Head to head

Carta vs Figures

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Carta

Sales-quoted

Cap table and equity management for private companies. Launch is free up to 25 stakeholders and $1M raised; paid plans are quote-based.

Where Carta fits

Startups setting up a first cap table
Companies that need 409A valuations
Finance teams handling ASC 718 reporting
HR teams syncing equity with HRIS and payroll

Figures is a European compensation platform for mid-market and enterprise HR. Pricing is based on employee count and the modules you pick (salary bands, benchmarking, pay equity, planning). The vendor does not print a dollar or euro rate.

Where Figures fits

European and UK mid-market HR teams building salary bands for EU pay transparency
Compensation leads who want live market data plus a planning calculator in one login
Companies connecting 30-plus HRIS options rather than uploading CSVs forever
Employers that need pay-equity analysis inside the same platform as bands

At a glance

Detail	Carta	Figures
Starting price	Sales-quoted	Sales-quoted
Free tier	–No	–No
MCP server	✓Yes	–No
Public API	✓Yes	–No
Listed under	Compensation	Compensation

Where they pull apart

Carta

Stands out: A free Launch plan for early cap tables, then Build, Grow and Scale with 409A valuations and ASC 718 reporting.

Watch out: Paid plans have no published price. Each has a per-stakeholder rate and a minimum annual fee, and add-ons like Total Compensation cost extra.

Not the right fit for

Buyers who need a published paid price
Public companies needing full stock admin

Figures

Stands out: Benchmark data covers total rewards (base, variable, benefits) on 550,000 datapoints across 110-plus countries, with salary-band generation tied to that market set.

Watch out: Pay Equity Expert, population filters, and several other capabilities are optional paid add-ons on the comparison table. A demo is required for a quote. SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 are stated.

Not the right fit for

US SMB buyers who want a printed CompAnalyst-style store price
Teams that only need a free market-data lookup without salary-band software

Pros and cons

Carta

Free plan for early-stage cap tables
409A and ASC 718 on higher plans
Public API and official MCP servers

No published price for paid plans
Minimum annual fee on paid plans
Add-ons sold separately

Figures

Modular platform so you can buy bands without every analytics add-on
550k total-reward datapoints across 110-plus countries on the benchmark module
SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR called out on the pricing FAQ

No published seat or PEPM number
Pay equity and several filters are add-ons, so the demo quote can climb
European-first positioning. US-only shops may prefer a US data vendor

What each one costs

Carta

Sales-quoted

Free plan; paid plans are sales-quoted. Launch is free for up to 25 stakeholders and $1 million raised. Build, Grow and Scale are priced per stakeholder with a minimum annual fee, and add-ons such as Total Compensation and Liquidity cost extra. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 19 Sep 2026

Figures

Sales-quoted

Figures prices by employee count and the modules you select. Pay Equity Expert and several filters are optional paid add-ons. The vendor does not publish a dollar or euro rate. A demo produces a personalized quote. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 19 Sep 2026

Common questions

Can you try Carta or Figures for free?

Neither carries a free tier on our listing.

Does Carta or Figures have an MCP server?

Carta ships a first party MCP server, so an AI assistant can work the product directly.

Not the pair you wanted?

All Carta alternatives All Figures alternatives Every Compensation tool

Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 19 Sep 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?