Stop Paying for Shared Leads: Why Angi, Thumbtack and Houzz Leads Cost More Than They Look
A homeowner lead from a marketplace such as Angi, Thumbtack or Houzz is one request that can reach several pros, each of whom pays. You are bidding against them on price before you have spoken. Builder and GC work is different: a builder hires your trade on every project, every phase, and the projects are public the day the permit issues. Across New York, Miami-Dade, Austin, Nashville and Chicago, 6,218 builders pulled a new-build permit in the last 12 months.
The same four steps, whether the buyer is a builder, a designer, an owner or a company you want to acquire.
What a shared lead really costs
- You pay whether or not you win. Per-lead pricing charges for the contact, not the job.
- You start in a price war. The homeowner is comparing quotes from everyone who bought the same request.
- You win once. A homeowner hires a trade once. A builder with 20 starts a year hires it 20 times.
- You chase small jobs. Most marketplace requests are repairs and single rooms.
Shared homeowner leads vs builder leads
| Marketplace lead | Builder or GC project | |
|---|---|---|
| Who else sees it | Other pros who paid for it | Whoever did the research |
| Repeat work | Rare | Every project the builder starts |
| Size | Mostly repairs and rooms | Whole buildings; Builtie filters by your minimum job |
| How you pay | Per lead | Builtie: $79 or $99 a seat a month for 20 or 50 projects |
Leaving a marketplace: Leaving Angi or Thumbtack for builder work. The numbers behind repeat builders: in Nashville the ten busiest builders filed 23.2% of new-build permits.
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
Are Angi and Thumbtack leads shared?
Marketplace requests can be sent to more than one pro, and pros pay for the leads they receive, so you often compete on price with others who paid for the same request.
What is better than shared leads for contractors?
Builder and GC work found from building permits. Builders hire every trade on every project, so one relationship produces repeat work. Builtie lists those projects with the decision maker.
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.