EquityZen vs Forge Global vs Hiive

The 2026 fee landscape was reshaped by Morgan Stanley's acquisition of EquityZen in January 2026, which cut both buyer and seller fees from 5% to 2.5%. That single move changed the competitive math for sub-$100K transactions significantly.

But total cost of ownership is more complex than the headline rate. Forge's stated 2-5% direct secondary fee excludes third-party costs — transfer agent fees, legal opinion costs, and escrow — that are acknowledged to exist but not quantified publicly. These add-on costs are absent from EquityZen and Hiive transactions, making Forge's all-in friction higher than its stated commission alone.

For long-duration holds, Hiive Funds' 0% management fee and 0% carried interest creates a structural advantage that compounds over time. A 10-year hold with zero management fee preserves roughly 20% more capital at work versus a standard 2% annual fee. EquityZen's 2.5% one-time entry fee is lower upfront; Hiive's bilateral fee structure (buyer + seller) is higher upfront but eliminates ongoing drag. The crossover point depends on hold period and deal size.

For a $50,000 investment: EquityZen costs $1,250. Forge direct costs $1,000-$2,500 plus undisclosed third-party costs. Hiive buyer-side costs $2,500, with seller friction embedded in execution pricing. Only Hiive Funds offers zero ongoing fee drag, which is why it wins on multi-year total cost of ownership at larger sizes.

See the full fee and investor operations breakdown in the individual reviews: EquityZen, Forge Global, and Hiive.

Minimums are not simple numbers — they depend on the transaction structure, deal availability, and investor classification. The platform minimums below are effective floors, not guarantees of deal availability at those sizes.

One important distinction: a low platform minimum does not mean low-minimum deals are available for the companies you want. SpaceX, Anthropic, Databricks, and other marquee names often require $100,000+ for direct secondary trades on any platform. The $5,000-$25,000 minimums apply to pooled fund structures that aggregate multiple investors — which changes the legal relationship, tax reporting, and exit mechanics.

For investors who want exposure to high-demand names at lower minimums: EquityZen and Forge Fund SPVs are now tied at $5,000 — EquityZen reduced its minimum to industry-lowest following the Morgan Stanley acquisition (February 2026). Hiive's Double Layer SPV pools investors for high-minimum names at $25,000. EquityZen's enhanced access tier requires maintaining a $50,000 balance for priority access and reduced rates on certain deals.

Right of First Refusal is the most underappreciated execution risk in the pre-IPO secondary market. A ROFR exercise terminates a transaction after the buyer has committed time, due diligence, and sometimes escrowed capital — typically after 30-60 days of process — with no compensation for the buyer's committed effort.

The three platforms handle ROFR very differently depending on their transaction structure:

The practical implication: if ROFR protection is your primary concern, EquityZen's SPV model is structurally superior for buyers. But there is a tradeoff — EquityZen's ROFR-protection comes with less price transparency and a deal-by-deal pricing model. Hiive direct transfers offer better price discovery but expose buyers to the 18% 2024 ROFR rate.

For investors who want Hiive's price discovery without ROFR exposure, Hiive Funds SPVs handle ROFR at the fund level and carry the same 0% management fee / 0% carried interest advantage as direct transfers. The choice between direct transfer and SPV on Hiive is often the most important structural decision a buyer can make on that platform.

Price discovery in private markets is not a single feature — it is a spectrum from live executable pricing to indicative data models. Understanding where each platform sits on that spectrum matters before you use any price as a transaction anchor.

The practical recommendation: use Forge Price and the FPMI for broad market intelligence and company coverage research. Use Hiive's order book to understand where transactions are actually clearing for the most liquid names. Cross-reference both against each company's most recent primary round valuation before committing to any entry price.

Transaction structure is not a footnote — it determines your legal relationship with the underlying company, your ROFR exposure, your tax reporting obligations, and how distributions reach you at exit. The same company can be accessed through multiple structures on the same platform, with different economic outcomes.

The most important structural decision for most retail accredited investors: SPV vs. direct transfer. SPV routes (EquityZen funds, Forge Funds, Hiive Funds) offer lower minimums, ROFR protection at the fund level, faster settlement, and simplified cap table administration. Direct transfers give buyers actual company equity and potentially cleaner tax treatment, but require higher minimums, expose buyers individually to ROFR, and involve longer settlement timelines.

K-1 timing is one of the most practically disruptive aspects of private fund investing. Unlike 1099s that typically arrive in January-February, K-1s from private equity SPVs depend on when the underlying private company provides its own financial data — a process with no fixed deadline, since private companies have no public reporting obligation.

Forge Trust Co.'s integrated IRA custody is a genuine structural differentiator. Most self-directed IRA custodians that accept private securities charge comparable administrative fees but require investors to find them independently, manage the custodian relationship separately, and navigate custodian-specific acceptance criteria for each security. Forge Trust consolidates this into the platform.

The Forge Trust SDIRA cost structure: $50 one-time setup + $200/year account fee + $12/quarter per private security position + $40/transaction. Annual fixed cost for one holding: ~$248. Effective drag: ~5% annual on a $5,000 Forge Fund minimum position; negligible (0.24%) on a $100,000 direct trade. Size your IRA allocation accordingly.

The institutional acquisitions of 2025-2026 fundamentally altered the secondary market's competitive dynamics. Morgan Stanley's acquisition of EquityZen in January 2026 was the more impactful of the two for retail investors — the immediate 2.5% fee standardization changed the economics of every sub-$100,000 transaction on the platform.

Morgan Stanley's acquisition also brings its "at work" equity programs to EquityZen — creating a direct pipeline from Morgan Stanley's corporate relationship network to employee shareholders at venture-backed companies. This improves EquityZen's deal supply and potentially its company approval rates, since companies familiar with Morgan Stanley as a banking relationship may be more receptive to approving secondary transfers.

For Forge, Charles Schwab's acquisition provides balance-sheet confidence and distribution reach that reinforces Forge's institutional positioning. Schwab's retail brokerage network provides a distribution channel for Forge's data products and eventually its marketplace — though the integration timeline and retail-accessibility impact are still developing.

Hiive is the only of the three major platforms to remain independent post-2026. Its continued independence may be a competitive advantage with institutional investors who prefer not to be channeled through a wirehouse relationship — or a strategic vulnerability if the acquisitions deepen their distribution advantages over time.