A Google Ads click, an LSA lead, and a Thumbtack lead are not the same purchase
Every home-service lead platform charges for something different: Google Ads Search bills the click, Google Local Services Ads bills the lead itself, Yelp bills the click, and Thumbtack bills against a weekly budget. Most of them never publish what a lead actually costs — only two industry benchmarks in this dataset put a dollar figure on one. So the honest answer to "what does a lead cost" starts with a second question: which kind of lead.
| Metric | Value | Period | Source | Cite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
How Google Local Services Ads (LSA) charges advertisers Budget LSA spend as a lead-volume line, not a click-volume line — your daily cap controls how many leads you can receive, not how many clicks you pay for. LSA is the only major channel here billed strictly per lead, not per click or impression — Google decides which leads are valid before charging. Verbatim from the sourceYou're charged for each valid lead you receive through your Local Services ad. Checked 2026-09-09 | Per valid lead receivedbilling model | current as of access | Google Local Services Help — "How leads work" | |
What makes one LSA lead cost more than another Don't compare your LSA cost per lead to a number a competitor in another city or trade quotes you — the price is set per account, per job type, per market. Google publishes no rate card; the same trade in two ZIP codes, or a phone lead versus a message lead, can carry very different prices. Verbatim from the sourceLead prices may vary depending on your location, the job type, the type of lead, or your bidding mode. Checked 2026-09-09 | Varies by location, job type, lead type, and bidding modepricing factors | current as of access | Google Local Services Help — "How leads work" | |
Google LSA's mechanism for refunding low-quality leads Don't build your unit economics assuming disputed leads get refunded reliably; treat automatic credits as a bonus, not a budget line. There's no guaranteed manual dispute path described on this page — the credit is discretionary and automated, not something an advertiser can force by filing a claim. Verbatim from the sourceCharged leads get reassessed by our models over time, and may be issued credits automatically if determined to be low quality. Checked 2026-09-09 | Automated model-based re-review, credited if determined low qualitydispute mechanism | current as of access | Google Local Services Help — "How leads work" | |
How standard Google Ads Search charges advertisers A Google Ads Search "cost per lead" always hides two multiplied numbers — cost per click and your own site's click-to-lead rate — so fixing your landing page changes your lead cost even if Google's CPC doesn't move. This is the structural difference from LSA: standard Search ads charge for traffic, and turning a click into a lead is the advertiser's landing page's job, not Google's. Verbatim from the sourceUsing cost-per-click (CPC) bidding, you'll pay only when someone actually clicks on your ad and comes to your site. Checked 2026-09-09 | Per click, only when the ad is clickedbilling model | current as of access | Google Ads Help — cost-per-click (CPC) bidding | |
Average cost-per-click for U.S. home-services search advertising Use $7.85 as a sanity check, not a target — sub-categories in the same report range from $5.31 (construction/contractors) to $13.74 (painting). This is a vendor benchmark, not a government statistic — a median across 3,211 US home-services search campaigns of very different sizes and spend levels, not a fixed price to expect. Verbatim from the sourceThe average CPC for home services in 2025 is $7.85. Checked 2026-09-09 | $7.85USD/click | campaigns running Apr 1, 2024 – Mar 21, 2025 | LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services | |
Average cost-per-lead for U.S. home-services search advertising If your Google Ads Search cost per lead sits well above $90, look at conversion tracking and landing-page conversion rate before assuming your bids are the problem. Same vendor-benchmark sample as the CPC figure above (3,211 campaigns, averaged across advertisers of very different sizes) — "lead" here is a form-fill or call conversion tracked in the advertiser's own account, not a platform-verified lead like an LSA lead. Verbatim from the sourceThe average CPL for home services in 2025 is $90.92. Checked 2026-09-09 | $90.92USD/lead | campaigns running Apr 1, 2024 – Mar 21, 2025 | LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services | |
Average cost-per-lead for U.S. Meta (Facebook) Lead-objective campaigns, Home & Home Improvement Meta lead-form leads in this category run roughly half the price of a Google Search lead in the LocaliQ data — but they're typically colder, earlier-intent leads, so compare close rate, not just cost, before shifting budget. This is the "Home & Home Improvement" row of LocaliQ's Leads-objective benchmark table, confirmed by opening the page directly — the table renders client-side, so the automated gate can't re-read it, and the figure is an average across advertisers of very different sizes and spend levels, not a rate card. Verbatim from the sourceAverage CPL: $41.26 Checked 2026-09-09 · opened by hand — the publisher blocks scripts | $41.26USD/lead | benchmark table, current as of report update Oct 24, 2025 | LocaliQ, Facebook Advertising Benchmarks | |
Average cost-per-click for U.S. Meta (Facebook) Lead-objective campaigns, Home & Home Improvement Meta clicks are far cheaper than Google Search clicks in this category, which is exactly why the lead form's on-platform conversion rate — not the CPC — decides whether Meta is worth running. Same table and category as the CPL figure above (Leads objective, Home & Home Improvement row), confirmed by hand for the same client-side-rendering reason — an average across advertisers of very different sizes, not a fixed price. Verbatim from the sourceAverage CPC: $2.23 Checked 2026-09-09 · opened by hand — the publisher blocks scripts | $2.23USD/click | benchmark table, current as of report update Oct 24, 2025 | LocaliQ, Facebook Advertising Benchmarks | |
How Yelp Ads charges advertisers Track calls and messages generated from Yelp separately from ad spend, since Yelp's own billing unit — the click — is one step removed from an actual lead. Like standard Google Ads Search, Yelp Ads bills for clicks, not verified leads — a click that never turns into a call or message still costs money. Verbatim from the sourceEach time your ad is clicked, we will charge you according to your CPC price. Checked 2026-09-09 | Per click, at a dynamically set pricebilling model | current as of access | Yelp for Business Support Center — "How does Yelp's Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising program work?" | |
Minimum practical daily ad spend Yelp advertises to new advertisers A $5/day floor means Yelp can be tested cheaply, but at that spend expect very few clicks per day — treat it as a pilot budget, not a real test of the channel. This is a floor on daily budget, not a stated cost per click or per lead — actual CPC is set by Yelp's real-time auction and isn't published. Verbatim from the sourceSpend as little as $5 a day on average. Checked 2026-09-09 | $5/day on averageUSD/day | current as of access | Yelp for Business — Yelp Ads product page | |
Thumbtack's default rule on lead-fee refunds for professionals Read Thumbtack's separate Refund Policy before budgeting on the assumption that bad leads get credited back — the Terms of Use put the burden on the exception, not the rule. The default legal position is no refund; any credit for a bad lead is a policy exception, not the baseline right of the professional. Verbatim from the sourceExcept as otherwise expressly described herein or in our Refund Policy, all sales on the Platform and Fees paid by You to Thumbtack are final and non-refundable. Checked 2026-09-09 | Final and non-refundable, except as stated in the separate Refund Policydispute/refund rule | current as of access | Thumbtack Terms of Use | |
How Thumbtack structures professional spending via weekly Budgets Don't trust any third-party "Thumbtack charges $X per lead" table — Thumbtack itself says the real price is set by budget mechanics disclosed at the account level, not a public rate card. Thumbtack doesn't publish a per-lead price list in its core Terms of Use; the mechanics live in a separate incorporated document, and per-account lead prices show only inside each pro's own dashboard. Verbatim from the sourceThe terms relevant to budgets, fees, payments, and taxes, are set forth in the Budget, Fees, Payments and Taxes Terms, which are incorporated herein by reference. Checked 2026-09-09 | Pro-set weekly spending limits govern which Fees are chargedbilling model | current as of access | Thumbtack Terms of Use | |
FTC monetary settlement with HomeAdvisor (now Angi) over deceptive lead-quality marketing Treat any lead platform's own claims about lead quality or expected close rate as marketing, not a guarantee — this is the exact claim category the FTC found actionable. The FTC's case was about how HomeAdvisor marketed lead quality and cost to the contractors who bought leads (e.g., overstating job-close rates), not about setting a specific per-lead price. Verbatim from the sourcepay up to $7.2 million for using a wide range of deceptive and misleading tactics Checked 2026-09-09 | up to $7.2 millionUSD | FTC order issued January 2023, final consent order April 2023 | Federal Trade Commission — "FTC Order Requires HomeAdvisor to Pay Up To $7.2 Million and Stop Deceptively Marketing its Leads for Home Improvement Projects" | |
HomeAdvisor's annual membership fee charged to service providers, per the FTC's own settlement announcement Angi/HomeAdvisor's cost to a contractor is membership-plus-per-lead, not per-lead alone — factor the annual fee into any cost-per-lead comparison against Thumbtack or LSA, which charge no membership fee. This is a membership/subscription fee to be listed on the platform, separate from and in addition to the per-lead fee HomeAdvisor also charges; the FTC's own materials don't state a specific per-lead dollar figure. Verbatim from the sourceService providers who join HomeAdvisor's network generally pay an annual membership fee of $287.99, in addition to a separate fee for each lead they receive. Checked 2026-09-09 | $287.99USD/year | as stated in FTC's January 2023 settlement announcement, describing conduct since at least mid-2014 | Federal Trade Commission — "FTC Order Requires HomeAdvisor to Pay Up To $7.2 Million and Stop Deceptively Marketing its Leads for Home Improvement Projects" |
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Where the sources disagree
We do not pick the “right” number for you. Where two honest sources count differently, both are here, along with the reason they differ.
What a home-service lead costs on Thumbtack
- No public per-lead price; price mechanics are in a separate incorporated 'Budget, Fees, Payments and Taxes Terms' document and shown per-account Thumbtack Terms of Use (primary), current
- Widely cited range of roughly $10-$100+ per lead, commonly $35-$60 Multiple secondary marketing/blog sources (not used as rows), 2026
Thumbtack does not publish a rate card; third-party sites estimate ranges from aggregated user reports, which is a different universe (self-reported anecdotes) from Thumbtack's own disclosed pricing mechanism. No specific dollar figure could be verified on any Thumbtack-owned page, so no numeric Thumbtack cost-per-lead row appears in this dataset.
What did not survive checking
These are claims we went looking for and could not confirm at the source. They are not in the table — and they are listed here so you do not spend time on them either.
- Angi's disclosed dollar revenue-per-lead or revenue-per-service-request figure
- Angi's Q3 2025 earnings release and 10-K disclose Service Requests and Leads counts and state that "Revenue per Lead increased 11% year-over-year," but do not publish an absolute dollar figure for revenue per lead in the pages fetched. A dollar figure could only be produced by dividing total revenue by lead count ourselves, which this dataset's rules treat as an estimate, not a figure directly stated by the source.
- Angi's disaggregated "Lead revenue" line item (~$151.3 million for Q3 2025)
- A secondary search summary reported this figure from an Angi filing, but repeated attempts to open the Q3 2025 earnings release directly on SEC EDGAR and locate that exact table failed to surface it, so it could not be verified against a verbatim quote from a primary document actually opened.
- Google LSA's specific lead-dispute review window (e.g., "72 hours to review, credits within 30 days")
- This figure appears on third-party marketing blogs describing Google's move to automated credits, but the primary Google Local Services Help page does not state a specific hours/days window, so it was dropped rather than sourced secondhand.
- A specific national average cost-per-lead figure for Angi/HomeAdvisor leads (in dollars)
- Neither Angi's investor-relations filings nor its help center publish a per-lead dollar figure; only the membership fee ($287.99/year) and settlement figures from the FTC could be verified as real dollar amounts.
- Thumbtack's per-credit dollar value (e.g., "1 credit ≈ $1.50")
- This figure appears only in third-party blogs and community-forum posts, not in Thumbtack's own Terms of Use, Refund Policy, or any other Thumbtack-owned page reachable directly.
- Yelp's actual average cost-per-click or cost-per-lead in dollars
- Yelp's own support and business pages describe the CPC auction mechanism and the $5/day minimum spend, but do not publish an average CPC or CPL; only third-party estimates exist, and this dataset does not use those as sourced figures.
Methodology
Platform billing mechanics came from each platform's own help centre or terms of use, opened directly: Google Local Services Help, Google Ads Help, Yelp for Business's support and product pages, and Thumbtack's Terms of Use. Two dollar benchmarks — home-services search CPC/CPL and Meta Lead-objective CPC/CPL for Home & Home Improvement — came from LocaliQ's named, methodology-disclosed benchmark reports; they are vendor averages, not government statistics, and are labeled as such in every row that uses them.
The two Meta rows are the one exception to script-verified quotes in this dataset. LocaliQ's Facebook benchmarks page renders its comparison table client-side, so the automated gate that re-opens every source can't read the figures — they were confirmed by opening the page directly and reading the Home & Home Improvement row, and are marked "verification: manual" for that reason.
The FTC's HomeAdvisor annual-membership-fee row originally pointed at an FTC business-guidance blog post that has since gone to a 404; the same $287.99 figure, verbatim, also appears in the FTC's own January 2023 press release announcing the settlement, so the row now cites that press release instead. A federal regulatory settlement is the only place in this dataset a specific per-lead-adjacent dollar figure for Angi/HomeAdvisor could be verified — the company does not publish a per-lead price, and its SEC filings disclose lead volume and percentage change, not an absolute per-lead dollar figure, which is why several Angi rows were dropped rather than estimated.
Sources
- Google Local Services Help — "How leads work" 3 rows
- LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services 2 rows
- LocaliQ, Facebook Advertising Benchmarks 2 rows
- Thumbtack Terms of Use 2 rows
- Federal Trade Commission — "FTC Order Requires HomeAdvisor to Pay Up To $7.2 Million and Stop Deceptively Marketing its Leads for Home Improvement Projects" 2 rows
- Google Ads Help — cost-per-click (CPC) bidding 1 row
- Yelp for Business Support Center — "How does Yelp's Cost Per Click (CPC) advertising program work?" 1 row
- Yelp for Business — Yelp Ads product page 1 row
How to cite this page
Husky Digital. What a home-service lead costs, by platform. Last verified September 9, 2026. https://husky-digital.com/research/home-service-lead-costs/
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