Angi vs Thumbtack vs Yelp: how do lead marketplaces compare?

Every lead marketplace sells the same thing in a different wrapper: a homeowner who wants work done. What differs is how you pay, how many competitors get the same homeowner, and how hard it is to leave. This guide covers each major platform from its own pricing pages, help center and public filings, current as of October 2026.

The rest of this guide explains each row.

Who they are. Angi Inc. runs the Angi, Angie’s List, HomeAdvisor and Handy brands. It was formed in 2017 when HomeAdvisor combined with Angie’s List¹. In 2025 consumers used its businesses for about 16 million projects, and about 111,000 pros were active in an average month of the fourth quarter¹.

How pros pay. Angi’s 10-K says pros in 2025 bought “full-priced leads within a monthly budget,” discounted leads in a subscription package, “double opt-in” leads one at a time, and pre-priced jobs¹. The help center explains the mechanics²:

• You set a monthly lead budget. With a subscription, that budget is set annually per your contract.
• Automatic leads count against the budget. Opportunities, which you can browse and accept, are charged on top of it.
• An Opportunity becomes a charged lead when both you and the homeowner show interest.
• You are charged for leads whether or not you open or respond to them.
• Lead fees change based on the task, the homeowner’s location and demand.

Angi’s 10-K describes US lead revenue as fees pros pay for consumer matches, whether or not the pro ends up doing the job¹. HomeAdvisor’s pro FAQ puts it simply: you pay a fee for each lead you match to, and different sized jobs carry different lead fees⁴. Angi reported $587.1 million of US lead revenue in 2025¹.

Who sees the request. Angi says each project request is matched with “no more than five pros”². Its filings show 15.5 million service requests and 20.2 million leads in 2025, so a request produced about 1.3 leads on average¹. Angi says a change it calls “homeowner choice,” implemented in January 2025, was the main reason its network revenue (requests from third-party sites) fell 72% that year¹. Its 10-K also says consumers can review the profiles, ratings and reviews of presented pros and select the one they prefer¹.

Credits. Angi Leads may credit duplicate leads, wrong ZIP codes or job types outside your profile, competitor tests, and leads where all contact details are wrong³. You must ask within 30 days. Credits are store credit and expire after six months. Customers who do not call back, hired someone else, or were “just shopping” are not credited³.

Track record. In April 2023 the FTC finalized a consent order settling allegations that HomeAdvisor made false or unsupported claims about the quality and source of its leads and about how often they turned into jobs. The order required HomeAdvisor to pay up to $7.2 million and bars false or misleading claims about its leads⁵.

Who it fits. Trades with high request volume and small to mid tickets, such as cleaning, handyman, painting and repairs, where speed of response decides who wins.

How pros pay. Thumbtack has no charge to join and no annual or membership fees⁹. When a customer contacts you directly from search results and the job matches your preferences, you pay automatically at the lead price you set⁷. For “Opportunities,” customers who contacted other pros first, you see the price up front and pay only if the customer responds to your message⁷. You also set a weekly budget, which caps how much you spend on leads each week⁸.

Who sees the request. A customer can contact up to five pros in the first four hours of a search, and more after that⁶. Thumbtack shows you how many pros a customer contacted⁶.

Refunds. Thumbtack’s “Fair Shot Refunds” automatically refund a lead if the customer replies to no pro within 72 hours, provided you meet its conditions, such as replying through Thumbtack within four business hours⁶. Other refund requests must be filed within 45 days and are reviewed case by case, for example when the job changes a lot, a phone number is invalid or the lead is a duplicate⁸. Not winning the job does not qualify, and refunds go to your Thumbtack balance by default⁸.

Who it fits. Owner-operators and small crews who want to control price per lead and turn spending up or down weekly.

How pros pay. Yelp’s 2025 10-K says it mainly sells performance ads priced per click through an automated auction, and that cost-per-click ads produce most of its advertising revenue¹⁰. Yelp says you can spend as little as $5 a day on average, adjust or pause anytime, and that self-serve advertisers have no term contracts¹¹.

Request a Quote, which lets a customer send project details to a business, is free to set up¹². “Nearby Jobs” is a feed of open quote requests; businesses browse it for free and pay for the jobs they choose to respond to¹³.

Who sees the request. When a customer sends a request from your page, Yelp offers to send the same request to other related businesses¹². Requests from customers open to multiple quotes can also enter the Nearby Jobs feed¹³.

Prices are rising. Yelp reported that for its Services businesses, average cost per click rose 9% in 2025 while ad clicks fell 3%. Across all advertisers, average cost per click rose 10% and ad clicks fell 7%, which Yelp attributed mainly to strong advertiser demand in Services categories¹⁰.

Who it fits. Businesses in markets where customers actively use Yelp and that already have strong Yelp reviews, since the ad sends people to your page.

Houzz Pro bundles project software with marketing. Houzz says its construction lead program charges “a flat rate instead of making you pay per lead,” and that its concierge team introduces homeowners directly¹⁵. Construction leads come with its Ultimate subscription¹⁵.

The main thing to know is the term. Houzz says most Houzz Pro plans are annual 12-month contracts. To stop auto-renewal you must file at least 30 days before your renewal date, and you still finish the current 12 months¹⁴. If you forget to cancel a free trial, there is a 7-day grace period after which you owe one month instead of the full year¹⁴. Houzz’s public pricing page was not loading when this guide was reviewed, so confirm current prices with Houzz directly.

Who it fits. Remodelers, builders and design firms with high-ticket projects who will use the software and can commit for a year.

Porch’s homeowner site says it will match a customer with one of its Porch Services pros or recommend pros in the Porch Pro Network¹⁷. The parent company has shifted. Porch Group’s 2025 10-K states its mission is “to be the best homeowners insurance partner for homebuyers,” and its reported segments are insurance services, software and data, consumer services (warranty and moving), and a managed insurance exchange¹⁶. Its public pages do not publish pro pricing, so ask for a written quote and the number of pros who receive each request.

These companies generate homeowner requests through their own websites and sell them to contractors.

• Modernize. Its terms of use name QuinStreet as the operator²⁰. Modernize says it matches each homeowner with up to four professionals¹⁸. It sells web leads, inbound calls and live transfers, says leads are “priced to match lead value,” and claims to qualify over 2,000,000 homeowners a year¹⁹.
• Networx. Its terms say some contractors in its directory pay a fee for inclusion²¹. It claims more than 10,000 contractor partners²². It does not publish how many pros receive each request.

Ask any seller in this group three questions in writing: how many contractors get the same request, what the return or credit policy is, and whether there is a minimum term.

Nextdoor sells advertising, not leads. Business pages and business posts are free²³. Paid ads offer two billing options²⁴:

• Pay as you go: set a daily budget. You are billed after impressions run, when your balance hits a threshold or on the first of the month.
• Monthly subscription: charged up front for the month. It renews monthly until you cancel. Check the current billing terms in Nextdoor’s help center before you subscribe.

Who it fits. Neighborhood-based trades with repeat or recommendation-driven demand, such as lawn care, cleaning, pest control and handyman work.

Price per lead is the wrong yardstick on shared platforms. The right one is cost per won job.

Worked example: same budget, three marketplaces

A painting company spends $1,500 a month on each platform. Inputs are illustrative.

Platforms A and B tie at $300 per job ($1,500 ÷ 5) even though one lead costs twice as much. Platform C costs more per job but may bring bigger projects. The only way to know is to log every lead and its outcome for at least 90 days.

Questions to ask before you sign

1. How many other businesses receive the same customer request?
2. Am I charged if I never open the lead, or if the customer never answers?
3. What is the credit or refund window, and is the credit cash or store credit?
4. Is there an annual term, auto-renewal or minimum monthly spend?
5. Can I set service areas and job types narrowly enough to avoid paying for work I do not do?

• Angi and Thumbtack charge per lead, and up to five pros can compete for one customer²⁶.
• Yelp is mainly a pay-per-click ad platform, with free Request a Quote and paid Nearby Jobs¹⁰¹²¹³.
• Houzz Pro is a flat subscription, usually on a 12-month contract¹⁴¹⁵.
• Contract terms differ more than lead prices do. Read the renewal and credit rules first.
• Judge every marketplace by cost per won job and profit per job, not by price per lead.