Managed Benefits · Compared
Both are serious benefits administration platforms. Employee Navigator is built for and sold through insurance brokers; PlanSource sells to HR teams directly and adds an outsourced services arm. The distribution model is the real difference.
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Contender One
Employee Navigator is the dominant benefits administration platform of the broker channel: by its own count it connects 195,000+ employers, 7,000+ brokers, and 600+ integration partners. The model matters more than the feature list. Employers do not buy Employee Navigator; insurance agencies license it and stand up sites for their clients. Your broker builds your plans, runs your renewal, and manages the system, which is exactly why brokers like it and why BEG respects it: it strengthens the broker relationship rather than threatening it.
Functionally it covers online enrollment, new hire onboarding, ACA reporting, and light HR tools, with carrier and payroll connections through its 600+ integrations. Its published pricing page lists four broker tiers, Enhanced through Platinum, all behind a contact-sales gate; the one number printed is a $0.45 per employee per month fee for 834 EDI carrier feeds on the middle tiers, waived on Platinum. For the employer, cost usually arrives folded into the broker relationship.
Contender Two
PlanSource sells benefits administration the other way around: directly to HR and benefits leaders, with reseller partners and carriers as an additional channel. Its published positioning is smart technology paired with human guidance, covering the full benefits lifecycle from plan setup and enrollment through eligibility, life events, and ongoing administration, plus ACA and COBRA compliance tooling.
The bigger structural difference is the services layer: PlanSource publishes an outsourced administration offering where its own team takes on benefits tasks, not just the software to do them yourself. That pulls it toward mid-market and enterprise buyers who want a vendor relationship with an accountable services team attached. Pricing is fully demo-gated: no tiers, no published numbers, a request-a-demo form as the front door.
Side by Side
| Factor | Employee Navigator | PlanSource |
|---|---|---|
| Who buys it | Insurance brokers license it, employers get it through their broker | Employers buy direct; resellers and carriers are a second channel |
| Typical buyer | Small and mid-size groups whose broker runs the platform | Mid-market and enterprise HR teams |
| Core scope | Enrollment, onboarding, ACA reporting, light HR tools | Full benefits lifecycle plus compliance tooling |
| Who does the admin work | Your broker and your HR team, in the platform | Your team, or the PlanSource services team if you buy services |
| Outsourced services | Not the product; support partners exist in its marketplace | Published services arm that takes on administration tasks |
| Integrations | 600+ carrier, payroll, and TPA integrations | HRIS, payroll, and carrier connections |
| Pricing visibility | Broker tiers published, dollar amounts gated; $0.45 PEPM EDI fee is printed | Fully demo-gated, no published numbers |
| Your broker relationship | Central: the broker is the operator | Optional: brokers can be involved but the vendor relationship is direct |
| COBRA administration | Not built in; typically a separate vendor or broker-led process | Compliance tooling covers more of this; still often paired with a COBRA vendor |
| Carrier / 834 feeds | Supported; per-employee EDI fee on some tiers | Supported as part of the platform; pricing not published |
| Who does the admin work | Your broker and your HR team, inside the software | Your team, or PlanSource's services staff if purchased |
| Best-fit company profile | Small to mid-size group with an engaged broker | Mid-market or enterprise HR team wanting a direct vendor and services layer |
Based on each company's published pages: Employee Navigator pricing and PlanSource platform and services.
The Analysis
With Employee Navigator, your day-to-day experience depends heavily on your broker: how well they build plans, how fast they fix enrollment issues, how much of the platform they actually use. A great broker on Employee Navigator is a great setup. With PlanSource, the vendor is accountable to you directly, which means a real contract, a real implementation, and a real sales cycle.
Employee Navigator is a platform; the labor stays with your broker and your HR team. PlanSource publishes a services offering where its team performs administration work. If your real problem is hours of benefits labor rather than missing software, that distinction matters more than any feature comparison.
Employee Navigator dominates the small and mid-size group market because broker agencies can serve hundreds of clients on one license. PlanSource leans mid-market and enterprise, where a direct vendor relationship, deeper configuration, and a services team justify the procurement effort. A 30-person company evaluating PlanSource, or a 3,000-person company running on a broker-managed Employee Navigator site, is usually mismatched.
Employee Navigator at least publishes its tier structure and one EDI fee; the rest is contact-sales, and for employers the cost is typically absorbed into broker compensation, which makes it feel free without being free. PlanSource publishes nothing. In both cases, budget for a conversation before you see a number.
How to Actually Decide
Lean Employee Navigator. It is built precisely for that arrangement, your broker likely already licenses it, and the platform strengthens the relationship you already value. Ask your broker which tier they run and what they handle for you.
Lean PlanSource. A direct contract, a full-lifecycle platform, and a published services arm fit a benefits team that wants one accountable vendor. Expect a demo-gated sales cycle and price it against the admin hours you get back.
Then the platform question is the wrong question. Both options still leave a system for someone to run. If the goal is taking enrollment, changes, and ACA work off your desk while keeping your broker, compare done-for-you administration instead.
Weighing Employee Navigator against a payroll-attached option? See Gusto benefits vs Employee Navigator. Sizing up the enterprise tier instead? Read bswift vs Businessolver.
The Referee's Close
Employee Navigator and PlanSource are both credible, and the honest tiebreaker is distribution: if your broker is your operator, Employee Navigator; if you want a direct mid-market vendor with a services arm, PlanSource. Neither choice is wrong, and BEG works happily alongside brokers running either one.
If you want software your team runs, pick from these. If you want the administration off your desk without a co-employment contract or losing your broker, that is BEG Managed Benefits, powered by isolved: a dedicated team runs enrollment, changes, carrier updates, and ACA forms behind the plans you and your broker already chose, and your estimate is on screen in about 90 seconds.
To be specific about what BEG is not: it is not a PEO, there is no co-employment, and it is not a broker replacement. It is software plus a team that runs it, working alongside whichever broker you already trust.
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Questions
Not in practice. Employee Navigator publishes its plans for brokers, not employers: an agency licenses the platform and builds client sites on it. If your broker uses Employee Navigator, you get it through them; if not, you would typically change brokers to get it.
Yes. PlanSource sells directly to HR teams and also distributes through reseller partners and carriers. The difference is emphasis: Employee Navigator exists for the broker channel, while PlanSource runs a direct sales motion alongside its partner channel.
There is no published answer. Employee Navigator lists four broker plan tiers but gates the dollar amounts behind sales, publishing only a per-employee EDI fee on some tiers. PlanSource is demo-gated entirely. For an employer, Employee Navigator cost is usually wrapped into the broker relationship.
PlanSource is the stronger fit for that: it publishes a services layer where its team takes on enrollment and administration tasks. With Employee Navigator, the platform is the product, and the hands-on work sits with your broker and your own HR team.
BEG Managed Benefits, powered by isolved, is the option where a dedicated team runs the administration: enrollment, changes, carrier updates, and ACA forms, while you keep your broker and your plans. If neither having your broker run software nor buying an enterprise platform fits, that is the third path.
Neither Employee Navigator nor PlanSource is primarily marketed as a COBRA administrator; both integrate with COBRA vendors or support the process through their broader platforms, and PlanSource's published compliance tooling leans further into this than Employee Navigator's. Whoever administers it, missing a COBRA notice deadline can carry an IRS excise tax exposure of up to $110 per day per qualified beneficiary, so verify who owns that task before you assume it is covered.
Both platforms support 834 EDI carrier feeds and ACA reporting tools, including 1094-C and 1095-C support. Employee Navigator prices its 834 feed access per employee on some tiers; PlanSource bundles this into its demo-gated pricing. In both cases, someone still has to monitor the feed for rejected records and validate ACA eligibility data all year, which is a task, not a checkbox.
No to both. BEG Managed Benefits, powered by isolved, is not a professional employer organization; there is no co-employment and you remain the employer of record. BEG is a broker-ally: your existing broker keeps advising on plan design and renewals, and BEG's team runs the day-to-day administration behind those plans.
Compliance references: U.S. Department of Labor, COBRA continuation coverage and IRS ACA employer information reporting. This page is general information, not legal advice.
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