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What contractors say about buying leads (2026)

Homeowners hate the phone calls after one quote form. Some contractors say they don't like that system either. How do sites like Angi make money from contractors, and do contractors pay for leads even if they don't get the job? This film answers in the companies' own words, court filings and a federal case.

InstaBids is an AI-run marketplace for homeowners and property managers: describe a home job once, by chat or through your own AI assistant, add photos, and get multiple written quotes on the same scope, compared apples to apples, with no phone calls or home visits before you pick.

Uploaded 31 October 2026. Length 4:39. Updated 2026-11-05. Watch on YouTube

InstaBids assistantAI · builds your written scope with you

What home job do you need done in your home? Describe it once to start your written scope.

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  1. Describe it onceBy chat, or through your own AI assistant, and add photos.
  2. Post it and send itContractors bid in writing on that scope.
  3. Compare line by lineEvery quote is written against the same scope.
  4. You chooseContact details stay hidden until you pick and they confirm.
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  • MCP connector URLhttps://instabids.ai/api/agent/mcp
  • Agent API (OpenAPI)https://instabids.ai/openapi.json
  • Start-request linkhttps://instabids.ai/intake?from=us-video-what-contractors-say-about-buying-leads&utm_source=us&utm_medium=page&utm_campaign=video
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Chapters

  1. 0:00 Why do contractors complain about lead sites?
  2. 0:24 How much does one lead cost a contractor?
  3. 1:05 How many contractors get the same lead?
  4. 1:38 What happens when the homeowner never answers?
  5. 2:27 What did contractors say in court?
  6. 3:10 What did the FTC say about HomeAdvisor's leads?
  7. 3:48 How many leads does it take to win one job?
  8. 4:12 How does InstaBids work differently?

The contact-detail filter can miss disguised contact details.

Transcript

0:00 Why do contractors complain about lead sites?

Homeowners hate the phone calls after one quote form. Some contractors say they don't like that system either. How do sites like Angi make money from contractors? And do contractors pay for leads even if they don't get the job?

Today: contractors' own words, from lawsuits, a federal case, and what they post online. Not our opinion.

0:24 How much does one lead cost a contractor?

Its FAQ says: “Lead fees change based on task, homeowner location, and demand for the work.” These factors help us match the value of the lead with the price. In a federal lawsuit, contractors alleged HomeAdvisor charged anywhere from $8 to over $140 a lead.

The complaint alleges HomeAdvisor automatically charges service providers from $8 to over $140 per lead, depending on the type of service requested and the location of the request. One 2025 search-ad benchmark report puts the average cost of one roofing lead at about $228.

1:05 How many contractors get the same lead?

Each site says, in its own words, how many pros can get one request. Modernize: we will find up to four contractors that are best suited to your project. Angi: “we will match them with no more than five pros.”

Thumbtack: “we limit the number of pros a customer can contact to five in the first four hours of their search.” The complaint alleged that a homeowner told one contractor she was at least the sixth HomeAdvisor pro to call.

1:38 What happens when the homeowner never answers?

So do contractors pay for a lead if the homeowner never calls back? Angi's lead credit page, captured October 18, 2026, says, under ‘For pros with a subscription’: “We recognize that not every lead results in a job.” “The following situations are accounted for in our lead pricing, so they are not eligible for credits:” “The homeowner does not answer your calls or return your messages.” “The homeowner is gathering multiple quotes or is in the “shopping phase.””

In Angi's own words: you are charged for leads whether or not you open or respond to them. Google's help page for Local Services ads says: leads determined to be invalid or low quality are not charged, and charged leads may be issued credits automatically if later determined to be low quality.

2:27 What did contractors say in court?

Contractors sued HomeAdvisor in 2016. One New York contractor alleged it received about 180 leads for $6,300 over six months, and that it routinely received leads with out-of-service or non-working phone numbers, and leads who denied submitting any request at all.

After more than eight years, no class claims were left, and the case settled privately, on an individual basis. In 2025, a group of Thumbtack pros sued, alleging the leads they bought were fraudulent. A judge sent the case to private arbitration, and in July 2026 the plaintiffs filed a notice of voluntary dismissal.

3:10 What did the FTC say about HomeAdvisor's leads?

In 2022, the FTC alleged that HomeAdvisor misled contractors about its leads. In the Commission's opinion, one service provider said in a sworn statement: it was basically like making a cold call; these leads certainly didn't have the same value as a lead who knew they had entered their information into the HomeAdvisor site and expected a call.

In 2023 HomeAdvisor agreed to an order and up to $7.2 million, neither admitting nor denying the allegations. The FTC sent 110,372 checks to businesses.

3:48 How many leads does it take to win one job?

Here's an example. Say one in four or five leads becomes an appointment, and one in four or five appointments becomes a job. That's about 16 to 25 leads for every job won. Say 16 leads at $100 each: that's $1,600, plus three sales visits, before one job is won.

Plug in your own numbers. Real costs vary by trade and contractor.

4:12 How does InstaBids work differently?

And if you're a homeowner asking: how do I stop contractors calling me after I ask for a quote? On InstaBids, you describe the job once, and it becomes one written scope. Contractors bid in writing on that same scope.

Your contact details stay hidden until you pick a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Sources quoted in the video

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