Is Carta or Kodo better?

Neither clearly leads. Carta starts at $29/month and Kodo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Carta or Kodo?

Carta starts at $29/month and Kodo at On request.

Does Carta or Kodo run on more platforms?

Carta runs on Web, Ios, Android. Kodo runs on Web, iOS, Android.

What is Carta best used for?

Carta is most often used for a startup that has just closed a priced round and whose investors and counsel expect the cap table to live somewhere they can read it, a company issuing options to employees for the first time and needing a defensible 409a before it can set a strike price, a finance team preparing its first audit and needing asc 718 stock compensation schedules that tie to the grant records, a venture fund that wants lp reporting, capital calls and spv administration handled outside a spreadsheet. Of those, a startup that has just closed a priced round and whose investors and counsel expect the cap table to live somewhere they can read it and a company issuing options to employees for the first time and needing a defensible 409a before it can set a strike price are not what Kodo is typically brought in for.

What can Carta do that Kodo cannot?

Carta covers Cap table of record, 409A valuations, Electronic issuance, Vesting and exercise. Kodo covers Corporate cards, Purchase requests, Invoice capture and matching, Vendor payouts.

Accounting · head to head

Carta vs Kodo

Carta

Accounting

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

From: $29/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Kodo

Accounting

Corporate cards and intake to pay for Indian businesses

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: 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.; Kodo kodo is not a licensed issuer, so card limits, settlement cycles and eligibility come from a partner bank whose terms you do not directly control and which can change the programme.
They diverge on capability: Carta covers Cap table of record, Kodo covers Corporate cards.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Carta and Kodo actually diverge.

Attributes where Carta and Kodo differ
Attribute	Carta	Kodo
Starting price	$29/month	On request
Pricing model	subscription	quote
Founded	2012	Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), 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 Carta

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

Only in Kodo

Corporate cards
Purchase requests
Invoice capture and matching
Vendor payouts
GST and TDS handling
ERP integration
Approval workflows
Spend analytics

What people use each for

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

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 Kodo
A company issuing options to employees for the first time and needing a defensible 409A before it can set a strike pricenot Kodo
A finance team preparing its first audit and needing ASC 718 stock compensation schedules that tie to the grant recordsnot Kodo
A venture fund that wants LP reporting, capital calls and SPV administration handled outside a spreadsheetnot Kodo

Kodo

An Indian startup replacing founder personal cards with issued cards carrying per employee limitsnot Carta
A finance team automating vendor payouts across NEFT, RTGS and UPI with maker checker approvalnot Carta
A company that needs GST compliant invoice coding flowing into Tally without rekeyingnot Carta
A business enforcing purchase requests and approvals before spend rather than reconciling it afterwardsnot Carta

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Kodo

Kodo is not a licensed issuer, so card limits, settlement cycles and eligibility come from a partner bank whose terms you do not directly control and which can change the programme.
Indian regulatory changes on prepaid instruments and card issuing partnerships have repeatedly disrupted fintech card programmes, so continuity risk is higher here than in equivalent European or United States products.
Pricing is not published, so comparing Kodo against Happay, Zoho Expense or a bank corporate card requires a full sales cycle and disclosure of your spend volumes.
Coverage is India only, so any group with overseas subsidiaries runs a second card and payables system and loses the consolidated view.
The intake to pay workflow is lighter than a dedicated procurement suite, with limited contract management and supplier onboarding, so regulated or heavily audited buyers will find gaps.

Pricing, plan by plan

Carta

$29/month

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

Kodo

On request

Kodo$undefined/year
- Quoted per customer, no published rate card
- Card limits and settlement terms set by the sponsoring partner bank
- Payout volumes and payment rails may carry per transaction charges

Which should you pick?

Choose Carta if

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

Carta review

Choose Kodo if

You need corporate cards.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want purchase requests.

Kodo review

Questions people ask

Is Carta or Kodo better?: Neither clearly leads. Carta starts at $29/month and Kodo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Carta or Kodo?: Carta starts at $29/month and Kodo at On request.
Does Carta or Kodo run on more platforms?: Carta runs on Web, Ios, Android. Kodo runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Carta best used for?: Carta is most often used for a startup that has just closed a priced round and whose investors and counsel expect the cap table to live somewhere they can read it, a company issuing options to employees for the first time and needing a defensible 409a before it can set a strike price, a finance team preparing its first audit and needing asc 718 stock compensation schedules that tie to the grant records, a venture fund that wants lp reporting, capital calls and spv administration handled outside a spreadsheet. Of those, a startup that has just closed a priced round and whose investors and counsel expect the cap table to live somewhere they can read it and a company issuing options to employees for the first time and needing a defensible 409a before it can set a strike price are not what Kodo is typically brought in for.
What can Carta do that Kodo cannot?: Carta covers Cap table of record, 409A valuations, Electronic issuance, Vesting and exercise. Kodo covers Corporate cards, Purchase requests, Invoice capture and matching, Vendor payouts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Kodo: Who actually issues the cards?

A partner bank under a card network arrangement, not Kodo. Ask which bank, whether the product is credit or prepaid, and what happens to your limits if the partnership changes.

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.

Kodo: Is pricing published?

No. Kodo quotes per customer, so benchmark against at least two Indian rivals before signing.

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.

Kodo: Does Kodo work outside India?

No meaningful coverage outside India for card issuing or payouts.

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.

Carta vs Kodo

Carta

Kodo

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Carta

Only in Kodo

What people use each for

Carta

Kodo

Where each one falls short

Carta

Kodo

Pricing, plan by plan

Carta

Kodo

Which should you pick?

Choose Carta if

Choose Kodo if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Carta

More on Kodo

Keep looking

Other head to heads