Which Lead Platforms Are Worth It for Plumbers?

We read each platform's own help center, contract and pricing pages, checked on October 27, 2026, and compared what each publishes against the benchmarks we hold. A price appears as a platform price only when the platform published it; otherwise it is labelled as an owner report or third-party figure with its source. HomeAdvisor and Thumbtack were checked against platform pages on October 28, 2026. In our own tracker (ChatGPT and Perplexity, September 1 to October 27, 2026), the 11 plumbing questions, which include the lead-platform questions this page answers, cited BaaDigi in 68 of 456 answers (14.9%), and reddit.com ranked first with 198 citations, plumbingseo.agency second with 167 and homeadvisor.com third with 149.

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

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

SearchLight publishes two plumbing cuts for Google Ads. Its Q1 2026 plumbing study reports $183 per lead on non-branded search campaigns ($14.6M, 524 plumbing contractors). Its January 2026 multi-trade table of non-branded search campaigns lists a plumbing row at $167 per lead with a 41.5% book rate (404 accounts, $3.61M on that row). They are different cuts, both published. Estatehub (2026) puts plumbing lead-to-customer conversion at 12 to 16%.

**Angi.** Its help center says lead fees change with task, homeowner location and demand. We found no plumbing figure from Angi or any third party we fetched.

**HomeAdvisor.** No price is published, and we found no third-party plumbing figure.

**Thumbtack.** No rate card; the pro sets the price. Tack Tools Pro (March 12 to September 18, 2026) shows median prices of $48.23 for drain repair (130 leads), $44.74 for pipe repair (173 leads) and $37.83 for emergency plumbing (48 leads), what pros chose to pay.

**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.

**Modernize.** No figure is published and we found no third-party plumbing figure. Its leads page names Plumbing Repipe as a trade.

**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.

**Google Local Services Ads.** SearchLight's February 2026 benchmark (888 contractors, spend-weighted, outlier-filtered) puts plumbing at $57 per lead across 230 accounts and drain and sewer at $59 across 23. 99 Calls shows an average of $86.09 and a median of $77.56 per charged plumbing lead from 6 sites (trailing 3 to 12 months, captured Oct 27, 2026), with credited leads excluded. Drain expert is a separate Google category offered in California and Florida only. The spread is the reason to track your own cost.

**Our own LSA data.** Across four accounts from June 11 to October 12, 2026, we paid $45.93 per charged lead ($40,876.82 on 890 charged of 1,110 leads). We have no verified plumbing-specific LSA sample, and three of those accounts' trade labels remain unconfirmed, so that figure is not a plumbing benchmark. Cost per booked job is cost per lead divided by your own close rate; we do not publish a plumbing close rate for shared leads 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. Modernize's consent language allows the company and up to four others to contact the homeowner, while Branded Programs leads are exclusive, with a vendor-reported 40% average set rate. 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, and Estatehub attributes plumbing's higher lead-to-customer conversion to emergency-driven demand. The SearchLight 41.5% figure is a book rate on its multi-trade Google Ads table, not a platform close rate, so we do not claim a plumbing 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; Modernize lets you set a ceiling per lead. 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 and Local Services Ads first.** 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:** run Local Services Ads with a budget you can afford to lose, answer every call, and, if you want a second source, test one marketplace on pay-per-lead for a month while counting replies and booked jobs.

**Emergency and after-hours work:** Local Services Ads bill missed calls over 20 seconds during business hours, so staff the phone before you raise the budget. Thumbtack's Fair Shot refund requires a reply through Thumbtack within four business hours.

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

**Larger plumbing company with a sales team:** ask Modernize and Angi for written terms, then compare cost per booked job against Local Services Ads using your own close rate.

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