Free Construction Leads in the US: Every Source That Costs Nothing, and What It Doesn't Give You
Free construction leads exist, and most of them are public records: city building-permit portals, public bid sites, free subcontractor accounts on bid networks, and free market reports. What free sources rarely give you is the person who awards the work or the timing for your trade. That is the paid part, and it is where Builtie starts at $79 a seat a month (CAD) after a free 7-day trial with 10 projects.
The same four steps, whether the buyer is a builder, a designer, an owner or a company you want to acquire.
The free sources
| Source | What you get | What you don't |
|---|---|---|
| City permit portals | Every permit, address, often the contractor | Stage, timing, the decision maker |
| Public bid portals (SAM.gov, state and city procurement) | Public projects with bid documents | Private work, which is most of it |
| Free subcontractor accounts on bid networks | GC invitations sent to you | Jobs before they are bid |
| Builtie city reports | Permits and value by metro, top builders | Contacts |
| Builtie Market Recap email | Notable permits each morning (NYC, Miami-Dade, Nashville, Toronto) | Contacts |
| Builtie 7-day trial | 10 projects with decision makers, emails, phones | It ends after 7 days |
Free permit lookups by city
How to search each city's permits yourself: Building permit lookup: Austin, Building permit lookup: Miami-Dade, Building permit lookup: New York City, Building permit lookup: Nashville, Building permit lookup: Chicago, Building permit lookup: Seattle.
Free reports: Construction market intelligence reports. Daily recap: builtie.com/news.
Plans and coverage
Builtie's Starter plan is $79 per seat per month (CAD) for 20 projects; Growth is $99 for 50 projects and adds the LinkedIn and email outreach you run yourself. Opening a project spends one credit, and the decision makers, emails, phones and AI call script inside it are included. Your monthly credits reset at each renewal, and extra credit packs are valid for 30 days. The free trial runs 7 days with 10 projects. Custom, where Builtie's team runs the outreach for you, starts from CAD $1,500 a month on top of a Growth seat.
Builtie covers North America, with its deepest permit and contact data in the Greater Toronto Area, where it started. How much a city yields depends on what that municipality publishes, so ask for live sample projects in your own city before you buy.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get free construction leads?
City building-permit portals, public bid portals, free subcontractor accounts on bid networks, and free market reports such as Builtie's city reports and daily Market Recap.
Are free construction leads worth it?
They are worth searching, but they leave the research to you: the stage, the builder's decision maker and their contact details. That research is what Builtie does.
How much does Builtie cost?
Starter is $79 per seat per month (CAD) for 20 projects; Growth is $99 for 50 projects plus LinkedIn and email outreach; 7-day free trial with 10 projects. Billed monthly.