Which Lead Platforms Are Worth It for Painters?

We read each platform's own help center, contract and pricing pages, checked on October 27 and 28, 2026, and compared what each publishes against the painting benchmark we hold. A price appears as a platform price only when the platform published it; otherwise it is labelled as a third-party figure with its source. In our own tracker (ChatGPT and Perplexity, September 1 to October 27, 2026), the 8 painting questions cited BaaDigi in 142 of 364 answers (39.0%), and the most-cited domains were reddit.com with 287 citations, with thumbtack.com at 93.

One limit up front: we have no verified painting-specific Local Services Ads sample. Our LSA accounts' trade labels remain unconfirmed, so none of the lead costs on this page come from our own painting campaigns.

No marketplace here publishes a painting price list, so treat every number below as a range with a source.

The one search-ad anchor with a published methodology is LocaliQ's 2025 home services benchmark: the median painting search-ad cost per lead is $138.38, with a median $13.74 click cost, the highest median click cost among the home-services subcategories on that table, and a 10.80% median conversion rate (search ads, April 1, 2024 to March 21, 2025).

**Angi and HomeAdvisor.** Neither publishes a painting price, and we found no third-party painting figure for either. Angi's help center says lead fees change with task, homeowner location and demand.

**Thumbtack.** No rate card. A third-party sample (Tack Tools Pro, March to September 2026) puts the median interior painting lead at $75.43 across 47 leads and exterior painting at $135.85 across 33 leads; that is what pros chose to pay, not a Thumbtack price, and both samples are small.

**Networx.** The help center lists $10 to $100+ per shared lead and $15 to $120+ per exclusive lead across all categories, on articles dated 2022 to 2023. Painting is on its signup list.

**Modernize.** No figure is published, and painting does not appear on any pro trade list we fetched.

**Houzz Pro.** $99, $199 and from $399 a month for software, with advertising from $499 a month, per a Houzz blog dated October 5, 2026. Painting is a listed industry.

**Google Local Services Ads.** 99 Calls shows a $45.48 average and a $44.42 median per charged painting lead from 14 sites (trailing 3 to 12 months, captured Oct 27, 2026). That is a single third-party sample, and we could not confirm painting in the part of Google's category list we captured, so check eligibility in your area before you plan around it.

Cost per booked job is cost per lead divided by your own close rate; we do not publish a painting close rate because we have no sourced one.

Angi says each request is matched with no more than five pros, and since January 2025 a pro receives a lead only when the homeowner picks that pro from a list. Angi reports that self-reported pro win rate rose 10% after that change; that figure is vendor-reported and unaudited. Networx sends a shared lead to up to four contractors, and its exclusive plan sends it to one. HomeAdvisor falls under the same no-more-than-five cap. On Thumbtack, a customer can contact up to five pros from search results in the first four hours and more after that (terms updated September 28, 2026). On Local Services Ads the customer chooses your profile, but Google prices message leads partly on whether the customer contacted other advertisers, so one homeowner can be charged to several.

Sharing matters because the same homeowner is called by several companies at once. The painting benchmark we hold measures click-to-lead conversion (10.80%), not lead-to-job, so we do not claim a painting close rate for any platform.

These are complaint counts and refund terms, not measured rates, and none is split out by trade.

**Angi and HomeAdvisor.** BBB lists 1,745 complaints in three years on the Angi profile where complaints are counted, 381 of them in the last 12 months. HomeAdvisor lead credits must be requested within 30 days, are issued as store credit, and exclude leads where you did not win the job.

**Thumbtack.** Fees are final except under the refund policy: no refund when the customer hires someone else, other refund requests within 45 days at Thumbtack's discretion, and no refund when you close the account.

**Google Local Services Ads.** Wrong-service and out-of-area leads are no longer credited, voicemails during business hours count as connected calls, and credits usually apply within 30 days, with the original charge remaining on the invoice.

Ask for these in writing before you fund or sign anything:

1. The term and what renews it. Angi subscriptions renew automatically and the fee can rise up to 10%; Houzz Pro needs a do-not-renew request at least 30 days before renewal. 2. The termination fee, as a number. Angi's public agreement makes any early termination fee conditional on your signed contract and does not state an amount. 3. Refund of unused money. Angi gives no refund of fees on termination; Networx does not document refund of an unused prepaid balance. 4. Credit rules. HomeAdvisor and Angi lead credit guidelines require a request within 30 days and exclude leads where you did not win the job; Networx requires it within 14 days; Thumbtack allows other refund requests within 45 days at its discretion. 5. A hard spending cap. Angi calls the monthly budget a target. 6. Who answers the phone to cancel. Angi cancels by phone through Customer Care.

Pick by where you are, not by which platform sounds biggest.

**No verified Google profile or reviews yet: none yet, fix your Google Business Profile first,** then confirm whether Local Services Ads is open to painters in your area. Google says higher-quality profiles, including those with images, may rank higher and pay less per lead in Local Services Ads.

**Small crew with a thin calendar:** test one marketplace on pay-per-lead for a month with a budget you can afford to lose, answer every call, and count replies and booked jobs. Thumbtack lets you set the price per service yourself.

**A full calendar for the next month:** do not buy volume. Spend the time on reviews and your own site.

**Larger painting company with a sales team:** ask Angi for written terms, then compare cost per booked job against Google search ads using your own close rate.

**Painting plus design-build or remodeling:** Houzz Pro is software first; buy it for estimates and proposals, and treat its advertising as optional.

**You want leads you own:** build your site, rankings and Google profile through a monthly retainer instead of renting a marketplace's audience.