Accounting & Finance · head to head
Carta vs Brex
Brex
Accounting & Finance
The financial stack for growing businesses
- From
- $29/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Carta free plan eligibility as captured 19 January 2024 was capped at companies with fewer than 25 stakeholders and less than $1M raised in funding; Brex the free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities
- They diverge on capability: Carta covers Cap table management, Brex covers Corporate cards.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Carta and Brex actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting & Finance).
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 Carta
- Cap table management
- 409A valuations
- Equity plans
- Investor reporting
- Fund administration
- Gusto
- Slack
- Bank-level encryption
Only in Brex
- Corporate cards
- Business accounts
- Expense management
- Bill pay
- Travel
- NetSuite
- Xero
- PCI DSS
Both cover
- QuickBooks
- SOC 2
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Carta
- Equity managementnot Brex
- 409A valuationsnot Brex
- Fund administrationnot Brex
Brex
- Corporate cards with spend controls for startupsnot Carta
- Expense management and reimbursementsnot Carta
- Travel booking inside the spend platformnot Carta
- Bill pay and accounting system syncnot Carta
- Multi-entity spend management on the paid tiersnot Carta
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Carta
- Free plan eligibility as captured 19 January 2024 was capped at companies with fewer than 25 stakeholders and less than $1M raised in funding
Brex
- The free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities
- Premium is $12 per user per month, so cost scales with headcount using the card
- Enterprise and Smart Card pricing is not published
- Eligibility criteria are not stated anywhere on the pricing page, which matters for a product that extends credit
Pricing, plan by plan
Carta
$29/month- LaunchFree
- Cap table
- Stakeholder management
- Seed$360/year
- 409A valuations
- Option exercising
- Scenarios
Brex
$29/month- EssentialsFree
- Corporate cards
- Expense management
- Bill pay
- Premium$12/month
- Advanced controls
- Custom approvals
- Travel booking
Which should you pick?
Choose Carta if
- You need cap table management.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want 409a valuations.
Choose Brex if
- You need corporate cards.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want business accounts.
Questions people ask
- Is Carta or Brex better?
- Neither clearly leads. Carta starts at $29/month and Brex at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Carta or Brex?
- Carta starts at $29/month and Brex at $29/month.
- Does Carta or Brex run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is Carta best used for?
- Carta is most often used for equity management, 409a valuations, fund administration. Of those, equity management and 409a valuations are not what Brex is typically brought in for.
- What can Carta do that Brex cannot?
- Carta covers Cap table management, 409A valuations, Equity plans, Investor reporting. Brex covers Corporate cards, Business accounts, Expense management, Bill pay. Both handle QuickBooks, SOC 2, Web support, Ios support.