Most contractors who use Angi, Thumbtack, and HomeAdvisor don't run the unit economics on the channel per-closed-job basis. They see a $60 lead come in, pay it, work a few leads a month, and never look at the CAC (cost-of-customer-acquisition) against job revenue. This page runs the math for the common scenarios — $60 Angi leads at 15%, 20%, and 25% close rates; $15 Thumbtack contacts at 3, 4, and 5 contacts per close; bathroom remodels vs kitchen remodels vs ADU-scale jobs — and compares it against AskBaily's zero-lead-fee plus take-rate-on-close model. Honest answer: at some close-rate levels, shared-lead models beat take-rate models. At others, it's the opposite. The math, not the marketing, tells you which one makes sense for your operation.
The unit of analysis — CAC per closed job
Contractor profitability comes down to three numbers: revenue per closed job, CAC per closed job, and gross margin per closed job. CAC (cost-of-customer-acquisition) for a lead-based channel is computed as (average lead or contact fee) divided by (close rate on that channel).
- For Angi at $60 per lead with a 20% close rate, your CAC per closed job is $300.
- For Thumbtack at an $18 average contact fee and 4 contacts per close, your CAC is $72 per closed job — but with slower cadence per contractor, because Thumbtack fires fewer contacts than Angi fires leads.
- For HomeAdvisor — which now redirects to Angi as part of the Angi Leads Pro network — pricing and close-rate profiles are comparable to Angi's.
- For organic or referral, you have $0 lead cost but a real and measurable time cost.
- For AskBaily, you have $0 lead cost plus a tiered take-rate paid on closed project value.
All four channel types are legitimate. The right channel mix depends on your close rate, job-size profile, and capacity utilization. Before we get into which is "best," let's put the actual numbers on the table.
The break-even table for Angi leads
CAC per closed job across different Angi lead-fee tiers and close-rate tiers:
| Lead Fee | 10% Close | 15% Close | 20% Close | 25% Close | 30% Close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30 | $300 | $200 | $150 | $120 | $100 |
| $60 | $600 | $400 | $300 | $240 | $200 |
| $100 | $1,000 | $667 | $500 | $400 | $333 |
Most contractors self-report 15–25% close rates on Angi in general-home-services trades; the $60 lead fee is near-average across trades and markets per Angi's own pricing tiers documented at angi.com/pro. That puts the median Angi contractor at roughly $240–$400 CAC per closed job. On a $5,000 bathroom refresh, $300 CAC is 6.0% of revenue. On a $30,000 kitchen remodel, it's 1.0%. On an $80,000 ADU, it's 0.38%. On a $200,000 whole-home, it's 0.15%.
Takeaway: the shared-lead model scales well with job size because the lead cost is largely fixed while revenue grows. A contractor who lands mostly large renovation work can tolerate higher lead fees because the percentage eaten by CAC collapses as job size grows. A contractor doing mostly small repairs cannot.
The break-even table for Thumbtack contacts
Thumbtack's model is pay-per-contact, not pay-per-lead — you pay when a homeowner replies to your quote, not when you receive the initial prospect. Contact fees vary widely by trade and market. CAC per closed job across different Thumbtack contact-fee tiers and contacts-per-close tiers:
| Contact Fee | 1 contact/close | 3 contacts/close | 5 contacts/close | 8 contacts/close |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 | $10 | $30 | $50 | $80 |
| $20 | $20 | $60 | $100 | $160 |
| $40 | $40 | $120 | $200 | $320 |
Home-services trades typically run $10–$25 per Thumbtack contact, with remodeling and larger-scope work running $30–$60 per contact. Contractors self-report 3–6 contacts per close on typical residential work. Healthy Thumbtack CAC lands in the $60–$150 per closed job range — lower than Angi on pure CAC, but with less inventory control (the homeowner initiates the contact, so you can't scale volume by simply paying more).
The structural challenge: pay-per-contact incentivizes rapid low-context responses, which lowers close rate, which raises CAC. Contractors who respond to every Thumbtack contact within 5 minutes with a boilerplate quote tend to see close rates at the low end. Contractors who respond slower with scope-appropriate quotes see higher close rates but pay for more contacts they don't win. The model rewards speed; speed hurts close rate; close rate is what drives CAC. It's a trap most Thumbtack pros don't explicitly model.
AskBaily's take-rate math
AskBaily charges $0 for matches. The take-rate is 15% on jobs $5K–$30K, 12% on $30K–$75K, 10% on $75K–$150K, and 8% on $150K+. Paid on closed project value at project completion, not on lead receipt, not on contact, not on quote. Full terms at askbaily.com/for-pros/apply.
Comparing take-rate against incumbent per-lead CAC across job sizes:
| Job Size | Angi CAC (20% close) | Thumbtack CAC (5 contacts/close, $15/contact) | AskBaily take-rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 bathroom refresh | $300 (6.0%) | $75 (1.5%) | $750 (15%) |
| $30,000 kitchen remodel | $300 (1.0%) | $75 (0.25%) | $4,500 (15%) |
| $80,000 ADU | $300 (0.38%) | $75 (0.09%) | $9,600 (12%) |
| $200,000 whole-home | $300 (0.15%) | $75 (0.04%) | $16,000 (8%) |
On pure CAC-as-%-of-revenue, Thumbtack wins most scenarios, Angi is competitive at larger job sizes, and AskBaily is higher on every line. That's the honest picture at unadjusted numbers.
But unadjusted CAC-%-of-revenue is the wrong comparison for a realistic decision. The honest comparison adjusts for three variables:
- Close rate. AskBaily's 1-to-1 matching typically produces 50–70% close rates vs Angi's 20%, because the match is AI-scoped and regulatory-fit-verified before it reaches you.
- Time cost. The time a contractor spends chasing 5–8 Thumbtack contacts or 5 Angi leads per close has a real opportunity cost — often $50–$150 per hour of your own time at loaded-labor rates.
- Cash-flow structure. Angi and Thumbtack charge upfront regardless of close. AskBaily charges only on completion. Zero CAC spend on jobs you don't close.
Contractors running full unit economics should compare effective CAC — that is, CAC × (close-rate multiplier) plus time cost — not sticker-price CAC.
The close-rate adjusted comparison
This is where the interesting number lives. AskBaily's routing includes AI pre-scoping of the project, live state-regulator license verification at match time (validated against cslb.ca.gov in California, and equivalent registries in other states), and 1-to-1 exclusivity within metro. These three factors raise close rate significantly. A contractor who normally closes 20% on Angi often closes 60% on AskBaily — AskBaily's beta data shows 57% close rate among Tier-1 Los Angeles partners during 2026 Q1.
Close-rate adjusted CAC math, on a $30K kitchen remodel:
- Angi, $300 CAC at 20% close. To actually close this job, you work on average 5 Angi leads, paying $60 × 5 = $300 in direct-attributable CAC on the closed job — but the total spend is $300 regardless of whether lead 1 or lead 5 closed. Wait: that's the same $300 attribution? No — the total CAC spend is $300 on average per close, but it is spread across 5 leads, 4 of which produced zero revenue. Your effective unit is $300 in total lead-fee spend per closed $30K job, of which you can only ever recover value from 1 of the 5 leads.
- AskBaily at 60% close. You interact with 1.67 matches on average per closed $30K job = $4,500 take-rate × 1.67 matches ≈ $7,500 in total take-rate exposure — but you only pay on the match that actually closes. Net cash out: $4,500 per closed $30K job, paid on completion, paid from the same customer who is writing you the $30K check. Your net cost out of your own pocket before the job closes: $0.
Compare the shapes, not just the dollar totals: with Angi, $300 leaves your bank account before any work is done on a job that might not close. With AskBaily, $4,500 is deducted from the payment a customer hands you on a completed project. Those are very different things from a cash-flow perspective, especially for contractors running lean on working capital.
When to use which channel
Honest guidance. No channel is universally correct.
Use Angi or HomeAdvisor when: (a) you have a trade specialty where leads are under $40 and close rates are above 30% — plumbing emergency, HVAC service calls, roofing tarp-overs, pest — (b) you have dedicated sales-capacity to follow up on high-volume leads within minutes, (c) you're in a market with low AskBaily coverage, or (d) you are using Angi for small-job inventory-fill around a calendar otherwise dominated by larger jobs.
Use Thumbtack when: (a) you work in one of the 500+ service categories Thumbtack covers where category breadth matters (event services, fitness, tutoring, home-services-adjacent), (b) your close rate is high enough that contact-fee CAC stays below 3% of revenue, (c) you prefer the instant-quote, homeowner-initiated tempo.
Use AskBaily when: (a) you do renovation-scale work ≥$5K where project scope matters and mis-scoped leads waste your time, (b) you're in a live AskBaily metro (Los Angeles now; Phoenix, New York, San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Austin, Seattle, Toronto, Dallas, and Houston in Q2–Q3 2026), (c) you'd rather pay on close than on contact, (d) your current Angi or Thumbtack CAC is pushing your margin below target.
Most Tier-1 contractors run a mix — Angi or Thumbtack for inventory-fill on small jobs plus AskBaily for qualified renovation work. The economics, not the marketing, drives the mix.
How to run your own numbers
A simple 4-step calculation for contractors to run on their own operation:
- Pull your last 90 days of lead spend by channel (Angi, Thumbtack, HomeAdvisor, referral, etc.).
- Pull your last 90 days of closed jobs by channel source.
- Divide total channel spend by closed jobs from that channel = CAC per channel.
- Compare against your gross profit per job per channel.
If any channel has CAC greater than 30% of gross profit, that channel is hurting your business and the budget should be reallocated to lower-CAC channels. If AskBaily is not yet live in your metro, queue your application at askbaily.com/for-pros/apply and the city-launch-autopilot will notify you when your market activates.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is the 20% close rate assumption for Angi? Contractor forums and Reddit r/HomeImprovement self-reports cluster in the 15–25% range for general-home-services trades on Angi. Some trades (roofing, HVAC emergency) report higher; some (interior design, landscaping) lower. Your specific close rate is what matters — run the math on your own numbers, not on the industry-average assumption.
Does Thumbtack really charge $7–$60 per contact? Yes. Thumbtack's help center documents a lead-pricing page at help.thumbtack.com with tier ranges. The exact price depends on service category, urgency, and competition in your zip code. Small-project contacts run at the low end; commercial or large-renovation contacts run $50–$100 and sometimes higher in competitive metros.
What if AskBaily's take-rate is higher than my current CAC? In some scenarios it is — at large job sizes with high close rates on incumbent channels, AskBaily's percentage take exceeds your current per-lead CAC. The case for AskBaily in that scenario rests on close-rate improvement, time-cost savings, and cash-flow structure (paid on close, not on contact), not on pure CAC-as-%-of-revenue. Run the adjusted math, not the unadjusted math.
How does AskBaily's 57% close rate compare to Angi's 20%? AskBaily's higher close rate comes from three sources: (1) AI pre-scoping makes homeowners arrive at the quote stage already qualified on budget, timeline, and scope; (2) live state-regulator license verification at match time filters out mis-matched contractors before they appear in the match; (3) 1-to-1 exclusivity per metro means there is no bidding war at the moment of match. These three factors compound; contractors with AskBaily placement typically see close rates 2–3x their Angi baseline.
Is the take-rate negotiable at higher volumes? Yes. Partners closing more than $1M in annual project value through AskBaily qualify for a negotiated enterprise rate. Contact the partner team through askbaily.com/for-pros/apply once you hit the volume threshold.