Guide
409A valuation cost: published prices and price drivers
Updated
Most pages on this topic quote a market range with no source. We can do better than that: some providers publish list prices, so start with those and treat everything else as a quote.
There is no published market rate
The IRS does not set or publish 409A fees, and no trade body collects them. Anything presented as "the market range" is an aggregation of anecdotes, ours included. What is checkable is the list price a provider publishes on its own site, so that is what we show.
List prices published by providers, checked 15 August 2026
| Provider | What is published | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Eqvista | 409A valuation and premium cap table bundle from $990 a year, priced by stage: startup or pre-revenue $990, friends and family or angel $1,290, seed $1,990, Series A $2,590, Series B and later custom. Expedited processing from $490. | Bundled with premium cap table management, and advertised with unlimited 409A updates and renewals |
| Cake Equity | 409A valuation available as an add-on to any plan for $1,500. Its Team plan is listed at $2,750 annually and includes an audit-ready 409A valuation. | Add-on to a cap table plan; the Team plan bundles the valuation with equity and compliance tooling |
| Pulley | Growth plan listed at $3,500 a year, with 409A valuations included. | A plan price covering cap table management, first 40 stakeholders and 409A valuations, not a per-report fee |
Three published list prices are not a market survey. They tell you what the self-serve, platform-bundled end of the market charges. Boutique appraisal firms and national accounting firms quote rather than list, and later-stage and pre-IPO work is materially more expensive. If you need a figure for a board pack, get three written quotes for your own cap table.
What actually moves a quote
| Driver | Why it moves the price | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Cap table complexity | Multiple preferred classes, participating preferences, liquidation stacks, warrants and unconverted SAFEs all add allocation work, which is the labor the fee pays for. | Is the quote fixed for my current structure, and what changes it? |
| Stage and financial history | A pre-revenue company with one common class is a short engagement. Revenue, forecasts and multiple rounds mean more methods and more defense. | Which valuation approaches will you actually apply? |
| Turnaround time | Expedited work is priced as a premium over the standard schedule. Eqvista publishes expedited processing from $490; most providers quote it. | What is the standard turnaround, and what does expediting cost in writing? |
| Refreshes included | Some platform plans include unlimited updates within the year; per-report providers charge again for each refresh. With material events this is often the biggest difference in total cost. | How many refreshes are included, and what triggers a chargeable one? |
| Audit support | Defending the report to your auditors is work, and some providers price it separately from producing it. | Is auditor liaison included, and for how many hours? |
| Who signs the report | The safe harbor depends on the appraiser's qualification, not on the price. The regulation generally looks for at least five years of relevant valuation, appraisal, financial accounting, investment banking, private equity or secured lending experience. | Who signs, and what is their experience? |
That last row is the one worth pausing on. Price has no bearing on safe harbor eligibility. What the regulation asks is that the valuation be performed by a person the corporation reasonably determines is qualified, and it describes significant experience as generally at least five years in business valuation or appraisal, financial accounting, investment banking, private equity, secured lending or comparable experience in the relevant industry (Treas. Reg. 1.409A-1(b)(5)(iv)(B)(2)(iii)).
Use the calculator with a real quote rather than our default. The point of the tool is the count of valuations you will need, which is fixed by the regulation, not by your provider.