AMS360 and Applied Epic are the flagship agency management systems from the industry's two giants — Vertafore and Applied Systems. Both run the operational backbone of an agency: policies, clients, accounting, downloads, and reporting. The real decision isn't feature-by-feature; it's which ecosystem you're committing to, because your rater, connectivity, and future tooling follow the AMS. Here's the side-by-side, then a straight verdict.
Choose AMS360 if: you're a mid-size or larger agency that values accounting depth and pairs naturally with PL Rating — or you're already in the Vertafore stack.
Choose Applied Epic if: you're a larger or fast-growing agency standardizing on Applied end-to-end — Epic plus EZLynx plus IVANS is the strongest argument for the whole ecosystem.
Skip both if: you're a small or new agency — both are heavier and pricier than you need. Lighter systems like HawkSoft or NowCerts cover the same jobs at that stage; see the full AMS guide for the field.
Neither is universally better — they anchor the two big ecosystems. AMS360 is strongest for mid-size and larger agencies that want deep accounting and pair with PL Rating. Epic is strongest for larger and growth agencies standardizing on Applied end-to-end (including EZLynx and IVANS). Very small agencies often find both heavier than they need.
Neither vendor publishes pricing — both are quote-based and scale with users and modules. Agents generally report both sit at the mid-to-upper end of the AMS market. When comparing quotes, insist each spells out per-user cost, setup, and data-migration fees — that's where the surprises hide.
Yes — Applied Systems acquired EZLynx in 2021, so it sits inside the same ecosystem as Epic, and that integration is central to Applied's pitch. Vertafore's equivalent pairing is AMS360 with PL Rating.
Yes, but an AMS migration is the heaviest software move an agency makes — data conversion, retraining, and workflow rebuilds typically span months. Get the migration scope and cost in writing before signing, and time the switch to your contract renewal.
Positioning and features reflect publicly available information plus agent-reported opinion as of July 2026, and change frequently — confirm current quotes directly with each vendor. See our methodology. Vendors can request corrections via our corrections process.