Comparison
Both run a cap table and fund admin. The difference is what you get before you talk to a salesperson, and whether finding investors is part of the product.
Everything stated about Carta here comes from its own public pages. If something is out of date, tell us at support@brightcapital.fund and we will correct it.
Founders raising a first or second US round who want to find investors, run the raise and keep the cap table in one subscription they can start today.
Companies past Series A with a lawyer-managed cap table, 409A cadence and an equity plan for dozens of employees.
Bright Capital America publishes every plan — founders from $79/mo, investors from $49/mo — and you subscribe with a card. Carta's cap-table and fund-admin plans are quoted through sales for most company sizes, so evaluation starts with a call.
Carta manages ownership after the round closes. Bright Capital America also includes the investor directory, filtering, outreach tracking and a deal room, so the search and the raise are not two separate tools.
Directory, pipeline, data room, cap table and investor updates sit behind one login. Most founders we talk to are stitching this together from a spreadsheet, a shared drive, a mail-merge tool and stale fund websites.
| What you are trying to do | Bright Capital America | Carta |
|---|---|---|
| See the price without a sales call | Yes — every plan is published, card checkout | Mostly no — quoted through sales for most tiers |
| Find investors to pitch | Investor directory with stage, sector and geography filters | Not part of the product |
| Run the raise (pipeline, outreach, data room) | Included from the Fundraising Workspace plan | Fundraising tooling is limited; data room available |
| Cap table and SAFEs | Cap table, SAFEs, priced rounds, stakeholder ledger | Mature cap table with legal-grade issuance workflows |
| 409A valuations | Not offered | Offered as a service |
| Employee equity plans at scale | Basic option pool and grants | Full equity-plan administration |
| Fund admin (SPVs, funds, LP reporting) | Included as a priced product tier | Offered, priced through sales |
| Charitable and philanthropic funds | Supported as a workspace type | Not offered |
| US and Canada pricing | USD and CAD, published side by side | USD |
| Entry price | $0 free account; $79/mo founders; $249/mo full workspace | Free tier for very early cap tables; paid tiers quoted |
Before you switch
Read exactly what we store and how access is controlled on our security page, then start on a free account — no card until you pick a paid plan.
