How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Applied Epic is the standard for large and enterprise agencies, with deep carrier connectivity and built in accounting.
- Vertafore AMS360 suits mid sized and larger independent agencies that want finance inside the system and the broader Vertafore ecosystem.
- HawkSoft wins on support and simplicity for independent agencies, with a 97 percent recommendation rate and 18 year average retention.
- EZLynx is the easiest all in one system for startup and growth agencies, with a comparative rater connected to more than 330 carriers.
- Guidewire is carrier software, not agency software: it runs policy, billing, and claims for more than 570 insurers, so agencies should not buy it as an AMS.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Applied Epic | Large and enterprise agencies | See website | No |
 Vertafore AMS360 | Mid sized agencies, Vertafore shops | $99/user/month | No |
 HawkSoft | Independent agencies, support | See website | No |
 EZLynx | Startup and growth agencies | $350/month | No |
 AgencyZoom | Sales pipeline and renewals | $149/month | No |
 NowCerts | Small agencies, low cost | $99/month | No |
 Guidewire | Carriers, core P&C platform | See website | No |
 ePayPolicy | Premium payment collection | $25/month | No |
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We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best insurance software
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Applied Epic is the agency management system that large agencies standardize on. It centralizes customer data, policy management, accounting, and reporting in one platform, with carrier connectivity that lets agents access markets, exchange policy data, and retrieve carrier information directly inside the workflow.
The Digital Roundtrip vision connects prospecting, sales, servicing, renewals, and back office financial automation, with AI embedded at every stage using insurance specific data. Role based dashboards give producers, service representatives, and managers tailored views, and built in accounting covers financial reporting and commission tracking without a separate tool.
Applied Epic fits mid size to enterprise independent agencies with complex commercial lines. Smaller agencies should compare HawkSoft or NowCerts first, since Epic's implementation is a project with training and change management, not a self serve install.
What we like- Deepest carrier connectivity
- Built in accounting and reporting
- Role based dashboards
- P&C and benefits lines
- Used by 7 of the top 10 largest brokers
- Insurance specific AI across the workflow
Watch out for- Quote based pricing
- Steep learning curve
- Endorsements take more clicks than expected
- Third party integrations need technical work
Starting price$99/user/month
Free planNo
Vertafore AMS360 is the agency management system at the center of the Vertafore ecosystem, which runs on 98 of the top 100 agencies and 96 of the top 100 carriers in the industry. It goes beyond policy management into accounting and reporting, with a real time agency home dashboard, commercial P&C proposal templates, and centralized workflows.
The structural reasons agencies choose AMS360 are accounting depth and commercial lines capability, plus native integration with Vertafore owned CRM, rater, and marketing tools. Velocity AI now brings agentic AI into everyday workflows, automating repetitive work and strengthening decision quality.
AMS360 fits mid market and larger independent agencies already on Vertafore that want finance inside the AMS. Small personal lines only agencies should look at HawkSoft or EZLynx, where simpler cloud platforms deliver what is needed at lower total cost.
What we like- Full general ledger accounting with audit trails
- Complex commercial lines capability
- Broadest native Vertafore integrations
- AI email and reconciliation agents
- Used by 98 of the top 100 agencies
Watch out for- No published pricing on product pages, quotes scoped per agency
- Interface reflects legacy architecture
- Implementation runs long
- Ecosystem lock in makes swapping pieces expensive
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
HawkSoft's pitch is simple: give your agency superpowers by choosing the right agency management system, then support it so well that agencies stay for 18 years on average. The numbers back the claim, with 97 percent of agencies recommending HawkSoft and 97 percent first call resolution when agencies call for help.
Features cover the full agency workflow: retention alerts identify which clients need attention, lead management shows where clients sit in the sales funnel, cross sell and upsell reports find additional coverage opportunities, and batch email, letters, and texts reach clients at scale. Reports cover close ratio by producer, policies per client, commissions by carrier, retention, and book of business, with actions like batch email available right from the report view.
HawkSoft fits independent agencies that value support quality and fast productivity over ecosystem breadth. Large commercial heavy agencies should compare Applied Epic or AMS360, but small to mid sized agencies will likely get productive faster on HawkSoft.
What we like- Only AMS with a 97 percent recommendation rate
- 97 percent first call resolution
- 18 year average agency retention
- Simplicity, passion, support, and value as core promises
- Retention alerts and lead management built in
Watch out for- Quote based pricing
- Fewer reviews than the big names
- Smaller ecosystem than Applied or Vertafore
Starting price$350/month
Free planNo
EZLynx is the easiest to use, all in one agency management system built for startup and growth focused insurance agencies, managing every stage of the policy lifecycle. Its comparative rater quotes multiple carriers in real time with just one entry, connecting to more than 330 carriers and quoting more personal lines products than any other comparative rater.
The platform covers agency management, comparative rating, and agency websites in one system, with built in automation and AI through EVA, which works with existing data and workflows from day one rather than as a bolt on. Solutions scale from new agencies through newly independent, growing, commercial lines expansion, and multi location stages.
EZLynx fits smaller home and auto shops chasing the best carrier rates at a flat monthly fee. Commercial heavy agencies that need deep accounting should compare AMS360, and agencies that prioritize support responsiveness should compare HawkSoft.
What we like- Easiest to use all in one AMS for startups
- Comparative rater with 330 plus carriers
- Flat monthly fee rather than per user
- Built in AI assistant EVA
- Agency websites included
- Strong reporting
Watch out for- Vendor support widely criticized for slow responses
- Implementation runs long
- Adding every module drives total cost up
- Steep learning curve for newcomers
Starting price$149/month
Free planNo
AgencyZoom is the sales suite for the modern insurance agent, built to close more deals faster. The lead manager is drag and drop, so every opportunity stays visible and no lead slips through, while complete lifecycle automation engages customers from prospecting to renewal with an automated customer journey.
Goal dashboards show exactly what producers need to do today, this month, and this year, and automated Google review collection builds a 5 star reputation after every policy sold. Versions exist for independent agents and for Allstate, Farmers, Nationwide, and State Farm agents, with winback automation that recovers terminated clients instead of buying new leads.
AgencyZoom fits agencies whose bottleneck is sales pipeline and renewals rather than policy administration. It pairs with an AMS like HawkSoft or EZLynx rather than replacing one, so budget for both systems.
What we like- Insurance native sales automation
- Drag and drop lead manager
- Complete lifecycle automation from prospecting to renewal
- Goal dashboards
- Automated Google review collection
- Versions for independent, Allstate, Farmers, Nationwide, and State Farm agents
Watch out for- Sales focused, not a full AMS
- 149 dollars a month for independent agencies
- Needs an AMS alongside it for policy management
Starting price$99/month
Free planNo
NowCerts is the intelligent, secure, and intuitive agency management system for small agencies that want full features without enterprise pricing. It offers more than 50 features and more than 40 reports, with self serve certificates that let customers issue their own certificates and take a large load off staff.
Commission tracking covers agency and agent commissions, fees, and interest rates on payment plans, while carrier downloads update policy information automatically from more than 300 carriers. Integrations cover Google Drive, Gmail, IVANS, QuickBooks, ACORD forms, Formstack Sign, Zapier, Twilio, and RingCentral, with a developer API for custom work.
NowCerts fits small independent agencies under 2 million dollars in commissions that need policy management, certificates, and commissions at a low monthly cost. Larger commercial heavy agencies should compare Applied Epic or AMS360 for deeper accounting and carrier depth.
What we like- Affordable at 99 dollars a month
- 30 day free trial with no credit card
- Self serve certificates
- Commission tracking
- Carrier downloads from 300 plus carriers
- 50 plus features and 40 plus reports
- No contract
Watch out for- Smaller vendor than Applied or Vertafore
- Fewer native integrations than the big ecosystems
- Interface less modern than cloud native rivals
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Guidewire is the P&C platform built for AI, running policy, billing, and claims on one cloud platform for more than 570 insurers. InsuranceSuite covers policy administration, claims management, and billing, while InsuranceNow offers an all in one cloud platform designed for quick, smooth implementation.
Recent customer stories show the scale: CNA cut quote turnarounds from 90 minutes to under four minutes, Amerisure automated 80 percent of billing workflows, and Velocity Risk doubled profitability in two years on InsuranceNow. The Qusar release adds Guidewire built claims and underwriting agents plus developer assistants that ship features more than 40 percent faster than generic coding assistants.
Guidewire fits carriers, MGAs, and large insurers modernizing core operations. Independent agencies should not buy Guidewire as an AMS; they should choose Applied Epic, AMS360, HawkSoft, or EZLynx, and treat Guidewire as the carrier platform their partners run on.
What we like- Core platform trusted by 570 plus insurers in 43 countries
- InsuranceSuite covers policy, billing, and claims
- InsuranceNow all in one cloud for faster implementation
- AI built into the platform with the Qusar release
- 1,700 plus successful implementations
Watch out for- Carrier software, not agency software
- Enterprise pricing and implementation
- Overkill and wrong fit for independent agencies
- Long deployment cycles
Starting price$25/month
Free planNo
ePayPolicy turns premium payments from a liability into a boost to the bottom line, replacing slow check payments with a digital payments network built for insurance. Top agencies, MGAs, carriers, and premium finance companies use it to ditch checks and fund faster.
Slow payments hurt insurance margins and waste team time: checks get lost, arrive late, and require manual reconciliation. ePayPolicy offers a self guided 60 second tour of a payment page, showing how easy it is for clients to pay online, with specialized tools designed for the insurance payments network.
ePayPolicy fits any agency still collecting premiums by check. It pairs with an AMS like Applied Epic, AMS360, HawkSoft, or EZLynx rather than replacing one, and at 25 dollars a month it is the cheapest tool on this list for the specific pain it solves.
What we like- Insurance focused payment processing
- Trusted by more than 10,000 insurance organizations
- Replaces checks with digital payments
- Fast funding
- Integrates with major AMS platforms
Watch out for- Payments only, not a full AMS
- 25 dollars a month base plus processing fees
- Needs an AMS or CRM alongside it
How we chose
We compared insurance software by agency size fit, carrier connectivity, accounting depth, rating and quoting, sales automation, support quality, and price. We opened every vendor homepage to confirm it loads and belongs to the product described. We separated agency management systems from carrier platforms and point tools, and we excluded tools without a verifiable insurance focus or a working public product.
What to check before you buy insurance software
First, match the system to your agency type. Personal lines shops should test comparative rating first, commercial heavy agencies need accounting and certificate depth, life and health agencies need commissions and licensing, and small agencies should weight support quality and time to productivity heavily.
Next, run a demo with your own data and your own carriers. Carrier connectivity, download quality, and rating accuracy vary by carrier and region, and no feature list replaces a live test with your book of business.
Finally, count total cost, not the base price. AMS360 and Applied Epic quote per agency with modules and implementation, EZLynx adds modules on top of a flat fee, and point tools like AgencyZoom and ePayPolicy sit alongside an AMS. Budget for training, implementation, and the integrations your stack actually needs.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best insurance software?
Applied Epic is the best choice for large agencies, Vertafore AMS360 for mid sized Vertafore shops, HawkSoft for independent agencies that value support, EZLynx for startup and growth agencies, and NowCerts for small agencies on a budget. The best choice depends on agency size, lines, and existing ecosystem.
How much does insurance agency software cost?
Most AMS pricing is quote based. Published starting points include AMS360 around 99 dollars per user a month, EZLynx around 350 dollars a month flat, AgencyZoom 149 dollars a month, NowCerts 99 dollars a month, and ePayPolicy 25 dollars a month. Confirm current rates directly with each vendor before signing.
Is Guidewire agency management software?
No. Guidewire is carrier software that runs policy, billing, and claims for more than 570 insurers. Independent agencies should choose an AMS like Applied Epic, AMS360, HawkSoft, or EZLynx, and treat Guidewire as the platform their carrier partners run on.
What is the difference between an AMS and a comparative rater?
An AMS manages the full agency workflow: policies, clients, documents, renewals, accounting, and reporting. A comparative rater quotes multiple carriers at once from a single entry. EZLynx bundles both, while AgencyZoom adds sales automation and ePayPolicy adds payments alongside an AMS.
Should a small agency buy Applied Epic or AMS360?
Usually not first. Small personal lines agencies typically get productive faster and cheaper on HawkSoft, EZLynx, or NowCerts. Step up to Applied Epic or AMS360 when commercial lines complexity, accounting depth, or carrier integration requirements outgrow the smaller systems.
Sources we checked (11)
- https://www.appliedsystems.com
- https://www.vertafore.com
- https://www.hawksoft.com
- https://www.ezlynx.com
- https://www.agencyzoom.com
- https://www.nowcerts.com
- https://www.guidewire.com
- https://epaypolicy.com
- https://assembly.com/blog/insurance-agency-software
- https://www.sonant.ai/blog/best-insurance-agency-management-system
- https://www.selecthub.com/insurance-agency-management-systems/ams360-vs-applied-epic/
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.