Buyer's guide
Best AMS for a small insurance agency (2026)
Your AMS is the book of record. Picking one for a small agency is a multi-year commitment, so the question is not which system is best in the abstract. It is which one fits your book and how much system you want to pay for on day one.
Four names come up again and again for small independent shops: HawkSoft, EZLynx, QQ Catalyst, and NowCerts. Applied Epic and AMS360 are the bigger systems you grow into. None of these vendors publish pricing, so every quote means a sales call. Here is how the shortlist lines up, and where a tool like Relay fits, which is not as your AMS.
Side by side
How the two paths compare
| HawkSoft | EZLynx | QQ Catalyst | NowCerts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best fit | Service-heavy P&C books | Personal lines quoting volume | Growing independent agencies | Lean, cloud-first agencies |
| Deployment | Desktop plus browser access | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud |
| Comparative rating | Built-in Rater | Built-in personal lines rater, 330+ carriers | Integrates Vertafore PL Rating | Via integrations |
| Lines orientation | P&C, deep service workflows | Personal lines first, commercial available | Personal and small commercial | Flexible across P&C |
| Pricing | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Where each fits
When a small-agency AMS fits
Service-heavy P&C book: HawkSoft is built around the CSR's daily workflow and ships a built-in Rater. Its site claims a 97% customer recommendation rate, and the company has been at this since 1995.
Personal lines quoting volume: EZLynx bundles the AMS and a personal lines comparative rater in one system. Its site cites 330+ carriers and more than $25 billion in premium managed, so you are not paying two vendors for management and rating.
A growing independent shop that wants cloud: QQ Catalyst is Vertafore's browser-based AMS, and it pairs with Vertafore's PL Rating for personal lines quoting.
Lean and cloud-first: NowCerts is a cloud agency management system that auto-populates ACORD forms from the data already in the system.
Already outgrowing the small-agency tier: Applied Epic and AMS360 are built for mid-size and enterprise. Applied says 7 of the 10 largest agencies run on Epic. That is real power, and usually more than a small shop needs to start.
Where Relay fits
Relay is not an AMS. It does not hold your book of record, and it is not a replacement for HawkSoft, EZLynx, QQ Catalyst, or NowCerts. Pick your AMS first.
Once the AMS is chosen, Relay takes the typing off your team: inbox triage (Ask Relay, live), reading documents into structured data (Document Parsing, live), and drafting ACORD forms without re-keying (ACORD Generation, live).
It works alongside whatever you run. Relay does not claim a native two-way sync or an official partnership with any AMS vendor, so it does not lock you into one ecosystem.
Other paths
Alternatives worth weighing
Applied Epic
The most widely used AMS for mid-size and enterprise agencies, browser-native, handling P&C and benefits in one system.
Best for: Growth-minded shops planning to scale into complex commercial or multiple locations.
AMS360 by Vertafore
Vertafore's larger cloud AMS, with automated carrier downloads and newer AI agents. Vertafore reports agencies seeing up to 26% revenue growth without adding staff.
Best for: Agencies scaling past QQ Catalyst that want deeper accounting and commercial handling.
A sales CRM (not an AMS)
AgencyZoom calls itself a 'sales suite for the modern insurance agent.' It runs the pipeline and retention, not the book of record.
Best for: Pairing with an AMS for sales and renewals, never replacing one.
The honest take
What we would tell a friend who runs an agency
You still need an AMS. Relay is the automation layer that sits around it, not a substitute for it. Whichever system you pick, Relay reads the inbox, parses the documents clients send, and drafts the ACORD forms your team would otherwise re-key into the AMS by hand. Ask Relay, Document Parsing, and ACORD Generation are live today. AI Quoting, which preps carrier portal work for a licensed person to review, is a Research Preview. Intake Forms and Underwriting Workbench are coming soon. None of that makes Relay an AMS, and it is not trying to be one.
FAQ
Common questions
Do any of these AMS vendors publish pricing?+
No. HawkSoft, EZLynx, QQ Catalyst, NowCerts, AMS360, and Applied Epic all route you to a sales conversation. Quotes vary by number of users, lines of business, and add-ons. Get two or three and compare total cost, including any bundled rater.
Is Relay an AMS?+
No. Relay does not store your book of record. It is the automation layer around whatever AMS you run: it triages the inbox with Ask Relay, reads documents with Document Parsing, and drafts ACORD forms with ACORD Generation. Those are live today. AI Quoting is a Research Preview.
Do I need a separate comparative rater?+
It depends on the AMS. EZLynx bundles a personal lines rater and HawkSoft includes a Rater. QQ Catalyst pairs with Vertafore's PL Rating. If you quote personal lines heavily, a bundled or tightly integrated rater saves you a second login and a second bill.
Which AMS is cheapest for a small agency?+
Public pricing does not exist for these systems, so an honest apples-to-apples answer is not possible from their websites. NowCerts and QQ Catalyst come up most often as lighter-weight options for small shops, while Applied Epic and AMS360 are built for larger agencies. Get real quotes before deciding.
Sources
Part of the Relay comparison library. Updated 2026-07-11.
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