Free playbook
Get off Angi, HomeAdvisor, and Thumbtack for good.
A step-by-step plan for home service owners who are tired of paying for leads that three competitors got too. The playbook walks you through replacing rented leads with ones you own, in an order that keeps the phone ringing while you make the switch.
What's in the playbook
- 01
The real math on rented leads
A worksheet to calculate your true cost per sold job on each platform, including duplicate billing, fake leads, and the price war you're forced into. Most owners have never run this number.
- 02
The 90-day transition plan
Month by month: what to build, what to keep paying for, and when to cut. You don't turn the platforms off on day one. You turn them off when your own channel is outperforming them.
- 03
The one-page site that replaces the lead form
The exact sections, in order, that a conversion-ready home service page needs. A homeowner should be able to trust you and call you in under a minute.
- 04
A starter Google Ads structure
The campaign structure we use for every new home service client, with budget guidance by business size, so your first month produces data instead of regret.
- 05
Tracking so you can prove it worked
A tracked phone number for every source and a simple pipeline, so you can compare your own leads to platform leads on cost per sold job, not on gut feel.
- 06
When to turn the platforms off
The three signals that mean it's safe to cancel, plus a checklist for doing it without losing the reviews and listings you've built there.
Get the playbook
Takes a minute. We'll email you the PDF right away.
Why trust us with a look?
Because we've audited six figures a month in lead-platform spend and moved home service companies off it onto leads they own. The playbook is what we actually do. A few recent results.
Inquiry landed within the first 30 days of running ads for an architecture firm.
ATMO ArchitectureHot tub sales in the first quarter after launch, with a targeted ad strategy driving in-store and online leads.
Hot Springs Pools & SpasQualified, high-ticket leads per week for a manufacturer scaling from $4M toward $10M.
NovoBlend"He took the time to understand my goals and vision and crafted exactly what I asked for. They kept us in the loop and were committed to communication throughout the process. I highly recommend him for any marketing or advertising needs."
Who wrote it
Warren runs advertising and growth for branded by clients, from Shark Tank-featured ecommerce brands to dozens of home service companies. Early in his career he audited a 30-city home service provider spending six figures a month on Google Ads and five figures on Angie's List, and found duplicate billing, fake leads, and fronts reselling homeowner data. This playbook is what he learned.
How it works
1. Request the playbook
Fill out the form. Takes about a minute.
2. Check your inbox
The PDF lands in your inbox within a few minutes. Check spam if you don't see it.
3. Work the plan
Start with the cost worksheet. Most owners find the number alone is enough to decide what to do next.
Who this is for
We wrote this for home service companies doing roughly $1M to $10M a year that have outgrown lead platforms but don't have an in-house marketing team to build the replacement.
Good fit
You spend four or five figures a month on leads you don't own, you can handle more work, and you're ready to invest a few months in building something that compounds.
Not a fit yet
You're brand new and need jobs this week. Lead platforms aren't wrong for that stage. Read the playbook anyway so you know when to make the move.
Are Angi leads worth it? The math, the 2026 prices, and how to leave without a dry spell
Angi, HomeAdvisor (now the same company), and Thumbtack sell the same homeowner's request to three to eight contractors at $15 to $85 a lead, plus an annual fee. Whether that's worth it depends on one number almost nobody calculates: cost per booked job. Here is how to work it out, what it typically comes to, and the order of operations for replacing those leads with ones you own.
The full playbook, with worksheets, is the free PDF above. This is the short version.
01
Calculate cost per booked job, not cost per lead
Take 90 days of platform spend, divide by leads received, strip out duplicates and fakes, then divide what's left by the jobs you actually sold. A $45 lead shared with five contractors that you close one time in six is a $270 lead cost per job, before the membership fee. For many trades the real number lands between $250 and $1,400 per booked job.
If that's under 15% of your average job value, the platform is working. If it's over 20%, you're working for the platform.
02
Why shared leads close worse than your own
The homeowner who fills out a form on a lead site gets five calls in ten minutes and picks on speed and price. The homeowner who found you on Google and called is comparing you to no one. Published close rates run around 20% for shared platform leads against 40% or better for exclusive leads from your own channels, and the jobs are bigger.
You're also often paying twice: the same homeowner arrives as a platform lead on Monday and a paid click on Thursday.
03
Build before you cut
Contractors who cancel first and build second hit a dry spell and crawl back. The playbook's order: call tracking first so your own channel is measured from day one, then a one-page site for your core service, then Google Business Profile cleaned up and reviews flowing, then a modest Google Ads or Local Services Ads campaign. Only then do you start cutting platforms, weakest first.
Expect the first 30 days of your own channel to look worse than the platforms. New accounts need conversion data before they get efficient.
04
The 90-day timeline
Days 1 to 30: tracking, page, profile, launch ads at a learning budget. Days 31 to 60: run the same cost-per-booked-job worksheet on your own channel next to each platform, fix what the data shows, cut the weakest platform if you're already ahead. Days 61 to 90: move that budget to your own channel, add a second service or city if the first is profitable, re-run the worksheet, and decide on the last platform.
Most contractors who follow the order are fully off within 90 to 120 days.
05
How to cancel without losing what you built
Export your reviews first: screenshot them, copy the text, and ask those customers for a Google review. Keep the free listing if the platform offers one; it still has profile value. Cancel the paid tier in writing and keep the confirmation, because several platforms auto-renew annual contracts and charge early-termination fees. Retire the platform's tracked phone number so it stops stealing your reviews and call history.
Then move the budget the same week. Don't let it sit; put it where your cost per booked job is already lower.
06
Three signals it's time
Your own channel's cost per booked job is lower than the platform's for two months in a row. Your lead volume is holding or growing as you've shifted budget. Your average job value from your own leads is higher, which it almost always is, because platform leads skew toward small, price-shopped jobs.
When all three are true, the last platform goes, and the monthly report is the proof.
The numbers behind the playbook
Figures we see across the home service accounts we manage, and from published 2026 pricing. Yours go in the worksheet.
$15 to $85 per lead
Typical Angi and HomeAdvisor lead prices in 2026, shared with three to eight contractors, plus roughly $300 a year in membership.
$250 to $1,400
Effective cost per booked job once sharing, duplicates, and fake leads are counted. Most owners have never calculated it.
90 to 120 days
How long the transition takes when you build the owned channel first and cut platforms second. Cutting first usually ends in going back.
Questions people ask about leaving lead platforms
Q
How much do Angi leads cost contractors in 2026?
Roughly $15 to $85 per lead depending on trade and market, with HVAC, roofing, and remodeling at the top, plus an annual membership around $300. Angi stopped publishing contractor pricing in 2023, so these are reported figures from contractors, not a rate card.
Q
Are Angi leads shared with other contractors?
Yes. The standard product sends each homeowner request to three to eight contractors at once, and all of them pay. That's why cost per lead understates the real cost; cost per booked job is the number that matters.
Q
Is Angi worth it for contractors?
It can be, briefly, for a new business with no reviews and an empty calendar. It stops being worth it as soon as your own channels can produce a booked job for less, which for most established contractors is already true. The worksheet in the playbook tells you which side of that line you're on.
Q
Is HomeAdvisor the same as Angi?
Yes. HomeAdvisor was folded into Angi; HomeAdvisor Pro accounts became Angi Leads. The shared-lead model and pricing are the same product under one name.
Q
Angi vs. Google Local Services Ads: which is better?
LSAs for almost every established trade. You pay per lead, but the lead is exclusive, it came from someone searching for your service in your area, you can dispute bad ones, and the Google Guaranteed badge builds trust you keep. Published close rates run roughly double those of shared platform leads.
Q
How do I cancel Angi Leads?
Export your reviews first. Then cancel the paid tier in writing through your account or your rep, keep the confirmation, and check whether you're on an annual contract with an early-termination fee. Keep the free listing. Retire the Angi-provided phone number from any marketing.
Q
Will I lose my reviews if I leave Angi?
The reviews stay on Angi, but they don't travel. Before you cancel, screenshot and copy them, and ask those customers for a Google review. Google reviews are what AI and search use to recommend you; Angi reviews mostly help Angi.
Q
How long does it take to replace Angi leads with my own?
90 to 120 days if you build in the right order: tracking, page, profile and reviews, then ads, then cut platforms one at a time. The playbook lays out each month.
Q
What should I spend instead?
Start by moving exactly what you were spending on the platform into Google Ads or LSAs, with call tracking so you can compare cost per booked job on the same worksheet. The free ad budget forecast gives you expected leads and jobs for that budget before you commit.
Q
What's in the free playbook?
An 8-page PDF: the cost-per-booked-job worksheet, the 90-day transition plan, a one-page site spec, a starter Google Ads structure with budget table, the tracking setup and monthly report template, and how to cancel without losing your reviews.
Related tools and reading
Why free?
Because it's the fastest way to show you how we think. Most people read it, run the numbers, and build the plan themselves or with whoever they already have, and that's fine. Some decide they'd rather have us build it, and that's how we earn clients: by being useful first.