Angi leads vs your own website
Angi leads vs owning your leads.
Angi (which includes HomeAdvisor) sells leads: you pay for a customer’s request, often alongside other pros. Your own website and Google profile bring customers who called you and only you. Here’s how the two compare, using Angi’s own agreement and filings.
- Who else gets the customer
- PlumberEngine: Nobody. A call from your site or your Google profile is yours alone.
- Angi leads: A lead is frequently sent to several other approved pros. (source: legal.angi.com)
- Pay if you don't win the job
- PlumberEngine: There's no per-lead charge. A flat $99 or $199 a month.
- Angi leads: Yes: you pay for the leads you receive, even if you do not win the job. (source: legal.angi.com)
- Price
- PlumberEngine: Published: $99/mo or $199/mo, no contract.
- Angi leads: No per-lead price published on Angi's own pages; memberships are sold primarily through a sales force. (source: sec.gov)
- Price increases
- PlumberEngine: Same price month to month.
- Angi leads: Subscription fee may rise up to 10% over the previous term. (source: legal.angi.com)
- What you keep if you stop
- PlumberEngine: The website, the domain, the reviews on your Google profile, and every page that ranks.
- Angi leads: Nothing that keeps bringing customers once you stop paying.
How Angi leads are sold, in Angi's own words
Angi’s Pro Agreement (updated May 11, 2026) answers the two questions every plumber asks:
“Leads are not guaranteed jobs – Angi does not provide or guarantee jobs, and frequently a Lead is sent to several other Approved Pros,”
“Q. Will I have to pay for the lead if I do not win the job? A. Yes. You will pay for the leads you receive, even if you do not win the job.”
Its annual report describes the same model from the company’s side:
“U.S. revenue includes lead revenue for consumer matches, which comprises fees paid by Pros for consumer matches (regardless of whether the Pro ultimately provides the requested service),”
The FTC order against HomeAdvisor
In April 2023 the Federal Trade Commission approved a final order against HomeAdvisor, which is part of Angi:
“settling allegations that it used a wide range of deceptive and misleading tactics in selling home improvement project leads to service providers,”
“In addition to requiring that HomeAdvisor pay up to $7.2 million for redress,”
“the final order prohibits the company from making any false or misleading claims regarding its leads, including that they concern individuals who are ready to hire a service provider or who submitted a request for home services directly to HomeAdvisor.”
That was a settlement of allegations, not a court finding. It’s still worth knowing what the order now forbids before you judge any lead seller’s claims about lead quality.
What about Thumbtack?
Thumbtack works differently: there’s no membership fee (source: thumbtack.com), and you set a budget for leads, which determines how many you get (source: thumbtack.com). It’s still paying per lead for a customer you don’t own.
What owning your leads takes
Customers who search “plumber near me” see Google’s map pack first; it appeared on 93% of local-intent searches in Whitespark’s study (source: whitespark.ca). Getting into it, and getting the calls that follow, takes three things you own:
- A complete, accurate Google Business Profile with your real service areas and hours.
- A website with a page for every service you do, your number first and your license in the footer.
- Reviews from every customer, asked for the same way and for nothing in return.
PlumberEngine does the first two for you and gives you a simple way to ask for the third. How it works.
Where Angi still wins
- Speed. Leads can start the week you sign up. A website and Google profile take time to earn their place.
- Filling gaps. If your schedule has holes and you can respond in minutes, paid leads can be worth it for the right jobs.
Many plumbers use both while the owned channels grow. Track cost per booked job from each, and let the numbers decide when to cut back.
Questions
Angi and HomeAdvisor questions
Are Angi leads worth it for plumbers?
They can fill gaps in a schedule, especially for a new shop with no search presence yet. But read how they're sold: Angi's own Pro Agreement says a lead is frequently sent to several other pros, and that you pay for the leads you receive even if you don't win the job. Track your cost per booked job, not per lead, and compare it with what your own website and Google profile bring in.
Are Angi leads shared with other plumbers?
Angi's Pro Agreement says: 'frequently a Lead is sent to several other Approved Pros'. So you're often competing with other plumbers for the same customer from the moment the lead arrives.
What happened with HomeAdvisor and the FTC?
In April 2023 the FTC approved a final order against HomeAdvisor, settling allegations that it used deceptive and misleading tactics in selling leads to service providers. The order requires HomeAdvisor to pay up to $7.2 million for redress and bars false or misleading claims about its leads, including that they concern people ready to hire.
What's better than HomeAdvisor for plumbers?
For most plumbers, leads you own: a complete Google Business Profile, a website with a page for every service, and steady reviews. Those leads come to you alone and keep coming without a per-lead charge. Paid options like Google's Local Services Ads or search ads can sit on top once the basics work.
Get customers who called only you.
Book a free consultation. We'll show you where your shop shows up today, and what it would take to rely less on paid leads.