What Do Your Leads Really Cost Per Job?
Platforms sell you a cost per lead. Your business runs on cost per booked job — and with shared leads, those are very different numbers. Enter yours and see the truth in ten seconds.
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Know your real numbers — the rest of the family
Why "cost per lead" is the wrong number
A $25 lead sounds cheap. But if that lead is shared with four other contractors and you win one in five, your real cost is $125 per job — before materials, labor, or fuel. Cost per booked job is the only number you can compare fairly across Thumbtack, Angi, Google LSA, referrals, and your own website.
What the platforms actually charge (2026 benchmarks)
Thumbtack: no published rate card; contractors commonly report $5–$25 (cleaning) up to $30–$150+ (roofing, remodeling) per lead, usually shared with 4–5 pros. Angi Leads: ~$300/yr membership plus $15–$120+ per lead by trade, shared with roughly 3–8 pros. Google Local Services Ads: a Feb 2026 benchmark of 888 contractors averaged $53/lead ($39 electricians · $51 HVAC · $57 plumbing · $71 water heaters) — exclusive, not shared. Yelp Ads: you buy clicks ($3–$15), which typically works out to $45–$120 per actual lead.
Sources: LeadTruffle Angi pricing report 2026 · Pipeline On & Auto-Respond Thumbtack analyses 2026 · SearchLight Digital LSA benchmark (888 contractors, Feb 2026) · Contractor Bear Yelp analysis. Reported ranges, not official rate cards — your market will vary.
Common questions
How do I calculate my real cost per job from lead platforms?
Divide your total monthly lead spend by the number of jobs you actually booked, not the number of leads you bought. Formula: (cost per lead × leads per month) ÷ jobs booked. A $25 lead you win once in five tries is really a $125 job cost.
What does a Thumbtack lead cost in 2026?
There is no published rate card. Commonly reported ranges run about $5–$25 for house cleaning, $15–$75 for plumbing and electrical, and $30–$150+ for roofing and remodeling, with big metros higher. Most leads are shared with several pros at once.
What do Google Local Services Ads leads cost?
A February 2026 benchmark of 888 contractors found a $53 average per lead: about $39 for electricians, $51 for HVAC, $57 for plumbing, and $71 for water-heater work. LSA leads are exclusive — the customer contacted you specifically.
Why is cost per booked job more important than cost per lead?
Because shared leads mean you often pay for leads you never win. Cost per lead makes platforms look cheap; cost per booked job tells you what a customer actually costs you — which is the number to compare against every other way of getting work.
What's a good cost per booked job?
It depends on your average ticket. A useful rule: if lead costs eat more than 15–20% of a job's revenue, the channel is expensive; over 30% and it's usually unsustainable once you count labor and materials. Run your margin, not the platform's marketing math.
Why do shared leads close so much lower?
Because 3–8 contractors get the same customer at once, and industry analyses consistently find the first responder wins most of the time. Unless someone can answer within minutes during work hours, shared-lead platforms quietly favor bigger shops with office staff.
Does a website really change this math?
It changes what you compare against. Leads that come through a site you own arrive exclusive, pre-sold, and with no per-lead fee — the cost is whatever the site cost you, spread over every job it ever brings. That's also the honest caveat: a site isn't free and takes time to rank. The point of this calculator isn't that platforms are evil; it's that you should know your true number on every channel.
Is this calculator really free?
Yes. No signup, no email gate, and no analytics on your inputs. Nothing you type leaves your browser — the math runs entirely on your device.
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