Most insurance leads cost between $5 and $50 per lead in 2026 — but the full range runs from under $1 for aged, shared leads to $200 or more for exclusive commercial leads. What you actually pay comes down to three things: the line of business, whether the lead is shared or exclusive, and your geography. Below is what agents are really paying, by line, based on 17 lead vendors tracked on InSifter.
Personal-lines leads (auto, home, renters) are the cheapest. Health and Medicare sit in the middle. Commercial leads cost the most because the premiums — and your commissions — are far larger. These are typical per-lead ranges reported across vendors:
| Lead type | Shared | Exclusive |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | $5–$30 | $30–$60 |
| Home | $5–$30 | $30–$60 |
| Renters | $5–$22 | — |
| Life | $1–$20 | $20–$50 |
| Final expense | $5–$30 | $30–$90 |
| Health / Medicare | $6–$35 | $35–$80 |
| Commercial (BOP, GL, WC, auto) | — | $25–$200 |
| Aged (any line) | $0.50–$5 | — |
You can see exact, agent-reported costs for each individual vendor — plus close rates and quality scores — on the lead vendor directory.
The single largest factor in what a lead costs is how many agents receive it. Shared leads are sold to three to five agents at once, so you're racing competitors to the phone — but they're cheap, often $5–$30. Exclusive leads go to you alone, cost two to four times more, and typically close at a higher rate because there's no competition. Neither is automatically better; the right choice depends on how fast you follow up and what your time is worth.
Life insurance leads run from about $1–$3 for aged or low-cost leads up to $20–$50 for exclusive real-time leads, with final-expense leads typically $5–$30 shared and $30–$90 exclusive. Vendors like Benepath specialize in exclusive life and senior-market leads at the premium end, while marketplaces like NetQuote and InsuranceLeads.com sell shared life leads in volume. As with P&C, exclusivity is the biggest price driver — and speed-to-call matters even more on life, where intent fades fast.
Here's the trap: a $5 shared lead isn't cheaper than a $40 exclusive lead if it takes ten of the cheap ones to close a client and only three of the expensive ones. The number that actually matters is cost per acquired client — lead cost divided by your close rate — and then whether that's less than the client's lifetime value.
If you pay $25 per lead and close 10%, your cost per client is $250. Whether that's a good deal depends entirely on your average premium, commission, and retention. We break the full math down in Are insurance leads worth it?, and you can run your own numbers in the Lead ROI Calculator.
Most cost $5–$50 per lead in 2026. Shared auto/home leads run $5–$30, exclusive leads $30–$60, and exclusive commercial leads up to $200. Aged leads can be as little as $0.50–$5.
Aged leads are cheapest at roughly $0.50–$5 each, followed by shared real-time leads at $5–$30. Exclusive leads cost more but usually convert better.
Commercial leads (BOP, GL, workers comp, commercial auto) typically run $25–$200 and are usually exclusive — the higher price reflects far larger commercial premiums and commissions.
Life and final-expense leads range from about $1–$3 for low-cost or aged leads up to $35–$50 for exclusive real-time leads.
Compare all 17 lead vendors with agent-reported costs, close rates, and quality scores. No vendor money, no sponsored rankings.
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