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ACI eManifest Price: What Does ACI Filing Actually Cost?

CBSA charges zero. The price you pay is for software, brokerage, or a missed-filing AMPS penalty.

The honest breakdown

CBSA does not charge a per-filing fee for ACI eManifests. The number you actually pay is whatever software, brokerage, or service you choose to file through. The government side is free.

That reframes the real question. Cost isn't "how much does ACI cost" — it's "what's the cheapest way to stay compliant given my volume?" Below that question sits one important wrinkle: AMPS penalties for late, missing, or inaccurate ACI filings can dwarf the per-manifest cost of any tool.

Three ways to file, three cost profiles

Filing path Per-manifest cost Best for
CBSA eManifest Portal (free) $0 — no fee from CBSA Very low volume, occasional manual filer
Certified third-party software (BorderPro) Free up to 5/month, then per-manifest tiers Owner-operators and growing fleets
Customs broker (bundled service) Per-entry fee, includes cargo entry + other services Carriers who want filing bundled with broker advisory

BorderPro pricing is published on the pricing page and is flat-tier — no per-manifest surge pricing, no surprise overages.

The hidden cost: AMPS

CBSA enforces ACI through AMPS — the Administrative Monetary Penalty System. Per-incident penalties depend on the contravention code and the carrier's compliance history. The pattern that matters: repeat offences escalate quickly. A second or third miss can be several times the base amount, and a single bad month can produce a penalty that exceeds a full year of BorderPro filings.

Software pays for itself by eliminating the operational gaps that trigger AMPS: late filing, missing data, conveyance-cargo mismatches, port-code errors. See the AMPS guide and the AMPS estimator to size the risk against your operation.

FAQ

What is the CBSA fee for an ACI eManifest?

Zero. CBSA does not charge carriers a per-filing fee. Any cost you pay is for software, brokerage, or service — not for the filing itself going to CBSA.

What's the cheapest way to file ACI?

For very low volume, the CBSA eManifest Portal is free. For owner-operators and growing fleets, BorderPro's free tier (5 shipments/month) is the cheapest path that still has preflight validation and PARS-lead-sheet automation.

What does an AMPS penalty actually cost?

It depends on the contravention code and the carrier's compliance history. Repeat offenders escalate — a single bad month can produce a penalty exceeding a year of software cost. This is why preflight validation matters more than the per-manifest sticker price.

Why isn't third-party ACI software free?

Third-party software pays for engineering, hosting, CBSA certification, support, and tooling the portal doesn't include — preflight validation, saved profiles, batch filing, PARS lead sheets, status webhooks, mobile apps. Carriers move to software once those time savings outweigh the per-manifest cost.

Start filing ACI for free — 5 shipments/month

No credit card. CBSA charges $0 either way — only pay for software when you grow.

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