Founder Vesting & Cliff Calculator
See how much of a founder or employee equity grant has vested under a standard cliff-plus-monthly schedule.
How it works
Before cliff: 0 vested · At/after cliff: vested = grant × min(elapsed, total months) ÷ total months
A standard four-year schedule with a one-year cliff vests nothing for the first year, then vests the whole first-year portion in one jump on the cliff date, then vests monthly for the remaining three years. Before the cliff, leaving means forfeiting the entire grant — which is the point of the cliff. This calculator applies that logic to any period, cliff and elapsed time to show exactly how much is earned versus still at risk.
Worked example
On a 1,000,000-unit grant vesting over 4 years (48 months) with a 12-month cliff, an employee at 18 months has passed the cliff, so 1,000,000 × 18 ÷ 48 = 375,000 units are vested (37.5%). The remaining 625,000 are unvested, vesting at 1,000,000 ÷ 48 ≈ 20,833 per month.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I leave before the cliff?
You typically forfeit the entire grant. The cliff is designed so that someone who leaves in the first year walks away with nothing, protecting the cap table from short tenures.
How does the cliff vest?
On the cliff date the portion that would have vested monthly up to that point vests all at once. For a one-year cliff on a four-year schedule, that is 12 ÷ 48 = 25% of the grant in a single step.
Does this handle acceleration?
No — this shows time-based vesting only. Single- or double-trigger acceleration on an acquisition can vest a chunk early, but those terms live in your equity agreement rather than the standard schedule modeled here.
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Educational estimate, not financial advice.