Insurance · head to head
INSTANDA vs Ivans
INSTANDA
Insurance
No-code product builder that lets underwriters configure and launch insurance products themselves
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Ivans
Insurance
Carrier to agency data exchange infrastructure that sits under most US insurance agency management systems
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: INSTANDA it is a product and policy layer, not a full core suite, so claims, finance, commissions and reporting are integrations you pay for separately and the total is well above the licence quote.; Ivans applied Systems owns both Ivans and competing agency management systems, so the neutral infrastructure that every AMS depends on is controlled by one of the AMS vendors, a conflict that rival vendors have complained about for years.
- They diverge on capability: INSTANDA covers Browser-based product build, Ivans covers Ivans Download.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which INSTANDA and Ivans actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Insurance).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in INSTANDA
- Browser-based product build
- Rating configuration
- Document generation
- Distribution portals
- API access
- Product versioning
Only in Ivans
- Ivans Download
- Ivans Exchange
- Ivans Distribution
- Market Appetite
- Download analytics for carriers
- Commission download
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
INSTANDA
- An MGA launching a niche product in weeks and iterating rating without a development cyclenot Ivans
- A broker building an own-brand scheme on top of a capacity agreementnot Ivans
- A carrier running product experiments away from the core policy systemnot Ivans
- An embedded insurance programme where the product must be exposed through a partner APInot Ivans
Ivans
- An agency evaluating a new management system that needs to confirm, carrier by carrier and line by line, which data will actually download before it signsnot INSTANDA
- A carrier launching a new line that wants agency systems to receive policy data automatically rather than by rekeying from a portalnot INSTANDA
- An MGA that wants its book visible to retail agencies in the same download flow as admitted carriersnot INSTANDA
- An agency operations lead auditing why commission reconciliation keeps failing, which usually turns out to be a missing or misconfigured download connectionnot INSTANDA
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
INSTANDA
- It is a product and policy layer, not a full core suite, so claims, finance, commissions and reporting are integrations you pay for separately and the total is well above the licence quote.
- No-code configuration puts product logic in the hands of underwriters, which is fast but also means product changes can bypass the change control and testing discipline an IT-owned release would enforce.
- Complex rating that needs external models, machine learning scores or intricate referral hierarchies pushes past what browser configuration handles cleanly.
- Market presence is concentrated in the United Kingdom and Europe, so North American buyers will find fewer local references and less familiarity with state filing workflows.
- As configuration grows across many product versions it becomes its own maintenance burden, and without discipline you accumulate variants nobody remembers the reason for.
Ivans
- Applied Systems owns both Ivans and competing agency management systems, so the neutral infrastructure that every AMS depends on is controlled by one of the AMS vendors, a conflict that rival vendors have complained about for years.
- Download coverage is decided by carriers, not by Ivans or your AMS, so a carrier that does not publish a line simply does not download it and no amount of configuration in your system will fix it.
- Eligibility requires that you are appointed and writing the line in that state, meaning newly appointed agencies wait on carrier-side setup with little visibility into where the request sits.
- Data quality varies sharply by carrier, and agencies routinely find that some carriers send incomplete or oddly mapped policy data that then has to be cleaned inside the AMS, undermining the point of automating it.
- Pricing is opaque and largely invisible to agencies because it is bundled into AMS and carrier agreements, which makes it impossible to judge what the network actually costs your business or to negotiate it.
Pricing, plan by plan
INSTANDA
On request- INSTANDA Platform$undefined/year
- Product configuration environment
- Policy administration
- Distribution portals
Ivans
On request- Ivans$undefined/year
- Ivans Exchange is provided to agencies at no additional charge, with a possible fee for Citizens of Florida business
- Carrier and MGA participation, Ivans Distribution and appetite products are quoted
- Pricing is generally embedded in the agency management system or carrier agreement rather than billed separately to the agency
Which should you pick?
Choose INSTANDA if
- You need browser-based product build.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want rating configuration.
Questions people ask
- Is INSTANDA or Ivans better?
- Neither clearly leads. INSTANDA starts at On request and Ivans at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, INSTANDA or Ivans?
- INSTANDA starts at On request and Ivans at On request.
- Does INSTANDA or Ivans run on more platforms?
- INSTANDA runs on Web, API. Ivans runs on Web.
- What is INSTANDA best used for?
- INSTANDA is most often used for an mga launching a niche product in weeks and iterating rating without a development cycle, a broker building an own-brand scheme on top of a capacity agreement, a carrier running product experiments away from the core policy system, an embedded insurance programme where the product must be exposed through a partner api. Of those, an mga launching a niche product in weeks and iterating rating without a development cycle and a broker building an own-brand scheme on top of a capacity agreement are not what Ivans is typically brought in for.
- What can INSTANDA do that Ivans cannot?
- INSTANDA covers Browser-based product build, Rating configuration, Document generation, Distribution portals. Ivans covers Ivans Download, Ivans Exchange, Ivans Distribution, Market Appetite.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
INSTANDA: Can underwriters really build products without developers?
Yes for mainstream product structures, and this is worth testing in a proof of concept with your own staff. Complex rating that calls external models still needs engineering.
Ivans: Do agencies pay for Ivans?
Ivans Exchange is provided to agencies at no additional cost, with a noted exception for business written with Citizens of Florida. The economics sit with carriers and with the agency management system vendors.
INSTANDA: Is it a complete core system?
No. It covers product, quoting and policy administration well. Claims, finance and commissions are separate systems you integrate.
Ivans: Why is a carrier not downloading?
Almost always eligibility or carrier-side publication: you must be appointed and writing that line in that state, and the carrier must publish that line for download. Check the connection status in Ivans Exchange first.
INSTANDA: Where is it strongest geographically?
The United Kingdom and Europe, particularly among MGAs. North American deployments exist but the reference base is younger.
Ivans: Is Ivans owned by Applied Systems?
Yes. That matters because Applied also sells Applied Epic and EZLynx, so a competing AMS depends on infrastructure run by a competitor.
Ivans: Can you switch AMS and keep your downloads?
Connections have to be re-pointed to the new system, which is a per-carrier request through Ivans Exchange and is a common source of migration delay.
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