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Accounting · head to head

Carta vs Workiva

Carta logo

Carta

Accounting

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

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Workiva logo

Workiva

Accounting

Connected reporting platform for SEC filings, iXBRL tagging, SOX and sustainability disclosure

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Workiva pricing is quoted per solution and per user and is not published, and because moving a filing cycle off the platform carries deadline risk, renewal negotiations favour the vendor heavily.
  • They diverge on capability: Carta covers Cap table of record, Workiva covers Linked data.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Carta and Workiva actually diverge.

Attributes where Carta and Workiva differ
AttributeCartaWorkiva
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Workiva

  • Linked data
  • Inline XBRL tagging
  • SEC filing
  • SOX and controls
  • Sustainability reporting
  • Audit trail
  • Collaboration
  • Data connectors

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

Workiva

  • A newly public company facing its first 10-K where the tie-out process in Word and Excel is not survivable at the deadlinenot Carta
  • A European group preparing CSRD sustainability disclosure that must be assurance-ready rather than a marketing documentnot Carta
  • A finance team whose auditors keep raising review points about version control and unsupported changes in the reporting packnot Carta
  • A group with several statutory filers that wants one set of numbers feeding many jurisdictional reportsnot 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.

Workiva

  • Pricing is quoted per solution and per user and is not published, and because moving a filing cycle off the platform carries deadline risk, renewal negotiations favour the vendor heavily.
  • Cost is difficult to justify for smaller filers whose reporting burden is a single 10-K a year, where an outsourced financial printer is cheaper.
  • Getting the initial linked-data structure right is a substantial project, and companies that rush the first cycle end up with links that break and a manual tie-out anyway.
  • The spreadsheet interface is deliberately not Excel and finance teams accustomed to Excel keyboard behaviour and modelling features find it slower for anything analytical.
  • ESG and sustainability modules were added later than the financial reporting core and buyers report them as less mature, so a company buying primarily for CSRD is buying the newer and weaker half of the product.

Pricing, plan by plan

Carta

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

Workiva

On request
  • Workiva Platform$undefined/year
    • Linked data across documents and spreadsheets
    • SEC and ESEF filing with iXBRL tagging
    • SOX, internal audit and statutory reporting modules

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 Workiva if

  • You need linked data.
  • You also want inline xbrl tagging.
Workiva review

Questions people ask

Is Carta or Workiva better?
Neither clearly leads. Carta starts at $29/month and Workiva at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Carta or Workiva?
Carta starts at $29/month and Workiva at On request.
Does Carta or Workiva run on more platforms?
Carta runs on Web, Ios, Android. Workiva runs on Web.
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 Workiva is typically brought in for.
What can Carta do that Workiva cannot?
Carta covers Cap table of record, 409A valuations, Electronic issuance, Vesting and exercise. Workiva covers Linked data, Inline XBRL tagging, SEC filing, SOX and controls.

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.

Workiva: Does Workiva do the XBRL tagging for me?

The platform provides tagging tools and validation, and Workiva offers services, but the tagging judgement remains the filer's responsibility.

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.

Workiva: Is it only for US SEC filers?

No. It supports European ESEF filings, statutory reporting in several jurisdictions and sustainability frameworks such as CSRD and ISSB.

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.

Workiva: What does it cost?

Not published. Expect tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year depending on solutions and user count.

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.

Workiva: Can it replace our consolidation system?

No. It reports on consolidated numbers and connects to ERP and consolidation tools, but it does not perform the consolidation.

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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