CertFocus and myCOI are the two managed COI programs that pair software with credentialed insurance reviewers. CertFocus, from Vertikal RMS, publishes per vendor pricing. myCOI now ships its AI under the illumend brand and quotes every deal. Both are full service, and neither has a free plan. Here is the honest difference, and where self serve software fits instead.
Last updated July 2026
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Feature by feature, using only what each vendor publishes. Where a vendor publishes nothing, this table says not published rather than guessing.
| Feature | CertFocus (Vertikal RMS) | myCOI (illumend) | COISoftware |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Managed service plus software, self service tier available | Managed service plus software | Self serve AI software |
| Who reads the certificate | CIC, CPCU, CISR and CRIS credentialed account managers on the full service tier | Compliance professionals handle edge cases, AI handles routine review | AI extraction and your own rules |
| AI engine | Hawk-I | Lumie, the AI behind illumend | AI ACORD 25 extraction and rule checks |
| Published pricing | Yes, self service 6 to 8 dollars per vendor per year, full service 13 to 29 dollars per vendor per year | No, quote based | Yes, monthly plans from 49 dollars |
| Annual minimum | Yes, an annual minimum applies to both tiers | Not published | No annual minimum |
| Implementation fee | Yes, a one time setup fee applies | Not published | None |
| Free plan | Not offered | Not published | Yes, free tier |
| Vendor pay option | Yes, a vendor pay tier passes cost to suppliers | Not published | No, you pay for the platform |
| Notable integration | Vendor prequalification tools alongside COI tracking | Procore | API and Procore workflow support |
| Best for | Programs that want credentialed reviewers and per vendor pricing on paper | Construction and real estate teams that want insurance experts in the loop | Teams that want transparent pricing and to run it in house |
Compiled from vertikalrms.com and illumend.ai in July 2026. myCOI prices by quote, so no cost figure is shown for it. Vendors change products and pricing, so verify before you buy.
Both put licensed insurance people between your contract requirements and the certificate that arrives. The differences are about price transparency, brand and who each one is really built for.
CertFocus publishes per vendor pricing on the Vertikal RMS site: self service at 6 to 8 dollars per vendor per year with the Hawk-I AI and unlimited users, and full service at 13 to 29 dollars per vendor per year with credentialed account managers. myCOI, now illumend, routes every buyer through a demo and a quote. If you need to build a budget before a sales call, that asymmetry is the single biggest difference between them.
As of 2026, mycoitracking.com redirects to illumend.ai, where the product is presented as illumend from myCOI and the AI engine is named Lumie. Existing myCOI customers still log in through the old portal. Any comparison that still calls it myCOI without mentioning illumend was written before the rebrand and is out of date on more than the name.
CertFocus applies an annual minimum and a one time implementation fee, because credentialed reviewers are people and people cost money. myCOI does not publish its floor, but a human review model is priced the same way. Neither platform is shaped for a buyer with 40 vendors who wants to pay for 40 vendors.
Vertikal RMS offers a vendor pay option, where your suppliers cover the tracking cost per vendor per year rather than you. That model is common in commercial real estate and it changes the economics entirely. myCOI does not publish a vendor pay tier.
myCOI has long construction and commercial real estate roots and a Procore integration, which matters when subcontractor compliance lives inside Procore. CertFocus pairs COI tracking with vendor prequalification, which is the workflow general contractors and owners reach for before a subcontractor is hired.
A managed service cannot be trialed the way software can. You cannot upload your worst certificate on a Tuesday afternoon and watch the AI read it. You get a demo, a proposal and an implementation, on both sides.
If you want the wider field than these two, our best COI tracking software roundup compares eight platforms, and the single vendor deep dives live at CertFocus alternative and myCOI alternative. The other head to head buyers ask for is myCOI vs TrustLayer.
Both CertFocus and myCOI put a team and a contract between you and your first tracked certificate. That is the specific thing COISoftware removes.
Upload an ACORD 25 and the insurer, NAIC number, policy numbers, limits, dates and additional insured status come back in seconds, from crooked scans and phone photos as well as clean PDFs.
Published monthly plans starting at 49 dollars, a free tier, no annual minimum and no implementation fee. Size the cost before anyone books a demo.
Set minimum limits, required coverages and endorsement wording by vendor type, and every arriving certificate is scored against them automatically.
Reminders at 60, 30 and 15 days go to the vendor, not to your calendar, so a lapse is caught before a crew shows up uninsured.
If you already have a risk manager or broker who can read a certificate, you are not paying a second time for credentialed staff you do not need.
Produce the compliance record an auditor, insurer or client asks for without rebuilding it from an inbox.
COISoftware reads the ACORD 25 the same way both platforms do, then applies the checks behind certificate of insurance verification and the ongoing monitoring in vendor insurance compliance software. If you are weighing a managed service against software, read COI tracking software vs a managed service first.
Four questions settle most of these evaluations faster than a demo does.
If nobody internally can spot a missing completed operations endorsement or a blanket versus scheduled additional insured, buy the human layer. CertFocus full service and myCOI both provide it. If you have a risk manager who reads certificates today, that team is cost you do not need.
Tip: Answer this one first. It eliminates the managed services or the software either way.
CertFocus publishes per vendor rates, so you can model a budget before you call. myCOI quotes everything. If procurement needs a number this quarter without a sales cycle, that difference alone can pick the vendor.
CertFocus offers a vendor pay option that shifts the per vendor cost to your suppliers, which is common in commercial real estate. If your vendors will accept that, the economics change. Confirm it against your actual contracts before you assume it.
Not the clean sample PDF. The crooked phone photo of a fax. Whichever tool reads that correctly is the one that survives contact with your inbox, and COISoftware lets you run that test free, today, before you decide either managed service is worth the minimum.
Three straight answers rather than a scorecard that always ends with us winning.
CertFocus is the rare full service platform that publishes per vendor pricing, staffs the review with CIC, CPCU, CISR and CRIS credentialed account managers, and offers a vendor pay tier that can move the cost to your suppliers. For a general contractor or property owner that wants insurance expertise plus prequalification and can accept an annual minimum, it is a strong fit. Our deep dive is at CertFocus alternative.
Sixteen years of certificate review, a Procore integration and an AI engine, Lumie, that decides routine cases while professionals handle edge cases make illumend a natural fit for construction and commercial real estate programs with high risk contracts and no insurance staff. The catch is quote based pricing and a sales cycle. The detail is in our myCOI alternative write up.
If the honest description of your problem is that certificates arrive by email, live in a folder, and nobody notices when one expires, you do not need credentialed reviewers or an implementation project. You need AI that reads them, rules that check them and reminders that chase them. That is a COI tracking system you can stand up this week, and the migration path from a spreadsheet is covered in manual COI tracking vs software.
Both are managed COI compliance programs that pair software with licensed insurance reviewers. CertFocus, from Vertikal RMS, publishes per vendor pricing, uses the Hawk-I AI and offers a vendor pay option. myCOI, now illumend, quotes every deal, uses an AI engine called Lumie and has deep construction and Procore roots. The clearest practical difference is that CertFocus shows a price and myCOI does not.
Yes. In 2026 mycoitracking.com redirects to illumend.ai, which presents illumend as the AI native product from myCOI. Existing myCOI users still log in at the previous portal. The company describes Lumie as the AI engine that reviews certificates against contract requirements, with human professionals handling the edge cases.
CertFocus publishes per vendor pricing on the Vertikal RMS site: self service at roughly 6 to 8 dollars per vendor per year and full service at roughly 13 to 29 dollars per vendor per year, with credentialed account managers on the full service tier. An annual minimum and a one time implementation fee apply, and a vendor pay option can shift the cost to your suppliers. Verify current figures before you buy.
myCOI, now illumend, does not publish pricing. It quotes based on vendor count and service level and routes buyers through a demo first. Any specific monthly number you find in a comparison article comes from a review site or a user report, not from the vendor. Expect an annual contract.
Neither publishes a free plan. Both are managed services built around human review, so they are sold through a demo and a proposal rather than a self serve trial. If testing extraction accuracy on your own certificates before you commit matters, COISoftware has a free tier for exactly that.
myCOI, now illumend, has the deeper construction and real estate history and a Procore integration, which matters if subcontractor compliance lives inside Procore. CertFocus suits owners and general contractors that also want vendor prequalification and prefer published per vendor pricing. For a smaller general contractor tracking subcontractor certificates directly, self serve software is usually faster to stand up and cheaper to run.
If the objection is the annual minimum, the implementation fee or quote based pricing, COISoftware publishes monthly plans and a free tier and needs no sales call. If you want live carrier data instead of static certificates, Certificial is the different model worth seeing. If you want the widest view, the best COI tracking software roundup compares eight platforms side by side.
