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Compare · Customs filing software
Customs Filing Software for Forwarders and NVOCCs (2026)
Six ways to get an ISF, an AMS manifest or a customs entry to US Customs, compared on what actually differs: which filings each one transmits, under whose credential, whether CBP’s own lists name the vendor, and what each one publishes about price.
Short answer. Three different filings are sold as “customs filing software”, and each has a different responsible party: the ISF (the importer or its agent), the AMS manifest (the carrier, and for an NVOCC its own house bills) and the entry (a licensed broker, a self-filing importer or a service bureau). Choose by which of the three is yours.
If you file ISF and AMS and want them built from the shipment you already keep, look at a forwarding platform that transmits: GoFreight, Linbis or Magaya. If you keep your shipments elsewhere and only need to transmit, look at a filing service: CustomsCity, which publishes its prices, or Descartes. If you are a broker filing entries, you need an ABI system: CargoWise, Descartes or Magaya Customs Compliance. Linbis is not in that last group. It files ISF and AMS and does not file entries.
Three filings, three responsible parties
Most confusion in this category comes from treating these as one product. They are three filings with three deadlines, and the party on the hook is different each time.
| Filing | Who is responsible | Ocean deadline | What the software has to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISF (10+2) Importer Security Filing, ocean only |
The ISF Importer, or its authorized agent (19 CFR 149.2). A forwarder can be that agent | Eight of the ten elements no later than 24 hours before the cargo is laden at the foreign port | Build the filing from the shipment, check it, transmit it, and record what CBP answers, including whether it matched a bill |
| AMS manifest The carrier’s cargo declaration |
The ocean carrier transmits the master bill. An NVOCC transmits its own house bills under its own SCAC | 24 hours before lading at the foreign port (19 CFR 4.7(b)(2)) | Transmit the house bills and keep the ISF and the bill it has to match on one record |
| Entry and entry summary CBP Forms 3461 and 7501 |
A licensed customs broker, an importer filing its own entries, or an approved service bureau | Entry summary within ten working days after the time of entry (19 CFR 142.12(b)) | Connect to ACE through the Automated Broker Interface. This is a broker’s system |
Liquidated damages on the ISF run at $5,000 for each violation. Confirm current requirements with your customs broker or CBP before you rely on any summary, this one included.
The comparison table
Alphabetical. Every cell about another vendor is what that vendor’s own page says, or what CBP’s published lists say, on the date above. We have not operated the other five products, and we say so.
| Vendor | What it is | ISF | AMS manifest | Entry (ABI) | On CBP’s lists | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CargoWise WiseTech Global |
Enterprise logistics platform with customs modules. Its customs page names 15 countries and territories | Not named on its customs page. WiseTech Global is flagged for ISF on CBP’s Sea AMS list | WiseTech Global is listed as a service center and vendor | Yes. US customs “with direct links to the Automated Commercial Environment” | Sea AMS list and ABI vendor list | No figure on the page. Usage-based since December 2025 |
| CustomsCity | A filing service for carriers, forwarders, brokers and importers | Yes. ISF 10+2, and ISF-5 with the ocean eManifest | Yes. ACE Ocean eManifest; ACE Air eManifest and ACAS | Type 86 is among its billable transactions. Ask about other entry types | Sea AMS list (service center, vendor) | Published. $0 for 10 transactions a month up to $1,999 for 100,000; no set-up fee |
| Descartes | A compliance network: web and EDI filing services, plus broker suites | Yes. ISF 10+2 is among its US security filings | Yes. Descartes Ocean AMS for NVOCCs and VOCCs, “certified and approved by the CBP”; Air AMS and ACAS | Yes. Several Descartes broker products are on the ABI list | Sea AMS list and ABI vendor list, several entries | No figure on the pages checked |
| GoFreight | A forwarding TMS with a customs module | “ISF 10+2” marked live. Its help centre says ISF “is not included by default” and needs CBP approval and enabling | “AMS ocean” marked live. Its help centre has an article on AMS filing “via eFreight” | Entries “through a CBP-certified ABI pipeline”; “the full entry-type range is available from general availability in Q3 2026” | Not under its own name on either list | No figure. “Users plus transactions, on one contract” |
| Linbis | A forwarding platform: quote, shipment, documents, accounting, and the filing from the same record | Yes. ISF-10 and ISF-5 built from the shipment, checked, previewed element by element, transmitted under your own SCAC | Yes. Filed from the same shipment. An NVOCC files its own house bills under its own SCAC | No. Not a customs broker and not an ABI filer | Not in the May 2026 Sea AMS edition; approved as a software provider since. Not on the ABI list | Published. $150 / month incl. 1 user · $299 / month incl. 3 users · Enterprise by quote |
| Magaya | A forwarding and warehouse platform, plus a separate ABI product (Magaya Customs Compliance) | Yes. “Magaya ISF” in its US Customs Connections | Yes. “AMS Filing for both Ocean and Air” | Yes. Magaya Customs Compliance, “a U.S. Customs-certified ABI platform (listed under ACELYNK with CBP)” | Sea AMS list (Magaya Corporation) and ABI list (ACELYNK by Magaya) | No figure on the pages checked |
Quoted words are the vendor’s own, read on 9 October 2026. “On CBP’s lists” means the Sea AMS Data Processing Provider List (May 2026) and the ABI Software Vendor List (last updated 12 August 2026). CBP states that inclusion is not an endorsement.
What each vendor publishes about price
Only two of the six put a number on the web. They price different things, so read the unit before the figure.
| Vendor | What is published | The unit | What it buys |
|---|---|---|---|
| CustomsCity | Free $0 (10 transactions) · Grow $49 (200) · Express $99 (650) · Scale $299 (3,000) · Consolidator $499 (10,000) · Business $999 (25,000) · Enterprise $1,499 (50,000) · eCommerce $1,999 (100,000), per month | Transactions sent to CBP in the month. Updates, deletes and CBP’s responses are not charged | The filing service. Your forwarding system is separate |
| Linbis | $150 a month including 1 user · $299 a month including 3 users · Enterprise by quote. Free trial, no card | The month, with seats included. Not per container and not per shipment | The forwarding platform the filing comes out of. The pricing page does not itemise CBP filing, so ask what it costs on your plan |
| CargoWise | No figure on its customs page | Usage-based since 1 December 2025 | See the CargoWise alternatives page for the figures others report |
| Descartes | No figure on the pages checked | By quote | Depends on the service: web filing, EDI, or a broker suite |
| GoFreight | No figure on its pricing or customs pages | “Users plus transactions, on one contract” | The TMS and its customs module together |
| Magaya | No figure on the pages checked | By quote | Magaya Customs Compliance is a separate product from Magaya Supply Chain |
A worked example with the one published tariff: a desk sending 300 billable transactions a month to CBP is over CustomsCity’s Grow plan (200) and inside Express (650). That is $99 a month, $1,188 a year, for the filing service alone. Put every other quote into the same unit, dollars a year at your volume, before you compare.
Check any vendor against CBP’s own lists
CBP publishes two lists that settle most arguments about who can transmit what. Both are free, and neither is hard to read.
- Sea AMS Data Processing Provider List (May 2026). Companies offering ocean manifest data processing. The columns mark a service center (SC), a port authority (PA), a software vendor with import manifest programming, a provider of ISF programming, and an export manifest program that is still a pilot.
- ABI Software Vendor List (last updated 12 August 2026). Companies that tested with CBP to submit through the Automated Broker Interface: entry, in-bond, drawback, foreign trade zone, ISF and service bureaus. CBP says it updates this list about every two months.
Two cautions. CBP says in both documents that inclusion is not an endorsement of the nature, extent or quality of the service. And absence is not proof either: a vendor can transmit through a listed service center, and a list is a snapshot. Linbis is the example on this page. It is a CBP-approved software provider, its approval came after the May 2026 edition, and it is not in that edition. Ask any vendor that is not listed which route its transmissions take.
What each vendor says, in its own words
CargoWise
CargoWise’s customs page sells “global coverage with region-specific expertise” and names fifteen countries and territories, the United States among them, where it describes “direct links to the Automated Commercial Environment”. WiseTech Global is on both CBP lists. It is the choice for a broker or a forwarder filing in many countries. It publishes no price, and it has been usage-based since December 2025.
CustomsCity
CustomsCity is a filing service, not a forwarding system. Its pages list ISF 10+2, ACE ocean and air eManifest, ACAS and manifest queries for forwarders, and it says who can file an ISF through it: “Importers, Freight Forwarders (US or foreign), Customs Brokers, Any agent identified by a SCAC code or Filer Code.” Its whole tariff is public, it has a free plan, and it offers a 30-day trial.
Descartes
Descartes lists six US advance filings it supports: ACAS, ISF 10+2, Air AMS, Ocean AMS, Truck ACE and Export Manifest. It describes Descartes Ocean AMS as “a unified customs filing solution” for NVOCCs and VOCCs that is “certified and approved by the CBP”, offered either as a web-based service for manual entry or as an EDI connection. Its broker products appear on CBP’s ABI list under several names. No price is published.
GoFreight
GoFreight’s customs page promises to “prepare, validate and transmit U.S. entries through a CBP-certified ABI pipeline”. It marks ISF 10+2, AES and ocean AMS as live today and says “the full entry-type range is available from general availability in Q3 2026”. Its help centre adds a detail worth knowing before a demo: the ISF feature “is not included by default” and has to be approved by CBP and enabled by support. GoFreight is not on either CBP list under its own name, so ask which listed provider carries the transmission.
Magaya
Magaya sells two things. Its US Customs Connections put “AMS Filing for both Ocean and Air, ISF, and Electronic Export Information” inside the forwarding platform. Entries are a separate product, Magaya Customs Compliance, which it calls “a U.S. Customs-certified ABI platform (listed under ACELYNK with CBP)”. Both names are on CBP’s lists. No price is published.
Which kind fits which desk
- An NVOCC with its own SCAC and bond. You owe the house bills and usually the ISF. A forwarding platform that transmits saves the re-keying, and it keeps the ISF and the bill it must match on one record. Test that match in the trial.
- A forwarder acting as ISF agent for importers. Either kind works. A filing service can be the cheapest way to transmit: CustomsCity’s plans start at $0. A platform is cheaper in hours if the shipment is already in it.
- A licensed customs broker. You need an ABI system: CargoWise, a Descartes broker suite or Magaya Customs Compliance. Linbis does not file entries.
- An importer filing a few ISFs a year. A filing service or your broker. A forwarding platform is more than you need.
Seven questions for any demo
- Which filings do you transmit yourselves, and which go through a partner? Name the partner.
- Under whose SCAC, bond and filer credential does the filing go out?
- Is the filing built from the shipment, or typed again on a separate screen?
- What is checked before transmission, and can I see the exact payload first?
- Where does CBP’s answer land, and how do I find a bill that did not match?
- What happens to the ISF when a booking splits or a house bill is re-issued?
- What is charged per filing, per update and per user? Get it in writing.
Where Linbis is the wrong choice
- You are a broker and need to file entries. Linbis is not an ABI filer. CargoWise, Descartes and Magaya Customs Compliance are.
- You file in many countries. Linbis’s electronic filing is US CBP only. CargoWise names fifteen countries and territories.
- You only need to transmit a few filings and already have a system. CustomsCity’s free plan covers 10 transactions a month.
- You want a vendor that is on CBP’s published lists today. Descartes, Magaya, WiseTech Global and CustomsCity are in the current editions. Linbis is not in the May 2026 one.
How filing works in Linbis
Linbis is a CBP-approved software provider. You file the ISF and the AMS manifest directly from Linbis, under your own CBP filer credential: your SCAC, your bond, your approval.
- Set up once. You need your own SCAC and an appropriate bond on file. An NVOCC also needs an International Carrier Bond. Linbis generates a Letter of Intent to CBP that names it as your transmission channel, not as your filer. Enablement typically takes three to five business days.
- The filing builds from the shipment. Parties, commodities and bill numbers come from the file you already keep, and a completeness check blocks the contradictions CBP rejects on.
- You preview every element, then you transmit. Nothing is sent until a person approves the exact payload.
- CBP’s answer is recorded on the filing. It usually comes back in about five minutes, with the bill match shown in plain language.
One minute twenty-nine: the ISF filled from the file, scored, previewed and submitted under your own credential.
The rule, the deadlines and the full walk-through are on the ISF and AMS filing page. For the wider picture, what a forwarder’s system has to hold for the broker, see customs clearance software and ISF filing online.
Questions forwarders ask
Can a freight forwarder file an ISF?
Yes, as the importer’s agent. Under 19 CFR 149.2 the ISF Importer, or its authorized agent, transmits the filing to CBP through a CBP-approved electronic data interchange system. The forwarder needs software that transmits, and the filing goes out under a filer credential and a bond.
Who files AMS for an NVOCC?
The NVOCC does. The ocean carrier transmits the master bill, and an NVOCC transmits its own house bills under its own SCAC. The ISF is a separate filing that CBP has to be able to tie to a bill on that manifest.
Does customs filing software file the entry?
Only when it is operated by a party eligible to participate in ABI for entry purposes: a licensed customs broker, an importer filing on its own account, or an approved service bureau. CargoWise, Descartes and Magaya Customs Compliance are entry systems. Linbis is not: it files ISF and AMS and holds the data a broker files the entry from.
What does ISF and AMS filing software cost?
Two of the six vendors compared publish a price. CustomsCity publishes monthly plans from $0 for 10 transactions to $1,999 for 100,000. Linbis publishes platform plans of $150 a month including one user and $299 including three at linbis.com/pricing. CargoWise, Descartes, GoFreight and Magaya showed no figure on the pages checked on 9 October 2026.
Is Linbis on CBP’s list of Sea AMS providers?
Not in the May 2026 edition, which is the current one. Linbis is a CBP-approved software provider and its approval came after that edition was published. Descartes, Magaya, WiseTech Global and CustomsCity appear in it.
Is Linbis a customs broker?
No. Linbis is a CBP-approved software provider. It transmits the ISF and the AMS manifest from the shipment under your own SCAC. It is not a customs broker and not an ABI filer, so it does not transmit entries or entry summaries.
See the price before the demo.
Plans are published. The trial is free and does not ask for a card. Start with one live shipment beside your current system.