Pulley Is Shutting Down: What to Do & Best Pulley Alternatives

Key Takeaways

• Pulley is ceasing operations on December 8, 2026 - if you're a customer, your access ends that day, with limited data retrieval through January 31, 2027.
• Pulley clients are being offered a default path to Carta, including a new 12-month contract and pricing matched to their current rate for year one.
• Clients have until November 30, 2026 to opt in and lock in assisted migration and pricing - after that, none of it is guaranteed.
• If you are a client, this is a good moment to ask whether the default option is actually the right one for where your company is headed, not just where it's been.

What Happened to Pulley? Why Pulley Is Shutting Down

On Sept 15, 2026 Pulley announced it is winding down operations, effective December 8, 2026. In a LinkedIn post, co-founder Yin Wu confirmed the company is "working with Carta to transition Pulley customers to their platform," with Carta agreeing to honor existing Pulley contract terms during the handoff.

According to Pulley's own FAQ, the practical details break down like this: the app itself becomes inaccessible on December 8, though customers retain limited data access through January 31, 2027.

The Default Path: Migrating From Pulley to Carta

The default option is Carta. Here's how it works if a client opts in: they share contact and contract details, Carta reaches out with a new 12-month agreement, and if signed, year-one pricing matches what they were already paying Pulley - plus a credit for any prepaid time not yet used.

Timing matters more than it might seem. Opting in by November 30, 2026 preserves access to assisted migration and that pricing guarantee. Miss that window, and Pulley is explicit that none of it - timing, pricing, continuity - is guaranteed anymore. Their team stops being available to help.

Clients on a monthly plan face an extra wrinkle: Carta doesn't offer monthly billing, so migrating means moving to quarterly or annual terms regardless.

The Best Pulley Alternatives for 2026

Pulley customers have more than one place to go. The four platforms below differ less on cap table basics than on how far their compliance coverage reaches beyond the US, how they handle a migration Pulley will not assist with, and how they price after year one.

Slice: A Pulley Alternative Built for Global Equity Management

Slice Global is the AI-native global equity management and compliance platform, covering 67+ countries, for companies whose employees and equity holders sit in more than one country. AI and compliance are part of the workflow itself rather than bolted on afterward: Slice monitors grants and ownership data and raises compliance alerts tailored to each company's equity structure.

• Best fit: US-headquartered companies granting equity across multiple countries that want tax and compliance in the same system as the cap table. Its equity tax simulator produces event-by-event tax estimates per stakeholder and adjusts them when someone relocates.
  
• Moving from Pulley: Slice runs a specialist-led migration for Pulley customers, starting with an audit of the existing cap table, grants and documents your team supplies, and is typically complete in under two weeks.
  
• Worth checking: Slice's editions are scoped by the number of countries it covers, so map where your equity holders sit and where you plan to hire next.

Carta: The Default Migration Path From Pulley

Carta is Pulley's exclusive transition partner and the only provider Pulley will help customers move to. Under Pulley's shutdown FAQ, customers who opt in by November 30, 2026 sign a new 12-month Carta contract, keep their Pulley pricing for the first full year and receive a credit for unused prepaid time.

• Best fit: US companies that want continuity on a platform their investors and auditors are likely to know already.
  
• Moving from Pulley: Carta handles the technical migration, which Pulley puts at a few business days for many accounts once the contract is signed. Carta can accept Pulley's existing 409A valuation as-is.
  
• Worth checking: The price match covers year one only, and monthly plans move to quarterly or annual billing. ASC 718 and IFRS reporting sit in Carta's top published tier, Scale. If you grant outside the US, ask what it handles in-platform for those countries.

Cake Equity: A Pulley Alternative Built for US Startups

Cake Equity is built for the US market, and covers stock options, RSUs, RSAs, SAFEs and warrants, along with US compliance items such as 409A valuations, Form 3921, 83(b) elections, ASC 718 reporting and Rule 701.

• Best fit: US startups from seed through growth stage that want a simpler interface and pricing published on the website.
  
• Moving from Pulley: Cake runs its own Pulley migration. You upload a Pulley export, or add Cake as an admin on your Pulley account so its team pulls the data. Cake quotes two to five days for a typical cap table and credits unused prepaid Pulley time toward year one, up to six months.
  
• Worth checking: Cake's compliance layer is focused on US rules. If you grant equity outside the US, ask how it handles local tax treatment, securities exemptions and reporting in those countries.

Ledgy: A Pulley Alternative With UK and European Share Plan Reporting

Ledgy positions itself as one platform for equity, deferred compensation and carried interest, from early-stage cap tables through public-company share plans. Its compliance features lean toward the UK, with Companies House reports, ERS returns to HMRC and EMI forms, and its Enterprise tier adds global mobility reporting.

• Best fit: UK and European companies running formal share plans, or companies that want equity and executive compensation in one system.
  
• Moving from Pulley: Ledgy offers a free migration led by a dedicated specialist, who validates grants, agreements and historical transactions with you before go-live. Its Pulley page does not commit to a single timeline.
  
• Worth checking: Ledgy estimates tax withholding from tax rates that admins enter manually or pull in through a partner integration, so confirm who maintains those rates for each country you grant in.

How to Choose the Right Pulley Alternative

A deadline you did not set makes it tempting to pick the closest match to Pulley and move on. The better test is whether a platform fits the company you are now, not the one that was first set up on Pulley. Five questions narrow the field.

• Where your equity holders sit today: If grants now reach employees outside the US, the question shifts from "can this replace Pulley" to "can this handle the rules where my people work." Whether a grant can be made, and on what terms, can depend on local securities rules and exchange controls before tax comes into it, so ask each vendor which countries it supports in-platform.
  
• What the platform handles versus what stays with your team: Some platforms keep the record and leave country-specific tax treatment and regulatory changes for your finance team to track. Others build alerts and tax estimates into the workflow. Ask each vendor to walk through one non-US grant from approval to tax estimate.
  
• How migration works without Pulley's help: Pulley will not assist a move to any provider other than Carta. Ask each vendor what it needs from you, who reconciles the data, and whether you sign off before go-live.
  
• What the contract looks like after year one: Carta's offer matches Pulley pricing for the first full year of a 12-month term. Ask every vendor for the year-two price and renewal terms in writing.
  
• Which reports your auditors and board need: ASC 718 expense reporting, IFRS 2 if you report under IFRS, Form 3921 for ISO exercises and continuity of your 409A valuation. Check which plan tier includes each one.

Signing under deadline pressure is how gaps get found after the contract starts rather than before it, and a second migration within a year usually costs more than an extra week of evaluation now.

Why Consider Slice as a Pulley Alternative for Global Equity Management

For companies with equity in more than one country, this is the moment to choose a platform for where you're headed, not the easiest switch.

Slice is built specifically for that complexity: continuous compliance monitoring instead of manual tracking, AI-native handling of cross-border tax and regulatory requirements, and the ability to issue equity in a new country without months of outside counsel work.

If your cap table tool was built for one country and your team isn't, check the fit before you sign.

Book a demo to see how Slice handles global equity complexity.