Cap Table & Equity — procurement report
ProductArena · rankings as of 2026-09-16 · evidence as of 2026-09-16 · 6 products · 56 judged requirements · 336 judged cells
Methodology: Every product is judged against a shared taxonomy of user stories using cited evidence — hands-on probes > repository code > independent community sources > vendor claims — never opinion. Full writeup: https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/methodology
Leaderboard
| # | Product | PA Score | Coverage score | Applicable cells | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carta | 22.4 | 20.0 | 52/56 | C |
| 2 | Cake Equity | 11.3 | 20.2 | 50/56 | B |
| 3 | Ledgy | 4.8 | 12.4 | 52/56 | C |
| 4 | Pulley | 4.7 | 15.9 | 42/56 | B |
| 5 | Vestd | 3.9 | 12.9 | 47/56 | B |
| 6 | Fidelity Private Shares | 2.6 | 17.9 | 52/56 | A |
PA Score = agent-readiness blend (see methodology). Coverage score = weighted share of judged requirements met. Confidence = how much of the score rests on tested vs claimed evidence (A–D).
Uncertainty note
The current #1/#2 gap in this arena is not close enough to qualify for the multi-judge uncertainty pass (or the pass has not covered it yet) — no extra caveat applies beyond the per-product confidence grades above.
Buyer checklist (RFP)
The arena's 56 judged user stories as requirements, grouped by theme. Priorities mirror the story weights our scoring uses (3 = must-have, 2 = should-have, 1 = nice-to-have). Interactive version with per-requirement verdicts for the top products: /arena/equity-management/checklist
Agenticness — how well agents can access and operate the productAgenticness
How well agents can access and operate the product
- ai-native userPlug MCP servers into this product so it can use their toolsmust-have
- ai-native userConnect an agent via an official MCP servermust-have
- ai-native userDrive the product through a documented public APImust-have
- ai-native userDelegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the productmust-have
- ai-native userPoint an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docsshould-have
- ai-native userRun the product headlessly / in CI for automationshould-have
- ai-native userUse an official CLIshould-have
- ai-native userIssue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agentshould-have
- ai-native userBuild against official SDKsshould-have
- ai-native userSubscribe to events via webhooksshould-have
- ai-native userGet AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the productshould-have
- ai-native userSet up automations that run autonomously in the backgroundshould-have
- ai-native userOperate the product with natural-language commandsshould-have
- ai-native userExplore an interactive API reference with runnable examplesshould-have
- ai-native userDownload a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)should-have
- ai-native userRely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policyshould-have
- ai-native userTest against a sandbox environment without touching production datanice-to-have
Automation depth — how much of the product can run unattendedAutomation depth
How much of the product can run unattended
- ai-native userDefine rules that trigger actions automatically on eventsmust-have
- ai-native userPerform bulk operations across many items at onceshould-have
- ai-native userSchedule recurring jobs or workflowsshould-have
- ai-native userVersion, review, and roll back my automationsnice-to-have
Cap table core — stories about cap table core in this arenaCap table core
Stories about cap table core in this arena
- founderMaintain my full cap table — share classes, certificates, SAFEs, and option grants — as a live single source of truth that investors and auditors rely onmust-have
- founderIssue electronic share certificates that are legally signed in-platform and permanently linked to the cap table entry they representshould-have
- ops userMigrate an existing cap table — from a spreadsheet or another platform — with guided import, validation, and reconciliation against source documentsshould-have
Compliance filings — stories about compliance filings in this arenaCompliance filings
Stories about compliance filings in this arena
- ops userProduce ASC 718 stock-based compensation expense reports my accountants can hand to auditorsshould-have
- ops userUS equity compliance — Rule 701 disclosure thresholds, Form 3921 filings, 83(b) elections — is tracked and generated from the cap table automaticallyshould-have
Equity data access — stories about equity data access in this arenaEquity data access
Stories about equity data access in this arena
- ai-native userHave an agent pull my current cap table programmatically and reconcile it against my data room before a financingmust-have
- developerPull the full capitalization table — stakeholders, share classes, securities, and vesting states — through a documented programmatic APImust-have
- ai-native userAn agent can draft securities (e.g. option grants) via the platform's programmatic surface and leave them queued for human board approvalshould-have
- developerThird parties my company authorizes — law firms, HRIS vendors, wealth managers — can access scoped slices of equity data on our behalf without full admin credentialsshould-have
Equity issuance — stories about equity issuance in this arenaEquity issuance
Stories about equity issuance in this arena
- founderIssue options to a new hire with a board approval flow and a 409A-compliant strike price in one end-to-end workflowmust-have
- ops userUpload or issue securities in bulk — a batch of grants or historical transactions — instead of entering them one at a timeshould-have
- ops userDefine custom vesting schedules — cliffs, milestones, acceleration on exit — and the platform tracks vested vs unvested automaticallyshould-have
Fundraising modeling — stories about fundraising modeling in this arenaFundraising modeling
Stories about fundraising modeling in this arena
- founderCreate, send, and e-sign SAFEs or convertible notes in-platform, and they land on the cap table with their conversion terms modeledmust-have
- founderModel a priced round — dilution, option pool top-up, SAFE conversion, pro-forma ownership — and share the scenario with counsel and investorsmust-have
- ops userRun exit waterfall analyses showing proceeds per share class and stakeholder under different exit values, honoring preferences and participationshould-have
- founderMy investors get their own portal view of their holdings and can receive structured updates without emailing me for the cap tablenice-to-have
Governance boardroom — stories about governance boardroom in this arenaGovernance boardroom
Stories about governance boardroom in this arena
- founderBoard consents and stockholder approvals are drafted, routed for e-signature, and archived against the transactions they authorizeshould-have
- ops userMy outside counsel can work directly in the platform with law-firm roles — preparing documents and updating records without emailing spreadsheetsshould-have
- ops userShare a permissioned, diligence-ready data room — cap table views plus underlying documents — with counsel and investorsshould-have
Integrations hris — stories about integrations hris in this arenaIntegrations hris
Stories about integrations hris in this arena
- ops userStakeholders sync from my HRIS/payroll system (e.g. Gusto, Rippling) so new hires and terminations flow into equity records automaticallyshould-have
Openness — open source, data portability, and self-hosting storiesOpenness
Open source, data portability, and self-hosting stories
- ai-native userExport all of my data in open formats and leavemust-have
- ai-native userSelf-host the core productmust-have
- ai-native userDo everything through the API that I can do in the UIshould-have
- ai-native userRead the product's source under an open licenseshould-have
Privacy posture — data-handling and privacy storiesPrivacy posture
Data-handling and privacy stories
- ai-native userPrevent my data from being used to train AI modelsmust-have
- ai-native userChoose where my data is stored (region/residency)should-have
- ai-native userControl data retention and deletionshould-have
- ai-native userOpt out of telemetry and usage trackingshould-have
Reporting exports — stories about reporting exports in this arenaReporting exports
Stories about reporting exports in this arena
- ops userExport my complete cap table and full transaction history to open formats (Excel/CSV) at any time — my ownership data is never held hostageshould-have
- ops userEvery change to the cap table is captured in an audit log — who changed what, when, and under what authorizationnice-to-have
Stakeholder experience — stories about stakeholder experience in this arenaStakeholder experience
Stories about stakeholder experience in this arena
- employeeI get my own portal showing my grants, vesting progress, strike price, and what my equity could be worth under different outcomesmust-have
- employeeExercise my vested options online — including payment and the resulting share issuance — without paper formsshould-have
- employeeThe platform explains my equity in plain language — tax treatment, exercise windows, dilution — not just numbersnice-to-have
Valuations 409a — stories about valuations 409a in this arenaValuations 409a
Stories about valuations 409a in this arena
- founderOrder an audit-ready 409A valuation in-platform, generated from my live cap table data, and get refreshed valuations on schedulemust-have
- ops userNon-US valuations and schemes — UK HMRC/EMI valuations, country-specific option plans — are supported for my international entitiesnice-to-have
Appendix: recorded probes
Hands-on probe recordings — transcripts/videos a human can replay, the strongest evidence tier. Watch them at https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/proofs
- Cake Equity
curl -sL https://www.cakeequity.com/llms.txt | head -6terminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Carta
curl -si https://api.carta.com/v1alpha1/issuers | head -4 # the documented Issuer API, keyless → 401terminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Carta
curl -si -X POST https://mcp.app.carta.com/mcp -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '<jsonrpc initialize>' # the remote MCP server Carta documents for Claude/Codexterminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Carta
curl -s https://mcp.app.carta.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp # scoped cap-table permissions, in the openterminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Ledgy
curl -s -X POST https://app.ledgy.com/graphql -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"query":"{ __typename }"}' # live endpoint, challenges for the API keyterminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Ledgy
curl -s https://docs.ledgy.com/ | grep -o '<title>[^<]*' # public GraphQL API reference, no login wallterminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Pulley
curl -s https://api.pulley.com/v1/stakeholders # live API host, auth-gated, no public docsterminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Pulley
curl -sL https://help.pulley.com/llms.txt | head -6terminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0 - Vestd
curl -sL https://www.vestd.com/llms.txt | head -6terminal · recorded 2026-09-14 · exit 0
Cite as: ProductArena by Ultrametric Inc, Cap Table & Equity arena, rankings as of 2026-09-16 — https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/arena/equity-management
License: © 2026 Ultrametric Inc. Brief quotation of individual verdicts, scores, or evidence excerpts is permitted with attribution to "ProductArena by Ultrametric Inc (ultrametric.ai/productarena)", as is use of the data to evaluate, contest, or contribute corrections. Bulk copying, redistribution, or use to build competing datasets requires prior written permission (see DATA-LICENSE in the repository).
No liability: rankings, verdicts, and scores are research outputs derived from the cited evidence at a point in time, provided "as is", without warranties. Ultrametric Inc accepts no responsibility for procurement, purchasing, or other decisions made in reliance on them — verify against the cited evidence before acting (https://ultrametric.ai/productarena/terms).