Is there a difference between Reg A+ and Reg A?

No. Regulation A and Reg A+ are the same exemption. There is no separate rule called Reg A+, the SEC does not use the term, and every form you will ever file says Regulation A. The plus is a nickname the market invented for the version of Regulation A that came out of the JOBS Act, and it stuck because the difference between the old rule and the new one was large enough to feel like a different thing.

Where the plus came from

Regulation A existed for decades before anyone added a symbol to it. In that form it capped an offering at five million dollars, gave no relief from state-by-state securities review, and was used so rarely that it was close to a dead letter. Five million was not enough to justify the process, and clearing every state individually made a national offering impractical.

Title IV of the JOBS Act rebuilt it, effective in 2015. The rebuilt version introduced the two tiers, raised the ceiling dramatically, let companies test the waters before filing, and preempted state review for Tier 2. That last change is what made national raises workable. The industry needed a way to say "the new one, the useful one", and Reg A+ was what it landed on.

The ceiling moved again in 2021, when Tier 2 went from fifty million to seventy five million.

So when you see the plus, read it as "Regulation A, the modern one". Tiers, caps, reporting, and what you may say while marketing are all in regulation-a-plus.

Why the naming still matters

Old material is wrong in a specific way. Anything written before 2015 describes a five million dollar exemption with no state preemption and no testing the waters. It is not a different rule, it is the same rule before it was useful. If a number in an article looks small, check the date.

Search results split. People research this using both terms, and the results are not identical. Looking for counsel, portals, or precedent, run both.

Some vendors lean on the plus to sound premium. There is no upgraded tier of service attached to the symbol. A platform advertising Reg A+ expertise is advertising Regulation A expertise. Judge it on offerings it has actually taken through qualification.

Your own copy should probably use both. Investors search for both, and in public-facing material the phrase most people recognize is usually the better one to lead with, with the formal name nearby. Just do not imply they are different products, because a reader who thinks they are has one more thing to be confused about at exactly the wrong moment.

This is general information about a securities exemption, not legal advice.

FAQ

Is Reg A+ a different rule from Regulation A?

No. They are the same exemption. Reg A+ is an informal name for Regulation A as expanded by Title IV of the JOBS Act in 2015. SEC forms and rules say Regulation A.

Why do people say Reg A+ then?

Because the 2015 amendments changed the exemption so much, raising the cap, adding two tiers, permitting testing the waters, and preempting state review for Tier 2, that the market wanted a name for the new version. The plus stuck.

What was old Regulation A limited to?

Five million dollars in a twelve month period, with no preemption of state securities review, which made it rarely worth using. Tier 2 now permits up to seventy five million and is not subject to state-by-state review.

Which term should I use in my own marketing?

Whichever your audience recognizes, and it is fine to use both. Just do not present them as two different options, because they are one exemption with two names.