Alternatives to LendingClub for Retail Investors in 2026

Back in 2015 the obvious play was unsecured peer-to-peer lending on LendingClub and Prosper. That world is gone. LendingClub shut down its retail Notes platform in December 2020 to focus on being a bank, and Prosper followed shortly after. If you are a retail investor in 2026 looking for an asset-backed, P2P-style alternative, here is the honest map of what is left.

Key takeaways

• LendingClub Notes for retail closed in December 2020. Prosper followed. Unsecured retail P2P is effectively dead in the US.
• The U-Haul Investors Club still exists, still pays roughly 4 to 9 percent depending on series, and is backed by real assets.
• Groundfloor, Arrived, Fundrise, and Yieldstreet are the main 2026 retail alternatives, each with different risk profiles.
• None of these are FDIC insured. Yield comes with default and liquidity risk.
• Treat the whole category as high-yield junk-bond equivalent, not as a savings account.

A brief history: why this matters

The original P2P pitch was simple. You lent $25 each to many strangers, the platform handled servicing, and you collected 8 to 12 percent after defaults. It worked, until institutional money flooded in, scraped the best loans within milliseconds, and the platforms decided retail was not worth the regulatory cost. The U-Haul Investors Club is one of the few places where the original feel survived.

The U-Haul Investors Club

U-Haul lets retail investors fund the trucks, trailers, hitches, and storage facilities used by the actual U-Haul system. You buy a U-Note tied to a specific asset. The asset is real, registered, and securing the note. Yields typically run 4 to 9 percent depending on the series and term, which can stretch from two to thirty years.

What I like about it

• Each note is backed by a specific identifiable piece of equipment.
• U-Haul has been a profitable, conservatively run operating company for decades.
• No fees to the investor. Minimums start around $100.

What to watch out for

• Liquidity is essentially zero. There is no secondary market. Plan to hold to maturity.
• Best notes get filled quickly. You will sit in cash some weeks.
• Interest is taxed as ordinary income, not as qualified dividends.

Groundfloor

Groundfloor offers short-term real-estate-backed loans (typically 6 to 18 months) to house flippers. Minimum is $10. Stated yields commonly run 7 to 12 percent. Loans are secured by the underlying property.

The risk: a flipper default in a soft housing market can leave you waiting on a foreclosure process for many months. Spread across at least 50 loans to dilute single-loan blow-ups.

Arrived and Fundrise

These are equity-style real estate platforms rather than debt. Arrived sells fractional shares of single-family rentals. Fundrise runs diversified eREITs and venture-style funds. Returns include rental income and appreciation, not a fixed coupon. Expect 5 to 10 percent in a normal cycle and prepare for marked-down years like 2022 to 2023.

Yieldstreet

Yieldstreet offers alternative debt across consumer, legal, marine, art, and real estate. Targeted returns of 8 to 12 percent. Most deals require accredited investor status, though a handful are open to non-accredited through a Prism fund. Higher minimums ($10,000 typical). Higher complexity and higher default tail risk.

Honorable mentions

• PeerStreet filed for bankruptcy in 2023 - a reminder that platform risk is real on top of loan risk.
• Mainvest wound down in 2024 after offering small-business revenue-share notes. Same lesson.
• Worthy Bonds, Percent, and SaltBox-style niche platforms still operate but have small track records.
• Treasuries and brokered CDs at 4 to 5 percent are now a serious competitor. If a P2P alternative is not paying meaningfully more, the risk-adjusted comparison favors Treasuries.

How I would allocate this slice in 2026

For a small alternative-income sleeve (no more than 5 to 10 percent of net worth), a reasonable mix is:

• 40 percent U-Haul Investors Club, laddered across maturities.
• 30 percent Groundfloor, spread across many loans.
• 20 percent Fundrise or Arrived for real estate equity exposure.
• 10 percent cash for opportunistic deals.

Compare this against a simple T-bill ladder. If you cannot beat T-bills by at least 2 percent after fees and defaults, the alternative is not worth the lockup.

The lesson from the LendingClub era: when retail P2P works, it works because retail money is patient and small. When platforms scale to chase institutional money, retail gets squeezed out or shut down. Build in the assumption that any one platform could close.

FAQ

Can I still invest in LendingClub as a retail investor?

No. LendingClub stopped offering retail Notes on December 27, 2020. They are now a digital bank and you can earn yield through their savings products instead.

Is the U-Haul Investors Club FDIC insured?

No. U-Notes are debt securities of U-Haul affiliates. They are backed by specific assets but not insured by any government agency.

What is the closest 2026 equivalent to lending $25 to a stranger at 12 percent?

Probably Groundfloor real-estate-backed loans with a $10 minimum. Different risk profile (concentrated property risk vs. dispersed consumer risk) but the same do-it-yourself feel.

Are these returns taxed as ordinary income?

Mostly yes. Interest from debt platforms is ordinary income. Real estate equity returns may include depreciation pass-through. Always check your 1099 carefully.

What is the single biggest risk?

Platform risk, not loan risk. PeerStreet and Mainvest both failed, and investor recovery in a platform bankruptcy is slow and uncertain. Never put more on a single platform than you can afford to wait years to retrieve.