Your cap table is a legal document, not a spreadsheet. The software you choose determines how cleanly you can run a financing round, how your investors experience their portfolio data, and whether your 409A process creates or destroys value at exit.
Carta, Pulley, and AngelList Stack each serve a different part of the market. The answer depends on your stage, your investor base, and whether you plan to run SPVs alongside your cap table.
Carta: The Institutional Standard
Carta (founded 2012 as eShares) manages cap tables for over 40,000 companies and nearly 2 million equity holders. It peaked at an $8.5B valuation in 2021, raised over $1B in venture capital, and is the default platform once institutional investors are in the picture. At Series A and beyond, most top-tier VCs expect Carta — not because Pulley is inferior, but because their own portfolio management systems pipe directly into Carta's investor portal.
Carta Strengths
- ✓ Industry standard — investor expectation at Series A+
- ✓ Carta Cross secondary marketplace for liquidity
- ✓ Best-in-class investor portal and LP reporting
- ✓ Full 409A valuations in-house (~$1,500)
- ✓ Carta Total Comp for equity benchmarking
Carta Weaknesses
- ✕ No free tier — Launch plan starts ~$500/year
- ✕ Venture plan ~$2,500/year before add-ons
- ✕ 2023 controversy over secondary data practices
- ✕ Slower onboarding vs Pulley for small teams
- ✕ Pricing scales aggressively with stakeholder count
The trust issue: In early 2023, Carta faced serious backlash after accusations that sales staff were using founder cap table data to solicit competing secondary transactions. CEO Henry Ward denied the practice and several executives departed, but the incident embedded a credibility problem for a company whose core value proposition is being the trusted custodian of equity data.
Pulley: Built for Lean, Fast-Moving Startups
Pulley launched in 2019, founded by ex-Stripe engineers, and raised approximately $120M from Greenoaks, Tiger Global, and others. The pitch is simple: a cleaner product, lower pricing, and faster setup than Carta for companies that don't yet need Carta's institutional feature depth. Pulley's free tier (under 25 stakeholders) and ~$1,000 409A valuations make it the default choice for YC, pre-seed, and seed founders who want a professional solution without a $2,500/year entry fee.
Pulley Strengths
- ✓ Free tier for early-stage (<25 stakeholders)
- ✓ 409A valuations ~$1,000 (vs Carta's ~$1,500)
- ✓ Faster, cleaner onboarding experience
- ✓ Strong modeling and scenario simulation tools
- ✓ No secondary market conflict of interest
Pulley Weaknesses
- ✕ Smaller investor portal ecosystem than Carta
- ✕ No native secondary transaction marketplace
- ✕ Pressure to migrate at Series A from large VCs
- ✕ Fewer integrations with enterprise HR/payroll systems
AngelList Stack: When You're Running the Cap Table and the SPVs
AngelList Stack is the equity management layer within the AngelList ecosystem. Cap table management is free — AngelList makes money on SPV carry, rolling fund administration, and transaction fees. If you are a founder raising on AngelList, building a syndicate, or planning to run SPVs alongside your main cap table, AngelList Stack eliminates friction that Carta and Pulley both create. The tradeoff is depth: AngelList Stack is not the platform you want if your Series B leads need a dedicated investor portal or institutional-grade secondary market access.
Best use case: Operator-turned-investor founders who manage their company cap table and run deal flow through AngelList SPVs simultaneously. The unified infrastructure is a genuine advantage; there is no equivalent in Carta or Pulley.
Carta vs Pulley vs AngelList: Head-to-Head Comparison
| Feature | Carta | Pulley | AngelList Stack |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cap table (base price) | ~$500–$2,500/yr | Free to ~$500/mo | Free |
| 409A valuation | ~$1,500 | ~$1,000 | Partner referral |
| Free tier | No (removed 2023) | Yes (<25 stakeholders) | Yes |
| Investor portal | Best-in-class | Good | Good |
| SPV / fund admin | Available (complex) | Not available | Core product |
| Secondary market | Carta Cross | Limited | Via AngelList |
| Best stage | Series A+ | Pre-seed to Seed | All + SPV runners |
| 409A turnaround | 2–3 weeks | 2–3 weeks | Via partner |
Which Cap Table Tool Is Right for Your Stage?
The right cap table tool is not the most expensive one.
It is the one that matches your current stage — and does not create friction when your investors ask for a data room at your next round.
Track startup equity benchmarks and funding round data on the Benchmarking Dashboard at Value Add VC. Originally published in the Trace Cohen newsletter.