Carta
Equity management platform
About Carta
Carta manages equity. Cap table records, option grants and vesting schedules, 409A valuations, scenario modelling for future rounds, and the reporting investors expect — replacing the spreadsheet that every company starts with and eventually regrets.
We list it as the reference for cap table management. The argument for moving off a spreadsheet early is that cap table errors compound silently and surface at the worst possible moment, during diligence on a round or an acquisition.
Pulley is the closest competitor, generally cheaper and often preferred by early-stage founders for its modelling tools. AngelList handles cap tables for companies raising through their platform. Ledgy is the stronger European option with local compliance built in. A spreadsheet genuinely works until your first priced round, and stops working immediately afterwards. Carta's scale is both its advantage and its main criticism — it's the standard investors know, and its pricing and past handling of customer data have both drawn founder complaints worth reading up on.
Try Carta yourself.
Open the site in a new tab. No signup required from us.
Carta alternatives
Other Legal tools we use alongside Carta.
DocuSign
Electronic signature and agreement cloud
View toolIronclad
Contract lifecycle management
View toolDoola
All-in-one back-office for entrepreneurs — handles LLC formation, bookkeeping, annual reports, and tax compliance so you can focus on building.
View toolLegalZoom
Online legal services for business and personal needs — LLC and corporation formation, registered agent, compliance, trademarks, wills and trusts, plus attorney guidance through guided tools and a personalized dashboard.
View tool
Frequently asked questions
- What is Carta?
- Equity management platform Carta manages equity. Cap table records, option grants and vesting schedules, 409A valuations, scenario modelling for future rounds, and the reporting investors expect — replacing the spreadsheet that every company starts with and eventually regrets.
- What category does Carta fall into?
- Carta is a Legal tool. Replace Works tracks it in the Company Stack, our public catalogue of the AI tools we evaluate and ship with.
- What are the best alternatives to Carta?
- The closest alternatives we track in the same Legal category are DocuSign, Ironclad, Doola and LegalZoom. All of them are listed in the Replace Works Company Stack with our notes on where each one fits.
- Does Replace Works use Carta?
- Carta is listed in our Company Stack as a tool we have evaluated and recommend, but it is not currently in our day-to-day rotation.