How Much Do Thumbtack Leads Really Cost in 2026 (By Trade)

Ask ten contractors what a Thumbtack lead costs and you will get ten different answers — because there is no single price. Thumbtack runs a pay-per-lead model where the cost of a single lead is set by the trade, the estimated value of the job, and how many other pros are competing for the same customer. In practice that means anything from roughly $8 to well over $150 per lead. Here is what the numbers actually look like in 2026, broken down by trade, and why the same lead can cost you far more than it costs the pro across town.

Across all trades, Thumbtack leads generally fall between roughly $8 and $150 or more, with the typical contractor paying somewhere in the $20 to $60 range per lead. Most home-service trades land in a $25 to $75 band. The spread is enormous because a lead is priced against the job behind it — a one-time house cleaning and a full kitchen remodel are not remotely the same opportunity, so Thumbtack does not charge the same for them.

It helps to think of the price as a rough percentage of the expected job value rather than a flat fee. A lead attached to a $200 job will always be cheaper than one attached to a $20,000 job, because the pro who wins the big job can afford to pay far more to get in front of that customer.

Cleaning is the classic low-cost example, with leads commonly running about $8 to $25. Handyman work, lawn care, and other small, repeatable jobs tend to sit in a similar low range. These leads are cheap because the individual job value is modest — but that does not automatically make them a bargain.

When leads are cheap, volume and competition both climb. You may pay only $12 for a cleaning lead, but if it is shared with several other pros and the customer is price-shopping, your real cost per booked job can be several times the sticker price. Low per-lead cost is only good economics if your close rate keeps up.

This is where a lot of skilled trades live. HVAC leads commonly run about $35 to $90, and plumbing, electrical, and similar service calls tend to fall in a comparable range. The jobs behind these leads are worth more — a repair or install can easily run into four figures — so Thumbtack prices the lead accordingly.

At this level the math starts to favor Thumbtack for pros who convert well. Paying $60 for a lead that turns into a $1,800 job is an excellent trade; paying $60 for a tire-kicker who never calls back is not. The price is the same either way, which is why response speed and qualification matter more as the per-lead cost climbs.

Remodeling and large project work sit at the top. A kitchen remodel lead can run about $90 to $150 or more, and other big renovation, roofing, or additions leads reach into the same territory or beyond. These are the most expensive leads on the platform because a single won job can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.

The stakes cut both ways. A $130 lead that becomes a $30,000 remodel is one of the best marketing dollars you will ever spend. But three or four dead high-ticket leads in a week — a customer who was only gathering estimates, a project that never got funded — can burn through hundreds of dollars fast, which is exactly why disputing genuinely bad high-ticket leads matters most here.

Two contractors in the same trade rarely pay the same price for comparable leads, and it comes down to three factors. First, competition: dense urban metros can run 20 to 50 percent above these national averages simply because more pros are bidding for the same customers. A cleaning lead that costs $12 in a rural county might cost $22 in a major city.

Second, estimated job value: Thumbtack reads signals from the request — project scope, timeline, budget — and prices higher-value jobs higher. Third, your own settings: the lead price you are willing to pay, your service area, and your job preferences all shape which leads reach you and what you are charged. Two pros can see the identical lead at different prices based purely on how each has configured their account.

Per-lead cost is only half the picture. Because each Thumbtack lead is typically shared with four or five other pros and a large share of customers hire whoever responds first, your true cost is cost per booked job, not cost per lead. A $30 lead with a 20 percent close rate costs you $150 per booked job; the same lead at a 10 percent close rate costs $300. That is the figure to track against your average job value before deciding whether a trade is worth it.

It also reframes what a refund is worth. When you dispute and recover the cost of a lead that never had a real job behind it — a fake request, a customer who never responds, a job outside your service area — you are pulling those dead leads out of the denominator and lowering your real cost per booked job. RefundMyLead handles that side: it matches each bad lead to the right approved refund reason and writes the dispute in the structure Thumbtack support actually approves, so the leads you never should have paid for stop dragging your numbers down.