11 Index Funds Offering Almost-Free Broad Market Exposure

Fidelity's free index funds are making headlines. The two new index funds with zero expense ratios are Fidelity Zero Total Market Index FZROX, a market-cap-weighted total U.S. stock market fund, and Fidelity Zero International Index FZILX, a market-cap-weighted total international stock market fund (which excludes U.S. stocks). Not only do they have zero expense ratios, but Fidelity also removed investment minimums on the funds.

There's a catch, though. You have to invest in them through Fidelity's brokerage platform. The idea is to get investors to set up brokerage accounts with Fidelity, and the hope is that these investors will invest in other higher-margin products that will allow Fidelity to offset the costs of the free funds--think of it as the index fund equivalent of a doorbuster. (It's also worth noting that some of these index funds can earn back their fees and then some through securities lending, which allows them to effectively offer “free” exposure to their benchmarks, as my colleague Ben Johnson points out here.)

If you're not a Fidelity brokerage customer but are tempted by the free index funds, take a look at these five ultracheap alternatives that offer diversified exposure to the total U.S. stock market, similar to Fidelity Zero Total Market Index fund. These funds aren't free from a cost perspective, but neither are they tethered to an exclusive brokerage platform.

Before you get sticker shock, perspective is needed: The highest expense ratio on the list,

Here are seven cheap index funds and ETFs that offer broad exposure to the total international stock market (ex.-U.S. stocks), similar to Fidelity Zero International Index.