United States. Section 409A common stock valuations
What do 409A valuation services actually cost?
A 409A is the same statutory exercise wherever you buy it: an independent appraisal of common stock fair market value that gives your board safe harbour when it grants options. The published price for it runs from $990 to $3,500 a year, and almost none of that spread is about the valuation. It is about whether you are buying the report or the cap table platform wrapped around it.
| Option | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eqvista Anyone who wants the valuation itself rather than a cap table platform around it | Standalone, priced by funding stage. This is the only provider here that sells the 409A as the product rather than as a feature of something else, and the only one publishing a full ladder. | $990 a year for a pre-revenue startup in business less than a year. Then $1,290 at friends and family or angel stage ($10K to $2M raised), $1,990 at seed, $2,590 at Series A, and a custom quote from Series B. That $990 is the cheapest published route to a 409A anywhere in this comparison, by a margin of $510. | Unlimited within the subscription year at the startup, angel and Series A tiers, with multiple valuations included annually at seed. This matters more than the headline: a 409A goes stale after twelve months or any material event, so a fundraise mid-year can mean paying twice everywhere that sells them singly. | 5 to 10 working days as standard. A 1 to 5 day expedite is published at $490 and up, so urgency costs about half the entry price again. | States IRS safe harbor status and audit-ready reports, valuations performed by NACVA certified valuation analysts, and lifetime audit support for every valuation. | The stage bands are defined by funding raised, so a round closing mid-year can move you up a tier. Confirm which band a raise puts you in before it closes rather than after. |
| Cake Equity A company that wants cap table software and will bolt the valuation on | Both ways, which makes it the most useful comparison point here. A 409A is an add-on to the cheaper plans and included in the dearer ones. | $1,500 as an add-on to any plan, including the free one, so the floor is $0 plus $1,500. Build is $1,000 a year for 25 stakeholders and takes the same $1,500 add-on, making $2,500. Team is $2,750 a year for 40 stakeholders with an audit-ready 409A included, two a year. | Two valuations a year on Team. On Free or Build the add-on buys the valuation, so a second one in the same year is a second purchase. | Not published on the pricing page. | States an audit-ready 409A valuation on Team, and audit-ready reporting for Series A and B+ on Pro. | Do the arithmetic on Team before buying it. At $2,750 for two valuations you are paying $1,375 each, which is less than the $1,500 add-on only if you genuinely need both. One valuation a year plus the free plan is $1,500 and $1,250 cheaper. |
| Pulley Companies already committed to a cap table platform at growth stage | Bundled, and only at the second tier up. 409A valuations appear on the Growth plan and not on Startup, so the valuation decides which plan you are on rather than the other way round. | $3,500 a year for Growth, covering up to 40 stakeholders. Startup at $1,200 a year for 25 stakeholders does not include 409A valuations at all. That $3,500 is the dearest published route to a 409A here, roughly 3.5 times Eqvista's entry. | Not specified as a count on the pricing page; the valuation is listed as a plan feature rather than as an allowance. | Not published. | Not stated on the pricing page. Growth adds Rule 701 and Form 3921 handling and board approvals, which is compliance machinery around the valuation rather than a claim about the valuation itself. | You are buying a cap table platform and receiving a valuation, not the reverse. If the software is what you want, the 409A is close to free at the margin; if the valuation is what you want, this is the most expensive way to get one. |
| Fidelity Private Shares Companies that want an incumbent name and will sit through a demo | Bundled into a plan, with 409A valuations listed as a Growth plan feature. | Not published. Launch is free for up to 25 stakeholders and under $1M raised. Startup, Growth and Scale all require a demo or a call, and the page does not say whether the 409A sits inside the Growth price or beyond it. | Not published. | Not published. | Not stated on the pricing page. | Ask two questions before the demo: whether the 409A is inside the Growth subscription or billed separately, and how many refreshes a year it covers. The page answers neither, and they are the two figures that decide the comparison. |
How we chose these, and how they are ordered
Four US providers that publish something about the price of a 409A valuation on their own site. Every figure was copied from the provider's own pricing page on 15 August 2026; nothing comes from a review site or a reseller.
Order runs by how directly you can buy the valuation itself: standalone providers first, then those selling it as an add-on, then those bundling it into a platform tier, then those publishing no price. That ordering matters because the cheapest route in this market is also the most direct one, which is unusual and worth surfacing.
Carta is absent, not overlooked: its pricing page did not serve us a readable response when we checked on 15 August 2026, and we do not quote figures we have not read. It remains the largest incumbent in this category and a company shortlisting providers should ask it directly.
This table does not rank valuation quality, which is not observable from outside. Section 409A sets the standard the report must meet, so what we compare instead is price, refresh policy, turnaround and the defensibility claims each provider is willing to publish.
- Eqvista Eqvista, 409A valuation pricing
- Cake Equity Cake Equity, pricing
- Pulley Pulley, pricing
- Fidelity Private Shares Fidelity Private Shares, pricing
Cheap 409A is an independent site operated by Ellul Solutions Ltd. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any valuation provider or cap table platform named here. Nothing on it is tax, legal or valuation advice, and it is not a substitute for an independent appraisal: a 409A safe harbour depends on a qualified independent appraiser, which this site is not. We take no commission from any provider in this comparison and carry no paid placements. Prices and terms change without notice: every figure carries the date we read it on the provider's own page.
What a 409A valuation costs by route, US published prices 2026
Last updated
Providers quote a 409A in at least three incompatible shapes: a subscription by funding stage, an add-on to software, and a feature of a platform tier. This table puts every published route on one ladder so they can be compared as what they are, which is a price for the same statutory report.
Every figure is copied from the provider's own pricing page on 15 August 2026 and cited in full below. The total column adds the plan price to the add-on price where a provider requires both, and states its arithmetic: Cake Equity's free plan is $0 plus a $1,500 add-on, and its Build plan is $1,000 plus the same $1,500. The Cake Team per valuation figure of $1,375 is its $2,750 plan price divided by the two valuations it states are included, and is marked as such. Nothing else is derived. Where a provider publishes no figure the cell says not published, which describes its page on that date rather than asserting a price does not exist. Rows are ordered by total cost, not by provider.
| Route | How it is sold | Published price | Refreshes included | Turnaround | Total for one 409A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eqvista, pre-revenue tier | Standalone by stage | $990 | Unlimited in the year | 5 to 10 working days | $990 |
| Cake Equity, free plan plus add-on | Add-on | $0 plus $1,500 | One per purchase | not published | $1,500 |
| Eqvista, seed tier | Standalone by stage | $1,990 | Multiple annually | 5 to 10 working days | $1,990 |
| Cake Equity, Build plus add-on | Add-on | $1,000 plus $1,500 | One per purchase | not published | $2,500 |
| Eqvista, Series A tier | Standalone by stage | $2,590 | Unlimited in the year | 5 to 10 working days | $2,590 |
| Cake Equity, Team plan | Bundled | $2,750 | Two a year | not published | $1,375 each |
| Pulley, Growth plan | Bundled | $3,500 | not specified | not published | $3,500 |
| Fidelity Private Shares, Growth | Bundled | not published | not published | not published | not published |
- Published routes to a US 409A valuation span more than three times, from $990 standalone to $3,500 bundled.
- The cheapest published route, at $990 a year for a pre-revenue company, also includes unlimited refreshes within the subscription year.
- Only one of four providers compared publishes a turnaround time, at 5 to 10 working days with a 1 to 5 day expedite from $490.
- Cake Equity's $2,750 Team plan works out at $1,375 a valuation, which beats its own $1,500 add-on only if you need both valuations in the year.
- Only one of four names an appraiser qualification on its pricing page, stating NACVA certified valuation analysts.
Cite this page
“What a 409A valuation costs by route, US published prices 2026”, Cheap 409A, https://cheap409a.com/ (updated 2026-08-15). Every figure is copied from the provider's own pricing page on 15 August 2026 and cited in full below. The total column adds the plan price to the add-on price where a provider requires both, and states its arithmetic: Cake Equity's free plan is $0 plus a $1,500 add-on, and its Build plan is $1,000 plus the same $1,500. The Cake Team per valuation figure of $1,375 is its $2,750 plan price divided by the two valuations it states are included, and is marked as such. Nothing else is derived. Where a provider publishes no figure the cell says not published, which describes its page on that date rather than asserting a price does not exist. Rows are ordered by total cost, not by provider.
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Every figure sourced and dated.
The questions we get
How much do 409A valuation services cost?
Published US prices on 15 August 2026 ran from $990 to $3,500 a year. Eqvista sells standalone by stage from $990 for a pre-revenue startup, $1,290 at angel, $1,990 at seed and $2,590 at Series A. Cake Equity sells a 409A as a $1,500 add-on to any plan including its free one, or bundles two a year into its $2,750 Team plan. Pulley includes 409A valuations on its $3,500 Growth plan. Fidelity Private Shares publishes no price.
What is the cheapest 409A valuation?
The cheapest published route we found is Eqvista's pre-revenue tier at $990 a year for a company in business less than a year, which includes unlimited refreshes within the subscription year. The next cheapest is Cake Equity's $1,500 add-on applied to its free plan, so $1,500 in total for one valuation. That $510 gap widens considerably if you need a second valuation, because the Eqvista tier includes it and the add-on does not.
Is a cheap 409A valuation risky?
Not inherently, because the standard is set by statute rather than by price. Section 409A gives a safe harbour presumption where a qualified independent appraiser values illiquid startup common stock and the report is under twelve months old with no material event since. A cheap report meeting those conditions carries the same presumption. What is worth checking is appraiser qualification, whether audit support is included, and how the provider handles a refresh after a raise.
How long does a 409A valuation take?
Only one provider in this comparison publishes a turnaround. Eqvista states 5 to 10 working days as standard, with a 1 to 5 day expedite from $490, which on its $990 tier is a 50% surcharge to roughly halve the wait. Cake Equity, Pulley and Fidelity Private Shares publish no turnaround on their pricing pages, so if you are granting options to a hire starting soon, that is the first question for the call.
Do I need a new 409A after raising a round?
Yes. Safe harbour depends on the valuation being no more than twelve months old with no material event since, and a priced round is a material event. That makes the refresh policy the figure that actually decides your annual cost. Eqvista includes unlimited refreshes in the subscription year on its startup, angel and Series A tiers; Cake Equity's Team plan includes two a year and its $1,500 add-on buys one; Pulley lists valuations as a plan feature without stating a count.
Is it cheaper to get a 409A through cap table software?
Usually not, if the valuation is all you want. Pulley's Growth plan at $3,500 is roughly 3.5 times Eqvista's $990 entry, and the difference buys cap table management, Rule 701, Form 3921, board approvals and HRIS integrations rather than a better valuation. The bundle is good value only if you would have bought that tier anyway. A useful test is your option grant count: under about ten a year, buy the valuation; over about fifty, buy the platform.
What should I ask a 409A provider before signing?
Four things, and none of the four is the headline price. What a refresh costs outside the bundle, since a mid-year raise voids the report. What the turnaround is, since only one provider publishes it. Who signs the valuation and what qualification they hold, which only Eqvista names on its pricing page as NACVA certified analysts. And whether audit support is included and for how long, since a challenge arrives years later.
Compare the route, not the headline
Four US providers, three completely different ways of selling the same statutory report, and the refresh policy that decides what a year of it really costs.