There is no single best insurance lead company. The right one depends on the line you sell. For auto and home, look at EverQuote, QuoteWizard and MediaAlpha. For commercial, Tivly. For health and Medicare, NextGen Leads and Benepath. For exclusive live calls, Centerfield. For cheap volume, Aged Lead Store. Then judge each one by cost per bound policy.
Most “best of” lists for this search are written by a company that sells leads and ranks itself first. Perspicality does not sell leads. Nobody here paid to appear, and nobody is ranked, because we did not test these vendors and a ranking would imply we had. Instead you get each vendor’s own published terms, sorted by the kind of agency each one fits, with the question to ask before you fund an account.
One conflict runs the other way, and you should weigh it. We build and run outbound for insurance agencies, an alternative to buying leads. That section is at the end, marked off from the comparison and short. For the wider picture, start with our guide to leads for insurance agents.
How this comparison was built
We started from the companies that recur across the pages ranking for this search and kept those with a working agent program in September 2026. For each, we read the agent-facing product pages, FAQs, pricing pages and return policies. Every fact in the tables comes from the page linked in its row. Where a site is silent, the table says “not stated”, because a blank would hide the difference between “no” and “they did not say”. Two names from other lists did not make the cut, for reasons given near the bottom.
The vendors at a glance
As checked in September 2026. Prices appear only where the vendor publishes them, as listed in September 2026.
| Vendor | Lines | Lead types | Pricing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EverQuote | Auto, home | Real-time leads shared with up to 3 agents, exclusive leads at extra cost, calls | Quote-based, with carrier subsidy programs | EverQuote FAQ |
| QuoteWizard (LendingTree) | Auto, home, renters, life, health, Medicare | Real-time leads sold to at most 4 agents, live transfers | Quote-based; lead price plus filter cost | QuoteWizard |
| MediaAlpha for Agents | Auto, home, life | Real-time leads shared with up to 4 buyers unless marked exclusive | You bid per lead, or buy at a fixed price | MediaAlpha |
| SmartFinancial | Auto, home, life, health, Medicare, commercial | Leads, calls, clicks | Bid-based; the platform recommends a bid | SmartFinancial FAQ |
| Hometown Quotes | Auto, home, renters, life, health | Real-time leads sold 4 or fewer times, exclusive options | Custom, by product and risk class | Hometown Quotes |
| InsuranceLeads.com | Auto, home, health, life, renters, senior health, business lines, annuity, disability, long-term care | Real-time leads to 2 to 4 agents on average, live transfers | Pricing page lists lead types with no dollar figures; optional filters cost extra | InsuranceLeads.com |
| Tivly | Commercial, including general liability, commercial auto, workers’ comp, property, BOP and cyber | Real-time commercial leads | Quote-based | Tivly |
| Benepath | Individual and group health, Medicare, commercial, life, home, auto | Exclusive real-time leads, calls, clicks, aged leads; a shared health tier on its pricing page | Quote-based | Benepath |
| NextGen Leads | Under-65 health, Medicare | Data leads (health sold as exclusive), call leads | Data from $4; health calls from $35; Medicare calls from $45 | Health, Medicare |
| Centerfield (formerly Datalot) | Auto, home, life, health, Medicare, commercial | Exclusive live transfers | Pay per call, quote-based | Centerfield |
| Aged Lead Store | Life, final expense, health, auto, home, mortgage protection | Aged shared leads, 3 to 365 days old | Published grid; life from $4.50 down to $0.25 per lead, auto from $3.50 down to $0.25, by age and volume | Aged Lead Store |
| Salesgenie (Data Axle) | Any line | Compiled consumer and business data, not inquiries | From $99 a month on a 12-month term | Salesgenie |
Terms side by side
As checked in September 2026.
| Vendor | Contract or minimum | Returns | Filters | Consent capture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EverQuote | No minimum period or spend; a deposit that received a match is non-refundable | Up to 30 days, capped at 20% of the month’s leads; calls can be rejected within 120 seconds | Risk tier, ZIP, hours, daily cap; may add nearby ZIPs unless you opt out | Inbound calls: consent collected before transfer. Data leads and outbound calls: not stated |
| QuoteWizard | Pay as you go; minimum not stated | Online credit under its lead credit policy, whose reasons the pages checked do not list | Multi-car, owns home, no accidents, territory, caps | Not stated |
| MediaAlpha | No minimum spend or term; $250 minimum deposit | Instant approval within 72 hours, requests up to 7 days, 20% monthly cap | Geography, consumer type, schedule, daily limit | Not stated |
| SmartFinancial | No long-term contract; deposit with auto-refill | Up to 10 days for listed reasons, paid as account credit | State or area code, custom filters, daily caps, hours | Not stated |
| Hometown Quotes | No long-term contract; deposit, rebilled at a $50 balance | Listed reasons, including recycled and incentivized leads; window not stated | Delivery windows, geography, lead type; filters free | Says “TCPA compliant”; method not stated |
| InsuranceLeads.com | No deposit or setup fee; no long-term commitment | 10 days for listed reasons, including “contact did not request the quote” | Geography free; optional filters at extra cost; daily maximum | Not stated |
| Tivly | Not stated | Not stated | Industry, geography, business size | Not stated |
| Benepath | Not stated | Refund or replacement for non-qualified leads; window not stated | State, county, ZIP, family size | TrustedForm certificates and Jornaya lead IDs |
| NextGen Leads | No minimums, no subscription fee | Data returns capped by vertical; live transfers reviewed daily, uncapped | Filters, delivery schedule, bid | Not stated |
| Centerfield | Not stated | Not stated | Matched to the products you sell | Lists TCPA among its compliance standards; method not stated |
| Aged Lead Store | $200 minimum order, sometimes lowered | Replaces up to 20% for wrong numbers, disconnects and your existing clients | Lead age, state, consumer age, ZIP, phone type | Sold for email, mail, door knocking or manual dialing without regulated technology; buyer handles consent |
| Salesgenie | 12-month subscription, then month to month | Refund for the undeliverable, out-of-date or disconnected share of a list | Hundreds of demographic and firmographic filters, including policy X-dates | Not stated; compiled data, not inquiries |
Sources for the terms: EverQuote FAQ, QuoteWizard FAQ, MediaAlpha, SmartFinancial return policy, Hometown Quotes lead FAQs, InsuranceLeads.com credit policy and FAQ, Tivly, Benepath compliance and pricing, NextGen FAQ, Centerfield, Aged Lead Store FAQ, Salesgenie plans.
Best fit by use case
A vendor can fit more than one heading. Each sits where its own site puts its weight.
P&C personal lines
EverQuote is built around auto and home, sold as data leads and calls. A shared lead goes to at most three agents and never to two from the same carrier, and pricing depends on which carrier subsidy program you qualify for, so it suits captive agents (EverQuote FAQ). Exclusive leads cost extra, and you only get them if your account also takes shared ones. Ask whether your account will receive leads from nearby ZIP codes you did not select. The FAQ says it may, unless you opt out.
QuoteWizard covers the personal lines plus life, health and Medicare, and says each lead goes to a maximum of four agents and to under two on average (QuoteWizard). Ask for its lead credit policy in writing before you fund the account. The FAQ refers to that policy without listing the reasons.
MediaAlpha for Agents suits the agent who wants to set a price per lead. You bid with a daily cap, or browse and buy at a fixed price, and the browse view shows how many times each lead has sold, to which carriers, and which carrier has already contacted it (MediaAlpha). No other vendor here shows resale history that plainly. Ask which of your leads were exclusive, since shared leads can also go to corporate carriers.
Hometown Quotes lists approved-vendor status in lead programs run by Allstate, Nationwide, Country Financial, State Farm and Farmers (pricing), so a captive agent may be able to pay with carrier lead funds. Ask for the return window. The FAQ lists return reasons but no deadline.
SmartFinancial runs a bid model across personal lines and commercial, selling leads, calls and clicks, and pays returns as account credit, never cash (return policy). Its agent pages do not say whether a lead is shared or exclusive, so ask.
Commercial lines
Tivly is the only vendor on this list built around commercial insurance. It says it has processed more than 2.5 million small-business quote requests and works with more than 1,800 producers (Tivly). Its consumer site promises business owners a match with “one of 450+” partners (tivly.com), which reads as one agency per request. Confirm that in writing. Pricing, exclusivity, returns and contract terms are all unstated, so ask about each, and ask whether “live” on its agent page means transferred calls or real-time forms.
Benepath sells exclusive commercial leads, calls and clicks next to its health lines. SmartFinancial and InsuranceLeads.com list commercial and business lines too.
Commercial is also the line where buying makes the least sense. A business buyer can be identified and reached before it ever fills out a quote form, which is the argument in the last section.
Life and the lines around it
InsuranceLeads.com has the longest product list of the lead vendors here: auto, home, health and life, plus annuity, disability, long-term care and business lines (pricing). It publishes its FAQ and return policy openly, and one of its return reasons is that the contact did not request the quote (credit policy). Read “carrier-exclusive” carefully. It means one agent per carrier, with each lead sent to two to four agents on average. The same company, AWL, runs insuranceQuotes, so the two are not separate sources when you diversify.
QuoteWizard sells life and final expense leads as shared or exclusive, and MediaAlpha covers life as well. For older life and final expense records at published prices, see Aged Lead Store below.
Health and Medicare
NextGen Leads sells under-65 health and Medicare leads and nothing else, according to its FAQ. It is the only real-time vendor here with published starting prices: data leads from $4, health calls from $35 and Medicare calls from $45, as listed in September 2026 (health, Medicare). Leads sell in a second-price auction, so you pay a cent over the next-highest bid. The same FAQ says most health agents reach a cost per sale of $150 to $300. That is the vendor’s figure, so check it against your own.
Benepath sells exclusive individual and group health leads, and it is the one vendor here that names its consent method: TrustedForm certificates and Jornaya lead IDs on each lead (compliance). Ask for the certificate on any lead you plan to text.
QuoteWizard also sells health and Medicare leads.
Live calls
Centerfield, which still runs the datalot.com site, sells exclusive live transfers on a pay-per-call basis for auto, home, life, health, Medicare and commercial (Centerfield, call estimator). At least one ranking page still lists it as “Datalot / EverQuote Calls”. It is not part of EverQuote. Return terms and minimums are not stated, so get both before the first call.
The other call products differ in how the call starts. EverQuote transfers inbound callers and prospects its own operators dialed, gives you 120 seconds to reject a call at no cost, and sources its home calls by outbound dialing only (EverQuote FAQ). QuoteWizard’s WizardCalls also mix consumer-initiated and call-center-initiated calls, and it cites a customer-reported close rate above 30% (live transfers). NextGen sells calls on a billable duration, so you pay only for calls long enough to qualify. SmartFinancial lets you cap concurrent calls and replay recordings.
Ask every call vendor one question first: did the consumer dial, or did the vendor dial the consumer? The answer tells you more about intent than any close-rate claim.
Budget and aged leads
Aged Lead Store publishes its whole price grid. As listed in September 2026, a life lead 3 to 30 days old costs $4.50 in orders under 250, and one 86 to 365 days old costs $0.25 in orders of 25,000 or more (life, auto). It does not generate leads. It buys them from aggregators and lead generators and resells them (FAQ), so assume someone has called each one before you.
Read one line on its homepage before anything else. It sells its leads for email, direct mail, door knocking, or manual dialing without regulated technology to phones that are not on any Do Not Call list. Its FAQ spells out what that excludes: autodialers, soundboards, AI or prerecorded voice, and ringless voicemail. For numbers on the national registry, the FTC’s inquiry exemption lasts three months from the inquiry and belongs to the company the consumer asked (FTC). Scrub every aged file before you dial.
Benepath also sells aged health, group and commercial leads. The trade-offs get their own page in aged insurance leads.
Data-list prospecting
Salesgenie is a different product. It sells compiled records of households and businesses, filtered by things like policy X-dates, home value, new movers and fleet vehicles, and these are not people who asked for a quote (insurance data). Plans start at $99 a month on a 12-month term, with downloads paid in credits, as listed in September 2026 (plans). It refunds the share of a list that turns out undeliverable or disconnected.
Treat it as prospecting, not lead buying. With no consent attached, federal law bars autodialed or prerecorded calls to cell phones (47 U.S.C. § 227), and a telemarketer has to sync its lists with the national registry at least every 31 days (FTC). It fits mail, email and hand-dialed commercial prospecting. It is also the first step of building your own pipeline, which is where this page ends.
How to evaluate any lead vendor
Run every vendor through these before the first deposit, including the ones not on this page.
- Get the definition of exclusive in writing. Vendors use the word for different products. EverQuote’s exclusive lead goes to no other agent on EverQuote. InsuranceLeads.com’s carrier-exclusive lead goes to two to four agents. Neither promise stops the consumer from filling out a second form somewhere else. The trade-off is covered in exclusive vs. shared insurance leads.
- Ask how long the vendor keeps selling a lead. Caps on fresh sales are often published. What happens to the lead afterwards usually is not. EverQuote says it never recycles leads, and Hometown Quotes credits leads that turn out recycled. Aged inventory exists because somebody resells.
- Read the return policy before the first deposit. Compare the window, the cap and whether refunds come as cash or credit. The terms table shows how far apart these run, from 7 days at MediaAlpha to 30 at EverQuote.
- See the consent language and the certificate. Telemarketing robocalls and robotexts need prior express written consent, meaning a signed agreement that authorizes the seller to send autodialed or prerecorded marketing to a specific number (47 CFR 64.1200). In January 2025 the Eleventh Circuit vacated the FCC rule that would have limited each consent to one seller (Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC). One form can still name dozens of “partners”, and your agency may be one line in a long list. The statute allows $500 in damages per violation, and up to three times that if the violation was willful or knowing (47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3)). Your agency places the call, so the exposure lands on you. Ask for the exact disclosure text and the TrustedForm or Jornaya certificate, and confirm the consent covers texts.
- Plan for opt-outs and Do Not Call. A reply of “stop”, “quit”, “end”, “revoke”, “opt out”, “cancel” or “unsubscribe” revokes consent, and so does any other reasonable way of saying no (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)). If you are required to use the national registry, sync your lists with it at least every 31 days (FTC).
- Check which filters you will pay for. Some vendors charge for filters, and some fill your cap from outside your territory. Set territory, hours and caps to what your team can call the same hour, because speed to lead decides more policies than the vendor does.
- Negotiate the trial, and read its terms. Deposit matches and free-lead offers are common, and EverQuote’s deposit match makes that deposit non-refundable. Ask what happens to an unused balance if you leave.
- Ask for contact-rate data, then measure your own. Vendors publish close-rate claims, such as QuoteWizard’s customer-reported figure for live transfers. Ask for the contact rate in your territory and your line, not a national average. Then log every lead as contacted, quoted or bound.
- Confirm delivery into your CRM. Most vendors here post leads into lead management systems, CRMs or raters. A lead that lands in an inbox nobody watches is the most expensive lead you can buy.
Then track cost per policy, the one number that settles it. Add up everything you spent with a vendor, leads plus filters plus fees, and divide by the policies you bound from it. A cheap lead with a low bind rate can cost more per policy than an exclusive one. Run your own numbers in the insurance lead cost calculator, and see how much insurance leads cost for what drives the price per lead.
Two companies we left out
Agents Alliance. The American Agents Alliance is an insurance association founded in 1962. Its lead page sends members to Centerfield for live calls and to a separate vendor for lead nurturing (Agents Alliance). It does not sell leads itself, so Centerfield appears above under its own name.
NetQuote. NetQuote runs a consumer quote site, and its link for agents goes to insuranceQuotes (NetQuote). That company, like InsuranceLeads.com, is run by AWL from the same Austin address (insuranceQuotes). Listing it separately would count one company twice.
One ranking page also counts a CRM as a lead company, and another lists NextGen Leads for auto, though NextGen’s own FAQ says it sells health and Medicare only.
When buying leads is the wrong move
Everything above assumes you should buy. Often you should. Buying makes sense when you need volume this month, you can answer a lead within minutes, and your close rate survives other agents calling the same person.
It is the wrong move in a few situations.
- You sell commercial lines. The buyer is a business you can identify and reach before it fills out a comparison form, so paying a marketplace for that introduction is optional.
- Your follow-up is the bottleneck. More leads do not fix a slow phone. Fix intake first.
- You have bought for years and own nothing. Purchased leads are rent. When you stop paying, the flow stops.
Building your own pipeline means finding the people you want to insure, reaching them before a comparison site does, and keeping the list. You can do it yourself, and how to get insurance leads without buying covers the methods. You can also have it built and run for you. That is what Perspicality does: we source the prospects an agency sells to, run daily SMS and email outreach from our own numbers and domains, and route every reply to the producer who can quote it (lead generation for insurance agencies). The list belongs to the agency, so the leads are exclusive by construction.
For Coverage Insurance Agency, a commercial brokerage, we built and run the email and SMS outreach, with two-way replies routed back to the team. An automated check rejects any message that says the agency insures anyone, because carriers underwrite and the brokerage places coverage, and Florida’s advertising statute makes that wording a compliance matter. The general version of this trade-off, for any business, is in buying leads vs. building your own pipeline.
The short version
Choose by line, not by ranking. Test two vendors in the same territory over the same stretch. Read the return policy and the consent language before the first deposit, and keep the vendor with the lower cost per bound policy. If no vendor gets that number low enough, the problem is buying itself, and the section above is the place to start.
Common questions
Who has the best insurance leads?
No vendor has the best leads for every agent. Lead quality depends on the line and the territory, so the best source for auto in one state can be mediocre for life in another. Pick two vendors that sell your line, run them side by side in the same territory, and keep the one with the lower cost per bound policy. Price per lead alone will mislead you.
What is the best company to get insurance leads from?
It depends on what you sell. For auto and home, EverQuote, QuoteWizard and MediaAlpha have the volume and the filters. For commercial lines, Tivly is built around business insurance. For health and Medicare, NextGen Leads and Benepath specialize. Centerfield sells exclusive live transfers, and Aged Lead Store sells older leads at published prices. We have not tested any of them, so judge each by your own cost per policy.
Are exclusive insurance leads worth the higher price?
Sometimes. An exclusive lead pays off only if your close rate on it rises by more than its price does, and that depends on how fast you call. Check what the vendor means by exclusive first. EverQuote's exclusive leads go to no other agent on its platform. InsuranceLeads.com calls its leads carrier-exclusive and sends each to two to four agents on average. Those are different products.
Can I text or autodial insurance leads I buy?
Only with prior express written consent that covers your agency and the method. Federal rules require a signed agreement authorizing autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing to that number. The FCC rule limiting consent to one seller at a time was vacated in January 2025, so one form can still name many companies. Ask the vendor for the exact disclosure and the consent certificate before you text. Your agency places the call, so the liability is yours.
How many lead vendors should I test at once?
Two, in the same line and territory, over the same period. One vendor gives you nothing to compare against, and three or more split your follow-up so thin that every source looks weak. Track contacts, quotes and bound policies for each, then divide what you spent by the policies you bound. Keep the vendor with the lower cost per policy and replace the other.
