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Accounting · head to head

Bill.com vs Carta

Bill.com logo

Bill.com

Accounting

Automate your financial workflows

From
Free
Rated
-
Carta logo

Carta

Accounting

Cap table, equity and 409A valuation software built around United States private company practice

From
$29/month
Rated
-

The short version

  • Only Bill.com has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Bill.com limited customization of approval workflows and user permissions for complex business needs; Carta pricing scales with the number of stakeholders on the cap table, so a company that grants options broadly pays a rising annual fee for employees and small angels who sign in once a year, and the cost keeps climbing after the round that justified it is spent.
  • They diverge on capability: Bill.com covers AP automation, Carta covers Cap table of record.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bill.com and Carta actually diverge.

Attributes where Bill.com and Carta differ
AttributeBill.comCarta
Starting priceFree$29/month
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Ios, Android
Founded20062012

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Bill.com

  • AP automation
  • AR automation
  • Payment processing
  • Approval workflows
  • Document management
  • Vendor management
  • Cash flow insights
  • Mobile approvals

Only in Carta

  • Cap table of record
  • 409A valuations
  • Electronic issuance
  • Vesting and exercise
  • Employee portal
  • Scenario modelling
  • Waterfall analysis
  • ASC 718 expense reporting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bill.com

  • Invoice processingnot Carta
  • Bill paymentsnot Carta
  • Vendor paymentsnot Carta
  • Cash flow managementnot Carta
  • Financial automationnot Carta

Carta

  • A startup that has just closed a priced round and whose investors and counsel expect the cap table to live somewhere they can read itnot Bill.com
  • A company issuing options to employees for the first time and needing a defensible 409A before it can set a strike pricenot Bill.com
  • A finance team preparing its first audit and needing ASC 718 stock compensation schedules that tie to the grant recordsnot Bill.com
  • A venture fund that wants LP reporting, capital calls and SPV administration handled outside a spreadsheetnot Bill.com

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bill.com

  • Limited customization of approval workflows and user permissions for complex business needs
  • Limited international payment capabilities compared to specialists like Tipalti
  • Customer support response times are slow, with agents often lacking product expertise

Carta

  • Pricing scales with the number of stakeholders on the cap table, so a company that grants options broadly pays a rising annual fee for employees and small angels who sign in once a year, and the cost keeps climbing after the round that justified it is spent.
  • The cap table is a legal record assembled from years of board consents, so migrating to another provider means re-entering historical transactions and having counsel confirm the rebuilt table matches the signed documents, which is why most companies stay whatever they think of the service.
  • The product is built around United States company law and tax practice, Delaware entities, 409A and ASC 718, so a company incorporated in the United Kingdom, Europe or elsewhere gets a record keeping tool while the valuation and compliance features that carry the price are of limited or no use.
  • 409A valuations are delivered on a cadence and require a refresh after each material event or every twelve months, so a company that raises or changes materially is repeatedly back in a valuation process with fees and turnaround time attached, and a late valuation blocks option issuance.
  • Carta drew sustained criticism in 2024 over how customer cap table data intersected with its secondary trading business, and although it exited that activity the episode is a live reason to check what a vendor holding your ownership record is permitted to do with it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bill.com

Free
  • Essentials$49/month
    • Core AP and AR functionality
    • Manual CSV import/export
  • Team$65/month
    • Automatic 2-way sync with QuickBooks Online, Xero
  • Corporate$89/month
    • Procurement features
    • Custom approval policies
    • Sync with NetSuite, Dynamics

Carta

$29/month
  • LaunchFree
    • Cap table
    • Stakeholder management
  • Seed$360/year
    • 409A valuations
    • Option exercising
    • Scenarios

Which should you pick?

Choose Bill.com if

  • You need ap automation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want ar automation.

Choose Carta if

  • You need cap table of record.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want 409a valuations.

Questions people ask

Is Bill.com or Carta better?
Neither clearly leads. Bill.com starts at Free and Carta at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bill.com or Carta?
Bill.com has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bill.com and $29/month for Carta.
Does Bill.com or Carta run on more platforms?
Bill.com runs on Web. Carta runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use Bill.com for free?
Yes. Bill.com has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Carta starts at $29/month.
What is Bill.com best used for?
Bill.com is most often used for invoice processing, bill payments, vendor payments, cash flow management. Of those, invoice processing and bill payments are not what Carta is typically brought in for.
What can Bill.com do that Carta cannot?
Bill.com covers AP automation, AR automation, Payment processing, Approval workflows. Carta covers Cap table of record, 409A valuations, Electronic issuance, Vesting and exercise.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bill.com: What payment methods does Bill.com support?

Bill.com supports ACH transfers, checks, corporate cards, and international transfers. ACH payments cost $0.59 per transaction, checks cost $1.99, and card payments incur a 2.9% fee.

Source
Carta: Do I need Carta before I have employees with options?

No. Before options exist a spreadsheet reviewed by your lawyer is usually enough. The pressure to move normally comes at a priced round, or the first time you need a 409A to set a strike price.

Bill.com: Does Bill.com offer a free tier?

Yes. Bill.com offers a free Spend & Expense plan for access to credit lines from $1,000-$5M with corporate cards, budgets, and expense tracking.

Source
Carta: Is the 409A included in the subscription?

The subscription tiers bundle valuations differently and refreshes after material events can carry additional cost. Check what triggers a chargeable revaluation before you sign, because raising a round is exactly the moment you will need one.

Bill.com: Which accounting systems does Bill.com integrate with?

Bill.com integrates with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Enterprise, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics, and Xero, with automatic two-way syncing on most plans.

Source
Carta: Can my accountant get the stock compensation numbers out of it?

Yes, it produces ASC 718 expense schedules and exports. If your accounts are prepared under a different framework, expect the schedules to be a starting point that your accountant reworks rather than something they post directly.

Carta: Is it useful for a company outside the United States?

It can hold the share register and grants, and it does support some non United States structures. The 409A and United States tax workflow will not apply to you, so weigh it against local alternatives that understand your filings.

Carta: How hard is it to leave?

Harder than the export button suggests. You can export the data, but the receiving system has to reproduce every historical grant, cancellation and transfer, and someone has to verify the result against the original signed consents.

Carta: Who normally pays for it, the company or the investors?

The company, even though investors and counsel are frequent users. That is the usual complaint about the pricing model: the party paying is not the only party benefiting.

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