Carta does not publish a real price. Its plans page shows one free tier and then a wall of “contact sales,” which means most founders searching for what Carta costs never get a straight answer before a demo call. This is the answer that call won’t give you plainly: what startups actually pay in 2026, broken down by stage, including the 409A valuation cost that trips up first-time founders.
The numbers below come from real purchase data, not Carta’s marketing. Procurement platform Vendr, which brokered 405 Carta contracts, puts the median annual spend at $15,400, ranging from about $2,900 for the smallest teams to over $55,000 for late-stage companies. Your number depends almost entirely on two things: how many stakeholders sit on your cap table, and how hard you negotiate.
Does Carta have public pricing?
For most founders, no. Carta’s cap table product has four tiers, and only the first shows a price:
- Launch is free, for companies with up to 25 stakeholders and under $1M raised. This is a real free plan with genuine cap table management, not a trial.
- Build, Grow, and Scale all advertise “unlimited stakeholders” and carry no published price at all. Each one is a “Get started” button that routes to a sales quote.
That is the entire public rate card: one free tier, then a wall of “contact sales.” The moment you cross 25 stakeholders or raise more than $1M, you leave the only priced plan Carta offers and enter quote territory, where what you pay is set by negotiation rather than a number on a page. The sticker prices that circulate online are mostly outdated tier names from earlier versions of Carta’s pricing, which is why the only trustworthy figures are what real companies actually paid.
What Carta actually costs by stage
Because Carta publishes no price above the free tier, the only reliable numbers come from real contracts. Here is what companies actually pay, from aggregated 2026 purchase data, organized by where you sit. Stakeholder count is the main driver: every investor, optioned employee, SAFE holder, and advisor counts.
| Stage | Stakeholders | What you actually pay |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed / seed | Under 25, under $1M raised | Free (Launch tier) |
| Early (just past the free limit) | 25–50 | ~$1,000–$8,000, quote-based |
| Series A–C (growth) | 100–300 | $10,000–$25,000 |
| Late stage / pre-IPO | 500+ | $30,000–$75,000+ |
Free-tier limits are from Carta’s live pricing page; the paid ranges are from Vendr’s 2026 dataset of 405 real purchases (median $15,400) reconciled with real customer quotes reported by Failory. The jump from free to several thousand dollars happens the instant you raise a priced round or your stakeholder list crosses 25, which is worth budgeting for before a renewal quote surprises you.
What a 409A valuation costs
If you issue stock options, the IRS requires a 409A valuation to set a defensible strike price, and you need a fresh one at least every 12 months or after any material event like a new funding round. This is the single most searched cost inside the Carta question, and the answer has two paths.
Bought standalone, a 409A valuation runs roughly $2,000 to $5,000 per valuation, per Vendr’s 2026 data, with price rising alongside company complexity. Bought through Carta, it is often bundled into the paid cap table plans rather than billed separately, which is a genuine part of Carta’s value: the valuation, the cap table, and the option grants live in one system, and the 409A is produced from data Carta already holds.
That bundling is also why the “free” 409A inside a plan is not really free. You are paying for it inside a cap table subscription that costs several thousand dollars a year. For a company issuing options regularly, that math usually works. For a two-founder company with no option pool yet, paying for a platform to get a “free” 409A you don’t need yet is backwards. The 409A requirement is downstream of actually granting equity, a step worth understanding before you buy tooling for it; our guide to pre-seed valuation covers where the 409A fits in the wider valuation picture.
The hidden costs founders miss
The subscription is only part of the bill. From the same purchase data, the extras that show up on real Carta invoices:
- Onboarding and migration: $1,000 to $5,000 one time, often waived if you negotiate or come through a partner referral.
- Per-stakeholder overages: $20 to $50 for each stakeholder above your tier limit, which is how a cheap plan quietly becomes an expensive one as you hire and raise.
- Renewal increases: the most common complaint. The first-year price is the friendliest one you will ever get. Model the second and third year, not just year one.
- Fund administration: a separate product entirely, running $5,000 to $50,000+ per fund per year, relevant only if you are a fund rather than a startup.
How to lower your Carta bill
Carta’s pricing is negotiable, and buyers who treat it that way pay meaningfully less. Real purchase data shows discounts of 15 to 25 percent off the initial quote are common, and multi-year commitments frequently take another 10 to 20 percent off list.
Three levers do most of the work:
- Ask for the discount, plainly. The single most reliable tactic in the customer data was simply requesting a lower number. Quotes are set high on the assumption you won’t push.
- Come through a partner. Startup programs and corporate card partnerships frequently waive implementation fees and add a first-year discount. If your bank, accelerator, or card provider has a Carta relationship, use it.
- Have a credible alternative. The best leverage is a real quote from a competitor, which brings us to the next section.
Carta alternatives worth comparing
Carta is the category leader, but it is no longer the only credible option, and for early-stage startups the challengers are often cheaper or free. The names worth getting a quote from before you sign:
- Pulley and AngelList both court early-stage startups aggressively, frequently with free cap table management at the smallest sizes, aiming to win you before you scale.
- Ledgy is the common choice for European and cross-border cap tables.
- Cake Equity and Vela target founders who want simpler, lower-cost equity management without the enterprise surface area.
- A spreadsheet. Unglamorous, free, and genuinely fine for a two-founder company with no option pool. You graduate off it the moment you have real investors, employee options, and a 409A requirement, not before.
The honest framing: Carta earns its price once your cap table is complex enough that mistakes are expensive and the integrated 409A saves real time. Below that threshold, you are often buying more platform than you need.
Is Carta worth it for a startup?
For a funded startup issuing equity to employees and investors, yes, with eyes open. The integrated 409A, audit-ready cap table, and investor reporting are worth real money when a cap table error or a botched 409A can cost far more than the subscription. Carta became the default for a reason.
For a pre-revenue, pre-option-pool company, usually not yet. Start on the free Launch tier or a spreadsheet, and upgrade when granting equity forces the issue. Whichever way you go, budget for year two, negotiate the first quote, and treat Carta’s list price as an opening bid. For the wider funding-stack picture, see our guide to startup financing, and for how opaque enterprise-tool pricing works in general, our breakdown of what PitchBook costs uses the same real-data approach.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Carta cost?
For startups, real 2026 purchase data puts the median at about $15,400 a year, but the range is enormous: from a free tier for the smallest cap tables, to $3,000 to $8,000 for an early-stage company under 50 stakeholders, to $30,000 or more for late-stage companies. Stakeholder count and negotiation drive the final number.
Is Carta free?
Yes, at the smallest size. Carta’s Launch plan is genuinely free for companies with up to 25 stakeholders and under $1M raised, and includes real cap table management, not just a trial. Once you exceed either limit you move to Carta’s Build, Grow, or Scale tiers, which carry no published price and are quote-based.
How much does a 409A valuation cost?
A standalone 409A valuation runs roughly $2,000 to $5,000 per valuation in 2026, rising with company complexity. Cap table platforms like Carta often bundle the 409A into their paid plans instead of billing it separately, so the “free” 409A is really paid for inside the subscription.
How often do you need a new 409A valuation?
At least once every 12 months, and again after any material event such as a new priced funding round. An expired 409A means you cannot safely set option strike prices, which is why founders issuing equity keep it current.
What are the best Carta alternatives?
Pulley and AngelList are the most common early-stage alternatives, often free or low-cost at small sizes. Ledgy is popular for European cap tables, and Cake Equity and Vela target founders wanting simpler tooling. For a pre-option-pool company, a spreadsheet is a legitimate free starting point.
Can you negotiate Carta’s pricing?
Yes. Real purchase data shows 15 to 25 percent off the initial quote is common just by asking, with multi-year deals taking another 10 to 20 percent off. Partner referrals frequently waive onboarding fees. Always treat the first quote as an opening bid.
