What is Carta?
Pros from reviewers
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Automated updates and progress tracking: Users appreciate how Carta automatically updates them on their vested options and displays a progress bar for remaining stock options to vest, providing clear visibility on their equity status
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Extensive knowledge database: Carta has a vast knowledge database for quick learning, making it easier for users to understand and utilize the software
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Efficient customer support: Despite some user complaints, Carta's support team is generally responsive and assists in resolving issues, ensuring a smooth user experience.
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User-friendly interface: Carta is praised for its simple and user-friendly interface, making it easy for users to navigate and manage their stock options
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Comprehensive equity management: Carta offers features like investor equity management, employee equity option management, cap table management, and 409A valuation, providing a one-stop solution for equity management
Cons from reviewers
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Lack of comparative details: Carta does not provide enough comparative details with similar companies for benchmarking purposes, limiting its usefulness in strategic decision-making
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Time-consuming updates: The software does not offer a quick method to bulk update a set of option grants, resulting in a time-consuming process of updating each grant individually
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User-unfriendliness: Some users find Carta's interface not very user-friendly, requiring a solid understanding of securities and stock options, which can be a barrier for those without this knowledge
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High cost for startups: Despite its many features, Carta can be quite expensive for startups, making it a less viable option for companies with tight budgets
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Difficult cancellation process: Some users have reported that it is extremely difficult to cancel the account before renewal, requiring multiple emails and calls, and even then, the process is not straightforward.
Main features
Starting Price
Free Plan
Get approvals from your board without leaving Carta
Stop managing your cap table in a spreadsheet
Keep track of compliance
Streamline communications
Access insights
Starting Price
N/A
Free Plan
No
Get approvals from your board without leaving Carta
Stop managing your cap table in a spreadsheet
Keep track of compliance
Streamline communications
Access insights
How Carta compare to similar software?
Product
Price
N/A
Free plan
No
Main features
Pros
Cons
Alternatives
Deal
No available deal at the moment
Clerky and Carta are two comprehensive platforms designed for managing different aspects of business, with distinct focuses that impact your choice.
Clerky is primarily focused on streamlining legal processes, making it an ideal choice for startups and early-stage businesses. It excels in company formation, compliance documentation, and due diligence, offering a user-friendly experience.
On the other hand, Carta specializes in equity management and financial solutions, catering to more mature companies with complex financial structures. It offers advanced features for cap table management, valuations, investor relations, and financial reporting.
The significant difference lies in their specialization and target audience. Clerky is tailored for startups seeking simplified legal processes, while Carta is suited for businesses with intricate equity and financial needs. Your choice should align with your business's stage and specific requirements.
Ledgy and Carta are both robust equity management platforms, but they cater to different needs and preferences with distinct differences in their features and functionalities.
One of the key differences between Ledgy and Carta is their target audience and the scalability they offer. Ledgy is particularly tailored to startups and growing companies in Europe, focusing on user-friendly features and ensuring compliance with European regulations. It excels in handling employee participation plans and providing transparent equity management, which is essential for smaller organizations looking to scale without extensive legal overhead.
In contrast, Carta is a more comprehensive solution that targets companies at various growth stages, including those gearing towards public offerings. It offers a broad suite of services including cap table management, 409A valuations, and IPO planning, making it ideal for larger enterprises or those with complex equity structures and multiple stakeholders....
Who is Carta best for according to our reviewers?
Corporate Securities Attorneys: Carta offers an accurate and easy-to-manage turnkey solution for the Board, Investors, and Employees. It enables swift extraction of data and reports for external Funds and Auditors, and provides a self-service portal for Employees
Investors: Carta allows investors to manage their portfolio, although the software can be slow and the user experience illogical. It also makes it hard to maintain a backup
Companies with numerous employees: These companies can monitor who has vested stock options and receive automatic updates on vested options. Carta also displays a progress bar for remaining stock options to vest
Startups: Despite being costly, Carta offers features like investor equity management, employee equity option management, cap table management, and 409A valuation. It also provides well-organized reports, funding overviews, cap tables, and the capability to establish a data room for investors
Co-Founders: Carta simplifies the management of cap table, compliance, and 409A's. It serves as an excellent portal for legal teams, investors, and employees with options, providing them access to necessary information and documents.
Carta Reviews
4.2
Carta rating
4.0
Ease of use
3.5
Customer service
3.6
Value for money
4.0
Likelihood to recommend
4.2
Features
23 Carta Reviews
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Elijah Martinez
Valuable Educational Resources: Simplifying Equity Management with Carta
Lastly, the educational resources provided by Carta were very useful. They helped me understand the nuances of equity management better, making the whole process less daunting.
September 9, 2024
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Alexis A
Effortless Equity Management for Startups with Carta
I find it simple to monitor when I can exercise shares and view my current holdings on Carta. However, I think the website is quite basic and I would appreciate more features, such as educational links and ways to track the value of the shares, if such information is available.
September 3, 2024
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Elijah
Seamless Integration: Simplifying Operations with Carta's Platform Integration
The integration of Carta with other platforms like Gusto and Stripe was seamless. This made it easier for us to manage our operations without having to switch between multiple platforms
August 25, 2024
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Danielle D
Top-Notch Security: Safeguarding Sensitive Financial Data
The software's security features were top-notch. I felt confident knowing that our sensitive financial data was well-protected
August 17, 2024
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Brenda M
Responsive and Helpful: A Review of the Carta Team
I found the Carta team to be very responsive and helpful. Their customer support was always ready to assist with any queries or issues we had
August 12, 2024
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Kelly M
Revolutionary Reporting: Streamlining Board Meetings and Investor Updates
The software's robust reporting capabilities were a game-changer for us. It made it easy to generate custom reports for board meetings and investor updates
August 5, 2024
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David R
Carta: A Game-Changer for Co-Founders and Investors
As a Co-Founder, I absolutely love using Carta! It has truly revolutionized the way I manage my cap table, compliance, and 49A's. It's such a fantastic portal for our legal team, investors, and employees with options. They can easily access all the necessary information and documents they need. While the navigation may initially seem a bit complex, I see it as an exciting challenge. It's like a treasure hunt, searching for what I need, and it's always rewarding when I find it. The menus may not be organized or labeled as one might expect, but it adds a unique touch to the software, making it stand out from the rest. The cap table report may appear a bit messy at first glance, but it's actually a great opportunity to get hands-on and customize it in a spreadsheet to make it truly our own. It's like a blank canvas waiting for us to add our personal touch. In spite of these minor quirks, I wholeheartedly endorse Carta. It's a tool I would definitely consider using for future companies. It's not just a software, it's a game-changer!
July 27, 2024
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Sharon G
Carta's Unparalleled Transparency Improves Investor Relations
The transparency Carta offers is unparalleled. It allowed all stakeholders to view their holdings and understand their value in real-time, which significantly improved our investor relations
July 23, 2024
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Emily
Mixed Feelings About Carta
I can't compare Carta to any other software as I haven't used any others. On the plus side, I suppose I can add 'Carta' as a skill on my resume, although I'm uncertain if I'd want to use it again if I switch jobs. I frequently run into problems with this software, but Carta's support team is typically very responsive and assists me in resolving them. The software itself seems to function well as it seldom has technical issues. I value the tutorial provided by the Carta team, it's beneficial. However, the software isn't very user-friendly! It necessitates a solid understanding of securities and stock options, which I don't have. A significant problem I have with Carta is the absence of a quick method to bulk update a set of option grants. Instead, I have to update each option grant individually, which is time-consuming and annoying. This process also triggers an email notification for the option holders, resulting in numerous inquiries from them.
July 14, 2024
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Brenda M
Unbearably Slow, Making Usage Impossible
As an investor using Carta, I find the software quite frustrating. Every time we get a new stock certificate from Carta, it takes a long time to process. Ideally, managing our portfolio of over 50 different holdings should be simple, but it isn't. We are investors, not issuers, and we encounter three major problems. First, the site is incredibly slow, to the point where I often end up emailing the portfolio company for information. Second, the user experience for the portfolio is illogical. For example, after accepting a certificate, I'm not directed to the holdings but to a summary page where I have to search for what I just accepted. If I'm not in the correct "portfolio", it doesn't show up. Lastly, Carta makes it hard to maintain a backup. I didn't choose Carta and if I had the option, I wouldn't use it.
July 9, 2024
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Questa M
Indispensable Asset in Equity Management
As a Carta user, I value its features like investor equity management, employee equity option management, cap table management, and 409A valuation. It has a vast knowledge database for quick learning and a user-friendly interface for efficient navigation. Carta also provides well-organized reports, funding overviews, cap tables, and the capability to establish a data room for investors. It even offers a free annual 409A valuation report. However, I find it quite costly for startups and I think the salary compensation tool should be part of the basic subscription. I also wish it had more comparative details with similar companies for benchmarking purposes. I chose Carta for its ease of use and the extensive knowledge database for employees. It's a leader in the industry and came highly recommended by my legal team and investors.
June 29, 2024
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Joshua W
Effortless Equity Management with User-Friendly Software
its user-friendly interface made it easy to navigate and understand complex equity structures. The software's ability to track and manage cap tables, valuations, investments, and equity plans in one place is truly commendable
June 24, 2024
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Alexander Brown
Carta - Streamlined Equity Management for Private Firms
As a Corporate Securities Attorney with over two decades of experience, I consider Carta to be my preferred application for privately held entities. It has saved me numerous hours on spreadsheets by offering an accurate and easy-to-manage turnkey solution for the Board, Investors, and Employees. The equity management is turnkey and enables me to share with our Attorneys and Accountants. I can swiftly extract data and reports for external Funds and Auditors, and there's a self-service portal for Employees. Some aspects are complex and require training, but it's worth the effort to maintain all equities in a single ledger. I selected Carta due to its reputation as a leading provider and switched to it because the size and scale of my work required a more robust Equity management solution.
June 15, 2024
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Patricia Jones
Basic Yet Effective: Carta's Approach
In my view, Carta is a simple software for monitoring employees' options and their vesting schedules. It alerts employees as options vest over time and even lets them simulate exercising their vested options. However, I think Carta could improve by including basic explanations of terms in the software, as the average person might not understand terms like options, vesting schedules, or exercising options. This would definitely improve users' comprehension and control over their financial assets.
June 11, 2024
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Jean Martinez
From Eshares to Carta: A Game-Changer in Shareholder Management
We started using Carta when it was still called Eshares. Prior to this, we managed everything via an excel spreadsheet which was very chaotic. Now, we can easily generate reports for shareholder information. The only issue I've encountered is the lack of a report that my auditors will accept without my personal adjustments. Despite this, it's a major upgrade from manual tracking. The data entry process is simple, but generating reports for audit purposes can be challenging.
June 2, 2024
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Julia Miller
Carta's Scenario Modeling: A Game-Changer for Strategic Planning
I was particularly impressed with Carta's scenario modeling feature. It allowed me to project future fundraising rounds and exit scenarios, which was instrumental in our strategic planning
May 27, 2024
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David B
Accurate and Timely 409A Valuation Services by Carta
I appreciated the 409A valuation services provided by Carta. They were not only accurate but also timely, ensuring compliance with IRS guidelines
May 20, 2024
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Charlotte F
Effortlessly Managing My Stock Options with Carta
Overall, I find Carta to be simple and user-friendly. It's excellent for companies with numerous employees to monitor who has vested stock options. I value how Carta automatically updates me on my vested options and displays a progress bar for my remaining stock options to vest. So far, I have no complaints, but I may not have used the software deeply enough to encounter any difficulties or dislikes.
May 12, 2024
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Kevin Smith
Streamlining Stock Options with Carta
Carta helps me monitor all of my company's stock options in one location, providing clear reports and instant updates to our cap table. However, modifications to Stakeholders now require more steps, making it somewhat time-consuming when making multiple adjustments.
May 4, 2024
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Ingrid S
Managing Equity Made Easy with Carta
I found Carta to be an excellent tool for managing equity
April 30, 2024
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Wayne Brown
Exceptional Customer Service Experience with Carta
Absolutely love Carta! The process to cancel the account before renewal is thorough, ensuring you're making the right decision. I had the opportunity to communicate with them multiple times via email, which showed me their dedication to customer service. They even arranged a call with me to discuss my concerns, which I found very considerate. On the day of my renewal, they provided me with an offboarding form to complete. It was a bit of a rush, but it added a sense of excitement to the process. I appreciate their thoroughness in ensuring that I was certain about my decision. What I found unique about Carta is that there's no direct button in the app to stop automatic payments or cancel your account. This shows their confidence in their product and their commitment to customer retention. I'm looking forward to using their services again in the future!
April 21, 2024
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Alexis E
Carta: A Game-Changer for LLC Management and Personal Growth
I was initially drawn to Carta because it was promoted as being capable of handling LLC's, which turned out to be a fantastic learning experience. The onboarding process was unique and it really pushed me to become more independent. Now, a year later, I'm actively engaged in managing our account, which has improved my communication skills as I regularly email and follow up. If we had just used an Excel spreadsheet, I wouldn't have had this enriching experience and we wouldn't have invested $6k in our company's growth. I would recommend Carta over a spreadsheet any day, it's a game-changer!
April 16, 2024
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Elizabeth Brown
An Insightful Review of Carta's Equity Management Services
I am convinced that Carta offers an excellent product for equity management. I would recommend being proactive when considering a subscription for their newer products or features like 49A valuations. Their salespeople are quite persuasive and will ensure you understand the full benefits of your subscription. Their relationship managers are thorough and take their time to respond to cancellation or refund requests, ensuring that your account is in good standing and automatically renews, even with ample prior notice. Overall, it was an enlightening experience.
April 13, 2024