Carta Reviews

“Great tool, however one flaw

Pros

I love how I can get updates based on several other clients' compensation data. This helps me remain competitive.

Cons

I would love to see historical data. For example, with existing employees brought in at an IC_ or MGR_ level a couple of years ago, it would be helpful to see where they were placed within the band (XX%ile) when the market was showing that historical data.

“Easy to manage ESOP distribution

Pros

The portal gives me easy access to manage my ESOPs and provides the complete vesting schedule. The admin can keep adding more ESOPs as needed. It also allows me to exercise options among other features. From an employee perspective, it's simple to use with complete security.

Cons

As a user, I have nothing negative to say. My experience has been entirely positive so far.

“Carta - all-in-one Equity management for privately held companies

Pros

Equity management is simple. I can share data with our Attorneys and Accountants, and quickly pull data and reports for outside Funds and Auditors. The self-serve option portal is great for Employees.

Cons

Some of the nuances are complex, but the software works. It requires some training, but the effort is worth it to keep all my equities in a single ledger.

“Avoid at all cost

Pros

I do not like anything about this software.

Cons

Carta is awful, bottom line. We canceled our account on November 6th, 2022, but they still charged us nearly $5k on December 18th. I've reached out to the "success manager" assigned to our account for a refund since we canceled, but she doesn't respond to my emails. I've called the support line, but they just redirect me to our "success manager." They are an unethical nightmare. Avoid at all costs.

“Best in class?

Pros

Carta is very convenient for me to track my vesting over time.

Cons

We've had issues with several aspects of Carta: onboarding, we weren't set up with the right vesting schedule, and several terminated employees are now showing as continuously vesting; customer support, when these issues were brought to Carta, they were slow to respond, taking several weeks to resolve, even though employees had access to the system and could see incorrect shares; functionality. I would love the ability to input more information on our equity program for employees, but the system isn't as customizable as we'd like.

“Work on the ease of completing deals

Pros

It saves me time and effort by eliminating tiring spreadsheets that consume a lot of time and require manual operations. When I encounter a problem, the Carta support team is usually quick to respond and works with me to solve it. It's also easy to use, which helps me develop data with high accuracy.

Cons

I don't really have a complaint about Carta, except that it's hard to back up.

“Great tool for equity management

Pros

I like that it is commonly used in tech companies, so many investors are already comfortable with it.

Cons

Some functionality is difficult to locate, and the help function references a different version of the software than I have.

“Carta does everything to avoid providing service and still charges a premium

Pros

I don't find the software to be very intuitive or helpful. It seems the people behind it know the business domain, but beyond that, I can't say much for it.

Cons

Their customer service is impossible to reach, and when I do, they are very unhelpful. They clearly don't value their customer relationships. They check in periodically to see if they can upsell me on add-on products that aren't useful to our business.

“Horrible experience so far.

Pros

I have found nothing so far to like about it.

Cons

Their emails seem a lot like spam, which does not inspire confidence.

“Carta is simple and exactly what was needed

Pros

It's easy to navigate and has helped me create a better understanding of my equity.

Cons

I had trouble adding banks that are not big names but was able to overcome it.

“Simple But Gets the Job Done

Pros

If you're looking for simple software to track employees' options and their vesting schedules, Carta gets the job done. It notifies employees as options vest over time and even lets them simulate exercising their vested options.

Cons

The average person does not understand what options are or how vesting schedules or exercising options work. Carta could improve this experience by incorporating basic explanations of terminology into the software (e.g., info buttons next to certain terms). This would certainly give users an increased understanding of and sense of control over their financial assets.

“Essential Tool in Equity Management

Pros

The in-depth knowledge database got me started quickly. The interface is simple to use and allows for efficient navigation. Carta combines equity and salary compensation benchmarks, adjusting for size, location, and industry. It provides well-structured reports, funding overviews, cap tables, and the ability to create a data room for investors. I also get a free annual 409A valuation report.

Cons

Expensive for startups, salary compensation tool should be included in the base subscription, more comparative details with similar companies (benchmarking functions).

“Seems ok for what it is

Pros

It's simple to view my option grants and equity holdings, with no unnecessary extras or complications.

Cons

I don't have anything I don't like. It seems to do what it's supposed to do.

“Best to Keep track

Pros

The app is great for users, super transparent, and easy to understand.

Cons

Reporting-wise, it's confusing sometimes which report to get to obtain the desired data.

“Great Program

Pros

I like using this to track options, RSUs, and shares. Support is also helpful and does its best to answer questions.

Cons

The commissions on sales are a bit over the norm for a retail brokerage-type program. Especially bad if you have small lot sizes.

“Carta Cap Table Management for Startups

Pros

Carta made the implementation easy, and ongoing maintenance has been easy. I really like that Carta manages my cap table and includes 409A valuations in my plan, so when I'm ready to kick that off, I just press a button.

Cons

I have found it a bit difficult to add new users and debt issuances, and my customer service rep has generally pushed me toward recordings of user Q&A sessions rather than answering my questions.

“IPO was a debacle

Pros

The pages were simple for me to navigate, and their layout was well-organized and intuitive.

Cons

Carta's handling of the Affirm IPO was a debacle. I believe Affirm no longer works with Carta as a result. Every employee's sell order was accidentally canceled on the day of the equity release. Carta did not have any alert system and did not notify affected employees for a month. Some employees were left tens of thousands of dollars worse off than if the error hadn't occurred. I am generally concerned about the quality of their software. Amusingly, one employee had $50K worth of stocks go missing from their account. Carta's software engineers had to deploy a bug fix for these stocks to be visible again!

“Clunky, Inefficient, and Expensive

Pros

Carta allows me to store all my financial investment documents.

Cons

The interface and experience are terrible. It is clunky and not intuitive. It is very expensive, and the customer support is not as attentive as they should be. There is no easy ability to forecast and project.

“Great equity management system

Pros

Overall, Carta makes it really easy for me to view my holdings, each individual grant, and what has vested. It also lets me exercise available options.

Cons

Our company went through a re-price, so all old grants had to be canceled and reissued. It's not easy to tell which grants are active versus which ones are voided.

“Simplifies confusing information

Pros

I've used Carta through multiple companies and love how it takes complex legal language and breaks it down for me to simply understand and visualize in its predictive outcomes.

Cons

I don't have any negative input. The software does exactly what I hope it would.