First American Title (Commercial) vs Stewart Title (Commercial)

Side by Side

Attribute	First American Title	Stewart Title
What It Is	One of the largest US title insurers, whose commercial division underwrites title insurance and runs escrow and settlement for property transactions. Its page claims it can service nearly any commercial transaction through its national network, including in states without a physical First American office, and cites fifty-plus years in commercial, a thousand-plus commercial team members, and a hundred thousand transactions closed since 2023.	A national title insurance underwriter whose commercial arm handles transactions from single-site deals to multi-site and multi-state portfolios. Its page leads with its underwriters, promising timely and creative solutions to complex transactions, and it runs an educational commercial real estate webinar series alongside the core title and settlement work.
Category	Closing Vendors	Closing Vendors
Pricing Model	Custom Pricing	Custom Pricing
What It Costs	Title premiums are state-filed rates, so the site publishes no national pricing (read Aug 2026). Expect the premium to be quoted by the local office handling your closing, off the filed schedule for that state.	Title premiums are state-filed; the site publishes no rates (read Aug 2026).
Best For	A deal that includes real estate, where the lender requires title insurance and you would rather name a national underwriter than accept whichever agency the seller's side suggests. Also relevant for escrow and settlement when the property is the deal's anchor asset.	A second national title quote beside First American when the deal includes property, or the first call when the transaction spans several states and underwriter judgment will matter more than office proximity.
Where It Fits	Diligence & Close the Deal	Diligence & Close the Deal
Our Verdict	The national title name a lender will not question; the local office you draw decides the experience.	A credible national alternative for the title seat, strongest where the deal's complexity is the problem to solve.
Pros	National network the vendor itself stands behind, including states where it has no office Scale on its own page: 50+ years in commercial, 1,000+ commercial team members, 100K+ transactions closed since 2023 End-to-end digital transaction platform (ClarityFirst) and explicit wire-fraud prevention services, which matter in the week funds move	Underwriter-led positioning: complex and multi-state transactions are the page's explicit subject Explicit single-site to multi-state range, so a growing buyer does not outgrow the vendor Ongoing educational output on commercial title topics, useful background for a first closing
Cons	You are routed to a local office, so service quality is office-specific even under the national brand State-filed premiums mean no price shopping on the site; the rate is the rate for your state	The page's claims are qualitative; no transaction counts, office counts, or rates are published Like every national underwriter, the closing experience depends on the local office you draw

Our take

Choose First American when you want the seat filled by the side that publishes its scale: fifty-plus years in commercial, a thousand-plus commercial team members, a hundred thousand transactions closed since 2023, and a claim it can service nearly any commercial transaction through its national network, including in states where it has no office. The digital platform and the explicit wire-fraud prevention services matter in the week the money moves. Two limits to hold: the premium is a state-filed rate you cannot shop on its site, and the closing experience is decided by the local office you draw, not the national brand.

Choose Stewart when the transaction's complexity is the problem to solve: its commercial page leads with its underwriters and their appetite for complex, multi-site, and multi-state deals, which is the judgment seat a hairy closing actually needs. The comparison runs one way on evidence, since Stewart's page publishes positioning rather than counts, so you are choosing its underwriter-led pitch over First American's published scale. The same two limits apply, state-filed premiums and office-by-office service, so on either side interview the specific office before you commit the order.

Put It to Work

Whichever side wins for you, Diligence Checklist carries the closing items these firms are hired to satisfy.