Yieldstreet vs. Fundrise – Which One Is Right For You?

Launched in 2012 and headquartered in Washington, Fundrise is a crowdfunded real estate investment platform for non-accredited investors. Fundrise was the first real estate crowdfunding platform to be launched in the US, and it offered retail and beginner investors access to one of the safest long-term investments: real estate.

With Fundrise, you can get started with just $10, and all their investments offer quarterly distributions. As of 2023, Fundrise has secured almost 2 million investors and paid out more than $300 million in dividends.

With a total portfolio value of $7+ billion, Fundrise is an excellent option if you’re looking for the broadest real estate offerings – but not so much if you’re looking to diversify across asset classes.

Founded in 2015 by Milind Mehere and Michael Weisz, Yieldstreet is an alternative investment platform for accredited investors. Yieldstreet offers access to 11 highly-vetted alternative investments – including real estate, crypto, fine art, and real estate. Since its inception in 2015, Yieldstreet’s more than 420k users have invested a combined $3.2 billion and received more than $2 billion in returns.

Yieldstreet has an easy-to-use interface; you can browse all investments from the dashboard. Additionally, you can filter by the initial investment, IRA eligibility, asset class, and term duration.

In this Yieldstreet vs. Fundrise review, we will break down the key features of each platform.

Yieldstreet Vs. Fundrise – Side By Side

Starting with the similarities, both Yieldstreet and Fundrise offer:

• Access high-quality real estate investments

• Low asset management fees

• Regular cash distribution (monthly or quarterly)

• Highly illiquid investments

Both Yieldstreet and Fundrise offer access to high-quality real estate investments. Both charge low asset management fees, ranging from 0.85-4% per year. 

Both Yieldstreet and Fundrise investments are highly illiquid; in the case of Fundrise, there’s a fee if you try to liquidate your shares early – and it’s reliant on someone buying your shares on a secondary market. Yieldstreet doesn’t allow early redemption; after your investment is processed, you have to hold it for the duration of the offering.

As for the differences, here’s a summary:

Fundrise has a very narrow focus on real estate properties. The Fundrise investing portfolio comprises more than 294+ active projects, including thousands of multifamily apartments, industrial properties, and single-family rentals. 

With Fundrise, you can choose between four investing portfolios, each with a distinct investment strategy: fixed income, core plus, value add, and opportunistic. The fixed-income portfolio focuses on consistent cash distributions and passive income, while the opportunistic portfolio focuses on long-term growth. Core plus and value add are somewhere in the middle.

In terms of investments, Yieldstreet is by far the more flexible option. With Yieldstreet, you can invest in eleven alternative asset classes, including:

• Real estate 

• Crypto

• Fine art

• Private credit & equity

• Venture

• Transportation

However, when it comes to making an investment, Yieldstreet is a lot more prohibitive. While it’s true the minimum deposit depends on the investment, it usually starts at $10,000 and goes as high as $25,000. This is not realistic for most retail investors. Additionally, only accredited investors can participate in Yieldstreet offerings.

Fundrise, on the other hand, has the lowest minimum investment of any real estate investing platform. You can get started with an initial investment of $10, and there are no accreditation requirements.

One downside of Fundrise is that only Pro subscribers can pick individual investments – otherwise, you’re stuck with the premade portfolios. The Fundrise Pro subscription starts at $99/year (or $10/month), which can add up if you’re making small investments.

Historical Performance

In terms of performance, both Yieldstreet and Fundrise have excellent track records. I have personally been an investor for a number of years you can see how our fundrise returns have been over the last several years! 

Since Fundrise was launched in 2012, it’s become one of the largest real estate investing platforms in the US, with almost 2 million active investors and $7 billion in assets under management. Since 2017, Fundrise investors averaged 5.29% annual returns across all four portfolios, with no negative quarters and very stable payouts.

Keep in mind these are the returns for the premade Fundrise portfolios – individual investments through Fundrise Pro may yield higher or lower returns.

Yieldstreet investments, on the other hand, are a lot more volatile. This is because in most cases, you’re investing in a single asset – whether it’s art, real estate, transportation, crypto, or any of the other alternative investments listed. 

In general, with Yieldstreet, you can expect annualized returns ranging from 9-13%. But remember that past performances are no guarantee of future results.

Yieldstreet And Fundrise Reviews

Yieldstreet and Fundrise are available on Android and iOS devices, with an average rating of 4.5/5 and 4.7/5, respectively. 

Here’s what some of those users had to say about Fundrise:

• I was very excited about the idea of Fundrise when I first heard about it, and I have been really blown away by how well it is managed. The reporting and disclosures are terrific and highly professional.” – Bobby W.

• “So far, a very smooth experience using the app. It makes it easy to update, invest, and set up auto-investments based on specific goals, etc. I also like the project updates in the dashboard, rather than having to dig through my emails.” – Zack K.

• “Fundrise has been an incredible investment for me. I began small with just a few thousand dollars in 2020. I believe at the time I had a “growth” portfolio and at the end of the year had made an 8% return. ” – Celeste N.

Here’s what Yieldstreet users had to say about the mobile app:

• “If you’re an accredited investor (a federal government SEC rule, not something YieldStreet controls), YieldStreet gives you access to some of the best asset-based investments. Skip the stock market’s volatility but get the same average annual return in the long run!” – A. G.

• “Accessing alts is never something I could do with all my Fidelity accounts/relationships, but being able to do it here at Yieldstreet has helped me to modernize my family’s approaches to building wealth.” – Jordan T.

• “Great app. I’ve been invested in the Prism fund for a while. Easy way to invest outside the stock market and diversify my portfolio.” – Sebastian B.

Our Recommendation

Yieldstreet vs Fundrise, which should you pick? If you’re still unsure which platform is the right fit for you, these are our recommendations. 

• If you’re not looking to spend a lot of money but would like to gain exposure to the real estate market, Fundrise is for you.

• If you’re an accredited investor looking to diversify your investments across different alternative asset classes, Yieldstreet is for you.

• If you’re a foreign investor looking to invest in the US, Yieldstreet is the best option and will make it very easy for you to get started.

• If you’re part of a team of professional (or institutional) investors looking to build a real estate portfolio from the ground up, we recommend the Fundrise Pro plan.

All in all, both of these platforms are excellent options if you’re looking to start your investing journey. Both have excellent track records, are trusted by thousands of investors, and offer plenty of high-quality investments.

Yieldstreet Fees vs. Fundrise Fees

Yieldstreet Fees

• Annual Management Fee: 1-4% (varies depending on the investment)

Fundrise Fees

• Fundrise Pro: $10/month (or $99/year)

• Annual Investment Advisory Fee: 0.15%

• Annual Management Fee: 0.85%

Signing Up With Yieldstreet

Yieldstreet is open for US and foreign investors, but all investors must meet the accredited investor criteria set by the SEC. Additionally, you must have a valid SSN (or TIN/EIN for foreign investors) and a US-based bank account. Here’s how to get started:

• Visit Yieldstreet’s website

• On the top right, click Sign Up

• Enter your email address 

• Fill in some of your basic information

If you use our link to sign up, you’ll automatically join the Yieldstreet Invitation Program so you can earn a commission on referrals. You can earn up $2,000 every quarter ($100 per referee).

Signing Up With Fundrise

Fundrise isn’t as strict as Yieldstreet when it comes to investors: accredited and non-accredited investors can participate in all investments. However, Fundrise is only open to US citizens and permanent residents. Foreign investors can’t participate. Here are the steps to sign up:

• Visit Fundrise’s website

• On the top right, click Get Started

• Enter your email address and answer a short questionnaire

Sign up using our link, and you’ll get a welcome bonus of $10 worth of Fundrise Real Estate Interval Fund shares. You’ll also get access to Fundrise Pro for 30 days – at no cost. 

Conclusion

Yieldstreet and Fundrise are two of the best investing platforms in the US. Fundrise offers premade, diversified real estate portfolios and is better suited for beginners and individual investors without much experience in the market. For more experienced investors, Yieldstreet offers extensive access to alternative investments. Some of those include fine art, crypto, and commercial real estate, and they make for very profitable investments – with slightly higher risk profiles than Fundrise’s portfolios. 

Regardless of your chosen platform, both Yieldstreet and Fundrise are very well established with thousands of clients and excellent historical performances.

FAQs

Is Fundrise Better Than Yieldstreet?

Yieldstreet and Fundrise are great platforms if you want to start investing. There’s no right or wrong option – but one platform will be a better fit based on your long-term goals.

Broadly speaking, Fundrise is better if you’re looking for a high-quality real estate investment. It offers more options and is accessible to accredited and non-accredited investors. Yieldstreet is better if you’re looking for alternative investments and have a higher risk tolerance.

Is It Better To Invest In REITs or Fundrise?

Historically, Fundrise portfolios have outperformed public real estate investment trusts (REITs) and the S&P 500 index over the long term. For reference, Fundrise portfolios averaged 5.29% annualized returns over the last six years, compared to 4.08% for public REITs and 2.03% for the S&P 500 index. 

What’s The Average Rate Of Return On Fundrise?

Over the last 6 years, the Fundrise portfolios averaged 5.29% annualized returns. Projections for the next 7 years estimate that the average annual yield if you were to start acquiring real estate assets, are:

• 20.4% yield after 2 years

• 46.5% yield after 4 years

• 78.5% yield after 6 years 

You can visit Fundrise’s site for the full projection under the Client Returns menu.

Can You Make Money With Yieldstreet?

Yes, you can definitely make money with Yieldstreet. Here’s the average performance of the seven best-performing asset classes available in Yieldstreet:

• Legal: 13.2%

• Fine art: 10.3%

• Real estate: 9.4%

• Transportation: 9.3%

• Private credit: 8.2%

• Structured notes: 7.7%

• Short term notes: 4.7%

Remember that past results do not indicate future performance, and Yieldstreet investments have very low diversification.