Pulley vs AngelList Equity 2026: Cap Table for Startups
Pulley vs AngelList Equity in 2026: real pricing, SAFE conversion and option pool math, 409A cover, and the bundle lock-in question before you pick.
The pragmatic answer in 2026: pick Pulley if the cap table is the product you are buying, and AngelList Equity if you are already raising through AngelList's vehicles. Pulley vs AngelList Equity is a bundling decision wearing a feature-comparison costume.
Both sell themselves as the founder-friendly alternative to Carta, and they mean opposite things by it. Pulley narrows. It is a focused cap-table and equity-management platform for founders and finance teams, sold as Startup, Growth, and Enterprise plans, with no fund-administration or banking bundle attached Pulley Pricing.
Any honest AngelList Equity review in 2026 has to start with what changed in 2025. AngelList widened. Its current cap-table product integrates Roll Up Vehicles and Consolidation Vehicles at the cap-table level and is the only option for new customers, while existing customers may stay on the legacy product AngelList: The Future of Cap Tables. AngelList states the new product goes only to customers who are, or will shortly be, using both Consolidation Vehicles and Roll Up Vehicles, which makes the bundle a practical entry requirement rather than an optional add-on AngelList Product Update & FAQ.
The two pricing models differ in kind, not degree. Pulley meters stakeholders: $1,200 per year for the Startup plan covering the first 25, and $3,500 per year for Growth covering the first 40 Pulley Pricing. AngelList meters people with ownership claims, counting founders, employees, contractors, advisors, and service providers, while investors are free and do not count as team members AngelList Equity Help Center: Accounts and Settings. A company with 10 employees and 70 angels prices very differently under each.
Cap table software for seed startups is easy on a normal Tuesday and hard exactly once: when a stack of pre-money and post-money SAFEs converts into a priced round and the new lead wants an option pool increase taken out of the pre-money. That single event is the honest test, and it is where these two products stop resembling each other.
If you arrived from a Pulley vs Carta search, the axis here is different: not incumbency, but whether you want your cap table to be the front door to a stack of other services. This page is for seed and Series A founders choosing a system of record they expect to still be running at the priced round. The pros, cons, and feature table below are scored on that conversion moment.
At a glance
Strengths · weaknesses for each tool- Pricing is published and predictable: $1,200 per year for Startup and $3,500 per year for Growth, with stakeholder counts stated on the page.
- The pro forma modeler is built for the moment that matters, covering valuation caps, discounts, pro-rata rights, and option-pool refreshers before you sign.
- Handles pre-money SAFEs, post-money SAFEs, and mixed stacks together, including the dilution effect of a pool increase at the equity round.
- 409A valuations are included in the Growth plan, with a stated three-day turnaround.
- No bundle attached: the cap table is the product, not a front door to fund administration or banking.
- AngelList itself names Pulley as a migration destination it will hand off to for free.
- Stakeholder-count pricing means every advisor, contractor, and service provider pushes you toward the next tier.
- The Startup tier excludes 409A, and buying the valuation standalone starts at $10,000.
- No consolidation vehicle for collapsing a long tail of small checks into one cap-table line.
- Rule 701, Form 3921, option exercises, board approvals, and HRIS integrations all sit behind the Growth plan.
- Investors are free and do not count as team members, so a wide angel round does not inflate the bill.
- Roll Up Vehicles and Consolidation Vehicles are integrated at the cap-table level, keeping many small checks on a single line.
- The Growth Plan includes one 409A valuation per billing cycle.
- Open Cap Table Data Export ships the company's cap-table data and documents, and migration handled by Pulley or J.P. Morgan is free.
- Vehicle track record is substantial: RUVs have deployed more than $1 billion and been used for raises from $50,000 to more than $100 million.
- The bundle is effectively required: new customers must be using, or about to use, both Consolidation Vehicles and Roll Up Vehicles.
- The current Growth Plan price is not exposed in AngelList's own retrieved help material, which points to the pricing page instead.
- Conversion support is about recording legally executed conversions; simulations are Excel-based and gated to plans that include the feature.
- The legacy standalone cap-table product is no longer accepting new customers.
Feature-by-feature
What each tool ships, at the tier most founders buy| Feature | Pulley | AngelList Equity |
|---|---|---|
| Published entry pricing | Yes: $1,200/yr Startup, $3,500/yr Growth Startup includes the first 25 stakeholders, Growth the first 40 | No: Not stated in AngelList's own help material Official material directs users to the pricing page rather than naming a price |
| What the price meters | Yes: Stakeholders Every advisor and contractor counts toward the tier ceiling | Yes: Team members with ownership claims Founders, employees, contractors, advisors, service providers; investors are free |
| 409A included in plan | Yes: Growth plan only Startup tier excludes 409A; standalone service starts at $10,000 | Yes: One per billing cycle on Growth Plan Plan price not published in retrieved material |
| Stated 409A turnaround | Yes: 3 days Pulley states days rather than weeks | No: Not stated |
| SAFE and convertible note conversion | Yes: Pre-money, post-money, and mixed stacks Includes the dilution effect of an option-pool increase at the round | Yes: Records legally executed conversions Recording the event, not modelling it in advance |
| Priced-round pro forma modelling | Yes: Built-in fundraise modeler Caps, discounts, pro-rata rights, option-pool refreshers | Yes: Excel-based cap-table simulations Requires a pricing plan that includes the feature |
| Bundle required to buy | No: No bundle Cap table and equity admin only, no fund admin or banking attached | Yes: Consolidation Vehicles plus Roll Up Vehicles New customers must be using both, or shortly will be |
| Collapsing many small checks into one line | No: Not offered | Yes: Consolidation Vehicle AngelList cites one AI company rolling more than $20M into a single line |
| Advanced equity admin (Rule 701, Form 3921, exercises) | Yes: Growth plan Also adds custom agreements, board approvals, and HRIS integrations | No: Not stated in retrieved material |
| Data export and migration | Yes: Named as a free migration destination AngelList says migration handled by Pulley or J.P. Morgan is free | Yes: Open Cap Table Data Export Cap-table data plus documents; migration to any provider permitted |
| Onboarding support included | Yes: Concierge onboarding on Startup plan | No: Not stated in retrieved material |
| Vendor's stated target customer | Yes: Founders and finance teams managing equity Startup, Growth, and Enterprise plan ladder | Yes: Companies using AngelList vehicles Legacy standalone cap-table product is closed to new customers |
Verdict
Which tool wins for which jobFor most seed-stage companies buying cap-table software in 2026, Pulley is the right default and AngelList Equity is the right exception.
Pick Pulley if the cap table is the thing you are buying
Pulley cap table pricing is published, which is half the argument: $1,200 per year for Startup and $3,500 per year for Growth Pulley Pricing. Growth is the real line for anyone hiring. Startup covers cap-table management, share certificates, templated SAFE, option, and RSA signing, a fundraise modeler, interactive offer letters, and concierge onboarding, while Growth adds 409A, custom agreements, option exercises, Rule 701, Form 3921, board approvals, and HRIS integrations Pulley Pricing.
Do not buy Startup if you plan to grant options broadly this year. Buying the valuation standalone starts at $10,000 Pulley Pricing, roughly three years of Growth, and the turnaround Pulley advertises on the valuation itself is three days Pulley 409A Valuations.
Pick AngelList Equity if the AngelList stack for founders is already how you raise
The bundle is the point, and for some cap tables it is the correct answer. If your round carries a long tail of small checks, a Consolidation Vehicle keeps them on one line: AngelList says a Consolidation Vehicle helped one large AI company roll up more than $20 million of investments into a single cap-table line AngelList: The Future of Cap Tables. Roll Up Vehicles have deployed more than $1 billion and saved founders an estimated $100 million in administrative costs over four years AngelList: Introducing Rollups, across raises running from $50,000 to more than $100 million Rollups. The Growth Plan includes one 409A per billing cycle, though AngelList's own material points to the pricing page rather than naming the price AngelList Equity Help Center: 409A Valuations.
The lock-in question, answered straight
Your data is not hostage; your operations might be. AngelList permits migration to any provider and provides an Open Cap Table Data Export containing the company's cap-table data and documents, and says migration handled by Pulley or J.P. Morgan is free AngelList Product Update & FAQ. That is a more generous exit policy than most vendors put in writing.
The dependence is structural instead. Once two rounds of investors sit inside vehicles that AngelList administers, exporting a file is not the same thing as leaving. Decide on the bundle at the moment you are choosing it, not at the moment you are trying to unwind it.
Neither tool protects you from the errors founders make in the twelve months before a priced round. Read cap table mistakes before Series A next, and if the underlying split is still unsettled, start with how to split founding team equity.
Skip the tool-stack debate.
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