Cake Equity
Legal & Formation Verified May 2026
Cap table management built for founders and finance teams
- Founded in Australia — strong ESOP compliance for APAC jurisdictions (AUS, NZ, SG)
- Guided setup wizard makes first cap table setup accessible for non-financial founders
- Employee self-service portal for vesting tracking without bothering finance team
- Equity scenario modelling for exit planning and fundraising
How Cake Equity scored 63/100
6 weighted criteria, each scored out of 10 and published with its reasoning. Featured placements never move a score.
Deal Strength
3.0 /10There is no exclusive coupon here; the value is Cake's free-forever starter plan, which covers up to five stakeholders with a full cap table, stock options and SAFE notes and needs no card to begin. It is a real entry point rather than a headline saving.
Value for Money
7.0 /10Pricing is reasonable for the category: free to start, then Build from $1,000/year (25 stakeholders) and the popular Team plan at $2,750/year (40 stakeholders, two audit-ready 409A valuations included). At growth stage that typically undercuts Carta, though a standalone 409A add-on runs $1,500.
Capability
8.0 /10The platform is broad and category-competitive — cap table management, SAFEs and convertible notes with conversion modelling, founder vesting, ISO/NSO/RSU/RSA incentive plans, fundraising modelling, board approval workflows, e-signing and a shareholder portal, all spanning 20+ jurisdictions including the US, UK, Australia and Singapore.
Time to Value
8.0 /10Setup is fast for the category: a free 'get started' path, guided import of an existing cap table from spreadsheet or CSV, and a UI that ranks #1 on G2 for ease of use. Most founders have a clean, shareable cap table live within hours rather than days.
Trust & Reliability
7.0 /10Cake is ISO/IEC 27001 certified, rates about 4.8/5 across 130+ G2 reviews, and is used by thousands of growing companies — a strong reputation signal. The score stays measured because it publishes no formal uptime SLA and support depth scales with the plan tier.
Flexibility & Exit
6.0 /10Records are exportable and the free tier plus guided migration keep the door open both ways, but pricing scales with stakeholders and entities and the top Pro tier is quote-only, so a large, multi-entity cap table carries more practical switching friction than a small one.
About Cake Equity
Quick answer
Cap table management built for founders and finance teams
Cake Equity, in 30 seconds
Cake Equity is a cap-table and equity management platform aimed at founders who would rather not manage SAFEs, options and rounds in a spreadsheet. We picked it because the platform handles the messy parts — share class versioning, employee equity grants with vesting schedules, board-ready capitalisation reports and 409A or independent valuations — across multiple jurisdictions, including Australia, the UK and the US. The trade-off is that Cake competes directly with Carta, Pulley and Ledgy, and the right pick depends heavily on where you incorporate and where your investors expect documentation.
How it works
You set up the company entity, add stakeholders (founders, investors, employees) and import or build the cap table. From there, Cake handles share issuances, SAFE and convertible-note conversions, secondary transactions and option grants with vesting curves. Employee equity flows have a portal so team members can see their grants, vesting progress, exercise windows and tax implications without bothering finance.
For governance, Cake generates board consents, share certificates, ESOP agreements and statutory filings (where supported). Independent valuation reports — 409A in the US, equivalent fair-value assessments in other markets — are bundled or available as add-ons. Round-modelling tools simulate dilution scenarios across SAFE and priced rounds, useful for term-sheet decisions.
Pricing reality
Cake offers a free starter plan suitable for very small cap tables (founders pre-investment), with paid tiers escalating by stakeholder count and feature need. The growth tier sits around $99 per month and unlocks ESOPs, secondary transactions and reporting. Higher tiers add multi-entity support, advanced governance and bundled valuations. Independent valuation reports are typically priced separately as one-offs.
The honest cost watch: pricing scales with stakeholders and entities. A multi-jurisdiction startup running parent and subsidiary companies pays meaningfully more than a single-entity SaaS. Get a quote in writing before assuming the headline number applies.
How it compares
| Tool | Strength | Starter price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cake Equity | Multi-jurisdiction support | Free / from $99/mo | AU, UK, US founders |
| Carta | US incumbent, deep VC network | From $0 / quoted | US-incorporated startups |
| Pulley | Modern UX, AI features | Free / from $99/mo | YC-style early stage |
| Ledgy | European stronghold | Quoted | EU-incorporated companies |
Buy if / skip if
Buy if you
- Are an AU, UK or US-incorporated startup with employees on equity and investors expecting clean reporting.
- Want a bundled experience covering cap table, ESOPs and valuation in one tool.
- Have outgrown a Google Sheet and need an audit-friendly source of truth before the next round.
Skip if you
- Are a US-only Delaware C-corp where Carta has the deepest investor network and integrations.
- Are EU-incorporated where Ledgy's tax and statutory coverage is more complete.
- Are pre-seed with a handful of stakeholders — a spreadsheet is honestly fine until your first round.
What's included
- Centralizes cap table data with version control
- Automates option grant workflows and vesting schedules
- Shareholder-friendly equity statements and reporting
- API and integration support for custom workflows
- SaaSTweaks-verified affiliate deal
- Vendor-direct activation flow
- Editorial pros + cons review
- Tracked savings claim with refresh date
Cake Equity pricing
Verified May 2026. Vendor's published rates at the time we checked — always confirm at checkout.
| Plan | Price | Term | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $0 | early-stage, limited shareholders | Cap table · Basic equity plans · ESOP management · Self-serve setup |
| Growth | Custom | annual, by company stage | Unlimited shareholders · Advanced equity plans · Document generation · Investor portal · Reporting |
| Enterprise | Custom | annual | Multi-entity · Complex cap tables · Dedicated support · API access · Custom workflows |
Getting started
4 steps. The last one is the part most people skip.
- 1
Open Cake Equity through the link on this page
It carries our referral tag. The price you pay is identical either way, and it never changes the score on this page.
- 2
Compare the tiers against what you actually use
The pricing table on this page lists what each plan includes. Match it to real usage rather than the tier the vendor highlights.
- 3
Start on the smallest plan that fits
Most vendors let you move up mid-cycle and bill the difference, so starting low costs you nothing but starting high does.
- 4
Check the renewal terms before you commit
Note the renewal date and the rate it reverts to, so the second invoice is not a surprise. Annual plans are usually cheaper per month but harder to exit.
Where Cake Equity wins and loses
What works
- Founded in Australia — strong ESOP compliance for APAC jurisdictions (AUS, NZ, SG)
- Guided setup wizard makes first cap table setup accessible for non-financial founders
- Employee self-service portal for vesting tracking without bothering finance team
- Equity scenario modelling for exit planning and fundraising
What doesn't
- Less established in US and European markets vs Carta and Ledgy
- Growth pricing not publicly listed
- Advanced legal document automation less mature than Carta
- Customer support quality can be slower outside APAC business hours
The bottom line
Cake Equity gives founders a genuinely usable free cap table plus a global equity platform that handles ESOPs, SAFEs and 409A valuations across 20+ jurisdictions — a strong, well-liked pick for growth-stage teams, held back only by an offer that is access, not a discount.
Cake Equity has a free-forever plan for up to five stakeholders, then paid tiers: Build from $1,000/year (25 stakeholders, +$1 per extra), the popular Team plan at $2,750/year (40 stakeholders, +$5 each, two 409A valuations included), and a custom-priced Pro tier. Annual billing saves about 10%.
Yes. The free plan is genuinely free with no credit card and covers a full cap table, stock options and SAFE notes for up to five stakeholders — enough for a pre-team founder. You only move to a paid plan once you add more stakeholders, ESOPs or need 409A valuations.
Yes. Audit-ready 409A valuations are included on the Team plan (two per year) and available as a $1,500 add-on on annual plans. For companies outside the US, Cake provides equivalent fair-value reports in markets such as the UK and Australia.
Carta is the US incumbent with the deepest VC and fund integrations, while Cake Equity supports far more jurisdictions and is usually cheaper at growth stage. The right choice tends to follow where you incorporate: US-only and VC-heavy leans Carta, global or cost-sensitive leans Cake.
Yes — SAFEs and convertible notes are first-class instruments in Cake, with conversion modelling at priced rounds and audit-friendly records. That lets founders see how each instrument dilutes the cap table before a round closes rather than reconciling it afterward in a spreadsheet.
The main trade-offs are cost scaling and lock-in: pricing rises with stakeholders and legal entities, the top Pro tier is quote-only, and there is no published uptime SLA. It is also purpose-built for equity and cap tables, so it is not a substitute for full accounting or HR software.
