Alternative
Frec Alternatives With No Account and No Minimum
Frec is a strong product if what you actually want is to own a direct-indexing portfolio with tax-loss harvesting. It is a real brokerage account: you fund it, Frec buys the underlying stocks on your behalf, and it harvests losses automatically to help with your tax bill. It is genuinely good at that job. It is also US-gated, focused on equities, and typically expects a funding minimum around twenty thousand dollars. Indexes is not a brokerage and does not compete on ownership. It is informational and educational, track-and-analyze not trade. You build a custom index from stocks and crypto, backtest it against real market history, and track it versus benchmarks like the S&P 500 and BTC, with no account to fund, no minimum, no trades, and global access.
Last updated July 2026
In short
Frec is a direct-indexing brokerage: you fund a real account, Frec buys the underlying stocks for you, and it harvests tax losses automatically. Its published pricing runs 0.09% to 0.35% a year with a minimum in the $20,000 to $50,000 range depending on the strategy, which makes it one of the cheapest ways to actually own a direct-indexed portfolio. It is US equities only. Indexes is not a brokerage and does not replace that: it never holds money, never places a trade, and never harvests a loss. It is the design step in front of the decision, where you author a weighted index of stocks and crypto, backtest it against real market history, and track it, with no account and no minimum.
Side by side
Indexes vs Frec
| Capability | Indexes | Frec |
|---|---|---|
| Requires funding a brokerage account | ||
| No account minimum | Around $20K | |
| Stocks and crypto in one index | Equities only | |
| Backtest and track a custom index | Partial | |
| Automated tax-loss harvesting | ||
| Analyze-only, never places trades | ||
| Globally accessible, not US-gated |
Comparison reflects general product positioning and is provided in good faith. Verify current capabilities with each vendor.
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Build, backtest, and track, self-serve
Educational only · Never places a trade
Questions
Frec direct indexing, answered
What is Frec?
Frec is a direct-indexing brokerage. You fund an account, Frec buys the individual stocks that make up an index on your behalf, and it scans for tax-loss harvesting opportunities automatically. It is a genuine alternative to the direct-indexing programs at Fidelity, Schwab and Wealthfront, built by a company that does only this.
How much does Frec cost?
Frec's published pricing runs from 0.09% to 0.35% a year depending on the index strategy you choose, with minimums in the $20,000 to $50,000 range. At the bottom of that range it is among the cheapest direct-indexing options available without an advisor. Figures are current as of July 2026, so confirm them with Frec before you fund anything.
Is Frec cheaper than Wealthfront or Fidelity?
At its 0.09% tier Frec matches Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct and undercuts both Fidelity Managed FidFolios and Schwab Personalized Indexing at 0.40%. The tradeoff is the minimum: Frec starts around $20,000 while Fidelity and Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct start at $5,000. Which is cheaper depends entirely on your balance and the strategy you pick.
Can I direct index crypto with Frec?
No. Frec covers US equities, as does every managed direct-indexing product on the market. If you want a single weighted index holding tokens next to stocks, no managed provider offers it, and you would need to build and hold that basket yourself. Indexes models that mixed case on the analysis side.
Is there a Frec alternative with no minimum?
If you want to own the shares and have losses harvested for you, the lower-minimum options are Fidelity Managed FidFolios and Wealthfront S&P 500 Direct, both at $5,000. If you want to design, backtest and track an index without funding an account at all, Indexes does that with no minimum, because it is an analysis tool rather than a brokerage.
New to the strategy? Start with our guide to direct indexing, what it costs and who it suits, or see how much direct indexing costs across providers.
Build your index and see how it backtests
Bundle stocks or crypto into your own weighted index, backtest it against real market history, and track it against the S&P 500 or BTC. Prosumer pricing, no brokerage account. Indexes is educational and informational only, and it never places a trade. Decide for yourself.