Insurf vs. StretchDollar.
StretchDollar is an ICHRA platform built exclusively for businesses with 1–50 W-2 employees and the brokers who serve them — founded in 2023 by Gusto alumni, with employers funding a pre-tax allowance and employees reimbursed by direct ACH transfer.
Every StretchDollar fact on this page is from their own published pages as of August 28, 2026, quoted and linked. If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it the same week.
Where StretchDollar is strong.
A comparison you can trust has to be honest in both directions. These are real advantages, plainly stated.
Genuinely transparent flat pricing, published with a calculator: $100 a month plus $25 per participating employee, charged only for employees who actually enroll, with no setup, renewal, or cancellation fees and no long-term contract.
Real small-business focus: built exclusively for the 1–50 segment, no participation minimums, self-serve onboarding in minutes, ICHRA start dates any month of the year — in all fifty states.
Clean money mechanics: direct ACH from employer to employee on a predictable monthly cycle, no debit cards or wallets, and StretchDollar never pays carriers — employees pay their own premium directly.
Pricing, as published.
StretchDollar
Published: a $100 per month platform fee plus $25 per participating employee per month, billed for active employees only ('Only pay for employees who enroll'), with no setup fees, no renewal fees, no cancellation fees, and no long-term contracts. Brokers get a separate portal at $99 per month with $22 PEPM and full agent-of-record commissions. Their terms separately disclose that StretchDollar also receives compensation from insurance carriers for policies issued through it.
Source, August 28, 2026Insurf
A flat per-employee platform fee, quoted in writing before you sign — and the savings audit is free before any commitment. We never hold plan funds; reimbursements run through your own payroll.
How our numbers are computedAfter enrollment, in their own words.
The question that separates ICHRA platforms is not the enrollment flow — it is what the platform is still responsible for in March.
“All sales and payments made on, through or regarding the Platform and/or the Services are final, irrevocable, and not subject to or eligible for a refund.”
That is the No Refunds clause of StretchDollar's platform terms (Section 9, last modified December 21, 2023) — a payments clause, not a statement about insurance claim outcomes, and we quote it for what it honestly shows: the paper is written around moving money. On denials, StretchDollar's own published answer is a partner perk: since March 2026 its blog offers Granted, 'a healthcare advocacy service' that 'helps address denied claims,' through StretchPerks — a third-party service rather than an in-house one. Its help center also reminds employers that a failed reimbursement leaves employees 'responsible for paying their insurance carrier on time.'
What Insurf does differently.
The plan-choice math. StretchDollar advertises 30+ ACA-compliant options on average and licensed shopping specialists; Insurf's engine prices each employee's actual twelve months — every filed variant, real drug tiers, deductible paths — and publishes the method at /methodology/pricing.
Denial help, in-house versus perk. StretchDollar's published denied-claim help is Granted, a third-party advocacy partner. Insurf's is a clinical appeals engine we built ourselves — source-cited appeal packets, not a referral.
Whose rail the money rides. StretchDollar pulls employer funds by ACH on the 25th and disburses to employees around the 1st through its payment rail; Insurf never touches the money — reimbursements run through your own payroll.
The allowance is computed, not chosen. Their flow has you set the budget; Insurf's engine outputs the smallest allowance that covers a good plan for every employee — the number that moves more money than any platform fee.
The questions companies comparing us to StretchDollar ask.
How much does StretchDollar cost?
Published, as of August 28, 2026: $100 per month plus $25 per participating employee per month, active employees only, with no setup, renewal, or cancellation fees. That is commendably transparent. Insurf's flat per-employee fee is quoted in writing before you sign — get both numbers for your headcount, and run the free audit first, because the bigger money is in the plan-choice math.
Does StretchDollar help when a claim is denied?
Their published answer (March 2026) is StretchPerks access to Granted, a third-party healthcare-advocacy service that 'helps address denied claims' — a real perk, honestly offered. Insurf's denial support is our own clinical appeals engine producing source-cited appeal packets. Ask any platform the same question in writing: who does the work, and what does the work product look like?
Who pays the insurance carrier under each model?
At StretchDollar, the employee pays the carrier directly and is reimbursed by ACH — and their own help center notes a failed reimbursement still leaves the employee responsible for paying the carrier on time. At Insurf, reimbursements run through your own payroll, and the engine has already priced the premium into each person's twelve-month total before anyone enrolls.
The fairest comparison is your own roster.
Competitor names and marks belong to their owners; Insurf is not affiliated with or endorsed by StretchDollar. Competitor facts reflect their published pages as of August 28, 2026 and may have changed — corrections are welcome and made promptly. Insurf, Inc. is not a licensed insurance agency, does not sell insurance, and receives no commissions; enrollment applications are submitted by an individually licensed insurance producer. This page is an educational comparison — not an offer of coverage, not a recommendation to buy or drop any plan, and not financial, tax, legal, medical, coverage, or insurance advice. Projections are labeled and are not guarantees.