Pulley vs Carta: Which Cap Table Platform Is Right for You?

Pricing Comparison: Pulley vs Carta in 2026

Pricing is one of the biggest differentiators between Pulley and Carta, and it's where Pulley has carved out a clear advantage for early-stage companies. Pulley offers a genuinely free tier supporting up to 25 stakeholders, which covers most pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Their paid plans start at $50 per month for the Growth tier (up to 50 stakeholders), scaling to $200 per month for the Scale plan that supports unlimited stakeholders and includes priority support. Custom enterprise pricing is available for companies with complex multi-entity structures.

Carta, by contrast, has no free tier and does not publish pricing. Launch is aimed at companies with fewer than 50 stakeholders, Grow at up to 200, and Scale at larger companies, but the rate for each is quoted rather than listed, and Carta charges separately for add-ons like fund administration and advanced reporting. Pulley is the budget-friendly choice for startups watching their burn rate, and it is the only one of the two you can price without talking to anyone. Carta bundles more features into its higher tiers, so ask for a fully loaded quote covering the add-ons you actually need.

Cap Table Management: Depth and Flexibility

Both Pulley and Carta handle the fundamentals of cap table management well: tracking share classes, option pools, convertible notes, SAFEs, and warrants. Where they diverge is in complexity handling and user experience. Pulley takes a design-first approach, presenting cap table data through clean visualizations and intuitive waterfall analyses. Modeling a new funding round in Pulley takes minutes, and the scenario-modeling tool lets founders compare multiple term sheets side by side with clear dilution impacts.

Carta's cap table features run deeper, particularly for companies with complex capital structures. Carta supports multi-class stock with custom rights and preferences, advanced liquidation preference waterfalls, and detailed pro forma modeling that accounts for option pool shuffles, anti-dilution adjustments, and ratchet provisions. If you have a straightforward cap table with common stock plus a single preferred class, Pulley delivers a better day-to-day experience. If your company has gone through multiple rounds with participating preferred, senior liquidation preferences, or complex warrant structures, Carta's depth becomes a genuine advantage. For most startups through Series B, Pulley's cap table features are more than sufficient.

409A Valuation Services: Cost, Speed, and Quality

A 409A valuation is a legal requirement for any startup issuing stock options, and both Pulley and Carta offer this as an integrated service. Pulley's 409A valuations start at approximately $500 for early-stage companies, with turnaround times averaging 5 to 10 business days. Their process is streamlined because they already hold your cap table data, reducing the back-and-forth that standalone valuation firms require. Pulley uses a combination of automated analysis and human review from ASA-certified appraisers.

Carta's 409A valuations are more expensive, and Carta does not publish a rate for them — the standard tier is quoted, and the quote climbs for complex valuations involving multiple entities or international subsidiaries. However, Carta has the advantage of scale: they've completed over 80,000 valuations and maintain one of the largest compensation datasets in the private market. This means their benchmarking data is extremely robust, which can matter during IRS audit defense. Carta also offers expedited 409A turnaround (as fast as 2 business days) for an additional fee. Both platforms deliver audit-ready reports, but Pulley's pricing makes it the better value for straightforward early-stage valuations. If your company has unusual assets, international operations, or a complex capital structure, Carta's deeper expertise may justify the premium.

Employee Equity Management and Option Administration

Managing employee stock options is a core function of both platforms, but the experience differs significantly. Pulley provides a clean employee portal where team members can view their grant details, vesting schedules, and estimated current value based on the latest 409A valuation or preferred price. The interface is mobile-friendly and requires minimal onboarding. Pulley handles option grant generation, board consent templates, and exercise workflows, including early exercise and net exercise where applicable. Their tax estimation tool helps employees understand the difference between ISO and NSO treatment.

Carta's equity management platform is more comprehensive but also more complex. Carta supports electronic option grant acceptance, automated 83(b) election reminders, tender offer facilitation, and a secondary marketplace (CartaX) where employees at later-stage companies can sell shares. Carta also offers equity education resources and customizable total compensation statements that HR teams can use during recruiting. For companies with 200 or more employees, Carta's HR integrations with platforms like Workday, Rippling, and BambooHR become a significant time-saver. Pulley is building out similar integrations, but Carta remains ahead for enterprise-grade equity administration.

Integrations and Ecosystem

The breadth of integrations can make or break your equity management workflow. Carta has the largest integration ecosystem in the cap table space, with native connections to accounting platforms (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite), HR and payroll systems (Gusto, Rippling, ADP, Workday), legal document tools (DocuSign, Ironclad), and banking platforms (SVB, Mercury, Brex). Carta's API is mature and well-documented, making custom integrations straightforward for companies with engineering resources. Their data feeds directly into audit workflows, which simplifies year-end processes with your accounting firm.

Pulley's integration ecosystem is smaller but growing rapidly. They offer native integrations with Gusto, Rippling, and QuickBooks, and their API has reached general availability as of 2025. Pulley also supports direct imports from Carta, Shareworks, and spreadsheet-based cap tables. Where Pulley excels is in developer experience: their API is RESTful, cleanly designed, and easier to work with than Carta's legacy endpoints. For startups using modern financial tooling like Mercury or Ramp, Pulley's integrations cover the essentials. But if your company relies on enterprise systems like NetSuite or Workday, Carta's ecosystem is more mature.

Verdict: Which Platform Wins at Each Company Stage?

Pre-seed and Seed (1-25 employees): Pulley wins decisively. The free tier covers everything you need, the UI is intuitive enough that non-technical founders can manage their own cap table, and the 409A pricing is unbeatable. There is no reason to pay for Carta at this stage unless your lead investor specifically requires it, which is exceedingly rare.

Series A to Series B (25-200 employees): Pulley still has the edge for most companies. The cost savings compound as you grow, and Pulley's feature set handles standard venture-backed capital structures without issue. Consider Carta if you have international employees needing equity grants in multiple jurisdictions or if your board includes investors who strongly prefer Carta's reporting format.

Series C and Beyond (200+ employees): Carta becomes the stronger choice. The HR integrations, enterprise-grade compliance features, secondary marketplace access, and deeper support for complex capital structures justify the higher price. Companies at this stage typically have finance teams that need Carta's advanced reporting and audit trail capabilities.

VC Funds and Fund Managers: Carta is the clear winner for fund administration. Their LP portal, capital call management, K-1 distribution, and fund accounting features are mature and widely trusted by institutional LPs. Pulley has launched fund management features, but they are still in early stages compared to Carta's decade-long head start. If you're managing a fund, see our guide to Carta alternatives for a broader comparison of fund admin platforms.