Project Leads vs Residential Lead Marketplaces
Residential lead marketplaces sell homeowner enquiries, usually to several contractors at once. Project leads are active construction jobs with the buyer identified and nobody else racing you to the phone. Both can work. They are not the same product and they do not suit the same business.
The same four steps, whether the buyer is a builder, a designer, an owner or a company you want to acquire.
How a marketplace lead works
A homeowner fills in a form. The marketplace sells that enquiry, commonly to three or four contractors, at a price that generally runs from around $40 to $150 depending on the trade and the market. Every contractor who bought it calls the same person, usually within the hour, and the homeowner picks whoever answered first or quoted lowest.
That model rewards speed and volume. It works for trades with short sales cycles, a quick quote and enough throughput to absorb a low conversion rate.
How a project lead works
A project enters the permit or planning record. The company running it is identified, the person who awards the package is found, and the trade contractor approaches them before the package is tendered. There is no auction, because the contractor found the project rather than buying an introduction to it.
| Residential lead marketplace | Construction project lead | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A homeowner enquiry | Visibility of an active project |
| Exclusivity | Usually shared with several contractors | Not resold as a race |
| Who the buyer is | A homeowner ready to hire | A builder, developer, general contractor or owner |
| What decides the win | Speed and price | Timing, fit and relationship |
| Typical size | One job | A package, and often a repeat builder |
Every product named here changes what it does over time. This page compares categories of tool and what each one is designed for, not feature checklists or current prices. Check the specifics with each provider before you decide.
Which one fits your business
Rough fit of the marketplace model by type of work. The larger and earlier the decision, the less an enquiry auction helps.
The cost comparison people get wrong
A marketplace lead looks cheap because the unit price is small. The real cost is the unit price divided by the conversion rate, and when three or four contractors receive the same enquiry that rate is low by design. A project lead has no per-lead price at all; the cost is the subscription divided by the projects you actually win, and the projects are larger.
Neither number is universally better. What matters is that they are different economics, and comparing a per-lead price with a per-project subscription is comparing two things that are not alike.
Where Builtie sits
Builtie is a project intelligence platform, not a lead marketplace. It monitors construction activity across North America, scores projects against your trade and territory, identifies the company and the person who awards the work, and runs LinkedIn and email outreach from your own accounts. Nothing is resold to a queue of contractors chasing the same homeowner.
Builtie plans start at $550 per month per seat for 50 matched projects a month, and $880 for 200. Every plan includes done-for-you LinkedIn and email outreach, and there is a 7-day free trial with 10 projects so you can see your own territory before paying.
Frequently asked questions
Are shared leads worth it?
For fast, small, price-driven work they can be, because the model rewards speed and volume. For contract work on active construction they are a poor fit, since those decisions are not made by whoever calls first.
How much do shared residential leads cost?
Typically in the range of $40 to $150 per lead depending on trade and market, and commonly sold to several contractors at once, so the effective cost per won job is much higher than the sticker price.
Does Builtie sell exclusive leads?
Builtie is not a lead reseller. It shows you active projects matched to your profile and identifies the buyer, so you are approaching a project rather than buying an introduction that others also bought.
Can I use both?
Yes. Plenty of contractors keep a marketplace running for service work while building a project pipeline for contracts. They fund different parts of a business.
What if I only do residential renovation?
Renovation sits in between. Larger renovation contracts are bought by general contractors and owners well in advance and behave like project work, which is exactly where a project feed helps and an enquiry auction does not.