Ask ten contractors where they get their leads and you’ll get ten different answers, half of them angry. That’s because “lead generation” isn’t one thing. It’s three different things that get lumped together, and the confusion costs real money. Before you hand a credit card to anyone, it helps to know which of the three you’re actually buying.
Running general contracting or project-based work rather than pure service calls? Our guide to the best general contractor software in 2026 breaks down the platforms that handle lead capture alongside estimating, scheduling, and job costing.
The first is a lead marketplace that sells you leads other people generated, sometimes the same lead they sold to four of your competitors. The second is owning your own lead channel, where you run ads or rank on Google and the lead belongs to you. The third isn’t a lead source at all: it’s the conversion and retention layer that decides whether the leads you already get turn into paid jobs. Most contractors pour money into the first bucket while neglecting the third, then wonder why the leads “suck.”
Here’s the honest thesis up front: buying leads is the easiest way to start and usually the worst economics if you can’t respond fast and close. For most contractors, the highest-ROI move is owning your channel and fixing speed-to-lead, not buying more shared leads. Let’s go through all three so you can decide what fits your business.
Category 1: Lead marketplaces (you buy leads someone else generated)
Marketplaces are the fastest way to turn on lead flow, and the most dangerous if you’re undisciplined. The single biggest cost lever in this whole category is shared vs. exclusive. A shared lead gets sold to multiple contractors at once, so you’re racing three or four other bidders to the phone and the homeowner is comparing prices before you’ve said hello. An exclusive lead goes to you alone and costs more per lead, but the close rate is dramatically higher. Whether shared leads are “cheap” depends entirely on your close rate, and your close rate on shared leads depends entirely on how fast you respond.
Here’s how the major sources compare. Most of these companies do not publish fixed per-lead pricing, because the price is dynamic by trade and market, so the table reflects the pricing model rather than invented dollar figures.
| Company | How it works | Shared or exclusive | Pricing model | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angi (Angi Leads) | Large homeowner marketplace; matches you to requests in your area | Shared | Annual membership + pay-per-lead; price quoted after signup (no public fixed price) | High lead volume; if you can respond instantly and compete on more than price |
| Thumbtack | You set a max price per lead and a weekly budget; pay when a customer responds | Effectively shared | Pay-per-lead, no mandatory subscription; price shown upfront in-app | Solo and small shops who want budget control and no annual contract |
| Networx | Two plans: shared “Pay Per Lead” and a separate “Exclusive Leads” option | Both (you choose) | Published bands: $10–$100+ shared, $15–$120+ exclusive per lead (exact price in dashboard) — per help.networx.com | Contractors who want to test exclusive vs. shared in one platform |
| CraftJack | Pay-per-lead with discounts for fast response; capped contractors per lead; dedicated account manager | Shared (capped, reportedly ≤4 pros) | Pay-per-lead; price varies by trade, location, and response speed (no public fixed price) — mechanics per CraftJack/secondary sources | Contractors who answer leads within minutes and want fewer competitors per lead |
| Modernize | Performance lead-gen for big-ticket replacement/remodel/solar projects | Shared (performance-based) | Dynamic/consultation pricing, no public flat price; their marketing cites “10M+ inquiries, 400K+ leads, 50 states” (modernize.com) | Replacement, remodel, and solar work — NOT emergency service |
| Bark | Buy credits, spend them to contact a customer; credit cost per lead shown upfront | Shared | $2.35 per credit standard (packs cheaper); credits expire 3 months after purchase — per bark.com pricing | Lighter home services and professional services; weaker for heavy trades |
| 33 Mile Radius | Restoration specialist (water/fire/mold/biohazard, also roofing/siding/HVAC) | Exclusive (one partner per lead) | Per their site: exclusive water-damage leads “start at $75,” phone leads “start at $350”; industry range cited $275–$700. No setup/monthly fees (verify current pricing) | Restoration and storm contractors who want exclusive, high-intent leads |
A word on Angi specifically: it has the volume, but contractors widely complain about shared-lead price competition and auto-renewal contracts. That’s contractor sentiment, not a company-stated fact, and it doesn’t mean Angi can’t work. It means Angi punishes slow responders harder than almost anyone, because you’re splitting the same lead with several pros who are also calling.
Category 2: Own your channel (Google LSA and your own ads)
The leads you own are almost always your best leads, because the customer chose you. The most accessible version of this for contractors is Google Local Services Ads (LSA). Your listing appears at the very top of search results with a verification badge, and you’re charged only when a customer actually calls, messages, or books, not per click. You set an average weekly budget; the monthly maximum works out to your weekly budget × 30.4 ÷ 7. Because the customer picked you off the search result, these leads behave like exclusive leads even though Google doesn’t label them that way.
There’s an important recent change to know. As of October 20, 2025, Google retired the old “Google Guaranteed,” “Google Screened,” and “License Verified by Google” badges and unified them into a single blue “Google Verified” badge — and it discontinued the money-back guarantee that used to come with “Google Guaranteed” (per Google Local Services Help and the Google Business Profile community). So if a salesperson or older blog post is still pitching you on the “Google Guaranteed” money-back promise, that’s outdated. To run LSA you’ll need license and insurance verification, a background check, and a verified Google Business Profile. There’s no public per-lead price; it’s dynamic by market and trade.
The other half of owning your channel is reputation. Google’s local rankings and LSA both lean heavily on reviews, so a steady flow of recent five-star reviews makes every other channel cheaper. That’s where the conversion-and-retention layer comes in.
Category 3: Convert what you already get (the part most contractors skip)
Here’s the uncomfortable math: if you’re buying shared leads and taking 20 minutes to call back, you’re lighting money on fire no matter how good the source is. The contractor who answers first usually wins the job, especially on shared leads and emergency calls. Fixing your response time is almost always cheaper than buying more leads. We walk through the missed-call dollar math in detail in our guide to AI receptionist software for plumbers, and it applies to every trade.
This layer breaks into two jobs: responding instantly, and getting reviews and referrals so the next lead is cheaper.
Speed-to-lead
LeadTruffle is built specifically for this. It connects your lead sources — website forms, phone, Google LSA, Facebook, Thumbtack, Yelp, Angi — into one inbox and responds instantly by SMS, email, or AI voice. It does missed-call text-back, runs an AI voice agent that answers 24/7 to qualify leads and filter spam, and books into your CRM. It integrates natively with Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan, AccuLynx, SmartMoving, HubSpot, Workiz, and Zapier. Pricing is published: Essential is $229/mo (150 leads/mo), Growth is $399/mo (300 leads), Scale is $629/mo (500 leads), plus a $299 one-time onboarding, month-to-month with no contract (per leadtruffle.co/pricing, US and Canada). It’s a conversion layer, not a lead source — it makes the leads you buy or earn actually turn into jobs. Skip it if you already answer every call live and respond to web leads in under a minute; you’d be paying for a problem you don’t have.
Reviews and referrals
NiceJob automates review requests by email and SMS after each job, runs referral campaigns with tracking, posts social-proof widgets, and can auto-reply to reviews with AI. Pricing: Reviews is $75/mo, Pro is $125/mo (adds referrals, repeat-booking, AI replies), with an optional Sites website add-on at $99/mo plus $199 setup, on a 14-day free trial with no contract (per get.nicejob.com/pricing). More recent reviews lift your LSA and map ranking, which lowers your cost per lead across the board — it’s a lead-generation tool in the sense that it makes your owned channel work, not because it sells you leads.
Your field software probably already has marketing built in
If you run field service management software, you may be paying for lead-conversion features you’re not using. Jobber includes online booking and request forms, plus a Marketing Suite ($79/mo add-on, available on all plans except Lite) that sends automatic Google review requests, runs email campaigns to segments like “lost leads,” and includes a Referrals product with tracking. Housecall Pro has built-in Campaigns (postcards, email, SMS), automated reminders and follow-ups, review management, and call/QR/promo tracking; it does not sell you marketplace leads, it helps you convert and retain the ones you generate (Basic from $59–$79/mo, Essentials $149–$189/mo, MAX custom, per housecallpro.com/pricing). For larger operations, ServiceTitan‘s Marketing Pro add-on handles email campaigns to existing customers, automated review requests and listings, and Google Ads integration with dynamic call tracking that ties calls to revenue (no public pricing; quote-based, best for larger HVAC, plumbing, and electrical shops already on ServiceTitan).
By trade: where to start
Plumbing
Plumbing is emergency-heavy, so Google LSA plus ruthless speed-to-lead beats buying shared leads for most shops — the customer calls the first plumber who answers. Use marketplaces only if you can respond in seconds. See our best AI tools for plumbers for the full stack.
Electrical
Electricians get a mix of small service calls and larger panel/EV/remodel jobs. LSA carries the service work; for bigger projects, your reviews and referral engine matter more than any marketplace. Start with our best AI tools for electricians.
HVAC
HVAC splits sharply between emergency repair (LSA + speed-to-lead) and big-ticket replacement (Modernize + LSA + financing-ready leads), and seasonality makes pay-per-lead budgeting spiky. We break it down in our dedicated guide, best AI tools for HVAC contractors.
Roofing
Roofing divides into insurance/storm/restoration work (exclusive vendors like 33 Mile Radius) and retail replacement (Modernize, LSA, your own brand). Lead costs are high, so shared vs. exclusive is the whole ballgame. See our best AI tools for roofers.
Landscaping
Landscaping and lawn care skew toward lighter, higher-volume residential jobs, which is where Thumbtack and Bark’s credit model can pencil out — and where seasonality and reviews drive most of your repeat business. Owning your channel with LSA and a referral program tends to outlast any single marketplace.
GC and remodeling
Remodels and custom builds are high-ticket and trust-driven, so a slow drip of exclusive, well-qualified leads plus a strong portfolio and review presence beats high-volume shared leads. Modernize fits the replacement/remodel side; your reputation does the rest. See our best AI tools for remodelers and custom home builders.
How to choose (an honest framework)
Work through it in this order:
- Can you respond in under five minutes, every time? If not, fix that first with speed-to-lead before you spend a dollar on leads. It’s the cheapest improvement you’ll ever make.
- Start with the channel you own. Set up Google LSA and a review engine. These leads are exclusive in everything but name and they get cheaper as your reviews grow.
- Use marketplaces to fill gaps, not as your foundation. If you buy, prefer exclusive over shared whenever the math works, and track your true cost per job, not per lead.
- Match the source to the work. Restoration → 33 Mile Radius. Big-ticket replacement/solar → Modernize. Emergency service → LSA + speed-to-lead. Light residential → Thumbtack/Bark.
- Measure cost per booked job, not cost per lead. A $120 exclusive lead you close beats a $25 shared lead you don’t.
If you’re not sure which tools fit your trade and budget, our free Tool Finder walks you through it in a couple of minutes and gives you a dated, shareable shortlist.
Augmented Trades participates in affiliate programs and may earn a commission when you sign up through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. We recommend tools based on fit, not commissions. See our full affiliate disclosure.
Related: Best Lead Generation for HVAC Contractors (2026) — the HVAC-specific guide: lead sources, seasonality, and speed-to-lead.
Related: Best Lead Generation for Roofing Contractors (2026) — the roofing-specific guide: where roofers’ best leads actually come from.
Related: How our free Tool Finder decides — the exact logic behind the software shortlist it builds; several picks earn us nothing.
Related: Leads only pay when they sign. Our proposal software guide covers the tools that turn an estimate into a signed, trackable document.
Michael is the founder of Augmented Trades, an independent site that tests and reviews AI tools for trade contractors. Tools are recommended on fit for your shop — affiliate partnerships never decide coverage.