Insurance · head to head
Novidea vs Semsee
Novidea
Insurance
Broker and MGA management platform built natively on Salesforce
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Semsee
Insurance
Small commercial insurance quoting that sends one submission to many carriers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Semsee has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: 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.; Semsee the free tier only quotes Semsee's own carrier panel, so the workflow consolidation most agencies actually want, running their own appointments through one form, costs fifty dollars per user per month on top.
- They diverge on capability: Novidea covers Native Salesforce architecture, Semsee covers Single submission to many carriers.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Novidea and Semsee actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Novidea
- Native Salesforce architecture
- Placement and submission tracking
- Multi-currency and multi-entity
- Commission and revenue management
- Analytics
- Client and broker portals
Only in Semsee
- Single submission to many carriers
- Appetite checker
- Class code finder
- Direct appointment quoting
- ACORD forms
- Auto-fill
- Proposal generation
- Wholesale and MGA access
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Novidea
- An international broker consolidating offices that each run a different local agency systemnot Semsee
- A speciality wholesaler placing non-admitted and Lloyd's business that national agency systems handle poorlynot Semsee
- An MGA that needs binder, bordereaux and commission tracking in the same place as the client recordnot Semsee
- A broker group that already standardised on Salesforce and does not want a second client databasenot Semsee
Semsee
- A personal lines agency starting to write small commercial that has no commercial appointments and needs market access without meeting carrier production requirementsnot Novidea
- A retail agency quoting twenty BOP submissions a month that is losing hours retyping the same risk into six carrier portalsnot Novidea
- A wholesaler that wants a structured intake form so retail agents stop sending incomplete submissions by emailnot Novidea
- An agency checking appetite before spending time on a submission that no carrier on its panel will writenot Novidea
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
Semsee
- The free tier only quotes Semsee's own carrier panel, so the workflow consolidation most agencies actually want, running their own appointments through one form, costs fifty dollars per user per month on top.
- Carrier coverage is concentrated in small commercial lines such as BOP, general liability and workers compensation, so anything with real complexity still goes to the carrier portal or the underwriter by email.
- Quotes returned are indicative for many carriers and still subject to underwriting referral, so an agent can present a number to a client and see it change at bind, which damages trust.
- The March 2026 acquisition by iBynd puts the product inside a wider distribution platform, and buyers should expect priority to shift towards iBynd's end-to-end ambitions rather than incremental improvements to standalone quoting.
- Agency management system integration is limited, so quote and policy data frequently has to be re-entered into the AMS after binding, which reintroduces the duplicate entry the product exists to remove.
Pricing, plan by plan
Novidea
On request- Novidea Platform$undefined/year
- Broker management on Salesforce
- Placement and revenue tracking
- Analytics dashboards
Semsee
Free- EssentialFree
- Access to the Semsee carrier panel
- Appetite checker
- ACORD form generation
- Professional$50/month
- Everything in Essential
- Quote your own direct appointed carriers
- Class code finder
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- White labelled deployment
- Advanced workflow
- Carrier and MGA distribution features
Which should you pick?
Choose Novidea if
- You need native salesforce architecture.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, API.
- You also want placement and submission tracking.
Choose Semsee if
- You need single submission to many carriers.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want appetite checker.
Questions people ask
- Is Novidea or Semsee better?
- Neither clearly leads. Novidea starts at On request and Semsee at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Novidea or Semsee?
- Semsee has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Novidea and Free for Semsee.
- Does Novidea or Semsee run on more platforms?
- Novidea runs on Web, iOS, Android, API. Semsee runs on Web.
- Can I use Semsee for free?
- Yes. Semsee has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Novidea starts at On request.
- What is Novidea best used for?
- Novidea is most often used for an international broker consolidating offices that each run a different local agency system, a speciality wholesaler placing non-admitted and lloyd's business that national agency systems handle poorly, an mga that needs binder, bordereaux and commission tracking in the same place as the client record, a broker group that already standardised on salesforce and does not want a second client database. Of those, an international broker consolidating offices that each run a different local agency system and a speciality wholesaler placing non-admitted and lloyd's business that national agency systems handle poorly are not what Semsee is typically brought in for.
- What can Novidea do that Semsee cannot?
- Novidea covers Native Salesforce architecture, Placement and submission tracking, Multi-currency and multi-entity, Commission and revenue management. Semsee covers Single submission to many carriers, Appetite checker, Class code finder, Direct appointment quoting.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
Semsee: Is Semsee free?
The Essential tier is genuinely free and gives access to Semsee's own carrier panel. Quoting your own direct appointments requires the Professional tier at fifty dollars per user per month.
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.
Semsee: Do I need carrier appointments to use it?
No. That is the main reason small agencies sign up, since Semsee's panel provides market access without production commitments.
Novidea: What does it replace?
The broker management system and usually a separate CRM, plus the spreadsheets used for commission and receivables tracking.
Semsee: Is Semsee still independent?
No. iBynd acquired Semsee in March 2026, though the product is still sold under the Semsee name.
Semsee: Which lines does it cover?
Small commercial: business owners policy, general liability, workers compensation, commercial auto and some professional liability, depending on carrier.
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