# Pulley vs Cake Equity: which do AI models recommend for cap table management, September 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Cap table management. One of twelve models named Pulley first on the direct prompt; zero named Cake Equity. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/corporate/cap-table-management/pulley-vs-cake-equity/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pulley | 8% | #4 of 8 | 30% | 56 | 12 of 12 |
| Cake Equity | 7% | #5 of 8 | 0% | 38 | 11 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Llama 4 Maverick: pulley first (first choices: Carta, Pulley, Qapita)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Carta) (alternatives: Cake Equity, Pulley, Qapita)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Carta) (alternatives: ClosingWell, Ledgy, Pulley, Qapita)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither first, one named (first choices: Carta) (alternatives: Ledgy, Pulley)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Carta) (alternatives: Pulley, Qapita)
- Kimi K2: neither first, one named (first choices: Carta) (alternatives: Cake Equity, Eqvista, Ledgy, Pulley)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Qapita) (alternatives: Cake Equity, Capshare, Mantle, Pulley)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Carta) (alternatives: Eqvista, Ledgy, Shareworks)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Carta) (alternatives: Qapita)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Carta, Qapita)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Carta, Qapita) (alternatives: Ledgy)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: Carta, Shareworks) (alternatives: EquityZen, Ledgy)

## What the models said about Pulley

- "When to avoid: Immediately if considering now—migrate risks data loss or disruption... obsolete." (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "you should avoid Pulley and look at the following highly rated, cost-effective alternatives" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "A notable alternative, but Pulley is now shutting down (announced September 2026)" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Stick with well-reviewed, scalable platforms like Pulley, AngelList Equity, or Cake Equity for early-stage companies." (Mistral Small, negative prompt, first choice)
- "### 1. The Modern Disruptor: Pulley ... *Long-term Private/Hypergrowth?* Go with Pulley (best efficiency/UX)." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "Pulley = best modeling and affordability for early founders, but less institutional weight." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, comparative prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Cake Equity

- "Qapita (for its global, audit‑ready, mid‑market focus) and Cake Equity (for intuitive UX and transparent pricing) are both strong starting points" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, paraphrase prompt, first choice)
- "The best cap table management software for a company with a limited budget is Cake Equity, which offers a free starting point" (Llama 4 Maverick, budget prompt, first choice)
- "the best cap table management software is usually Cake Equity if you want a free starter tier" (Perplexity Sonar, budget prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.