Carta vs Pulley: what a cap table costs an early startup

A cap table tool tracks who owns what, issues stock options and handles 409A valuations. Early on, the two names you'll hear are Carta and Pulley.

Price

Carta has a free Launch plan for very early companies, then Starter at $299 a month. Pulley's Startup plan is $100 a month billed yearly. Over a year that's about $2,400 saved.

What you get with both

Cap table, option grants and e-signing, 409A valuations, and scenario modeling for your next round.

Where Carta is worth more

Later stages: lots of investors, secondary sales, and tools for the funds themselves. If your lead investor already runs everything on Carta, that matters too.

The usual path

Pre-seed through Series A, Pulley covers what you need for a third of the price. Move later if a board or lead investor asks; both import standard cap table files.

Prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked November 2026.