Carta is the dominant cap table management platform for Series A and later-stage companies. It's powerful, legally robust, and deeply integrated with fund administration. It's also expensive, complex to set up, and designed around workflows that most early-stage startups don't yet have — 409A valuations, electronic stock certificates, transfer agent services. If you have two cofounders and a seed round, Carta is probably more than you need.
Everything corporate in one place — no spreadsheets.
Set up your company's cap table in minutes.
Everything corporate in one place — no spreadsheets.
Set up your company's cap table in minutes.
Carta's core value proposition is legal-grade equity management for companies with institutional investors, issued stock certificates, and formal option plans under SEC regulation. Its pricing reflects that: meaningful monthly fees, onboarding requirements, and a feature set that assumes you have a dedicated finance or legal team to operate it. For a pre-seed startup with three founders and a handful of cap table entries, most of that functionality sits unused.
Before Series A, most founding teams need: a live view of who owns what percentage, a way to track contributions and vesting, a tool to simulate investment rounds before committing, and an audit trail that satisfies investors in due diligence. They do not need electronic stock certificates, 409A automation, or fund management portals. A tool built specifically for the founding stage handles these needs without the complexity overhead.
Equafy is built for founders managing equity before and through early funding rounds. It supports fixed equity allocations, Slicing Pie-style dynamic contributions, a reserved pool, vesting grant management, convertible instruments (SAFEs and notes), and round simulation — everything a founding team needs from incorporation through a seed round. The interface is designed for founders, not cap table specialists, at a price point that matches the bootstrapped reality.
Everything the founding stage needs
Fixed allocations, Slicing Pie-style dynamic contributions, a reserved pool, vesting grant management, SAFEs and notes, and round simulation — the full set a team needs from incorporation through a seed round, and nothing built for the stage after it.
| Carta | Equafy | |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for | Companies with institutional investors, issued certificates and formal option plans | Founders managing equity from incorporation through early rounds |
| Assumes you have | A dedicated finance or legal team to operate it | No specialist — the interface is built for founders |
| 409A, stock certificates, fund portals | Core to the product | Out of scope by design |
| Vesting, convertibles, round simulation | Yes | Yes |
No. Carta's core features — 409A valuations, electronic stock certificates, fund administration — are not relevant at the pre-seed stage. A simpler tool that tracks equity, vesting, and contributions is usually sufficient.
Carta becomes valuable when you have institutional investors requiring formal cap table management, option plan administration, or electronic securities. For most companies, that means Series A or a significant seed round.
Live cap table tracking, vesting management, convertible instrument simulation, round modeling, and an audit trail. Bonus features: dynamic equity support and a reserved pool tracker.
Equafy gives early-stage founders everything they need to manage equity — without the complexity or cost of enterprise cap table software.
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