, the fee savings compound meaningfully.

Instant settlement eliminates the uncertainty of weeks-long closing processes. When you buy, you own. When you sell, you have liquidity. No waiting, no wondering whether deals will close.

And there's no accreditation barrier. The same opportunities are available regardless of net worth.

Long-Term Impact

Consider a hypothetical investor building a pre-IPO portfolio over five years:

Scenario	Forge (3% avg fee)	Better Markets	Difference
Year 1: $20K invested	$600 in fees	$0	$600
Year 2: $20K invested	$600 in fees	$0	$600
Year 3: $20K invested	$600 in fees	$0	$600
Year 4: $20K invested	$600 in fees	$0	$600
Year 5: $20K invested	$600 in fees	$0	$600
Total fees	$3,000	$0	$3,000

That's $3,000 that could have been generating returns. And the diversification available with $1 minimums likely improves risk-adjusted performance as well.

When Institutional Platforms Make Sense

To be clear, Forge and Hiive serve their intended markets well. If you're a family office deploying $10 million into private markets, the $25,000 minimums are irrelevant and the institutional-grade documentation may be valuable. If you're a startup employee seeking liquidity for vested shares, Hiive's employee-focused model may be exactly what you need.

The question is whether these platforms make sense for individual investors building personal portfolios. For most, they don't.

Making the Transition

Existing Forge or Hiive positions stay where they are. Switching platforms means making new investments on Better Markets, not moving existing holdings.

The process is straightforward:

Create an account at bettermarkets.app
Complete identity verification (typically same-day)
Fund your account
Browse available companies and invest

You can start small. There's no minimum beyond $1. Build familiarity with the platform, understand how it works, then scale up as appropriate.

Available Companies

Better Markets offers 100+ private companies across sectors. The selection includes many of the same names available on Forge and Hiive—SpaceX, Stripe, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks—plus additional companies across AI, fintech, space, and other sectors.

Availability can vary. Secondary markets depend on willing sellers. But the breadth is comparable to institutional platforms, without the institutional barriers.

Conclusion

Forge Global and Hiive built legitimate businesses serving institutional and high-net-worth clients. For their target markets, they work.

For individual investors, the economics don't make sense. $25,000-$50,000 minimums limit diversification. 2-5% fees drag on returns. Multi-week settlement creates uncertainty. Accreditation requirements exclude most people.

Better Markets offers a different model: $1 minimums, zero fees, instant settlement, no accreditation barriers. The company selection is comparable. The terms are meaningfully better.

For most individual investors, the choice is straightforward.

Start investing on Better Markets →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best alternative to Forge Global?

Better Markets offers zero fees (vs 2-5%), $1 minimums (vs $25,000), instant settlement (vs 4-8 weeks), and no accreditation requirement. Company selection is comparable.

What is Hiive and is there a better alternative?

Hiive is a secondary market focused on employee liquidity, with $50,000+ minimums and approximately 3% fees. Better Markets offers similar company access with $1 minimums, zero fees, and instant settlement.

Why is Forge Global so expensive?

Forge's traditional brokerage model involves significant operational overhead—legal work, documentation, company coordination, settlement processing. These costs translate to 2-5% fees and high minimums. Newer platforms like Better Markets have built more efficient infrastructure.

Best Forge Global & Hiive Alternative 2026: Lower Fees, Lower Minimums