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Vesting Schedule Calculator

Enter your grant details to see how many shares have vested.

How it is calculated

The monthly rate is monthly = total_shares ÷ (years × 12). If the months elapsed are fewer than the cliff (entered in years and converted with cliff × 12), vested shares are 0. Once the cliff is reached, vested = monthly × elapsed, capped at the total grant, so the cliff releases the catch-up amount in one step and vesting then continues month by month. Then unvested = total − vested and the percentage is vested ÷ total × 100. Shares are rounded to whole numbers for display. Elapsed time is entered in months and may be fractional; a cliff of 0 means vesting starts straight away. Total shares and years must be above zero, the other fields zero or more. Real plans differ (quarterly vesting, back-loaded schedules, acceleration clauses), so check your grant agreement.

Worked example

A grant of 48,000 shares vests over 4 years with a 1-year cliff, and 18 months have passed. Monthly rate: 48,000 ÷ 48 months = 1,000 shares. The 12-month cliff has been passed, so vested = 1,000 × 18 = 18,000 shares. Unvested = 48,000 − 18,000 = 30,000 shares, and the vested share is 18,000 ÷ 48,000 = 37.50%. Had only 11 months passed, the result would be 0 shares; at exactly 12 months it jumps to 12,000.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the cliff in months. The cliff field is in years, so a 12-month cliff is 1, not 12; typing 12 means a 12-year cliff and nothing vests within a four-year term.
  • Entering elapsed time in years instead of months. Two and a half years is 30 in the elapsed field.
  • Expecting a gradual build-up before the cliff. Until the cliff date the vested count is exactly 0, and then it jumps to the accumulated amount.
  • Confusing vested shares with exercisable or taxable ones. This tool only counts vesting; strike price, exercise windows and tax on RSUs or options are separate matters.
  • Entering the vesting period in months. The years field expects 4 for a four-year plan, not 48.

About this calculator

A standard startup equity grant vests on a cliff-and-monthly schedule: nothing vests until an initial cliff period (commonly one year) has passed, at which point a lump sum vests all at once — typically the portion that would have vested monthly up to that point — and the remaining shares then vest in equal monthly (or graded) installments until the full grant, often over a four-year total term, is vested.

This structure protects the company from granting meaningful equity to someone who leaves within the first year, while giving employees and founders a predictable, steadily growing ownership stake for staying. It is the default term in most startup offer letters and stock option/RSU agreements, and it is what determines how many shares (or options) you actually own at any point if you leave, get acquired, or want to exercise. This calculator applies the cliff-and-monthly logic to your grant size, cliff length and total vesting period based on months elapsed.

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  • Editorial team

    The cliff is a step, so one month either side matters. With 48,000 shares over four years and a one-year cliff, month 11 shows 0 vested shares, month 12 shows 12,000, and month 18 shows 18,000. Before leaving a job near the cliff, confirm in your grant paperwork which date the clock started, since it often counts from a commencement date rather than the day you signed. Does your plan vest monthly, quarterly, or on some other schedule?

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