I first wrote this article back in 2023, and it became one of the most-read pieces on our site. A lot has changed since then — and I mean a lot. Platforms have merged, pivoted, collapsed, or reinvented themselves entirely. The lead-gen landscape for contractors looks nothing like it did even two years ago.
If you’re a homeowner looking for a contractor, or a contractor trying to figure out where to spend your marketing dollars, this article will walk you through exactly what each major platform is doing in 2026, what they charge, what contractors actually think of them, and where the industry is headed.
If you’re a contractor and you’re reading this because you want more leads, I need to be upfront with you: buying leads from these platforms should be one of the last things you do, not the first. I’ve been saying this for years and the data keeps proving it right. Contractors who invest in their own website, their Google Business Profile, and local SEO consistently outperform those who depend on rented platforms. I wrote a full breakdown of your lead generation options in my Contractor Lead Generation 101 article — I’d recommend reading that first if you haven’t already.
Let’s get into it.
The Big Picture: What Changed Since 2023
The home improvement market hit $574 billion in 2024 and continues growing at about 3.5% annually. More homeowners are hiring contractors than ever — especially Millennials and Gen Z, with about 60% saying they prefer hiring a pro over doing it themselves. The market is there.
But the way homeowners find contractors has fundamentally shifted. Here’s what happened:
Google Local Service Ads became the dominant paid lead channel. They now sit at the very top of search results — above Google Ads, above the Map Pack, above everything — and they use a pay-per-lead model with exclusive leads. This single change has reshuffled the entire industry. I gave LSAs their own section in this article because every contractor needs to understand them.
Angi completed its split from IAC and became an independent company. Revenue dropped 30% from its peak, but that was intentional — they’re chasing profitability over growth now. HomeAdvisor is now officially called “Angi Leads.”
Porch completely abandoned the contractor lead business and became an insurance company. Seriously. Insurance is now 67% of their revenue. The Porch.com directory still exists, but it’s an afterthought.
Houzz retreated into software. After cutting roughly 40% of its workforce over six years, Houzz pivoted from a design marketplace to a construction management SaaS tool called Houzz Pro. Lead gen is now a secondary add-on.
Thumbtack grew fast but keeps burning contractor goodwill. They hit $400 million in revenue — up 33% year-over-year — and landed partnerships with ChatGPT, Amazon Alexa, Zillow, and Redfin. But lead costs keep climbing and contractor reviews keep dropping.
AI started changing everything. Homeowners can now describe their project to ChatGPT and get matched with Thumbtack contractors without ever visiting a website. Yelp dropped $270 million acquiring an AI lead management company. AI estimating tools are generating proposals in minutes. This is the biggest long-term shift in the industry, and it’s just getting started.
One stat sums up the whole situation: 62% of contractors say generating leads is their biggest business challenge. Reviews of nearly every major platform skew overwhelmingly negative from the contractor side. The gap between what these platforms promise and what they deliver has never been wider.
The era of depending on any single platform is over. The contractors winning in 2026 are diversifying across 3–5 channels — and the smartest ones are investing in channels they actually own.
Angi (HomeAdvisor + Angie’s List)
What Happened to HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List?
If you read the original version of this article, you know I covered HomeAdvisor and Angie’s List as separate platforms. That’s because they were separate platforms — technically. IAC bought Angie’s List for about $500 million in 2017, merged it with HomeAdvisor, and rebranded everything as “Angi” in 2021.
As of April 1, 2025, the story is complete. IAC spun Angi off as a fully independent public company on NASDAQ under the ticker ANGI. HomeAdvisor now operates as “Angi Leads” for contractors. The consumer-facing brand is simply Angi. New CEO Jeff Kip is running the show with Joey Levin as Executive Chairman.
The Financial Reality
Here’s the part that matters: Angi’s revenue peaked near $1.8 billion in 2022 and has fallen roughly 30% since then. They brought in about $1.1 billion in FY2025, with Q4 revenue of $240.8 million — down over 10% year-over-year.
But here’s the twist — management did this on purpose. They deliberately shrank the business to get profitable. Operating income surged 175% in Q4 2025. Free cash flow flipped from negative $69 million in 2022 to positive $105 million in 2024. They bought back nearly 20% of their outstanding shares after the spin-off. Say what you will about Angi, but the financial turnaround is real.
The biggest structural change came in January 2025 with the “homeowner choice” model. Instead of auto-distributing leads to contractors the moment a homeowner submits a form, homeowners now choose which contractors contact them. This caused network revenue to crater 79% in Q4, but Angi’s own proprietary channels — representing over 80% of their volume — actually grew. Management projects a return to revenue growth in 2026.
What Contractors Pay
Angi now has two products:
Angi Ads (the old Angie’s List model): Pay-per-click advertising with minimum monthly spends of $200–550+. You’re paying for visibility, not guaranteed leads.
Angi Leads (the old HomeAdvisor model): Annual fee of roughly $288–300 plus $15–85 per lead depending on trade. Roofing, HVAC, and remodeling leads sit at the higher end. Here’s the kicker that hasn’t changed since 2023: leads are still sold to 3–8 contractors simultaneously. Contracts auto-renew for 12 months. Early cancellation penalties run 30–35%, and you need to give 60 days’ notice.
All the cancellation headaches I wrote about in 2023? Still there.
The Legal Stuff
The legal landscape has largely settled. The FTC settled its deceptive marketing complaint against Angi in April 2023, with up to $7.2 million going back to contractors. By November 2023, the FTC had mailed over $3 million in refund checks to more than 110,000 contractors and sent another 91,000+ claim forms. The consent order permanently bars Angi from making false claims about lead quality or conversion rates.
Vermont’s attorney general also settled with Angi in October 2025 for $100,000 over misleading “Certified Pro” terminology. And there’s still an ongoing class-action lawsuit over unsolicited text messages (TCPA violations).
What Contractors Are Saying
The sentiment hasn’t improved much since 2023. The BBB is currently in the unusual position of “evaluating a pattern of complaints before issuing a rating” — which tells you something. Customer reviews on the BBB average 1.96 out of 5 stars across over 3,000 reviews. Trustpilot reviews for Angi Leads (37,200+ reviews) are overwhelmingly negative from the contractor side. Sitejabber shows the classic split: about 4.1 stars from homeowners, about 3.0 stars from the pro-facing HomeAdvisor page.
The number that jumps out to me is this: contractors routinely report effective customer acquisition costs exceeding $1,400 per booked job on Angi. That’s roughly 4–5 times what it costs to acquire a customer through SEO or running your own Google Ads. Let that sink in. For a $10,000 remodeling job, you’re spending 14% of the job total just to get the job — on top of your actual cost of doing the work.
My Take on Angi in 2026
Credit where it’s due: the “homeowner choice” model is a step in the right direction. Letting homeowners control who contacts them instead of blasting their info to a pile of contractors is better for everyone. The financial discipline is real. But the core problems haven’t changed. Shared leads, high costs, auto-renewing contracts, and terrible customer service still define the contractor experience on this platform.
If you’re already on Angi and it’s working for you, keep tracking your numbers closely. If you’re thinking about signing up, I’d strongly recommend investing that same money into Google LSAs or your own SEO first. You’ll get better leads at a fraction of the cost.
Trajectory: Declining revenue, improving profitability. Betting on quality over quantity. Still not a great deal for most contractors.
Thumbtack
The Growth Story
Thumbtack is the fastest-growing major platform in this space. They hit $400 million in revenue in 2024 — up 33% year-over-year — and carry a $3.2 billion valuation from their 2021 funding round backed by the Qatar Investment Authority. They have over 300,000 active pros and serve all 50 states.
When I wrote about Thumbtack in 2023, contractors were already frustrated with rising costs and the shift away from the old credit system. That frustration has only intensified, even as the platform has gotten more popular with homeowners.
What Contractors Pay
Thumbtack uses a purely pay-per-lead model with dynamic pricing. No monthly fees or subscriptions for pros — you only pay when a lead comes in. But those lead costs keep climbing.
Lead costs range from about $10 to over $200, with most contractors reporting a common range of $35–60 per lead. Prices update weekly based on supply, demand, job size, and competition. When you’re the only pro selected for a job, costs can spike above $150. Thumbtack also pushes contractors to maintain minimum weekly budgets of $49–150 to stay visible in search results.
The old complaint I noted in 2023 — that you get charged when a homeowner responds even just to say “no thanks” — still applies. You’re paying for communications, not for actual jobs.
The AI and Partnership Push
This is where Thumbtack has made its biggest moves, and honestly, it’s impressive from a strategic standpoint. In January 2025, Thumbtack became one of the first platforms integrated into OpenAI’s Operator — the AI agent built into ChatGPT. By October 2025, Thumbtack was embedded directly into ChatGPT for home services booking. A homeowner can literally tell ChatGPT “I need a plumber in Boise” and get matched with Thumbtack pros without ever visiting Thumbtack’s website.
Other partnerships since 2023 include Amazon Alexa, Redfin, OfferUp, Zillow, and ServiceTitan CRM. Thumbtack is trying to become a “home management platform” rather than just a marketplace. They want to be the backend infrastructure for contractor discovery everywhere — and they’re making serious progress.
Background Checks
One thing that’s changed since my 2023 article: Thumbtack now conducts criminal background checks through Checkr at no cost to contractors. Passing gets you a profile badge. The check covers county, state, and federal criminal records, sex offender registries, and global watchlists. However — and this is important — for multi-person businesses, only the owner is checked. Your employees are not screened.
What Contractors Are Saying
The reviews tell the story of two very different user bases. Homeowners generally like Thumbtack. Easy comparison shopping, quick responses, wide selection. Makes sense — it’s free for them.
Contractors are increasingly hostile. Trustpilot shows 3.0 out of 5 from over 6,300 reviews. Sitejabber is much worse at 1.8 out of 5 from about 1,500 reviews, almost entirely driven by contractor complaints. The BBB profile shows persistent complaints about lead quality, and Thumbtack isn’t BBB-accredited.
The pattern I keep hearing from long-time pros — contractors who have been on the platform 5–12 years — is dramatic deterioration. Invalid phone numbers, ghost customers who never respond, and refund requests that get systematically denied by automated systems. Sound familiar? It’s the same complaints contractors have had about every platform on this list since the beginning.
My Take on Thumbtack in 2026
Thumbtack’s AI integrations are a genuine competitive advantage that sets it apart from the other marketplaces. Being embedded in ChatGPT is a big deal — that’s where a growing number of homeowners are starting their search, especially younger ones. But all those leads still come with dynamic pricing that keeps going up, and the contractor experience keeps getting worse.
I’d categorize Thumbtack as a reasonable supplemental channel if you’re already doing the fundamentals — website, SEO, Google Business Profile, and Google LSAs. It’s not something I’d ever recommend as a contractor’s primary lead source.
Trajectory: Strong revenue growth, expanding partnerships, and genuine AI advantages. But contractor goodwill is eroding fast, and rising lead costs are eating into ROI.
Google Local Service Ads
Why This Section Exists
I didn’t include Google LSAs in the original 2023 article because this was a comparison of third-party lead-gen marketplaces. But LSAs have become so dominant since then that leaving them out of a 2026 contractor lead-gen article would be irresponsible. If you take one thing from this article, let it be this: Google Local Service Ads are the most important paid lead channel for contractors right now.
I wrote a full guide on LSAs here: Guide to Google Local Service Ads. What follows is the summary.
How They Work
LSAs appear at the very top of Google search results — above regular Google Ads, above the Map Pack, above organic listings. They use a pay-per-lead model where you only pay when a customer actually calls or messages through the ad. The big differentiator: leads are exclusive. When a homeowner contacts you through an LSA, they contacted you. Not you and 7 other contractors at the same time.
This is the fundamental difference between LSAs and platforms like Angi or Thumbtack, and it’s why the conversion numbers are so much better.
What Contractors Pay
Cost per lead ranges from about $25 to $300 depending on your trade and market. Here are some typical ranges:
- HVAC: $45–85
- Plumbing: $40–75
- Electrical: $35–70
- Roofing: $50–162
- Painting: ~$40
- Landscaping: ~$39
Google recommends budgets of at least $400–800 per month. Compared to the effective acquisition costs on Angi ($1,400+ per booked job), the math isn’t even close.
The Performance Gap
The numbers tell the story. LSAs convert at about 31% from lead to customer, compared to 12% for traditional pay-per-click ads. The Google Guaranteed badge (now called “Google Verified” after the October 2025 consolidation) increased click-through rates by 210%. Among consumers, 29% prefer clicking LSAs versus only 11% for regular Google Ads.
Multiple contractors I’ve talked to have shifted budget directly from Angi and Thumbtack to Google LSAs, citing better lead quality and the exclusivity factor. Angi itself has responded by deliberately reducing its dependence on Google’s network channels — their proprietary channels now represent over 80% of volume, partly because they know LSAs are eating their lunch.
Recent Changes
A couple of things to know about: In January 2025, Google discontinued the dedicated LSA mobile app. Everything is now managed through the Google Ads web interface. In October 2025, Google consolidated all the verification badges — “Google Guaranteed,” “Google Screened,” and “License Verified” — into a single “Google Verified” badge. The money-back guarantee program that was part of Google Guaranteed was discontinued with this change.
My Take on Google LSAs
For most contractors, Google LSAs should be your #1 paid lead channel. Exclusive leads, strong conversion rates, and costs that are a fraction of what you’d spend on Angi or Thumbtack. The trade-off is that you have less control over targeting compared to running your own Google Ads campaigns, and the new “Google Verified” badge change means the consumer-facing guarantee isn’t as strong as it used to be.
But in my Marketing Pyramid framework — foundation first, then SEO, then Local Service Ads, then Google Ads — LSAs belong right in that third tier. Get your website and Google Business Profile dialed in first, invest in SEO, and then turn on LSAs. That’s the order of operations.
Trajectory: Dominant and expanding. The 800-pound gorilla of contractor lead gen.
Yelp
The Financial Picture
Yelp is financially healthy — $1.46 billion in revenue for 2025, which is a record — with $146 million in net income and a 25% EBITDA margin. But the growth story is fading. Revenue growth decelerated from 16% in 2022 to just 4% in 2025, and 2026 guidance is essentially flat.
The home services category is actually Yelp’s bright spot. Services ad revenue hit $948 million — up 8% year-over-year — and now drives most of the company’s growth while restaurants and retail are declining. So while Yelp overall is plateauing, the contractor side of the business is still growing.
What Contractors Pay
Yelp’s model is CPC-based (cost per click), with costs ranging from $0.30 to over $40 per click depending on category and competition. Most contractors see $2–20 per click. Minimum ad spend is $5/day ($150/month), but competitive contractors spend $2,500–5,000+ monthly. Enhanced profiles run about $90/month. Yelp pushes 12-month contracts with tiered pricing.
Yelp’s “Request a Quote” feature surged 400% in 2025 and is now nearly 100% monetized, showing 4 results per query. This is increasingly how homeowners interact with Yelp — not by browsing reviews and picking up the phone, but by submitting quote requests through the platform.
The Review Filter (Still Controversial)
In my original article, I talked about Yelp’s review filtering and how business owners felt like their positive reviews were getting hidden while negative ones stayed visible. Nothing has changed. Yelp’s algorithm still hides reviews in a “not recommended” section, and business owners still widely report the same issues.
To Yelp’s credit, they’ve gotten more aggressive about combating fake reviews. In 2025, they filtered out nearly 500,000 suspected AI-generated reviews and shut down over a million policy-violating accounts — up 138% from 2024. A California court dismissed a restaurant’s attempt to force Yelp to disclose its filter’s source code. Academic research has confirmed the filter is biased against reviews from less-established accounts, which unfortunately means a lot of legitimate reviews from real customers get caught in the net.
The AI Bet
Yelp’s biggest strategic move is its all-in push on AI. They launched over 55 AI-powered features in 2025 alone (on top of 80+ in 2024), including Yelp Assistant (an AI chatbot for consumers) and Yelp Host (AI call answering for businesses).
The headline move: in January 2026, Yelp acquired Hatch — an AI-powered lead management platform — for approximately $270 million in cash. Hatch had about $25 million in annual recurring revenue growing 70% year-over-year. This is a clear signal that Yelp sees its future in AI-powered lead management, not just listing ads.
They’ve also signed a data licensing deal with OpenAI and partnered with Amazon and Apple Maps for content distribution. Yelp is trying to make its review data ubiquitous across the AI ecosystem.
What Contractors Are Saying
Contractor sentiment toward Yelp is still terrible. Trustpilot rates Yelp at 1.3 out of 5 from nearly 6,000 reviews — one of the lowest of any major platform. The BBB notes a “pattern of complaints” about sales reps providing inaccurate billing information. Aggressive daily sales calls, the pay-to-play perception, and review filtering drive the bulk of complaints.
My personal experience with Yelp advertising from the original article still stands. I spent $300 in credit, got almost no leads, and watched my cost per click mysteriously climb from $7 to over $20 as the algorithm seemingly adjusted to eat whatever budget I set. The self-service platform gives you almost no control and minimal reporting. For anyone used to managing Google Ads where you can see exactly what’s happening, Yelp’s ad platform feels like a black box.
That said, I’ve seen Yelp work well for certain trades — especially those focused on smaller residential jobs or commercial work in urban markets. Plumbers, electricians, and HVAC techs in major metros can get decent volume from Yelp. General contractors and remodelers still report mostly tire-kickers and people looking for the cheapest option.
My Take on Yelp in 2026
Claim your Yelp profile. Put good photos on it. Ask happy customers to leave reviews there. That’s free and it’s worth doing because Yelp still has massive traffic — over 145 million monthly visitors.
But spending money on Yelp advertising? For most contractors, there are better options. Google LSAs give you more control, better conversion rates, and lead exclusivity. Your own Google Ads campaigns give you transparency and data. Yelp advertising should be something you test after you’ve maxed out those channels, and only if the math works for your specific trade and market.
Trajectory: Financially stable but growth is stalling. The AI pivot and Hatch acquisition are make-or-break bets.
Bark
What’s Changed
Bark was a secondary player in the US when I wrote about them in 2023, and that’s still the case. The London-based company operates in 9 countries and was acquired by private equity firm EMK Capital in April 2022 for approximately £240 million. In February 2024, they opened their first US office in Austin, Texas — a clear signal they’re investing in American growth.
Back in 2023, Bark was using a credit system where you’d pay per credit and spend credits to unlock leads. That system still exists, but it’s changing.
What Contractors Pay
Credits currently cost $2.30 each, with bulk discounts down to about $1.57. Each lead costs 3–20+ credits depending on the service, putting typical lead costs at $5–36, though high-value leads can run $150+.
A significant and widely criticized change arrived in November 2025: all newly purchased credits now expire after 3 months. If you buy credits and don’t use them quickly enough, they disappear. Professionals widely see this as a revenue-maximization tactic — and they’re probably right.
Bark also offers “Elite Pro” (5 free responses per month plus 20% credit discounts) and “Bark Verified” at about $29.95/month for a background-check badge.
The biggest upcoming change: Bark is transitioning to a full subscription-based marketplace model. It’s already live in Australia as of late 2025, with UK and US rollout planned for 2026. This would replace the credit system entirely.
What Contractors Are Saying
Reviews are sharply divided by user type. Trustpilot shows 4.0 out of 5 from over 106,000 reviews — but those are overwhelmingly from UK consumers who successfully found service providers. Professional reviews tell a very different story: PissedConsumer rates Bark at 1.3 out of 5. The complaints are the same you hear everywhere else: fake leads, low conversion rates, leads shared with way more pros than the stated maximum, and opaque pricing.
My own experience using Bark for my remodeling company, which I documented in the 2020 update to the original article, wasn’t great. One lead over three months, no response when I followed up. The customer service was genuinely good — much better than Angi or HomeAdvisor’s aggressive tactics — but the leads just weren’t there for larger construction projects. Bark still seems best suited for smaller jobs, handyman work, and non-construction services like DJs, photographers, and dog walkers.
My Take on Bark in 2026
Bark is growing under PE ownership and transforming its business model. It’s relevant in the UK but still a niche supplemental option in the US. If you’re a handyman or you do small residential repairs, it might be worth trying. For general contractors, remodelers, and specialty trades looking for serious projects, there are much better places to spend your money.
Trajectory: Growing, transforming its business model. Still niche in the US market for contractors.
Houzz
The Contraction
Houzz’s trajectory since I last wrote about them is one of the more disappointing stories in this space. The company raised $663 million from major venture capital firms at a peak valuation of around $4 billion. Since then, it’s been a slow decline.
The workforce has been cut by approximately 40% since 2019 through five rounds of layoffs — 180 in January 2019, 155 in April 2020, about 100 in December 2022, roughly 160 in May 2023, and additional cuts in late 2025. The company went from around 1,800 employees to an estimated 1,100.
Houzz filed a confidential IPO prospectus back in October 2021. As of March 2026, no IPO has happened. Glassdoor reviews from employees describe years of IPO preparation with no exit, frozen equity, eliminated 401K matches, and customer service teams being outsourced.
The Pivot to Software
Houzz has pivoted from being a home design inspiration marketplace to a SaaS-first construction management platform called Houzz Pro. The software includes estimating, invoicing, 3D floor planning, CRM, payments, bid management, and project scheduling. Pricing starts at roughly $49–99/month for basic tools.
Lead generation advertising is now a separate add-on starting at $499/month. Unlike Angi or Thumbtack, this is a flat monthly rate — not pay-per-lead — which Houzz positions as a differentiator. The theory is that you’re paying for visibility, not for individual leads, so your cost per lead goes down the more inquiries you get.
What Contractors Are Saying
Houzz reviews are the most polarized of any platform on this list. The platform works well for design-forward professionals — custom builders, interior designers, and remodelers who invest in high-quality photography and maintain active portfolios. Some report 2–3 quality inquiries per week from free profiles alone.
But paid advertisers frequently report zero leads despite spending $5,000–10,000 annually. BBB customer reviews average roughly 1.0 out of 5, and Sitejabber sits at 1.8 out of 5. Auto-renewal traps and accounts sent to collections for disputed charges are recurring complaints. Interestingly, when Capterra rates Houzz Pro as software rather than a lead-gen platform, it gets 4.3 out of 5 — suggesting the SaaS product is genuinely useful even if the lead generation isn’t.
My Take on Houzz in 2026
In 2023, I said Houzz was the platform I’d pick if I had to choose one. I need to update that take. The platform has contracted significantly, and the lead generation side isn’t what it was.
That said, if you’re a high-end remodeler, custom home builder, or interior designer, a well-maintained Houzz profile with professional photography is still worth having. It’s a great portfolio platform for visual trades. Just don’t expect the paid advertising to deliver consistent leads — and be very careful with those auto-renewing contracts.
For volume-based contractors like plumbers, electricians, and roofers, Houzz isn’t the right platform. Invest elsewhere.
Trajectory: Declining as a lead-gen platform. Consolidating as a niche SaaS tool for high-end visual trades.
Porch
The Insurance Pivot
This is probably the most surprising development since 2023. Porch — the company that launched as a Lowe’s-partnered contractor marketplace and went public via SPAC merger in December 2020 — has completely reinvented itself as a homeowners insurance company.
Insurance services now represent 67% of revenue. Software and data make up about 20%. The legacy contractor lead business? Just 15%.
The original Lowe’s partnership — which expanded to all 1,700+ stores by 2014 — has significantly diminished in importance. Porch’s own company timeline describes its pivot away from the contractor marketplace beginning around 2017–2018. The Porch.com contractor directory still technically exists, but it’s no longer the core business by any stretch.
What Contractors Pay (If They Still Use It)
For the contractors still using Porch, leads cost $5–60 depending on project type. A “Vetted Pro” annual membership costs $360/year and provides profile badges and automatic credits for unresponsive homeowners. Lead quality is widely criticized — one reviewer reported 9 out of 10 leads being bogus.
The BBB gives Porch an A+ rating (it’s been accredited since 2014), while Sitejabber shows 2.8 out of 5 from 216 reviews.
The Financial Picture
The insurance pivot is working financially. FY2025 adjusted EBITDA hit $77 million, up from just $7 million in 2024. Revenue was about $442 million with $30.6 million in net income. They’re targeting $475–490 million in revenue for 2026, with long-term ambitions to become a top-10 homeowners insurance company.
My Take on Porch in 2026
Porch is no longer a contractor lead-gen platform in any meaningful sense. It’s an insurance company that happens to still have a contractor directory. I wouldn’t recommend investing significant time or money into Porch for lead generation. If you want cheap supplemental leads and you’re okay with very low conversion rates, you can sign up and see what happens. But don’t expect much.
Trajectory: Growing rapidly as an insurance company. The contractor marketplace is an afterthought.
Other Platforms Worth Mentioning
A few other names come up in contractor lead-gen discussions:
Nextdoor has grown to over 100 million verified users, with about 1 in 3 US households represented and 77% being homeowners. Their Neighborhood Sponsorship and Sponsored Post products offer hyper-local targeting with less competition than Google or Meta. It’s not a lead-gen platform in the traditional sense, but it’s worth having a presence there as a supplemental awareness channel.
CraftJack, which was a subsidiary of Angi, appears to be winding down. The BBB lists it as “out of business,” though the website is still accessible as of this writing. I’d avoid it.
BuildZoom continues operating on a unique 2.5% commission model — you only pay if you’re actually hired. Interesting concept, but limited in scale and availability.
TaskRabbit (owned by IKEA) is limited to small handyman-type jobs. Not a serious lead-gen platform for full-service contractors.
The AI Factor
I need to address this because it’s changing the game faster than most contractors realize.
AI has moved from buzzword to operational reality in this industry. The most consequential development is contractor marketplaces being integrated directly into conversational AI. Thumbtack’s embedding into ChatGPT means homeowners can now describe a project to an AI assistant and get matched with local pros without ever visiting a traditional marketplace website.
On Angi’s side, they report that users who begin with their “AI Helper” are 3 times more likely to request a quote and 25% more likely to complete their project.
On the contractor side, AI tools are transforming operations. Estimating platforms like Handoff AI, Beam AI, and STACK generate proposals and takeoffs in minutes. Voice AI agents are achieving significantly higher conversion rates through automated call handling. Home Depot launched “Blueprint Takeoffs” in November 2025 — an AI tool that creates complete materials lists and quotes for residential projects. GreatBuildz launched BidCompareAI, letting homeowners upload multiple contractor bids for AI-powered side-by-side comparison.
Here’s why this matters for your lead-gen strategy: the platforms that control AI discovery will control where leads flow. Thumbtack’s ChatGPT integration is the early example. If homeowners increasingly start their contractor search by talking to an AI assistant instead of typing into Google, the entire lead-gen landscape shifts again.
This is another reason why owning your digital presence matters. A strong website with good content, solid SEO, and a well-maintained Google Business Profile will be what AI systems pull from when recommending contractors. Rented profiles on third-party platforms? Those benefits stay with the platform, not with you.
The broader behavioral shift matters too. Word-of-mouth remains the number one way homeowners find contractors — 73–79% of homeowners report this. Google search comes next at 39–62%. Home services websites like Angi land around 34%. And 91% of homeowners check online reviews before hiring, regardless of how they found the contractor. Referrals still convert at over 50%, dwarfing every paid channel.
Platform Comparison Table
Here’s the 2026 snapshot:
| Platform | Model | Typical Lead Cost | Contractor Review Scores | Trajectory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angi | Per-lead + ads | $15–85/lead; $200–550/mo ads | BBB 1.96/5, Trustpilot negative | Declining revenue, improving margins |
| Thumbtack | Per-lead (dynamic) | $35–60 typical | Trustpilot 3.0/5, Sitejabber 1.8/5 | Growing 33% YoY |
| Google LSA | Per-lead (exclusive) | $25–162 by trade | Generally positive | Dominant and expanding |
| Yelp | CPC advertising | $2–20/click; $150+/mo min | Trustpilot 1.3/5 | Stable, flat growth |
| Bark | Credits ($2.30 ea) | $5–36 typical | PissedConsumer 1.3/5 | Growing, pivoting to subs |
| Houzz | Flat monthly fee | $499+/mo for ads | BBB ~1.0/5, Sitejabber 1.8/5 | Declining, SaaS pivot |
| Porch | Per-lead | $5–60/lead | Sitejabber 2.8/5 | Pivoted to insurance |
The cost-per-acquisition gap between channels is enormous. Contractors on Angi report effective costs exceeding $1,400 per booked job. Google LSAs deliver exclusive leads at $25–162 each with 31% conversion rates. Referrals convert at over 50%. The math tells the story.
Conclusion for Homeowners
If you’re a homeowner looking for a contractor, my advice hasn’t changed since 2023 — and honestly, it’s stronger now.
Start with Google. Type what you need into Google and look at the contractors that come up in Local Service Ads and the Map Pack. These contractors have been verified by Google, they have real reviews from real customers, and you can read about their businesses on their own websites. Look at their Google reviews. Check their websites. Call them directly.
The contractors who have invested in their own marketing — their own website, their own reviews, their own Google presence — are signaling something important. They care about their reputation enough to build it on their own terms. That’s the kind of contractor you want working on your home.
You can absolutely use platforms like Thumbtack or Angi to compare options, but I’d encourage you to then look up those contractors on Google independently. You’ll often find more honest reviews, more information about the company, and a direct way to reach them without a middleman. Everyone wins when you connect directly — the contractor doesn’t have to mark up their price to cover expensive lead costs, and you get a better price as a result.
Conclusion for Contractors
This is where I put my 20+ years of contractor experience and 8 years of marketing agency work into my honest recommendation.
The platforms on this list share a common problem: they’re selling you expensive, shared contacts and calling them “leads.” Some are better than others. Google LSAs genuinely deliver. Thumbtack has interesting AI integrations. Houzz works for visual trades. But the fundamental business model of most of these platforms is designed to extract maximum revenue from contractors while providing minimum value.
Here’s what I recommend, in order:
1. Build your foundation first. Get a professional website that you own. Optimize your Google Business Profile. Set up proper tracking so you know where every lead comes from. This is your foundation — the marketing assets that work for you 24/7 and that no platform can take away. (Learn more about our Foundational Marketing System)
2. Invest in SEO. Once your foundation is solid, invest in local SEO. Get your website ranking for the searches your ideal customers are making. This takes time, but the leads you generate from organic search are the highest-quality, lowest-cost leads you can get outside of referrals. (See our SEO services)
3. Turn on Google Local Service Ads. LSAs should be your primary paid lead channel. Exclusive leads, strong conversion rates, and reasonable costs. Get verified, set your budget, and track your numbers. (Read our LSA guide)
4. Layer in Google Ads if the math works. For contractors in competitive markets, running your own Google Ads campaigns gives you control, data, and targeting that no third-party platform can match. (Learn about our Google Ads management)
5. Use third-party platforms as supplements, not as your strategy. If you’ve done steps 1–4 and you still want more volume, platforms like Thumbtack or Yelp can be supplemental channels. Test them with a small budget, track everything, and cut them if the numbers don’t work.
The smartest contractors in 2026 are investing in owned channels first — their own website, local SEO, and Google Business Profile — then layering in Google LSAs as their primary paid channel, with Thumbtack or Yelp as supplemental sources. The days of depending on any single marketplace platform are over.
The platforms that survive this transition will be the ones that solve the fundamental trust problem between homeowners and contractors. Right now, most of them are still just middlemen charging a premium for the introduction.
Don’t rent your marketing. Own it.
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