Cap table management is where jurisdiction decides the product. American tools assume Delaware, stock options and 409A valuations; a Dutch BV, a German GmbH with notarised transfers or a UK company filing SH01s needs something else.
This guide ranks on that fit first, then on setup, real price and how the register leaves.
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says about a product, including the criticism, and we earn nothing when you click through to a
vendor. How that works.
In short
What cap table management software does
Cap table software keeps the register of who owns what in a company: shares, options, convertibles and vesting, with the paperwork and the dilution maths attached.
Five things, in this order. Feature counts are not among them: they are the least useful
comparison in software, because every vendor ticks every box.
01
Setup effort in cap table management software
What the first ninety days of a cap table management software rollout cost in hours, not in licence fees. A product that needs a partner engagement before it does anything is a different purchase from one a team configures in an afternoon.
02
What cap table management software really costs
What the bill becomes once the modules a normal buyer of cap table management software needs are added, and whether you can read that number without a sales conversation.
03
Getting your data out of cap table management software
How your own data comes back out, in what format, and whether that export is included in the cap table management software contract or billed as a project.
04
Independence from the vendor
Whether you can buy cap table management software, run it and leave it on your own terms. This test decides most of the order on this page, and it is why the largest vendors in cap table management software often sit below the smaller ones.
05
Who the product is built for
The size and shape of company each cap table management software product was actually built for. Most regret in software comes from buying for a company you are not yet.
The fourth test decides most of the order on this page, and it is the reason the largest
cap table management software vendors sit below the smaller ones. A product with a published price, an export
that works and no mandatory implementation partner is a product you can leave.
A platform suite that arrives with a quote, a partner and a two-year commitment may well be
the better software and is still the harder decision to reverse. We rank cap table management software for the
buyer who has to live with that decision without a procurement department, which is a stated
bias rather than a hidden one.
We do not publish a score out of ten. A number like 8.4 is a judgement dressed as a
measurement, and nobody can check it.
What you can check is on this page: what each cap table management tool costs, where the vendor is
established, whether the price is published, and what we think it is bad at. Our full method
is on the how we work page.
Listed companies with thousands of shareholders and dividend payment obligations
Private companies with a handful of shareholders and options
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
European equity management that understands local company law
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Ledgy was built in Zurich for companies whose share register lives under Swiss, German, French or Dutch law, which means it models virtual shares and option structures that American products treat as edge cases.
Employees get a portal that explains their grant in plain terms, and that reduces the questions finance answers. What it does not do is replicate the American valuation and secondary infrastructure, and the tiers get expensive as the shareholder list grows.
What stands out
EU and Swiss law
Employee portal
Published pricing
Where it costs you
Valuation and secondary services are lighter than US incumbents
Price steps up sharply with shareholder count
Right for
European companies with continental entities and their employee equity plans
Wrong for
US corporations needing 409A valuations from the same vendor
SwitzerlandPer company per year by shareholder count, published
UK share schemes, EMI options and Companies House filings
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Vestd knows the UK rules in detail: EMI eligibility, HMRC valuation submissions, growth shares for people who joined after the value rose, and the Companies House filings each event triggers.
A UK founder can run a scheme without a corporate lawyer on retainer, and that is the saving. The constraint is total. Outside the UK it does nothing, and the fees for setting up a scheme are separate from the subscription you compare on.
What stands out
EMI options
Companies House
UK only
Where it costs you
UK only, so foreign subsidiaries need a second system
Scheme setup fees sit outside the monthly subscription
Right for
UK companies running EMI or growth share schemes without lawyers
Wrong for
Groups with legal entities outside the United Kingdom
United KingdomPer company per month plus scheme fees, published
Funding round paperwork with the cap table attached
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
SeedLegals sells the funding round and gives you the cap table as a consequence, which works well while the company is young and every event is documented on the platform.
The weakness appears when something happens off-platform: a transfer agreed by email, a share issue handled by a lawyer, a foreign subsidiary. Those have to be entered manually and often are not, and a register that quietly diverges from reality is worse than a spreadsheet.
What stands out
Round documents
EMI schemes
Self-serve legal
Where it costs you
Register is only reliable if every event happened in the platform
Coverage outside the UK and France is weaker
Right for
Early companies doing rounds, options and agreements in one place
Wrong for
Established companies with complex registers and outside counsel
Cap table and scenario modelling without the platform lock-in
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Pulley is the cap table for people who actually open the cap table, because the scenario modelling makes dilution and liquidation preferences legible without a spreadsheet.
Published pricing and clean export make it easy to leave, which is why it ranks above larger products here. The assumptions are American: a Delaware C corporation, stock options, standard documents. A GmbH or a BV can be recorded but the product is not thinking in those terms.
What stands out
Scenario modelling
Published pricing
Clean export
Where it costs you
Assumes a Delaware corporation as the default structure
Fewer compliance services around it than the incumbents
Right for
Founders who model dilution and waterfalls before every funding round
Wrong for
European entities with notarised or registry-based share transfers
United StatesPer company per year by stakeholder count, published
Equity and option plans across several company jurisdictions
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingAsia-Pacific
Cake Equity handles the common founder situation of an entity in one country and employees in another, generating option documents that match each jurisdiction it supports. Pricing is published and setup is self-serve.
The supported list is the limit: it covers the Anglophone jurisdictions well and continental Europe barely at all, and European investors running diligence are less likely to recognise it, which occasionally means extra explaining during a round.
What stands out
Multi-jurisdiction
Option plans
Published pricing
Where it costs you
Continental European company forms are not properly covered
Support hours follow Australian rather than European time
Right for
Companies spanning Australian, UK, US and New Zealand legal entities
Wrong for
German, Dutch or Nordic companies needing local law support
AustraliaPer company per month by stakeholder count, published
Cap table with valuation services in the same shop
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Eqvista competes on price and on bundling the 409A valuation with the register, which for a small US company is two invoices reduced to one. The register, vesting and basic reporting work.
The software is plainer than its competitors and integrates with less. The bundling deserves a moment's thought: the firm valuing your shares is also the firm you pay to record them, and that arrangement is worth being deliberate about.
What stands out
409A valuations
Low entry price
Small companies
Where it costs you
Plain interface and a short integration list
Buying valuations from your register vendor creates a conflict
Right for
Small US companies wanting a register and a 409A cheaply
Wrong for
European companies, or anyone needing wide investor familiarity
United StatesPer company per year, published; valuations quoted
The American default, with the ecosystem that implies
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Carta is the American default and diligence is smoother because of it, with option administration, valuations and reporting all in one place. It ranks mid-table here on independence rather than capability.
Pricing rises with the stakeholder count that success produces, renewals come with a sales conversation, and the company's past handling of customer data during its secondaries push is a reason to read the terms about what it may see and use.
What stands out
Investor familiarity
409A valuations
Large ecosystem
Where it costs you
Price climbs steeply with stakeholder count and add-ons
Has previously used customer data in ways customers objected to
Right for
US companies raising from investors who expect to see Carta
Wrong for
Buyers who prioritise independence and predictable renewal pricing
United StatesPer company per year by stakeholder count, quoted
Swedish share register kept in step with Bolagsverket
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Sweden's rules about the share register, board decisions and registration with Bolagsverket are specific, and Qoorp automates them end to end with digital signing included. For a Swedish AB that is routine legal work removed.
It is a national product by design. A company that later incorporates a holding structure abroad, or takes on international investors with their own document expectations, will find the boundaries quickly.
What stands out
Swedish company law
Digital signing
Registry filings
Where it costs you
Serves Swedish companies and Swedish filings only
English-language experience is clearly secondary
Right for
Swedish limited companies keeping the aktiebok and filings in order
Wrong for
Companies incorporated outside Sweden, or raising money internationally
Share plan administration for companies with employees worldwide
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
The hard part of international employee equity is not the register, it is the tax: what withholding applies when an employee in Spain vests shares in an Irish parent, and what has to reach each payroll.
Global Shares does that, which is why listed companies use it. Since J.P. Morgan acquired it the commercial relationship has broadened, and the pricing assumes scale that early companies do not have.
What stands out
Global payroll tax
Listed companies
J.P. Morgan owned
Where it costs you
Priced for hundreds of participants, not a startup's ten
Sold as part of a wider banking relationship since acquisition
Right for
Companies with share plan participants across many different tax jurisdictions
Wrong for
Private companies with a small, single-country option pool
Cap table and legal workflows backed by a large institution
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Formerly Shoobx, this treats every equity event as a workflow with documents, approvals and signatures rather than as a row to update, which keeps the register and the paperwork in step.
The Fidelity ownership answers the question of whether the vendor will still exist in a decade. The rigidity is the cost: firms with their own document standards find the templates constraining, and outside the US it barely registers with investors.
What stands out
Document workflows
US corporations
Institutional backing
Where it costs you
Workflow model is rigid if your counsel works differently
Built around US corporations, little known in Europe
Right for
US companies wanting equity documents and register in one workflow
Wrong for
European entities, or teams whose lawyers use their own templates
United StatesPer company per year, published tiers
Equity accounting and audit reporting for corporate finance departments
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Certent exists because share-based payment accounting is genuinely difficult: expense recognition across grant types, forfeiture estimates, disclosures that survive an audit. It handles that and feeds the numbers to finance.
Nobody buys it to plan a round. It now sits inside insightsoftware's portfolio, which tends to mean steady maintenance rather than ambition, and the participant-facing screens look like software bought for accountants, because they are.
What stands out
Share-based accounting
Audit reporting
Enterprise
Where it costs you
Sold and priced to enterprise finance, not to founders
Now part of a larger group with portfolio priorities
Right for
Finance teams reporting share-based payment charges to their external auditors
Wrong for
Startups modelling dilution ahead of a funding round
Share registry and plan administration at listed-company scale
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best Cap Table Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestAsia-Pacific
Computershare is a registrar with software attached, not a product you sign up for. It matters when the register runs to thousands of names, dividends have to be paid across countries, and a market regulator expects controlled processes.
That work is done by people on an account, with fees quoted rather than published. For a private company with twenty shareholders it is an expensive way to solve a problem a spreadsheet was solving badly.
What stands out
Listed companies
Registrar services
Global coverage
Where it costs you
Fee structure stays opaque until a quote arrives
Self-service is not how the relationship works
Right for
Listed companies with thousands of shareholders and dividend payment obligations
Wrong for
Private companies with a handful of shareholders and options
Cap table software keeps the register of who owns what in a company: shares, options, convertibles and vesting, with the paperwork and the dilution maths attached. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
8 of the 12 tools here publish what they cost; the other 4 quote per organisation, which means a sales conversation before you can compare anything. If you are buying without a procurement function, start with the ones that publish: Ledgy, Vestd, SeedLegals, Pulley, Cake Equity, Eqvista, Qoorp, Fidelity Private Shares.
02
Work out what the first ninety days cost in time
Licence cost is the number in the contract; setup effort is the number that surprises people. Ask every shortlisted vendor who does the configuration, how long it took the last customer of your size, and what happens if that person leaves halfway.
03
Check the exit before the entry
Ask for an export of your own data in a format you can open, and ask whether it is included or billed as a project. A vendor that hesitates here is telling you what renewal negotiations will feel like in three years.
04
Match the tool to the size you are, not the size you plan to be
Most regret in this category comes from buying for a headcount that never arrived. The entry-level products here are not worse; they are aimed at a different company.
05
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 12 vendors are established in 6 countries across 3 regions (North America 5, Europe 5, Asia-Pacific 2). Where a vendor is established decides which government can compel access to what it holds, which is a different question from where the servers are. For most buyers that is a factor, not a veto.
Jurisdiction decides this purchase before features do
Most cap table software is written for a Delaware corporation with stock options and a 409A valuation, and that model does not transfer. A German GmbH has shares transferred by notarial deed, so the authoritative record is a notarised list, not your dashboard. A Dutch BV has shares in a notarial register too, and a shareholders' agreement that the software will not read.
A UK company has to file an SH01 after each allotment and may run EMI options with HMRC valuations. Vestd is built around the UK mechanics, Qoorp around the Swedish ones, Ledgy around continental company forms, and Pulley and Carta around the American ones. Picking on interface quality and then discovering your notary keeps the real register is the standard mistake here. Establish which document is legally authoritative first.
Ask your notary or company lawyer which record is legally binding.
Confirm the product knows your company form, not just your currency.
If you have entities in two countries, decide now whether one system can serve both.
What the register is for changes what you should buy
Three different jobs share this category. Founders want to model dilution before agreeing terms, and Pulley does that best. Employees want to understand what they hold and what it might be worth, which is where Ledgy's portal earns its place. Finance and auditors want share-based payment accounting and tax withholding, which is the subject of Certent Equity Management and, across jurisdictions, Global Shares.
A product optimised for one of these is usually mediocre at the others, and the demo will be the job the vendor is best at. Work out which of the three causes you actual pain this year. Companies with fewer than twenty shareholders usually have a founder problem, and companies with two hundred option holders in five countries usually have a tax problem.
Say out loud which of the three jobs you are buying for.
Have an employee open the portal during the trial and explain their grant back to you.
Ask your auditor what they need before choosing, not in January.
The bill grows with your stakeholder count, not your use
Almost everything here prices on the number of stakeholders, so the invoice rises as you issue options, which is exactly when budgets are tight. Carta is the clearest example, but Ledgy, Pulley and Cake Equity all step up by band. Read where the bands fall, because hiring twenty people with options can push you across one.
Then look at what is outside the subscription. Valuations are usually separate, as with Eqvista. Scheme setup is separate at Vestd. Legal documents may be separate or included depending on the plan. The comparison that matters is the cost in the year you raise and grant, not the entry price today, and vendors quote the second one.
Find the next price band and count how many grants away it is.
List every service quoted separately: valuation, filings, documents, signatures.
Model the bill for the year of your next round, not this quiet year.
Leaving, and who actually holds your register
A cap table is the record of who owns the company, so it must outlive the vendor. Ask for a full export in the trial and check that it includes grant-level detail, vesting schedules, exercise history and the signed documents, not just a summary of holdings. Pulley and Ledgy export cleanly.
At the service end, Global Shares and Computershare hold the relationship rather than hand you a file, and exit means a transfer project between providers. The other risk is accuracy: a register that has drifted from the legal documents cannot be fixed by exporting it, which is the thing to watch with SeedLegals when events happen outside the platform. Reconcile the software against the signed paperwork once a year, at minimum.
Export everything during the trial and check vesting and exercise history survived.
Reconcile the software register against signed documents annually.
Ask what happens to employee access to grant information after you leave.
What goes wrong most often when buying cap table management software
Choosing an American product for a European entity because the interface is nicer. The notary or the registry holds the binding record, and the software will not know it.
Letting the cap table drift from the signed documents. Every transfer agreed by email and never entered turns into a diligence problem during a raise.
Comparing entry prices while ignoring stakeholder bands. The bill arrives in the year you grant options, which is the year you can least afford it.
Buying the valuation from the same vendor that keeps the register without thinking about it. It is convenient, and it is a conflict you should acknowledge.
07
Frequently asked questions
9 answers
What is the best cap table management in 2026?
Ledgy leads our ranking of 12. The one product here designed around European company forms rather than adapted to them, covering German GmbH share structures, Swiss AG shares and virtual option plans that fit continental tax practice.
The employee portal is the part teams notice. Valuation services and secondary market features are lighter than the American incumbents, and the price steps up sharply once the shareholder count grows.
How did you rank these cap table management tools?
On what separates products after the demo: how much setup the first ninety days take, what the price becomes once the modules a normal buyer needs are added, how your data comes back out, whether you can buy and leave it without a partner engagement, and who the product is genuinely for.
That fourth test is why the large platform suites usually sit lower here than their market share would suggest. Not on feature counts, and not on a score we invented.
Which cap table management tools publish their pricing?
8 of the 12, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Ledgy: Per company per year by shareholder count, published.
Vestd: Per company per month plus scheme fees, published.
SeedLegals: Annual plans by activity, published.
Pulley: Per company per year by stakeholder count, published.
Cake Equity: Per company per month by stakeholder count, published.
Eqvista: Per company per year, published; valuations quoted.
Qoorp: Per company per year, published.
Fidelity Private Shares: Per company per year, published tiers.
The other 4 quote per organisation.
Is there a free cap table management tool?
None of the tools here offer a usable free tier, which is itself a signal about who this category is sold to.
Where are these cap table management vendors established?
In 6 countries across 3 regions: North America 5, Europe 5, Asia-Pacific 2.
Ledgy is established in Switzerland.
Vestd is established in the United Kingdom.
SeedLegals is established in the United Kingdom.
Pulley is established in the United States.
Cake Equity is established in Australia.
Eqvista is established in the United States.
Carta is established in the United States.
Qoorp is established in Sweden.
Global Shares is established in Ireland.
Fidelity Private Shares is established in the United States.
Certent Equity Management is established in the United States.
Computershare is established in Australia.
Establishment decides whose courts and whose disclosure laws apply, which is a separate question from where the data is hosted.
What should you use instead of Ledgy?
Vestd and SeedLegals are the next two on this page.
Vestd is for UK companies running EMI or growth share schemes without lawyers; SeedLegals is for Early companies doing rounds, options and agreements in one place. All 12 are ranked here with what each one is bad at.
Who should not buy Ledgy?
US corporations needing 409A valuations from the same vendor. Valuation and secondary services are lighter than US incumbents.
Do you get paid for these rankings?
Vendors can pay for visibility, which affects where and how prominently a product appears. It does not change a word of what the entry says about that product, including the criticism, and it cannot buy inclusion for something that does not belong in the category.
We take no commission when you click through to a vendor and we do not know whether you bought anything. The full arrangement is on our disclosure page.
How often is this cap table management guide updated?
Whenever the facts move: a price change, an acquisition, a product that stops being maintained. The published and updated dates at the top of the page are real, and a review means someone went back to the vendor documentation rather than bumping a date.
These 12 products are the ones we judged worth ranking in cap table management. If yours belongs here and is missing, tell us what it does and who it is for, and we will look at it. Inclusion is an editorial call and it is not for sale — but nobody gets considered for a list they were never put in front of.
People land on this page with a shortlist to make, not a browsing habit to feed. That is a narrower audience than a banner reaches and a far more decided one.
Written by us, about you
We describe the product in our own words, say who it suits and say who it does not. A vendor never writes the entry and never sees it before it goes up.
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