Carta holds a wide lead for global equity plan management, frequently cited for issuing, tracking, and reporting equity across stakeholders. However, Ledgy is the usual answer for managing cap tables after funding rounds, while Deel leads for international contractor grants.
Managing equity for international contractors is uniquely challenging because standard cap table tools assume a U.S. framework, and cross-border securities or tax laws treat contractors very differently than traditional employees.[](https://www.startups.com/lexicon/international-equity-grants)
The primary global HR and payroll platforms that explicitly support global equity management (including options for international workers and contractors) include:
We have contractors globally and need to manage their equity grants. Can you recommend platforms that specialize in international equity plan administration?
Carta : While primarily a U.S. cap table and equity management powerhouse, Carta handles global issuances through partner networks or integrations, though managing the localized legal compliance for independent contractors natively often requires pairing it with a global Employer of Record/HR layer or local legal counsel.
To help narrow down the best platform for your situation, could you share:
Where are your international contractors located (which countries)?
Are you looking for a tool that handles only the equity tracking/tax compliance , or do you also need them on a global payroll/contractor management platform?
If you're managing equity grants for international contractors, I'd focus on platforms that do more than maintain a cap table. You want to manage grants, vesting, agreements, contractor records, and country-specific tax and compliance requirements without relying on spreadsheets.
The key distinction: some platforms primarily track ownership and equity awards, while others also support international equity compliance and connect grants to contractor onboarding and payroll data.
Global equity management platforms to evaluate
1. Deel Equity
(Strongest fit to investigate first)
Best for companies that want equity management connected to international contractor and workforce operations. Deel says it links grants, agreements, and onboarding status to data for EOR workers, direct hires, and contractors. It also offers country-specific compliance support.
Website:
2. Ledgy
Best for international startups and scale-ups, especially those with European operations. Supports international grant types, multiple currencies, flexible vesting schedules, global mobility reporting, and country-specific compliance workflows.
Website:
3. Carta
Best for venture-backed startups that need cap-table management, option grants, vesting administration, valuations, and fundraising workflows in one platform. Carta is worth evaluating if your primary challenge is administering contractor grants alongside your existing equity program. Confirm which international contractor jurisdictions and award types it supports for your particular setup.
Website:
4. Pulley
Best for startups looking for cap-table management, grant administration, and equity operations. Pulley also offers managed equity services, where its team can handle day-to-day equity administration. Ask specifically about non-US contractors and local tax compliance, rather than assuming global coverage from its grant-management features.
Website:
5. Shareworks
Best for larger or later-stage businesses with complex equity programs. Offers global equity administration, reporting, and access to international legal and tax information. It is a strong enterprise candidate if you need extensive controls and reporting across multiple jurisdictions.
Website:
6. J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions
Best for organizations that want a more fully administered global equity program. Its platform covers grant issuance, vesting, terminations, participant management, local tax and compliance workflows, and financial reporting. Ask whether its contractor eligibility and service model fit your company.
Website:
How I'd shortlist them
If your main need is…
Start with
Equity connected to contractor onboarding and workforce records
Deel Equity
International grants and European compliance
Ledgy
Startup cap table plus equity grants
Carta or Pulley
Enterprise-scale administration and global reporting
Shareworks or J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions
This is a functional shortlist, not a verified ranking of contractor eligibility. A platform's ability to record a grant in another country does not necessarily mean it can determine whether that contractor can legally receive it, administer the award, or handle local tax obligations.
Four questions to ask every vendor
Contractor eligibility: Can we grant options, RSUs, or other awards to independent contractors in each of our countries?
Local compliance: Does the vendor provide country-specific legal and tax guidance, or only tracking and reporting?
Grant administration: Can we automate approvals, agreements, signatures, vesting, and offboarding?
Worker-data integration: Can grants sync with our HRIS, contractor management, and payroll systems?
One important legal consideration: the availability of equity awards to independent contractors varies by jurisdiction and award type. Get country-specific legal advice before issuing grants.
Let’s narrow this to the right vendors
Which countries are your contractors based in, and what type of equity are you granting? For example, contractors in the UK, India, and Brazil receiving stock options is a different use case from international consultants receiving RSUs. That information will help distinguish platforms with genuinely relevant capabilities from general-purpose cap-table tools.
If you have contractors spread across multiple countries and need to administer equity plans globally, I’d focus on providers that combine equity grant administration, international tax and regulatory support, country-specific plan documentation, and contractor eligibility workflows.
One important distinction: some platforms specialize in managing equity itself, while others help you engage and pay international contractors and integrate with a separate equity platform. You may need both capabilities.
Global equity management providers to evaluate
1. Shareworks by Morgan Stanley
(Enterprise-scale plans)
Designed for companies managing complex equity programs across countries, including grants, vesting, participant services, reporting, and international plan administration. It also offers global equity tax and regulatory intelligence.
Best fit: Larger organizations or companies needing a managed, full-service equity administration program.
Website:
2. J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions (Global Shares)
Provides centralized global share-plan administration, grant and vesting management, participant portals, reporting, and HRIS/tax-system integrations. The offering spans private and public companies.
Best fit: Companies wanting a global share-plan administrator with participant support and outsourced administration options.
Website:
3. Carta
Manages cap tables, option grants, vesting schedules, equity documents, and stakeholder records. It also works with global workforce providers such as Remote on cross-border equity workflows. Confirm which country-specific compliance services are included in your proposed package.
Best fit: Startups and private companies seeking a central equity ledger and grant-management platform.
Website:
4. ShareForce
Specializes in share-plan administration across multiple jurisdictions, including grant-to-vesting workflows, local tax requirements, IFRS 2 and ASC 718 reporting, and implementation support.
Best fit: Companies looking for a specialist equity-plan administration provider with hands-on support and multi-country reporting.
Website:
5. Remote — Remote Equity
Combines global employment services with equity workflows for eligible international employees hired through Remote's Employer of Record (EOR) service. However, Remote explicitly states that its Remote Equity platform does not administer equity for independent contractors.
Best fit: Companies with a mixed global workforce that includes EOR employees, provided contractors are handled separately.
Website:
Which providers should make your shortlist?
Provider
Primary strength
Contractor-specific consideration
Shareworks
Enterprise global plan administration
Verify direct contractor grant support by country
J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions
Full-service global share plans
Confirm eligibility and local administration for non-employees
Carta
Cap table and equity grant management
Verify international legal and tax coverage for contractors
These are capability-based distinctions, not an independent performance ranking.
What I would verify before choosing
For a worldwide contractor population, ask each provider:
Eligibility: Can you grant stock options, RSUs, or other awards directly to independent contractors, not just employees?
Country coverage: Which countries have supported grant documentation and country-specific tax and securities-law guidance?
Administration: Can the platform handle approvals, grant agreements, vesting, exercises, cancellations, and reporting in one place?
Compliance responsibility: Does the vendor provide legal and tax guidance, or is your company expected to hire local advisers?
Integrations: Can it connect to your contractor management, accounting, and cap-table systems?
One key caveat: equity-plan software does not automatically make a contractor award legally valid in every jurisdiction. You should confirm local eligibility and the legal structure of each award before implementation.
One question to narrow this down
Are your contractors primarily:
1. What kind of workers receive equity?
Independent contractors / freelancers
Employees hired through an EOR
A mix of contractors and employees
2. What stage is your company?
Early-stage startup
Established private company
Public company
3. What level of service do you need?
Software to manage the plans internally
Fully managed administration and compliance support
Managing equity for international contractors introduces unique tax, regulatory, and classification complexities compared to standard employee plans. Platforms that handle multi-jurisdictional cap tables and global compliance can help streamline these awards.
Carta — Widely used for cap table management and global issuances. While excellent for tracking global stakeholders and issuing standard private company grants (options or RSUs), administering awards to non-employees (contractors) requires careful handling of local securities exemptions and tax setups per country.
Eqvista — A robust cap table and equity management tool serving international private companies. It allows for digital tracking of complex vesting schedules and multi-tiered share classes, making it easier to monitor non-employee grants across different regions.
Key Considerations for International Contractor Equity
Worker Classification Risk: Granting equity to independent contractors instead of W-2/T4/local statutory employees can trigger permanent establishment or misclassification issues in countries like the UK, France, or parts of Latin America.
Securities & Tax Laws: Many countries exempt broad-based employee stock plans from local prospectus/registration requirements, but these exemptions frequently do not apply to independent contractors.
Instrument Selection: Options (NSOs) or phantom equity/cash-settled bonuses are often structurally simpler to deploy to international contractors than RSUs or local tax-qualified employee schemes.
If you'd like to narrow this down, let me know:
Are your contractors located in specific regions or worldwide?
Are you looking to issue stock options, RSUs, or phantom equity?
For a company with contractors across multiple countries, I’d prioritize equity platforms that go beyond cap-table tracking and support international grant administration, country-specific tax and securities compliance, vesting, grant documentation, and reporting.
One important distinction: a platform that supports international employees does not necessarily support independent contractors in every jurisdiction. You’ll want to verify how each vendor handles contractor-specific grant eligibility, local legal structures, tax withholding obligations, and cross-border changes in residency.
My recommended shortlist
These are the platforms I’d evaluate first, based on their published international equity and administration capabilities.
1. Ledgy
(Best starting point for global plans)
ShareForce
Specialist plan administration and reporting
Confirm contractor onboarding and grant workflows
Remote Equity
Equity compliance for EOR employees
Not designed to administer independent contractors' equity
Ledgy is particularly worth evaluating for international teams that need configurable equity plans, automated grant workflows, country-specific compliance reporting, global mobility reporting, and IFRS 2 expense reporting. It supports multiple award types and currencies.
Best for: Growth-stage and larger private companies with contractors or employees across multiple jurisdictions.
Verify: Whether your specific contractor arrangements and local award structures are supported.
Deel explicitly describes linking equity grants, agreements, and onboarding data across EOR workers, direct hires, and contractors. Its equity offering integrates with workforce and payroll data and describes compliance coverage across 110+ countries.
Best for: Companies already using Deel to manage a distributed workforce and wanting fewer disconnected HR and equity records.
Verify: Whether it administers your required award types end to end or primarily tracks grants and coordinates related compliance and payroll events.
This is a strong candidate if you want a more hands-on, full-service provider. It offers administration of global employee equity plans, participant transaction support, and assistance for plan administrators and employees.
Best for: Larger companies with substantial grant volumes, complex plan administration, and a need for dedicated operational support.
Verify: Contractor eligibility, minimum program size, country coverage, and service fees.
Shareworks is worth considering for sophisticated stock-plan administration, reporting, participant services, and global equity programs. It is more oriented toward enterprise requirements than a lightweight startup cap-table tool.
Best for: Larger or pre-IPO companies that need mature equity administration processes.
Verify: Support for nonemployee awards, your specific countries, and the degree of outsourcing included in the service.
Carta is a useful benchmark for private-company equity administration, especially if you also need cap-table management, option and RSU tracking, valuations, fundraising support, and employee grant workflows. However, don’t assume its core equity administration offering resolves local contractor compliance in every country.
Best for: Venture-backed private companies that want equity administration integrated with cap-table and fundraising workflows.
Verify: Country-level contractor eligibility, international plan support, and the services needed beyond software.
Contractor grants and global workforce data in one workflow
Deel Equity
Explicit contractor workflows, with important eligibility exceptions
International plan administration and complex award structures
Ledgy
International plans, configurable awards, compliance reporting
Full-service global plan administration
J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions
Hands-on administration and participant support
Enterprise stock plans and reporting
Shareworks
More mature enterprise administration capabilities
Startup cap table plus equity grants
Carta
Equity issuance, ownership records, and fundraising workflows
One particularly important finding: Deel's documentation says independent contractors can receive equity through its platform in certain arrangements, but contractors under its Deel COR service are excluded from its equity-grant workflow. Its paid Equity & Token Services also cover tax, reporting, and payroll across 50+ countries. Confirm the exact service scope before selecting it.
Questions to ask every vendor
Before signing a contract, I would ask each provider to demonstrate these capabilities using your actual contractor locations.
Eligibility: Can you grant stock options, RSUs, warrants, or phantom equity to independent contractors in each country?
Local compliance: Do you provide jurisdiction-specific tax and securities guidance, or only administrative software?
Grant lifecycle: Can you automate approvals, agreements, signatures, vesting, exercises, expirations, and termination?
Reporting: Can you produce country-level tax reports and accounting outputs, including IFRS 2 or ASC 718 where applicable?
Integrations: Can you synchronize grants with your cap table, HRIS, payroll, and contractor management systems?
Commercials: Are fees based on participants, grants, jurisdictions, or managed services? Are local legal opinions and tax support included?
Remember that software does not itself make a grant legally valid. Your counsel should confirm that the proposed award instrument, issuer, and contractor relationship are appropriate in each jurisdiction.
My recommendation
I would begin with Deel Equity and Ledgy, then include J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions if you need outsourced administration at scale. That gives you a useful comparison between a contractor-workforce-centric approach, a dedicated international equity platform, and a full-service enterprise provider.
To narrow this to the best two or three options, what countries are your contractors located in, and what type of equity are you granting—stock options, RSUs, shares, or phantom equity? Those two details can materially change the recommendation.
