Short answer
On the companies’ own pages on 9 October 2026, BCS showed a free plan for up to 25 vendors and a Self-Service plan at $0.95 per vendor a month. TrustLayer showed a free plan for up to 50 vendors and $10 a month for each vendor over 50. Certificial showed a free plan for up to 5 suppliers and paid plans from $99 a month. WatchMyCover showed $49, $79 or $149 a month paid annually, for 25, 100 or unlimited subcontractors, with a 14-day trial. Jones and illumend (from myCOI) showed no price and quote after a conversation.
What each company publishes
We opened each company’s pricing page on 9 October 2026 and wrote down only what the page showed. Four of the six show at least one figure. Two show none, and for those the link goes to the page where we looked. These are list prices in US dollars and they change, so open the page before you rely on a figure. Where a site says vendor or supplier, a general contractor would say subcontractor.
| Company | Free plan | Paid prices shown | Where it is shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCS | Up to 25 vendors. No card and no trial period. | Self-Service: $0.95 per vendor a month ($11.40 a year), marked as dependent on vendor volume. Full-Service: from $17.80 per vendor a year, with a minimum of $10,000 a year. Each paid plan has a button to ask for a custom quote. | getbcs.com/pricing-and-plans, as read on 9 October 2026 |
| TrustLayer | Starter: up to 50 vendors, with no trial expiry. | On Starter, $10 a month for each vendor over 50. Pro and Complete: no price published. Its FAQ says pricing varies with usage and to schedule a demo. | trustlayer.io/plans, its Starter page and its FAQ, as read on 9 October 2026 |
| Certificial | Requestor Basic: up to 5 suppliers. | Requestor Professional: “Starts at $99/mo”. The card does not say how many suppliers that covers. Enterprise: contact the company. | certificial.com/pricing, as read on 9 October 2026 |
| Jones | None shown. | No price published. The page says pricing is per record, per year, and to talk to the company for a quote. | getjones.com/pricing, as read on 9 October 2026 |
| illumend (from myCOI) | None. Its comparison page says it has no free tier and no trial. | No price published. Its cost article says it does not publish a flat price. The old myCOI pricing address, mycoitracking.com/pricing, returns a page-not-found notice that says myCOI is now illumend. | Its cost article and its comparison page, as read on 9 October 2026 |
| WatchMyCover | No free plan. A 14-day trial with no card. | Starter, 25 subcontractors: $49 a month paid annually, or $59 month to month. Core, 100 subcontractors: $79 or $99. Pro, unlimited subcontractors: $149 or $169. | watchmycover.com/pricing, as read on 9 October 2026 |
Who wrote this
What the free plans cover
Three of the six have a free plan. BCS’s covers up to 25 vendors, the number our own Starter plan covers for $49 a month paid annually. TrustLayer’s covers up to 50. If your list is short, a free plan may be the right choice. So may a spreadsheet that someone keeps up to date.
| Free plan | Size | What its page lists | How you get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCS Free | Up to 25 vendors | COI tracking software, a certificate data extractor, automated requests and deficiency notices, a mobile app for vendors, unlimited document storage (pricing page) | An email address in a form on the pricing page, which leads to an account setup screen. We did not go past that screen. |
| TrustLayer Starter | Up to 50 vendors | Expiration and renewal tracking, messaging, basic reporting, custom data, AI document collection and classification (plans page) | A form. Its page says a person reviews it and replies within one business day. |
| Certificial Requestor Basic | Up to 5 suppliers | Tracking the compliance of up to 5 suppliers (pricing page) | A sign-up page that starts with your company email address. |
Read what a free plan leaves out. BCS’s page says the free plan includes all software features. It also lists compliance reports, unlimited users, integrations, technical support and custom requirement templates under the paid Self-Service plan. Ask which of those the free plan includes. Its FAQ gives $2 per vendor a year for integrations and its plan description says no additional cost, so ask that too. The page says to talk to sales about pricing when you move up from Free. TrustLayer’s page lists its Procore, CMiC and Vista Viewpoint integrations under Pro.
How these products charge
Which way of charging costs less depends on the length of your list. Work each one out at the size you are now and the size you expect to be.
- Per vendor. You pay for each subcontractor you track. BCS bills on active vendors, and its pricing FAQ says it does not bill by user, document or location. TrustLayer’s Starter plan is per vendor above 50.
- Per record, per year. Jones’s pricing page describes this model and says a record carries unlimited certificates. Its home page gives the usual unit as a tenant or vendor record at a property, billed annually. Ask how a subcontractor on several of your projects is counted.
- Flat tiers. One price covers up to a set number of subcontractors, and it does not move until you pass that number. WatchMyCover’s three plans work this way.
- Unit not shown. Certificial shows a starting price and no unit beside it. The illumend page for finance teams says the price depends on how many third-party relationships you track and which modules you use, with no per-seat charge. It shows no figures.
Example, with a made-up list
Take 60 subcontractors and the list prices in the first table. BCS Self-Service: 60 at $0.95 is $57 a month. TrustLayer Starter: 50 free, then 10 at $10 is $100 a month. Certificial Professional: from $99 a month. WatchMyCover Core, which covers up to 100: $79 a month paid annually, or $99 month to month. Jones and illumend: no figure to work from.
This is our arithmetic, not a quote. It bills all 60 at BCS’s list rate, as BCS’s own 200-vendor sum does, and leaves out any charge for integrations. BCS’s page says its per-vendor price depends on volume, and any company may quote differently.
Set a price against the hours you now spend chasing certificates by hand. The COI tracking cost calculator turns those hours into a yearly cost.
What differs beyond price
A price does not say who does the checking, how you get started, or who the product was built for. This table reports what each company’s own pages say on those points. We have not tested the claims.
| Company | How review is done | How you start | Who its site says it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCS | Software reads each certificate when it is uploaded. On Self-Service your own team runs the program. Full-Service adds document review by BCS’s analysts (pricing page). | A free account from an email address, a demo, or a request for a quote (pricing page). | Property managers, general contractors, risk managers and procurement teams (home page). |
| TrustLayer | Software reads each certificate and checks it against your standards (home page). TrustLayer Plus, listed as an optional add-on to Pro and Complete (plans page), brings in its own insurance staff. | Starter by a form a person reviews. Pro and Complete by a demo (plans page). | Risk managers (home page). Starter is described as for small teams tracking vendors by email or spreadsheet (Starter page). |
| Certificial | Coverage data comes from feeds from the supplier’s insurance agent and is compared with your requirements (requestor page). Each supplier registers and adds their agent (FAQ). | A sign-up page for Basic and Professional. Contact the company for Enterprise (pricing page). | Compliance and procurement managers (requestor page). |
| Jones | The page describes review as AI-assisted and human-verified, with expert review built in. Jones Operator is an add-on with a team that runs the outreach and follow-up (pricing page). | Talk to the company or book a demo. The page says most teams start with a guided setup (pricing page). The sign-in page gives an email address to ask for access. | Commercial real estate owners, operators and property managers, and construction general contractors (home page). |
| illumend (from myCOI) | Its AI reviews every certificate and endorsement and makes the decision. Items it cannot resolve go to a reviewer (home page). | A demo (demo page). The app also has an account creation screen. We did not submit it. | Any team responsible for third-party insurance compliance. It lists seven industries, construction among them (home page). |
| WatchMyCover | It holds your requirements, compares each limit, endorsement and date on a certificate with them, and gives the reason for each verdict (features page). | Sign up yourself for the 14-day trial, with no card (pricing page). | Commercial and multifamily general contractors (features page). |
What to ask before a demo
Go in with your own numbers: how many subcontractors you track today and how many projects they are spread across. List the systems you want the tool to feed. Then ask these questions, and ask for the answers in writing.
- What do you bill on: a subcontractor, a record, a certificate or a user? How is one subcontractor on several projects counted?
- What would my list cost today, and at twice its size? What happens when I pass a plan’s limit?
- Is there a minimum spend, a setup fee, or a charge for connecting to my project or accounting system?
- Who reviews each certificate: the software, your staff or mine?
- Does the review read the endorsement forms, or only the certificate? A certificate does not make its holder an additional insured. That takes an endorsement or the policy’s own terms, as the Connecticut Insurance Department’s bulletin on certificates says. Our guide to certificate holder and additional insured explains the difference.
- How do subcontractors and their agents send documents, and do they need an account to do it?
- Can I start today on my own, or is there a form, a demo or a setup project first? How long until we are live?
- Is the term monthly or annual, how do I cancel, and can I export every record if I leave?
What this page cannot tell you
It cannot tell you what a quote will be, what a free plan lets you do once you are inside it, or whether a product fits your contracts. We did not open accounts or ask for quotes. Every figure is a list price in US dollars, read on one day. What your subcontracts should require is a separate question, and one for your insurance broker and your construction attorney. This is general information, not advice.
Key takeaways
- Four of six companies showed a price on 9 October 2026: BCS, TrustLayer, Certificial and WatchMyCover. Jones and illumend showed none.
- BCS is free up to 25 vendors and TrustLayer up to 50. For a short list, a free plan may be all you need.
- A per-vendor price rises with every subcontractor. A flat tier stays put until you pass its limit. Work both out at your own list size.
- Before a demo, ask what the billing unit is, who reviews each certificate, and whether you can start without a sales call.
- Prices change. Open the linked page before you rely on a figure.
Common questions
How much does BCS cost?
On 9 October 2026 the BCS pricing page showed a free plan for up to 25 vendors. Its Self-Service plan was $0.95 per vendor a month ($11.40 a year). Its Full-Service plan was from $17.80 per vendor a year, with a minimum of $10,000 a year. The page marks the Self-Service price as dependent on vendor volume, and each paid plan has a button to ask for a custom quote.
How much does TrustLayer cost?
TrustLayer (trustlayer.io) publishes one figure. Its Starter plan is free for up to 50 vendors, and its Starter page says each vendor over 50 costs $10 a month. No price is shown for the Pro or Complete plans, and its FAQ says pricing varies with usage and to schedule a demo. This is as read on 9 October 2026.
How much does myCOI cost?
The myCOI site now sends visitors to illumend, which describes itself as from myCOI. On 9 October 2026 the old myCOI pricing address returned a page-not-found notice, and illumend’s own cost article said it does not publish a flat price. Its page for finance teams says the price depends on how many third-party relationships you track and which modules you use. You get a figure by booking a demo.
Does per-vendor pricing or a flat plan cost less?
It depends on the length of your list. A per-vendor price rises with each subcontractor you add, and a flat plan costs the same until you pass its limit. Multiply the per-vendor rate by your own count and compare it with the flat plan that covers that count. Then repeat the sum for the size you expect to be in a year.
Sources
- BCS: pricing and plans (read 9 October 2026)
- TrustLayer: plans (read 9 October 2026)
- TrustLayer: Starter (read 9 October 2026)
- TrustLayer: frequently asked questions (read 9 October 2026)
- Certificial: pricing (read 9 October 2026)
- Jones: pricing (read 9 October 2026)
- illumend: How much does COI tracking software cost? (read 9 October 2026)
- illumend: illumend vs TrustLayer (read 9 October 2026)
- illumend: for finance teams (read 9 October 2026)
- WatchMyCover: pricing
- Connecticut Insurance Department, Bulletin S-14: Use of certificates of insurance