What are the key capabilities and limitations of NSOs vs ISOs?

NSOs can be granted to employees and non-employees; ISOs are for employees only. The platform supports unlimited vesting combinations including cliffs, periodic vesting, and milestones with pause capability. NSOs offer flexible exercise periods; ISOs have a 10-year maximum with a 90-day post-termination exercise requirement. PTEP is customizable per grant or pool default with automatic lapsing.

Motivate top talent with stock options.

Q: Which Cake plans include the stock options feature?

Stock options are available on all plans from Free to Enterprise. Advanced features like early exercise, board approvals, and PTEP management are included in Growth and above. Free templates are provided for US C-Corps, or you can bring your own documents.

Q: What integrations and compliance features are available?

409A valuations sync automatically to strike prices within 3 business days. You can also import custom valuations or set defaults at scale.

Cake's stock option management software helps you attract and retain top talent, aligning your team's success with your company's growth.

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Loved by 10,000+ companies from all stages of growth.

The Cake way

Stock option tools that makes equity ownership seamless.

Designed to help you issue, manage, and communicate stock options clearly—without manual admin or confusion.

Flexible vesting engine

Automate cliffs, schedules, milestones, and pauses without manual work.

NSO & ISO support

Manage both option types with the right rules and workflows for each.

Fast approvals

Complete board sign-offs and e-signing in minutes with automated flows.

Real-time tracking

Monitor vesting progress and exercise status instantly across every grant.

Portfolio dashboard

Give option holders access to their own portfolio dashboard showing vesting, value, and exercise opportunities.

Built-in grant templates

Use ready-made option plan rules and letter templates to issue documents, or BYO.

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How it works

From grant to exercise, handled in one smooth workflow.

A straightforward workflow that keeps stock option grants organized, compliant, and easy to manage.

Set up your stock option plan

Define eligibility, strike prices, vesting schedules, and plan rules aligned to your compensation strategy.

Send stock option offers

Generate grant letters, trigger board approvals, and send everything for e-signature automatically.

Track vesting automatically

Let the system manage cliffs, monthly/quarterly vesting, milestones, and pauses with full history.

Give employees access to porfolio

Give employees their own app to view grants, track vesting, and understand the value of their stock options.

Maintain compliance

Download structured exports to support internal controls, external audits, funding rounds, or legal reviews.

Frequently asked questions

Your questions about stock options, answered.

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Which Cake plans include stock options management?

Stock Options (ISO/NSO) are available on all Cake plans. More advanced features like early exercise, board approvals, and PTEP management are included in Team plans. See plans

What integrations and compliance features are available on Cake?

Cake supports the compliance needs specific to stock options: 409A valuations and board approval workflows are included from the Team plan up, available as an add-on on Build. Form 3921 reporting, ASC 718 reporting, and 83(b) election support are built into Cake, available across paid plans.

What are the key capability and limitations of NSO vs ISO?

You can grant NSOs to both employees and non-employees (advisors, contractors), while ISOs can only be granted to employees. The platform supports unlimited vesting combinations including cliffs, periodic vesting, and milestones with the ability to pause vesting for leaves and resume when employees return. NSOs offer flexible exercise periods with no mandatory restrictions, while ISOs have a 10-year maximum exercise period and require exercise within 90 days of leaving employment.

Post Termination Exercise Periods (PTEP) can be customized per grant or set as pool defaults, with automatic lapsing of unexercised options after the period expires. Advanced filtering, sorting, and search capabilities make it easy to manage hundreds of grants, while edit functionality allows you to update ongoing grants even after vesting has started.