Every builder has tried at least one lead site. Most have a story about paying for a lead that never picked up, or a homeowner who got five quotes in an hour and went with the cheapest.
Lead sites aren’t a scam. They’re a trade-off. You get homeowners asking for quotes right now. In return you often share them with other pros, pay whether you win or not, and build the site’s audience instead of your own.
This guide shows how each one charges, what to read before you sign, how to win on each, and how to work out whether one is paying you.
How lead sites charge contractors
Prices change often and depend on your trade and your town. None of these sites publishes one price list for every job. So this table shows how each one charges. Get the price for your trade and ZIP code before you sign.
| Site | How you pay | Who else gets the lead |
|---|---|---|
| Angi (HomeAdvisor’s lead program) | A fee per lead, plus a membership | Usually several pros get the same request |
| Thumbtack | No sign-up fee. Pay per lead when a customer contacts you, priced by job type and area. Weekly budget. | The customer can contact several pros |
| Houzz Pro | Monthly software plan with a Houzz marketing profile. Reviewers report annual commitments. | You’re one of many pros in the directory |
| Yelp | Free listing. Ads billed per click. | Every business in your category |
| Google Local Services Ads | Pay per lead (call, message or booking), not per click | The top few screened pros in your area |
| BuildZoom | Free to list. A connection fee or a percentage referral fee, depending on the project. | A short list of matched contractors |
Shared vs exclusive leads, explained
A shared lead is one homeowner sent to several contractors at once. You all pay for the same person. The first one to call usually gets the conversation, and the homeowner is set up to compare prices.
An exclusive lead goes only to you. It costs more per lead, but you aren’t racing anyone.
Shared leads are not always worse. Say a shared lead costs $60 and you sign 1 in 15. That’s $900 per signed job. An exclusive lead costs $200 and you sign 1 in 4. That’s $800. Close, and the shared lead could win if you’re fast. The only way to know is to track it.
Ask every sales rep the same question: “How many other pros get each lead in my trade and area?” Write down the answer.
Angi (HomeAdvisor’s lead program)
HomeAdvisor’s lead program now runs under the Angi name. If you search “is HomeAdvisor worth it for contractors,” this is the program you’re asking about.
How it works. You set your services and the ZIP codes you want. When a homeowner requests a matching job, Angi sends you the lead, and you call them.
How you pay. A fee per lead, plus a membership. The lead price depends on job type and area. Ask the rep exactly which product you’re buying.
Shared or exclusive. The same request usually goes to several pros.
Read in the contract. Angi’s help center lists when it may give a credit for a bad lead: invalid contact info, a project outside your ZIP codes, a service that doesn’t match your profile, a duplicate within 45 days, or a charge while your leads were paused. To be considered, the lead must be under 45 days old and you should have tried to call within 24 hours. Credits aren’t offered on annual subscriptions, and they expire if unused within six months. Credits go toward future leads. They aren’t cash back. Ask about the term, cancellation and auto-renewal before you sign.
How to win on Angi.
- Call within minutes. On a shared lead, second place often gets nothing.
- Narrow your ZIP codes and job types so you only pay for work you want.
- Fill your profile with real job photos and ask every client for a review.
- Log every bad lead the day it comes in and request the credit.
Fits: Remodelers and trades with many mid-size jobs, who can answer the phone fast.
Red flags: You can’t call back within the hour. Your average job is big enough that homeowners rarely look for it on a lead site. You’re asked to sign an annual deal before you’ve tested it.
Thumbtack for contractors
How it works. Homeowners search Thumbtack for a service and see a list of pros. When a customer contacts you, that’s a lead.
How you pay. No sign-up fee. You pay per lead when a customer contacts you. The price depends on the job type and area. You set a weekly budget, so you control spend.
Shared or exclusive. The customer can contact several pros.
Read in the terms. How to request a refund or credit for a lead that’s out of your area or not your work, and how fast you have to ask. Check which job types and areas you’re turned on for.
How to win on Thumbtack.
- Turn on only the jobs you want, in the areas you want.
- Write a profile that says what you do, your minimum job size and where you work.
- Add photos of finished work and collect reviews from every job.
- Reply in minutes with a real message that answers what they asked. Our text templates give you a start.
Fits: Testing a new service or area with a small weekly budget. Remodelers, pool service, decks, smaller residential jobs.
Red flags: Lead prices close to your profit on small jobs. A custom home or barndo is a big decision that rarely starts with a quick quote request, so test with a small budget first.
Houzz Pro: cost and review
How it works. Houzz is a site where homeowners browse photos of homes and remodels and find pros. Houzz Pro is a paid software plan for your business, bundled with a marketing profile on Houzz.
What Houzz Pro costs. Monthly software plans. Reviewers report annual commitments. Get a written quote for the plan you want, and ask whether it’s billed monthly or yearly.
Shared or exclusive. You’re one of many pros in the directory. Homeowners browse and contact whoever they like.
Read in the contract. Term length, auto-renewal date, whether you can cancel early, and what happens to your profile and reviews if you leave.
How to win on Houzz.
- Upload your best projects, with many photos per project. Houzz is a photo site. Weak photos lose.
- Ask clients for Houzz reviews as well as Google reviews.
- Answer every message the same day.
Our review, plainly: Houzz Pro can make sense if you’ll use the software every day and your work photographs well. If you won’t use the software, you’re paying a monthly fee for a directory listing.
Fits: Remodelers, kitchen and bath, design-build firms, custom home builders with strong photos.
Red flags: An annual contract when you only want leads. A sales pitch that promises a number of leads without putting it in writing.
Yelp
How it works. A free business listing, plus paid ads to promote it.
How you pay. Ads are billed per click. A click is someone looking at your page. It is not a call or a form.
Shared or exclusive. Every business in your category is on the same page.
How to win on Yelp. Claim your free listing, add photos and services, and answer reviews politely. Search your trade and town on Yelp yourself. If the results are thin, people in your area may not use it for builders.
Fits: Trades where people in your town already search Yelp.
Red flags: Paying for clicks with no way to tell which ones called.
Google Local Services Ads
How it works. A Google ad type for local service businesses. Google screens your business first. Then your ad can show when people search your trade in your area.
How you pay. Per lead, not per click: a call, message or booking. Leads Google judges invalid aren’t charged. In the US and Canada you can dispute certain charged leads within 30 days, at Google’s discretion. You set an average weekly budget, and Google’s monthly max is your weekly budget × 30.4 ÷ 7.
Shared or exclusive. Searchers see a few pros and can contact more than one.
How to win. Google says ranking depends on your bid and how likely you are to get a lead. That includes your rating, number of reviews, response time, photos and verification. It also says missed calls may hurt your responsiveness. So:
- Answer every call live during business hours.
- Get steady Google reviews. See how to get more Google reviews.
- Add good photos and a clear bio.
- Dispute bad leads within 30 days.
Fits: Most residential trades where Google offers it in your area.
Red flags: A phone that goes to voicemail. You’ll pay for leads you never talk to.
BuildZoom
How it works. BuildZoom matches property owners with a few contractors.
How you pay. BuildZoom’s contractor FAQ says joining is free. Depending on the project, you either pay a small fee after you connect with the owner, or a percentage referral fee after you’re hired, with no monthly fees. BuildZoom’s own answers cite about 2.5%. Confirm the rate for your job.
Do the math on big jobs. Say the rate is 2.5%. On an $80,000 remodel, that’s $2,000. On a $450,000 custom home, it’s $11,250. Compare that to what you’d spend to win the same job from your own ads.
Shared or exclusive. A short list of matched contractors.
Fits: Builders who would rather pay after winning than before.
Red flags: Not knowing the fee before you bid. Build it into your numbers.
Nextdoor
Nextdoor is not a pay-per-lead site, but it belongs on this list because it’s free. Nextdoor’s free Business Page lets neighbors recommend you, and you get unlimited free posts. Claim it, add job photos, and ask happy clients in your area to recommend you there.
We left Porch out of this guide because we couldn’t confirm its current terms for pros from its own pages. If a rep calls you, use the questions below.
Does this lead site pay? A worked example
Say you’re a remodeler. You run two lead sites for 3 months. All numbers are made up for the example.
| Site A (shared, per lead) | Site B (monthly plan) | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly spend | $1,200 | $500 |
| Spend over 3 months | $3,600 | $1,500 |
| Leads | 48 | 9 |
| Contacted (real conversation) | 26 | 8 |
| Site walks | 8 | 4 |
| Signed | 2 | 1 |
| Revenue | $58,000 | $42,000 |
| Cost per signed job | $1,800 | $1,500 |
| Lead cost as % of revenue | 6.2% | 3.6% |
| Gross profit at 30% | $17,400 | $12,600 |
| Left after lead cost | $13,800 | $11,100 |
Both paid in this example. But Site A took 48 callbacks to get 2 jobs. If it had signed 0, you’d be out $3,600 and a lot of evenings.
“Judge cost per signed job, not cost per lead.”
Set your limit before you start. Say your average job is $30,000 at a 30% gross margin. That’s $9,000 of gross profit. Decide how much of that you’ll spend to win the job, for example $1,800. Any source above that after 90 days gets cut. Any source below it gets more budget. To see how many leads you need in the first place, use the leads calculator.
Questions to ask the sales rep before you sign
Ask these on the phone. Then ask for the answers in an email.
- How many other pros get each lead in my trade and area?
- What does one lead cost for [job type] in [ZIP code]? Can that price change?
- Is there a membership, setup or monthly fee on top?
- Can I set a weekly or monthly cap?
- Can I choose my job types, minimum job size and ZIP codes?
- How are leads sent to me, and how fast should I respond?
- What counts as a bad lead? How do I request a credit, how long do I have, and is it cash or credit?
- Is this monthly or annual? What’s the notice period to cancel? Is there a fee?
- Does it auto-renew? On what date, and at what price?
- Can I pause? Am I charged while paused?
- If I leave, what happens to my profile and reviews?
- Can you put any lead numbers you’re promising in writing?
How to track a lead site for 90 days, and when to quit
Give each site its own row in your lead log. Columns: date, name, site, job type, contacted (yes or no), minutes to first call, site walk, proposal amount, signed, contract amount, credit requested, credit approved.
Every week:
- Request credits for bad leads that same week.
- Count leads you couldn’t reach. A lot of them means a lead quality problem or a speed problem.
- Check your response time. Harvard Business Review’s research found firms that contacted leads within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to have a real conversation with a decision maker as firms that waited longer. On a shared lead, that’s the whole game. See speed to lead for contractors.
At 90 days, work out cost per signed job: total spend ÷ jobs signed. Then:
| What you see at 90 days | What to do |
|---|---|
| Cost per signed job under your limit | Keep it. Try a bit more budget. |
| Site walks but no signed jobs | Look at your pricing and follow-up before blaming the site. |
| Many leads you couldn’t reach | Check your callback speed. If you’re fast, quit. |
| Cost per signed job over your limit | Quit, or cut it to your best job types and ZIP codes only. |
| Leads mostly outside your work | Fix your settings once. If it keeps happening, quit. |
Remodels and custom homes can take months to sign. Keep tracking leads from the test after you stop paying.
Build sources you own alongside
Every lead site has the same weakness. You don’t own the lead. The homeowner found the site, not you. Next year you pay again for the same kind of customer, and if the price goes up you have nowhere else to go.
So use lead sites to fill gaps while you build these:
- A Google Business Profile with steady reviews. Free, and it builds every month. See Google Business Profile for contractors.
- A website that sorts leads. A page for each thing you build and a form that asks about land, budget, financing and timeline. Here are the questions to ask. Check yours with the 20-point website score.
- Your own ads aimed at your area, sending people to your own site.
- Past clients and old bids. Free leads, every year.
- A fast text back. An automatic reply within a minute of every missed call or form. See missed call text back.
The full list of sources, with setup steps, is in how to get construction leads.
Common mistakes
- Judging by cost per lead. A cheap lead you never sign is the most expensive one.
- Slow callbacks on shared leads. If you can’t call within the hour, don’t pay for shared leads.
- Signing annual before testing. Test month to month if you can.
- Not requesting credits. Most sites have a window. Miss it and the money’s gone.
- Leaving every job type turned on. Pay only for the work you want.
- No tracking. If you don’t log the site on every lead, you can’t tell if it pays.
Frequently asked
Is HomeAdvisor worth it for contractors?
HomeAdvisor’s lead program now runs as Angi. It can pay if you call back within minutes and your jobs are the size people request there. Track cost per signed job for 90 days and keep it only if it’s under your limit.
How much do Angi leads cost?
Angi charges a fee per lead plus a membership, and the lead price depends on your job type and area. Ask the rep for the price per lead in your ZIP code and get it in writing.
Is Thumbtack good for contractors?
It’s a low-commitment way to test, since there’s no sign-up fee and you set a weekly budget. It fits smaller residential jobs better than custom homes.
How much does Houzz Pro cost?
Houzz Pro is sold as monthly software plans, and reviewers report annual commitments. Get a written quote for your plan and area, and ask how billing and cancellation work.
What are the best HomeAdvisor alternatives?
Thumbtack, Houzz Pro, Yelp, Google Local Services Ads and BuildZoom all work differently. The strongest alternative is a source you own: your Google profile, website and ads.
What are the best lead generation companies for contractors?
The ones that send you signed jobs at a cost you can afford. Compare them on how they charge, how many pros share each lead, and the contract terms. Then test one at a time for 90 days.
What’s the best app for contractor leads?
There’s no single best one. The best is the one with the lowest cost per signed job for your trade and town, which you only learn by tracking it for 90 days.
Can I get a refund for a bad lead?
Often you can request a credit, but the rules differ by site. Read the policy, note the deadline, and request credits the week the lead comes in.
If you’d rather stop renting leads and have your own coming in, that’s what we build.
