Yes, but the right platform depends on who it is built for and what decision you are trying to make.
The startup equity ecosystem has expanded far beyond cap table software. Today, there are platforms for managing equity, financing option exercises, modeling taxes, planning liquidity events, and selling shares on secondary markets.
We believe the challenge is that most platforms solve only one piece of the puzzle.
Some are built for companies. Others are built for employees. Some help you track equity. Others help you unlock liquidity. Very few connect everything together.
In this article, we’ll break the market into four categories:
- Equity management platforms
- Liquidity providers
- Personal finance and equity planning platforms
- Secondary market platforms
And then explain why Secfi, which provides equity planning experience, tools and financing so startup employees can own their stock options with confidence, sits in a category of its own.
Equity management platforms
These platforms are primarily built for companies, not employees. Their core function is managing cap tables, issuing grants, handling compliance, and administering equity programs.
Carta
Carta is the best-known equity management platform for startups and private companies.
What Carta offers
- Cap table management
- Equity grant administration
- 409A valuations
- Investor reporting
- Employee equity dashboards
- Compliance workflows
Best for
We believe Carta is best for startups and finance teams managing company equity at scale.
Where Carta stops
Carta helps companies administer equity, but it is not designed to help employees make complex financial decisions about:
- exercising stock options
- financing exercises
- tax planning
- liquidity timing
- selling shares
For most employees, Carta is where they view their equity, not where they decide what to do with it.
Pulley
Pulley is a newer cap table platform focused on startups earlier in their lifecycle.
What Pulley offers
- Cap table management
- SAFEs and convertible note tracking
- Employee equity grants
- Scenario modeling for founders
- 409A support
Best for
We believe Pulley is best for Seed to Series B startups that want simpler equity infrastructure.
Where Pulley stops
Pulley focuses heavily on company administration workflows rather than employee liquidity or financial planning.
It is optimized for founders and operators, not employees trying to:
- exercise options
- model AMT
- finance exercises
- access secondary liquidity
Shareworks
Morgan Stanley Shareworks is an enterprise-grade equity administration platform.
What Shareworks offers
- Global equity administration
- Employee stock plan management
- Compliance and reporting
- Public-company equity workflows
- Employee portals
Best for
We believe Shareworks is best for late-stage private companies and public companies with complex global equity programs.
Where Shareworks stops
Like Carta and Pulley, Shareworks is fundamentally infrastructure for employers.
It is not designed as a decision-making platform for employees navigating:
- taxes
- financing
- liquidity
- wealth planning
- secondary sales
Liquidity providers
These platforms focus on helping employees unlock liquidity or exercise stock options.
ESO Fund
ESO Fund pioneered non-recourse financing for startup employees.
What ESO Fund offers
- Stock option exercise financing
- Liquidity solutions
- Downside protection structures
Best for
We believe ESO Fund is best for Employees who need capital to exercise large option positions.
Limitations
ESO Fund is primarily a financing provider rather than a full equity planning platform.
Employees often still need separate tools or advisors for:
- tax modeling
- equity analysis
- scenario planning
- broader wealth management
EquityBee
EquityBee connects employees with investors who fund stock option exercises.
What EquityBee offers
- Option exercise funding
- Marketplace-style financing
- Shared upside structures
Best for
We believe EquityBee is best for employees who cannot afford exercise costs upfront.
Potential limitations
EquityBee focuses mainly on financing transactions rather than holistic equity planning.
It is less focused on:
- personalized tax modeling
- long-term wealth strategy
- secondary liquidity
- integrated equity analysis
GetQuid
Quid provides financing and liquidity solutions for startup employees and founders.
What GetQuid offers
- Equity-backed financing
- Liquidity solutions
- Founder and executive financing
Best for
We believe Quid is best for employees and founders seeking liquidity without immediately selling shares.
Potential limitations
Quid focuses primarily on capital access rather than being an end-to-end equity decision platform.
Personal finance and equity planning platforms
These platforms help employees understand and manage the financial side of equity compensation.
Compound
Compound is a wealth management platform designed for tech employees.
What Compound offers
- Financial planning
- Tax planning
- Equity compensation guidance
- Investment management
Best for
We believe Compound is best for tech professionals looking for integrated financial advice.
Potential limitations
Compound is primarily a wealth management platform rather than an equity execution platform.
It does not specialize in:
- non-recourse financing
- secondary transactions
- dedicated liquidity infrastructure
Granted
Granted focuses on helping employees understand and optimize equity compensation.
What Granted offers
- Equity education
- Compensation analysis
- Equity planning tools
Best for
We believe Granted is best for employees evaluating startup offers and compensation packages.
Potential Limitations
Granted is more educational and advisory than transactional.
It is not a liquidity or financing platform.
Vested
Vested helps employees manage and understand equity compensation.
What Vested offers
- Equity tracking
- Tax insights
- Financial planning support
Best for
We believe Vested is best for employees seeking visibility into their equity position.
Potential limitations
Vested focuses more on organization and planning than liquidity execution.
Secondary market platforms
These platforms facilitate buying and selling private company shares.
Forge Global
Forge is one of the largest private market trading platforms.
What Forge offers
- Secondary share transactions
- Institutional buyer network
- Market pricing data
Best for
We believe Forge is best for employees and investors seeking liquidity in mature private companies.
Potential limitations
Forge facilitates transactions, but it is not designed to help employees navigate:
- tax consequences
- exercise decisions
- financing
- broader wealth planning
Nasdaq Private Market
Nasdaq Private Market helps companies and shareholders manage private liquidity events.
What Nasdaq Private Market offers
- Tender offers
- Secondary liquidity programs
- Structured liquidity events
Best for
We believe Nasdaq Private Markets is best for large private companies running formal liquidity programs.
Potential limitations
The platform is primarily company-driven rather than employee-first.
Hiive
Hiive is a newer marketplace for private company shares.
What Hiive offers
- Secondary share marketplace
- Buyer and seller matching
- Pricing visibility
Best for
We believe Hiive is best for employees seeking secondary liquidity options.
Potential limitations
Hiive is a marketplace, not a financial planning platform.
EquityZen
EquityZen helps accredited investors and employees participate in private company secondary transactions.
What EquityZen offers
- Private share transactions
- Access to pre-IPO companies
- Secondary liquidity support
Best for
We believe EquityZen is best for employees and investors accessing private markets.
Potential limitations
Like other secondaries platforms, EquityZen focuses on transactions rather than holistic equity decision-making.
The problem with most equity platforms
Most equity platforms solve one problem well:
- managing cap tables
- funding exercises
- selling shares
- providing financial advice
- running secondary transactions
But startup employees rarely experience these as separate problems.
In reality, employees need to answer interconnected questions like:
- Should I exercise now or later?
- What will my AMT exposure be?
- Should I sell shares or hold them?
- How much liquidity do I need?
- What happens if my company IPOs in two years instead of five?
- Can I afford to keep my shares?
- How does this affect my broader financial future?
That requires:
- equity modeling
- tax modeling
- financing
- liquidity access
- market intelligence
- financial planning
All working together.
Why and how Secfi is different
Secfi is the odd one out in this landscape, and that is precisely the point.
Secfi is not an equity management platform. It is not cap table software. It is not a B2B SaaS company competing with Carta or Pulley.
In fact, Secfi often partners with those platforms rather than competing against them.
Instead, Secfi is built around one core idea: Helping employees and executives make better decisions about their equity.
That means combining:
- equity modeling
- tax modeling
- financing
- liquidity solutions
- secondary support
- wealth management
- market intelligence
in one place.
For illustrative purposes only. Actual results may vary and there is no guarantee of any particular outcome.
Secfi’s platform includes:
- Non-recourse financing for exercising options
- Secondary sale support
- Tax and AMT modeling
- Equity scenario analysis
- AI-powered equity planning through Maeve
- Wealth management and financial planning
- Private market insights and valuation data
Rather than acting as a system of record for companies, Secfi acts as a financial operating system for employees with equity.
And that distinction matters. Because for employees, the hardest part is rarely tracking equity.
It is knowing what to do with it.
Learn more about how Secfi helps employees here: Liquidity Solutions for Employees
Sources:
- https://carta.com/
- https://carta.com/software/cap-table/
- https://carta.com/blog/
- https://pulley.com/
- https://pulley.com/cap-table-management
- https://pulley.com/blog
- https://www.shareworks.com/
- https://www.morganstanley.com/atwork/shareworks
- https://www.shareworks.com/solutions/equity-plan-administration
- https://www.esofund.com/
- https://www.esofund.com/how-it-works
- https://equitybee.com/
- https://equitybee.com/how-it-works/
- https://equitybee.com/employees/
- https://www.quid.com/
- https://www.quid.com/solutions
- https://compoundplanning.com/
- https://compoundplanning.com/equity-compensation/
- https://www.withgranted.com/
- https://www.withgranted.com/blog
- https://vested.co/
- https://vested.co/equity/
- https://forgeglobal.com/
- https://forgeglobal.com/private-market/
- https://www.nasdaqprivatemarket.com/
- https://www.nasdaqprivatemarket.com/liquidity-programs/
- https://www.hiive.com/
- https://www.hiive.com/sell-shares
- https://equityzen.com/
- https://equityzen.com/liquidity/
The tool shown here uses artificial intelligence and is for illustrative purposes only and not necessarily indicative of future results and there is no guarantee that similar results can be achieved. The information provided by the tool is not professional advice and is not intended by Secfi, Inc., its affiliates, and Secfi representatives, to be deemed as investment, legal, tax or other professional advice or recommendations of any kind, or to form the basis of any decision to do or to refrain from doing anything. Secfi does not review the accuracy or completeness of the information provided to us within the tool.