Direct contracting vs upline cost calculator

By the IAT editorial team | Updated October 9, 2026

Working through an upline, IMO, aggregator or agency cluster usually pays a lower commission in exchange for tools, leads and support. Contracting direct pays more per sale, but you buy those things yourself. Follow the three steps to see which path leaves you with more money in a year.

Your numbers

The form starts with example numbers so you can see how it works. Replace them with yours, or clear the example to start empty.

What you sell and what each path pays

For each line, enter the premium you write in a year. Then enter your commission as a percent of premium if you contract direct and if you go through the network.

Line 1

Premium a year ($)

Direct (%)

Network (%)

Line 2 (optional)

Premium a year ($)

Direct (%)

Network (%)

Line 3 (optional)

Premium a year ($)

Direct (%)

Network (%)

Network commission is your street level, or your share after the upline's split.

What the network charges you

Fill from an IMO's published terms (optional)

Fills a fee only where the IMO publishes one dollar amount for it. For an agency cluster, enter your own numbers.

Monthly or back-office fee ($ a month)

Technology fee ($ a month)

Lead program ($ a month)

E&O through the network ($ a year)

Joining fee (one time, $)

Other network costs ($ a year)

Production minimum (premium a year, $)

What you'd buy yourself going direct

Only what the network gives you now that you'd have to pay for on your own.

CRM ($ a month)

Quoting or rating ($ a month)

Leads ($ a month)

Marketing ($ a month)

E&O ($ a year)

Other costs, such as appointment fees ($ a year)

A year on each path

What 27 IMOs publish about their costs

2 of 27 publish a fee as a single dollar amount the calculator can fill. Most describe fees in words, or say a tool has no direct fee with qualifying contracts. Each term shows the month we checked it.

Vendors with the most published facts come first, then those with a verified identity, published prices and more years in business. Paid placement never changes that order.

IMO	Published cost terms
Equis Financial	Required fees: Equis has no membership fees, special club fees or contract promotion fees. Lead spend is optional. Equis and Integrity market technology as having no direct fee with qualifying contracting. Appointment costs were not passed to agents or managers as of September 2023. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: Equis has no membership fee. IntegrityCONNECT and the Training Center come with no direct fee for qualifying Integrity or Equis affiliation. (October 2026) Group E&O: IntegrityCONNECT Association markets up to 50% E&O savings for Integrity agents. No Equis-specific group E&O policy price is published. (October 2026) Production minimums: Carrier lack-of-production termination is described as about 6 months. Bonus and promotion use Paid Bonusable APV tiers in the 2024 System PDF. 2026 Promotion and Bonus Guidelines are listed as effective September 1, 2026. (October 2026)
Ritter Insurance Marketing	Required fees: No direct registration fee. No direct fee for IntegrityCONNECT, PlanEnroll or the Ritter Platform. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: Ritter says registration, IntegrityCONNECT, PlanEnroll and the Ritter Platform carry no direct fee. It does not publish a recurring monthly back-office or membership fee. (October 2026) Group E&O: Ritter says its partner Integrity offers E&O insurance to agents using free IntegrityCONNECT at a discounted rate, with savings up to 50 percent off the standard industry price. Ritter does not describe a separate group policy premium. (October 2026)
Experior Financial Group	Required fees: There is no cost to register. The public agreement also charges a monthly back-office fee by contract level, plus applicable taxes. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: The public agreement lists monthly fees of $19 for an unlicensed associate, $35 for FA, $45 for SFA, $65 for SM and $79 for ED, plus applicable taxes. CRM is included for licensed associates. Fees start the month after the agent agreement, are deducted from commissions before a card is charged, are non-refundable, can change with 60 days written notice and increase 2.5% annually. (October 2026) Group E&O: Experior's agent E&O program lists two coverage options for new agents and two for experienced agents. New agent one-time premiums are $325 or $563, or installment totals of $358.90 or $623.93. Experienced agent one-time premiums are $410 or $725, or installment totals of $453.76 or $806.59. The master program runs July 1 to July 1 and pricing includes a non-refundable affiliated risk-purchasing-group fee. (October 2026)
PSM Brokerage	Required fees: PSM says it does not charge a fee for the relationship. (October 2026) Group E&O: PSM offers agents access to a discounted E&O option through its vendor. Group policy terms, limits and price are not stated. (October 2026)
Eldercare Insurance Services	Required fees: No joining or platform fee is published. IntegrityCONNECT and MedicareCENTER are marketed with no direct fee under qualifying contracting. Group E&O is optional and priced separately. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: No joining, back-office or membership fee is published. IntegrityCONNECT is marketed with no direct fee for Integrity agents and agencies. MedicareCENTER is marketed at no cost with Eldercare or other Integrity Partner contracts. (October 2026) Group E&O: Group E&O through Gallagher Affinity / 360 Coverage Pros for actively affiliated Eldercare agents. Limits $1 million / $1 million to $3 million. Pay-in-full premiums from about $79 to $399 depending on effective month for the March 2026 to February 2027 policy year. $0 deductible on Eldercare product claims and $1,250 on non-EIS claims. Coverage for new business ceases on termination. (October 2026) Production minimums: General contract minimums are not published. VIP lead credit needs 16 issued enrollments within three months in one line. (October 2026)
Brokers Alliance	Required fees: No fee to contract or work with Brokers Alliance and no platform fee for contracted producers. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: Brokers Alliance says there is no platform fee or monthly cost for MyAdvisorCloud, MyAdvisorGrids, RetirementBrain or LifeBrain with the contracting relationship. (October 2026) Production minimums: No production minimum to get contracted and no quota. (October 2026)
Western Marketing	Required fees: No contracting fee is published. Agents pay for E&O and their own leads. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: Western Marketing says IntegrityCONNECT and its listed quoting, e-application, annuity and contracting platforms are available at no cost. It does not publish a recurring back-office, CRM, website or membership fee. (October 2026) Group E&O: Western Marketing says discounted E&O insurance is available through its CalSurance partner. It does not publish a group-policy price or discount amount. (October 2026)
Pinney Insurance	Back office or monthly fee: Pinney says its services, technology and tools have no direct fee when the agent is contracted. The basic Insureio CRM has no direct fee. Marketing and agency-management features have a 30-day trial and published paid plan pricing is not stated. (October 2026)
Agent Pipeline	Back office or monthly fee: Agent Pipeline says its proprietary CRM is at no cost to agents and agencies. It also says call recording and storage are no cost. No recurring back-office or membership fee schedule is published. (October 2026)
Family First Life	Required fees: No initiation fee to join. Lead, technology and licensing costs are not published. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: FFL's October 31, 2025 recruiting article says its free resources have no monthly fees and no hidden costs. Current fees for IntegrityCONNECT, websites or other back-office services are not itemized. (October 2026)
Crump Life Insurance Services	Back office or monthly fee: Crump says its mobile app has no cost to use. It does not publish recurring fees for back-office, CRM, website or membership services. (October 2026)
AmeriLife	Back office or monthly fee: LeadStar has no monthly license fee for licensed insurance agents in the AmeriLife distribution network. Fees for other back-office, CRM, website or membership services are not stated. (October 2026)
Integrity Marketing Group	Required fees: Realtime leads require a prepaid wallet. Wallet balances are not redeemable for cash. No joining fee found. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: Integrity says IntegrityCONNECT is free for all Integrity insurance agents and agencies. No recurring back-office or membership charge is listed. (October 2026) Group E&O: IntegrityCONNECT Association advertises E&O savings of up to 50% off the standard industry price. Actual savings are determined at checkout. Eligibility is verified and the program may be modified or discontinued. (October 2026)
Senior Market Sales	Back office or monthly fee: SMS says Lead Advantage Pro is available to contracted agents at no cost, and its Client Stream case study says SMS does not charge for Client Stream access. Other back-office, CRM, website or membership fees are not published. (October 2026)
The Price Group	Required fees: $0 to join. Agents cover their own expenses. Leads are optional. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: No desk fees, technology fees or monthly platform charges. (October 2026)
Financial Independence Group	Back office or monthly fee: Users or their organizations are responsible for any fees incurred through FIG Portal use. The April 1, 2026 terms do not state a recurring back-office or monthly amount or frequency. (October 2026) Group E&O: CalSurance lists a FIG-specific E&O program for FIG advisors. The current program lists no group policy aggregate and new-agent discounts. No premium is stated and FIG is not said to pay it. (October 2026)
Advisors Excel	Back office or monthly fee: Advisors Excel publishes no IMO membership or back-office fee. Its optional marketing and automation services start at $275 a month for an AE Snappy Kraken DIY package, and AE Freedom360 is $700 a month plus a one-time $349 setup fee. (October 2026)
Brokers International
Ash Brokerage
BGA Insurance
Simplicity Group
Premier Marketing	Back office or monthly fee: Premier Marketing says contracted agents get IntegrityCONNECT quoting, CRM and enrollment tools with no platform fees. Premier does not publish a dues schedule. (October 2026) Group E&O: Discounted E&O through MGA Insurance Services, including a Premier Only Plan. No public price. (October 2026)
BackNine Insurance	Back office or monthly fee: BackNine says the standard agent model has no recurring agent software or membership fee for BOSS, Quote & Apply or brokerage support. The SaaS path has a $3,000+ setup fee and additional fees are not itemized. (October 2026) Production minimums: No production minimum to use the platform. Five active policies is one annualization criterion. (October 2026)
Quility and Symmetry Financial Group	Back office or monthly fee: Switchboard Sites costs $42 per month and requires Switchboard Activate. Quility's April 21, 2026 Agency Rocket article lists preferred subscription prices of $107.95 for Debt Action Plan, $89.95 for Banking Action Plan and $62.95 for My New Retirement for contracted agents. Agency Rocket does not state its billing frequency. (October 2026)
The Marketing Alliance	Back office or monthly fee: TMA charges distribution partners nothing for tele-interviewing and completed-application submission. Case rescue has no additional cost. Virtual staff expansion is priced by case volume. The Business Service Center guide says fees vary with TMA Life Model participation and there is no fee for contracting. No recurring dollar schedule is listed. (October 2026)
LIBRA Insurance Partners
Benefits Life	Required fees: $0 to contract. No required technology fee published. (October 2026) Back office or monthly fee: No required back-office fee is published. MedicareCopilot Elite, an optional CRM, lists at $199 a seat a month, and contracted agents get a discount whose price is not published. (October 2026) Production minimums: Benefits Life says there is no production minimum tied to renewal retention. (October 2026)

How this tool works

Direct path: premium times your direct commission rate, added across lines, minus what you would buy yourself (CRM, quoting, leads, marketing, E&O and other direct costs) for a year.

Network path: premium times your network commission or split, added across lines, minus the network's monthly, technology and lead program fees for a year, its E&O cost, the joining fee and other costs.

Break-even production keeps your line mix and scales the premium up or down until both paths pay the same. It is the yearly cost difference divided by the commission gap. Below it, the path with lower fixed costs wins. Above it, the path with the higher commission wins.

Example numbers are illustrations only, not typical rates. The calculator treats first-year commission as the whole year's income. Renewals, bonuses, advances and chargebacks change the picture, so check your contracts. Every number here is yours, except fee lines you choose to fill from an IMO, which show the IMO and the month.