Carta vs. E*TRADE vs. thinkorswim

Carta is perfect for any sized organization when shares and stock options are in the picture for new/seasoned employees alike. If a company does not provide these benefits to employees, it may not be the best fit for them unless there are other value-adds the tool can provide in other areas.

Incentivized

During the COVID pandemic, the airline companies were taking a big hit on travel and I saw this as a great opportunity to invest in airline stock because its value in the market had dropped tremendously. I used this opportunity to invest in multiple airline stocks through e-trade by buying the stock at an all-time low for airline stock. It was a great investment for me in the long term.

Incentivized

I would not hesitate to recommend thinkorswim to someone who wants to get into the stock market. The opportunity to use "paper money" can help beginners learn the fundamentals of trading without any risk. Although the trial period is only 60 days, [that's a] good amount of time for new users to learn enough before venturing out into the real world. Adding to the positives, thinkorswim mobile app is superb and a great way to keep up with your portfolio on the go.

Incentivized

• Expense Reporting - GAAP compliant and easy to manage, a report is run monthly and provides all the details needed to book the expense.
• Equity Manageent - All stock certificates for our investors are held in Carta making Equity easy to manage.
• Stock Option Issuance - Options are issued in Carta and the entire option life cycle from issuance, approval, and exercising is handled in Carta.
• User Interface is very easy to follow.
• Support is very responsive and helpful.
• Numerous education articles available to all users.

Incentivized

• I like their sell orders that allow you to set a price or percentage as a stop loss.
• Their dashboard is easy to use and gives you some quick info.
• I also like E*TRADE's reports for gains and losses.
• Moving funds into and out of your accounts is pretty simple with E*TRADE.

Incentivized

• Day Trading
• Swing Trading
• Long term Investment

Incentivized

• Still some issues with the auto-generated Excel file for stock calculations that required correction by technical support.
• Could offer integration into accounting platforms or HR/payroll platforms to further cut down on manual input.
• It should allow for custom user creation to allow for varying levels of access based on role in the company; currently, all security roles in the platform are out of the box without any modification allowed.

Incentivized

• summary page needs to have more details like it doesn't show current market price for an option purchased
• purchase or sell needs to be user friendly so it takes less time.

Incentivized

• Offering more streaming platforms, like bloomberg for example or Fox Business.

Incentivized

Because it is simple to use, I have never experienced any issues or bugs while using it and I have not heard anyone else having issues with it either. It simply works.

Incentivized

Every time I have sent a message to Carta's support team, they've responded within 2 business days. The support team is very helpful and always has answered my questions competently and professionally. Many of my questions have also been answered through their extensive support articles. Carta makes available a lot of information that has helped reduce te administrative work of answering questions for our employees as they are able to get most of the information they need through Carta's website.

Incentivized

I was not personally involved in choosing Carta over any other platforms. However, I can say I'm very happy with Carta. Carta allows for a central place to manage stock options from multiple companies and is extremely user-friendly and intuitive. With Carta being a market leader, it's nice to find new employers already using it as well.

Incentivized

robinhood is similar to e-trade but they are geared more to bitcoin and companies that may not be offered on E*TRADE because they are off-market companies.

Incentivized

I have personally used Charles Schwab mobile app and online page for about 3 years and have been thoroughly satisfied. Before TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab merged, I had used thinkorswim for the 60-day paper money trial before using my real money on investments. I confidently believe the time I've spent on thinkorswim has helped me mitigate any big losses in my investments. As for robinhood, the mobile app is a lot better for beginners to understand and the UI can be described as more aesthetically pleasing. thinkorswim triumphs in many other aspects [as well] such as being backed up by TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab and the plethora of knowledge [a user can access].

Incentivized

• If a company's cap table is wrong that is legally considered fraud ( yes, a capital F fraud ), as in there could be criminal repercussions, and almost assuredly whatever transaction that requires it to be accurate will be canceled.
• Compliance is a major factor when it comes to having a stock option plan. Carta is the best I've seen at keeping a company in compliance.

• Limit how much you want invest.
• This is an open trade website and there is a risk of losing your money based on your investments.
• If you make some sound investments and keep yourself within a budgeted spending limit there is the opportunity to make money on e-trade.

Incentivized

• Easy to place orders
• Easy to analyse stocks
• Easy to check over all portfolio

Incentivized