Is Ivans or Novidea better?

Neither clearly leads. Ivans starts at On request and Novidea at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Ivans or Novidea?

Ivans starts at On request and Novidea at On request.

Does Ivans or Novidea run on more platforms?

Ivans runs on Web. Novidea runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.

What is Ivans best used for?

Ivans is most often used for 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 signs, a carrier launching a new line that wants agency systems to receive policy data automatically rather than by rekeying from a portal, an mga that wants its book visible to retail agencies in the same download flow as admitted carriers, an agency operations lead auditing why commission reconciliation keeps failing, which usually turns out to be a missing or misconfigured download connection. Of those, 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 signs and a carrier launching a new line that wants agency systems to receive policy data automatically rather than by rekeying from a portal are not what Novidea is typically brought in for.

What can Ivans do that Novidea cannot?

Ivans covers Ivans Download, Ivans Exchange, Ivans Distribution, Market Appetite. Novidea covers Native Salesforce architecture, Placement and submission tracking, Multi-currency and multi-entity, Commission and revenue management.

Insurance · head to head

Ivans vs Novidea

Ivans

Insurance

Carrier to agency data exchange infrastructure that sits under most US insurance agency management systems

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Novidea

Insurance

Broker and MGA management platform built natively on Salesforce

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: 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.; Novidea salesforce licences are a separate recurring cost on top of the Novidea subscription, and for a broker with many occasional users that second bill changes the comparison against standalone systems entirely.
They diverge on capability: Ivans covers Ivans Download, Novidea covers Native Salesforce architecture.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Ivans and Novidea actually diverge.

Attributes where Ivans and Novidea differ
Attribute	Ivans	Novidea
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android, API

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 Ivans

Ivans Download
Ivans Exchange
Ivans Distribution
Market Appetite
Download analytics for carriers
Commission download

Only in Novidea

Native Salesforce architecture
Placement and submission tracking
Multi-currency and multi-entity
Commission and revenue management
Analytics
Client and broker portals

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

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 Novidea
A carrier launching a new line that wants agency systems to receive policy data automatically rather than by rekeying from a portalnot Novidea
An MGA that wants its book visible to retail agencies in the same download flow as admitted carriersnot Novidea
An agency operations lead auditing why commission reconciliation keeps failing, which usually turns out to be a missing or misconfigured download connectionnot Novidea

Novidea

An international broker consolidating offices that each run a different local agency systemnot Ivans
A speciality wholesaler placing non-admitted and Lloyd's business that national agency systems handle poorlynot Ivans
An MGA that needs binder, bordereaux and commission tracking in the same place as the client recordnot Ivans
A broker group that already standardised on Salesforce and does not want a second client databasenot Ivans

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

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.

Novidea

Salesforce licences are a separate recurring cost on top of the Novidea subscription, and for a broker with many occasional users that second bill changes the comparison against standalone systems entirely.
It is not built around United States personal lines carrier download, so an agency whose daily work depends on automated policy download from dozens of carriers will find the connectivity thin.
Because it inherits Salesforce, it also inherits Salesforce administration; you need someone who knows the platform, and that skill is priced by the Salesforce market rather than the insurance market.
Implementations involve mapping an existing book with its history into Salesforce objects, and brokers consistently underestimate how much data cleansing that exposes.
Salesforce platform changes and release cycles are outside the vendor control, so an upgrade that alters behaviour you depend on arrives on someone else calendar.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Novidea

On request

Novidea Platform$undefined/year
- Broker management on Salesforce
- Placement and revenue tracking
- Analytics dashboards

Which should you pick?

Choose Ivans if

You need ivans download.
You also want ivans exchange.

Ivans review

Choose Novidea if

You need native salesforce architecture.
You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
You also want placement and submission tracking.

Novidea review

Questions people ask

Is Ivans or Novidea better?: Neither clearly leads. Ivans starts at On request and Novidea at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Ivans or Novidea?: Ivans starts at On request and Novidea at On request.
Does Ivans or Novidea run on more platforms?: Ivans runs on Web. Novidea runs on Web, iOS, Android, API.
What is Ivans best used for?: Ivans is most often used for 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 signs, a carrier launching a new line that wants agency systems to receive policy data automatically rather than by rekeying from a portal, an mga that wants its book visible to retail agencies in the same download flow as admitted carriers, an agency operations lead auditing why commission reconciliation keeps failing, which usually turns out to be a missing or misconfigured download connection. Of those, 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 signs and a carrier launching a new line that wants agency systems to receive policy data automatically rather than by rekeying from a portal are not what Novidea is typically brought in for.
What can Ivans do that Novidea cannot?: Ivans covers Ivans Download, Ivans Exchange, Ivans Distribution, Market Appetite. Novidea covers Native Salesforce architecture, Placement and submission tracking, Multi-currency and multi-entity, Commission and revenue management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Novidea: Do we need to buy Salesforce as well?

Yes. Novidea runs on Salesforce and the underlying platform licences are purchased separately. Include them in every cost comparison.

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.

Novidea: Is it suitable for a United States retail agency?

Only if your book is commercial or speciality. If you depend on personal lines carrier download, an established agency management system is the better fit.

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.

Novidea: What does it replace?

The broker management system and usually a separate CRM, plus the spreadsheets used for commission and receivables tracking.

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.

Ivans vs Novidea

Ivans

Novidea

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Ivans

Only in Novidea

What people use each for

Ivans

Novidea

Where each one falls short

Ivans

Novidea

Pricing, plan by plan

Ivans

Novidea

Which should you pick?

Choose Ivans if

Choose Novidea if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Ivans

More on Novidea

Keep looking

Other head to heads