Y Combinator vs Techstars vs Antler

Y Combinator offers the most money and the strongest network for the most equity. Techstars is more mentor-led and easier to get into. Antler is the only one of the three that will take you before you have a co-founder or an idea. The right answer depends mostly on what stage you are at.

These three come up together constantly, and the comparison is usually framed as a ranking. It is not one: they take different companies at different stages, and the equity figures below are only comparable once you account for that.

Equity, funding and location come from our catalog. The judgement is ours and we have tried to be straight about the trade-offs rather than diplomatic.

Side by side

Amounts and terms come from our catalog, not from this article.

ProgramFunding / equityBest forThe catch
Y Combinator$500,000 for 7%Teams with something already working who want the strongest possible network and follow-on signal.The most expensive of the three in equity, and acceptance rates are brutal. Being rejected says very little about your company.
Techstars$220,000 for 5%Founders who want hands-on mentorship and a specific industry or city network rather than a general one.Quality varies substantially between programmes. Research the specific location and managing director, not the brand.
Antler$250,000 for 10%Pre-team and pre-idea founders. It is effectively a co-founder matching programme with capital attached.Takes the largest equity stake relative to the money, and you may spend the first weeks looking for a co-founder rather than building.

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What we would actually do

If you have traction, apply to YC

The equity is expensive and the signal is worth it anyway. Nothing else on this list moves a seed round the way a YC batch does.

If you have a team but no network, Techstars

The mentor model is the actual product. Pick the programme by its managing director and its alumni, not by the logo.

If you have neither, Antler

It is the only one of the three designed for people who are not yet a company. That is a genuine gap it fills, and it is worth the equity if you would otherwise not start at all.

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Common questions

Yes, and you should. None requires exclusivity at application stage. You cannot accept two offers that both take equity, but getting to that problem is a good problem.

Substantially. Accelerator affiliation is what unlocks the largest tiers of AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft credits, which are otherwise referral-gated. That alone can be worth a meaningful share of what you give up.

YC and Techstars generally expect in-person participation for the programme. Antler runs in many cities. Our directory marks remote programmes explicitly, and there are more of them than there used to be.

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