"Which lead service is worth it?" has no single answer, because these four do not sell the same thing. One charges you when a customer contacts you. One charges you when a customer answers you. One charges you when a homeowner and you both show interest. One charges you when someone clicks an ad. Compare them on price per lead and you compare four different units.
This piece lays out what each service says, on its own help pages as read in October 2026, about what you pay for, who else gets the same customer, and what happens with a bad lead. Then it gives you the one number that makes them comparable: your cost per won job.
Google Local Services Ads: pay per lead, and missed calls count
You pay for each valid lead. Google's help page lists what counts: a call you answer, or a callback where you speak with the customer; a call you miss during your business hours where the customer stays on the line for more than 20 seconds; a text message or email from the customer; a voicemail; and, in the US and Canada, a booking request. Lead prices "may vary depending on your location, the job type, the type of lead, or your bidding mode." You set an average weekly budget, and the monthly maximum is that weekly budget times the average number of weeks in a month.
What you are not charged for: activity Google filters out as invalid (such as spam or duplicate contacts), and follow-up calls or messages from the same customer within 15 days. On bad leads, the page says charged leads "get reassessed by our models over time, and may be issued credits automatically if determined to be low quality." You can also report a poor lead in that lead's feedback survey, and Google says it may occasionally credit those.
Read the missed-call line twice. A customer who waits more than 20 seconds on a call you did not pick up during your business hours is a charged lead, and Google says a call that reaches your voicemail or an automated greeting counts the same way. If your phone goes unanswered while you are on a roof, you are paying for customers you never spoke to. Measure that first: a one-week audit of every call and form shows how many you miss.
Thumbtack: exact lead prices, and Opportunities you pay for only on a reply
Thumbtack sells two things. A lead is a customer who reaches out to you directly from search results with a job that matches your preferences; you pay automatically, at an exact lead price you set with a slider. Thumbtack says prices vary with the type and size of the job, how many pros are available, and your market. A weekly budget caps what you spend on leads across all your services; when you hit it, unless you raise it, you stop appearing in search results until the budget resets the following Monday.
An Opportunity (also called an open lead) works the other way: the price is shown upfront, you reach out first, and you pay only if the customer responds to you.
On bad leads, some refunds are automatic, and for other situations you can request a refund within 45 days of the charge, decided case by case and at Thumbtack's sole discretion. Its Fair Shot Refunds return the charge automatically when the customer does not reply to you or any other pro within 72 hours, but only if you made first contact through Thumbtack's messenger or a Thumbtack number, responded within four business hours (8 am to 8 pm local time), and did not share your own phone number or email before the customer replied. Those refunds go to your Thumbtack balance for future leads.
Angi: shared with up to five pros
Angi says each time a homeowner submits a project request, it matches them with no more than five pros. Lead fees "change based on task, homeowner location, and demand for the work." With an Opportunity, you see the homeowner's name, general location, task and the lead fee first, and you pay when both of you show interest. With a subscription, leads that match your services and location arrive automatically and you are charged for them monthly as part of the subscription. Once you have a lead, Angi's FAQ says, you are charged for it whether or not you open or respond to it. It also says, plainly, that leads are not guaranteed jobs.
Credits: Angi says it may offer one, after an investigation, for five reasons: invalid contact information, a location outside your ZIP codes, a project that does not match your services, a duplicate charge for the same homeowner within 45 days, or a charge while your leads were paused. The lead must be less than 45 days old, you should have tried to call the homeowner within 24 hours, and your account must be in good standing. Leads on an annual subscription do not get credits at all. A homeowner who never answers, hired someone else, decided not to go ahead, or is comparing quotes does not qualify. Approved credits go toward future lead charges and expire if not used within six months.
Yelp Ads: pay per click
Yelp's ads are cost per click: "Each time your ad is clicked, we will charge you according to your CPC price." That price moves with supply and demand, including how many businesses like yours compete for the same clicks. Spending is not paced evenly across the month, but Yelp says it will never charge more than the monthly budget you set. On invalid clicks, Yelp says it does not bill for clicks that come in rapid succession from the same user.
A click is not a customer. It is a person who looked at your ad and tapped. Of the four, this one leaves the most of the work to you and your Yelp page.
The four side by side
| Service | You pay when | Bad-lead rule, per its help pages |
|---|---|---|
| Local Services Ads | A valid lead arrives, including a call missed in business hours after more than 20 seconds | Automatic credits for leads its models judge low quality |
| Thumbtack lead | A matching customer contacts you | Request within 45 days; automatic refund if the customer replies to no pro in 72 hours and you met the conditions |
| Thumbtack Opportunity | The customer replies to you | No charge without a reply; other refund requests within 45 days, case by case |
| Angi | You and the homeowner both show interest, or monthly under a subscription; matched with up to five pros | Credit request within 45 days for five listed reasons, none on an annual subscription; credits expire in six months |
| Yelp Ads | Someone clicks your ad | Rapid repeat clicks from one user not billed |
The number that makes them comparable
Lead price is the wrong number. The right one is cost per won job: everything you spent on a service in a month, minus credits and refunds, divided by the jobs you actually won from it. Then compare that with the gross profit on a typical job.
Say a painter tries two services for a month (made-up numbers, to show the math):
| Service A | Service B | |
|---|---|---|
| Spent, after credits | $900 | $1,200 |
| Leads | 30 | 20 |
| Cost per lead | $30 | $60 |
| Jobs won | 2 | 5 |
| Cost per won job | $450 | $240 |
The "cheap" leads were the expensive customers. A month is a small sample, so keep the log for a season before you cancel anything, and note which leads you could have claimed a credit on. What the FTC's HomeAdvisor case tells you about buying leads has the log columns and the questions to ask any lead seller.
Whatever you buy, speed decides it
Notice how often the help pages above come back to response time. Thumbtack's automatic refund requires a reply within four business hours. Angi tells pros the faster they respond, the better their chance. Google charges for a call missed in business hours. Angi matches each request with up to five pros, and Thumbtack's refund rule is written around customers who contact more than one. When the same homeowner may hear from several companies, the one who answers first gets the first real conversation.
And none of them is the only source. The visitors already on your own website cost you nothing per lead. NapkinPrice™ gives them an instant price range on your site from the rules you set, and sends you the ones who want the job, with the details attached.