These two products share a phrase and little else. Carta is equity infrastructure used from a company's first shares onward, with products for funds, law firms and compensation teams. Nautis is a startup workspace in which a cap table is one module among many. We'd rather say that up front than have you find it out during diligence.
Some limits on what follows. Carta's main website refused our requests on 31 October 2026, so we read three pages of its support site and saw its pricing and plans pages only through search excerpts. Where a detail rests on an excerpt, we say so. We couldn't read paid plan prices at all, and you should get them from Carta directly.
What does cap table administration actually mean?
It means someone keeps the legal record and the compliance work that hangs off it, while a cap table on its own is just a list of who owns what. The distinction decides this whole comparison. A record tells you the founder holds 62% fully diluted. Administration means securities are issued electronically, holders sign in to see their own vesting, valuations support your option strike price, and finance can produce the equity reports an auditor asks for.
Carta's support site footer says it is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a transfer agent. Its Launch terms list reports such as summary, intermediate and detailed cap tables, a vesting report, an equity plan analysis and stakeholder ownership details, and name scenario modelling, waterfalls and 701, 718 and 3921 compliance as premium features.
The Nautis Cap Table does the record-keeping and the modelling. You add stakeholders, create instruments such as common, preferred, options, warrants, SAFEs and notes, and record conversions, and every change lands in a transactions log. It doesn't generate legal share certificates, and it stores a 409A report you got elsewhere instead of producing one. A dedicated tool will go further than Nautis on cap table administration, and Carta is a clear example.
Side by side on equity work
| Equity job | Carta | Nautis |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership record | Yes, across Launch and paid tiers | Yes, on Voyage and Fleet, not Launch |
| Issuing securities | Electronic issuance to employees and investors | You record instruments. Legal documents are made elsewhere |
| Holder logins | Each stakeholder can log in to track ownership and vesting | Team permissions only. No holder portal in the guide |
| SAFEs | Auto-generate and track, with benchmark comparison | Record principal, discount and cap, then convert in a Conversions tab |
| 409A valuations | On Grow and up (excerpts) | Upload a report you obtained elsewhere |
| Scenario and waterfall modelling | Premium features under the Launch terms | Scenarios and an exit waterfall view, both included |
| Equity compliance (701, 718, 3921) | Premium features. ASC 718 reporting on Scale (excerpts) | Not in the guide |
| Share certificates | Certificate transaction reporting | Upload only. Your lawyer issues them |
| Fund, law firm and compensation products | Yes, each with its own support area | None |
| Non-equity company records | Its support home lists a Carta CRM for deal flow and LP relationships. Runway, tasks and team records are not on the pages we read | Fundraising CRM, runway, tasks, sales, team |
One row runs in Nautis's favour for a very early company. Under Carta's Launch terms, adding scenario modelling or waterfalls is one of the events that requires a paid plan, while the Nautis module includes them on Voyage. That is modelling on your own numbers, though, and it carries no audit weight.
Carta Launch and its limits
Carta Launch costs nothing. Its FAQ describes it as a free platform for startups with less than $1M raised and 25 stakeholders or fewer. It covers common stock, founders stock, equity plan issuances, convertible notes, SAFEs and preferred stock, for up to 25 security holders.
The terms list three triggers for moving to a paid plan: going past 25 holders; raising $1,000,000 or more in equity or debt; or adding a 409A subscription or premium accounting, modelling or compliance features. Carta also reserves the right to limit support on Launch, and to change or discontinue the plan. None of that is unusual for a $0 product, but note the second trigger. A single good seed round takes you past it, at which point you pay whatever Carta's pricing is then.
If your company is incorporated outside the US, read the terms closely. They say Carta doesn't act as a share registry or transfer agent for those companies, and that you need another system in place for that. Founders in India and elsewhere should raise this with their lawyer before assuming what a Carta account covers.
What each costs
| Plan | Price | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| Carta Launch | $0 | Up to 25 holders and under $1M raised |
| Carta Build, Grow, Scale | Not confirmed. Excerpts describe a price per stakeholder with a minimum annual fee | Grow adds 409A support, Scale adds financial reporting (excerpts) |
| Nautis Launch | $49 a month | No cap table. Workspace only |
| Nautis Voyage | $99 a month or $990 a year | Cap table and equity calculator, plus the workspace, for 10 team members |
| Nautis Fleet | $129 a month or $1,290 a year | As Voyage, for 25 team members |
On price alone, an eligible company has no reason to choose Nautis for a cap table: Launch costs nothing and a Nautis plan with a cap table costs $99 a month. Buy Nautis for the workspace, and treat the cap table as a side benefit.
Three companies, three answers
- Two founders, one SAFE, $400,000 raised. Carta Launch fits and costs nothing. If you also want the rest of the workspace, Nautis Voyage can hold a working copy for planning, but keep one official record. To test dilution before any of this, try the cap table simulator or the SAFE calculator.
- Eleven people, a $3M seed closed, options being granted. You need valuations for strike prices and grants that hold up, so use a proper administrator. The Nautis module can still run what-if rounds for the founder's own thinking, but Carta or a similar tool should hold the record. The ESOP setup guide explains why this matters.
- A bootstrapped founder with one co-founder and no investors. Two lines on a cap table don't call for much software. A spreadsheet or a free record is fine until someone else owns shares, and neither product needs to be a reason to spend money.
Where Nautis is useful anyway
The Nautis module earns its place by sitting next to the raise. The Fundraising CRM tracks who is committing capital and the cap table records what they own at close. Scenarios are a sandbox, so you can model $2M at a $10M pre-money, a 10% pool top-up or a $50M exit, and see dilution per stakeholder and a liquidation waterfall without touching live numbers. Investor Readiness also checks that a cap table exists when it scores your round terms.
Be careful about running two records. If Carta holds the official table, label anything in Nautis as a model. Two tables that disagree invite awkward questions, and the investor diligence guide shows how closely investors read these records. Nautis also has a shorter history: it launched publicly in July 2026, and it has none of the institutional familiarity that a lawyer or a lead investor will expect from an established equity platform.
Should you switch either way?
- Keep Carta if you already use it, and especially if you have priced investors, an option plan or an upcoming audit. Nothing in Nautis replaces that.
- Start on Carta Launch if you qualify and equity is your only question.
- Add Nautis for different reasons. Consider it if the running of the company is the problem, with pre-seed and seed teams the most likely fit. Don't buy it to save on a cap table administrator.
- Ask your lawyer before you change the system that holds the official record. Your counsel may have a strong preference, and may be the one setting it up.
FAQ
Which is better for cap table management in Nautis vs Carta?
Carta, by a wide margin, if you need the record administered. It handles issuance, holder logins and, on higher tiers, valuations and equity compliance. Nautis is suited to keeping and modelling a simple cap table inside a wider workspace.
Is Carta free for startups?
Carta Launch costs nothing for startups with less than $1M raised and 25 stakeholders or fewer. Its terms require an upgrade if you pass either limit or add a 409A subscription or premium modelling, accounting or compliance features. We couldn't read current paid prices.
Does Nautis do 409A valuations?
No. You can upload a 409A report to the Documents tab of the Nautis Cap Table, but Nautis doesn't produce one. You need a valuation provider, and Carta's search excerpts place 409A valuations on its Grow plan and above.
Which Nautis plan includes the cap table?
Voyage and Fleet, at $99 and $129 a month. The Launch plan at $49 doesn't include the cap table or the equity calculator. The 14-day trial starts on Launch, so check the plan before you test it.
Disclosure: We make Nautis, so we have a stake in this comparison. It's based on published information, not a scored hands-on test. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Sources
- Carta support: FAQ on Carta Launch (checked Oct 31, 2026)
- Carta support: Carta Launch terms and conditions (checked Oct 31, 2026)
- Carta support: help center home (checked Oct 31, 2026)
- Carta: pricing and plans (search excerpts only, direct fetch blocked) (checked Oct 31, 2026)
- Carta: equity management plans (search excerpts only, direct fetch blocked) (checked Oct 31, 2026)