Angi vs Thumbtack leads: what they cost and how to win them

Neither Angi nor Thumbtack publishes one price for an HVAC lead. Both charge per lead, both share that lead with other pros, and the price moves with your market and the job. Thumbtack lets you set your own price per lead and cap your weekly spend. Angi matches each request with up to five pros and offers per-lead billing or an annual subscription. The cheaper platform for your shop is the one with the lower cost per booked job, and the only way to know that is to track it. The shop that wins on either one is almost always the shop that answers first.

How each one charges

Here's how the two compare, based on each company's own pro help pages (checked October 2026). Rules change, so confirm the details in your own account before you commit money.

	Thumbtack	Angi
How you pay	Per lead, at a price you set for each service	Per lead, or an annual subscription
Who sets the price	You do, in the Pro app	Angi, based on the lead type and your area
Spending cap	A weekly budget you set	Depends on your plan
How many pros see the lead	The customer can contact several pros	Each request goes to no more than five pros
Bad-lead protection	Possible automatic refund if the customer goes silent, with conditions	Lead credits for invalid leads, with conditions

Thumbtack

Thumbtack's help center says the price you set for a lead is the exact amount you pay, and you set it separately for each service you offer. A weekly budget caps your total spend, and each lead you get counts against it. Thumbtack says the cost of a lead depends on the type and size of the job, how many pros are available and your market. Its pro sign-up page says there's no charge to join and no annual or membership fees.

There's also a refund rule worth knowing. Thumbtack's help center says that if a customer doesn't reply to any pro they contacted within 72 hours, you may be refunded automatically. That only applies if you responded within four business hours and kept the conversation on Thumbtack.

Angi

Angi's pro help center says each project request is matched with no more than five pros. The number depends on the lead type and where you work.

If a lead is bad, Angi's lead credit guidelines say you can request a credit for things like a disconnected phone number, a ZIP code outside your area or a duplicate lead. You have to ask within 45 days of the charge, you need to have tried calling the homeowner within 24 hours, and your account can't be past due. Credits go toward future leads, not back to your card, and they expire after six months. Pros on an annual subscription can't request credits, because they aren't charged per lead.

Before you sign up with Angi, get the contract terms in writing: how long it runs, what it costs to leave early and what you'll pay per lead in your ZIP codes.

Work out your real cost per booked job

The lead price is the wrong number to compare. What matters is what you pay for each job you actually book. Here's the math with made-up example numbers. Swap in your own from last month.

Step	Platform A (example)	Platform B (example)
Leads bought	20	20
Price per lead	$40	$70
Total spend	$800	$1,400
Jobs booked	3	7
Cost per booked job	$267	$200

In this example, the platform with the pricier leads is the better deal, because more of its leads turn into work. Your numbers might come out the other way. Either way, you won't know until you write down every lead, what it cost and whether it booked.

A simple tracking sheet needs five columns:

• Date and platform
• What you paid for the lead
• How many minutes until you replied
• Booked, lost or no answer
• Ticket amount if it booked

After a month, you'll know your cost per booked job on each platform. You'll also see how much your reply time had to do with it.

How to win the lead once you have it

Paying for the lead is the easy part. Winning it comes down to a few things you control.

1. Reply first. The same homeowner is waiting on other pros. Reply in the app right away, then call within five minutes. Harvard Business Review published research in 2011 finding that firms that reached out within an hour were nearly seven times more likely to have a real conversation with the decision maker than firms that waited even one more hour.
2. Make the first message specific. "Got your request about the AC not cooling in Henderson. I can be out this afternoon or first thing tomorrow" beats "Hi, are you still looking for service?"
3. Give a clear next step. Offer two time slots. People book faster when they don't have to come up with a time themselves.
4. Fill out your profile. Real photos of your trucks, your crew and your work, your license number, and the areas of the valley you actually cover.
5. Ask every finished customer for a review. Ask all of them, not just the ones you expect to be happy. Picking who gets asked is review gating, and Google's review policy prohibits it. Never offer a discount or gift for a review either.

Las Vegas timing

Thumbtack says lead cost depends on your market and how many pros are available, so it pays to watch your numbers by season. When the valley hits triple digits and systems start failing, more homeowners are shopping and your crew has less free time. That's exactly when leads sit unanswered. Check your budget caps before summer, so a run of no-cooling calls doesn't burn the week's money by Tuesday. Then compare your summer and winter cost per booked job instead of trusting one average.

Don't let paid leads go to waste

A lead you paid for and never answered is pure loss. You've got a few ways to cover it:

1. Answer them yourself. It costs nothing, but you'll miss them while you're on a roof, and after-hours leads wait until morning.
2. Give one office person the job of owning them. This works well if you have someone, but it doesn't cover nights.
3. Automate the first response. Services like NickBuilds text new marketplace and web leads within a minute, with a STOP opt-out, and call the homeowner only if they ask for a call. The AI says up front that it's an AI and that the call may be recorded, then books the visit or hands the details to you.

Whatever you choose, keep the tracking sheet going. After three months you'll know which platform deserves your budget, and whether either one is worth it next to the leads that come to you directly.