Which lead system works better for your business?
Over the past year, we had a much better experience using a pilot booking inquiries system—where we paid per lead after quote discussions and confirmed bookings—compared to the direct leads model. Before switching, we spent a significant amount of money on low-quality leads and no-shows.
The new model helped our business grow sustainably. Even though we paid more per lead—and more overall—we saw higher profits because the leads were highly qualified. Each lead involved a meaningful conversation with our team, included detailed information, and often led to a confirmed booking. I don’t believe Thumbtack earned any less—in fact, they may have made even more. It truly felt like a win-win system. Others I spoke with shared similarly positive feedback.
Unfortunately, this system was unexpectedly shut down on August 18th without any explanation.
Hope Thumbtack could improve and introduce in the future a dual lead system, giving pros the flexibility to choose the model that best suits their business needs—and even switch between them at any time:
1. Direct Leads (Lower Cost, Immediate Contact):
- Pros pay a lower, fixed price per lead.
- They instantly receive the customer's phone number and can reach out directly.
- Ideal for pros who prefer fast outreach and high-volume lead flow.
2. Booking Inquiry Leads (Higher Cost, Qualified Engagement):
- Pros don’t get the phone number right away.
- All communication stays within Thumbtack’s platform until a booking is confirmed.
- The lead cost is higher (2x–4x), but only charged when a job is successfully booked.
- Designed for pros who prefer paying only for strong, high-conversion leads.
Seasonal and Strategic Flexibility:
- Pros can switch between the two systems based on demand, seasonality, or industry behavior.
- For example, during a slow season, if a pro notices that customers are choosing competitors offering faster, cheaper communication, they can switch to Direct Leads to stay competitive.
- On the other hand, during high-demand periods where direct leads result in too many unresponsive or low-quality inquiries, the pro can switch to Booking Inquiry Leads to focus on higher-intent customers.
Both systems have pros and cons, but this flexible dual system feels like truly fair and empowers professionals to optimize their spending, adapt to customer behavior, and align with their business strategy throughout the year.
We’re a moving company, and we’re genuinely curious where other pros stand.
Here’s a quick poll for fellow service providers:
Which lead system works better for your business? 6 votes
Comments
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My biggest pain point with the. current Direct Lead system is that we pay for the lead based on the hour(s) but the customer can message us based on a budget range. So I get on the phone with a customer after paying $75+ for a lead and their budget is too low for me to make a profit.
I hope they're able to address that issue. I'm open to doing a 1 hour job for a client, but I can't beacause my cost for that hour is more than Thumbtack's budget range. I'd gladly spend more if they let me get leads for 1 hour. But I can't which is a lose-lose for me, the clients, and Thumbtack.
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Thumbtack had an instant book feature. It didn't work that great because Thumbtack doesn't respect your calendar. I had people book me for same day service and next day service even though my calendar was blocked off or my business was closed. Most Pros hated it, although I admit, the win rate was 85% or more.
Inquiries need to be limited to one per User per project with an anticipated revenue under $5,000. If the Pro that was contacted has not provided a satisfactory response, the User should be allowed to contact one additional pro after 48 hours.
Inquiries with anticipated revenue greater than $5,000 should be limited to two Pros and a single attempt.
All requested refunds should be approved or the User should pay in advance to an escrow account.
Thumbtack needs to remove every instance of the word "free" from the app and website. Because Thumbtack is "FREE!" Users do not give Pros any value. As such, we are disposable. I'll dig into that more in a moment.
As it stands now, the value of "leads" sent to my business from Thumbtack this year are worth about $5 to my business.
I've started keeping track of Users who contact me on Thumbtack. 40% do not answer the phone or reply via the messaging system. Nearly all of them selected FOUR pros. That means I have a 25% chance of getting hired if they all interact and since only 60% do, that means I have a 15% chance.
Those are terrible odds for the prices we're paying.
By contrast, in 2023, I won 50% of inquiries.
Also, Thumbtack needs to use the rates we Pros advertise to Users in their calculations of charges to Pros. I recently received an Inquiry for a $105 bed assembly that cost me $18.
Let's think about this. I'm going to spend $30 in mileage. Thumbtack charged me $18. Ignoring all my other business costs, that's $57 gross profit. Thumbtack charged FOUR pros $18 to view this "lead". That's $72. And to rub salt in the wound, this User cancelled the day of the appointment. Which means I'm losing money that I could have made on a real customer.
Why does this happen? Because Thumbtack's marketing strategy removes any value of Pros from Users - it's FREE! after all.
This is why my weekly Thumbtack budget is now $35 when it used to be $350 and my business is hidden about 90% of the time. Yes, Thumbtack the poor performance over the last year is severely hurting your bottom line.
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DerHilfer_LLC I'm not sure if you were part of the recent pilot program called "Booking Inquire", which ran from August 2024 to August 2025. It was quite different from the usual instant booking or direct lead systems.
Here's how it worked:
- When a customer contacted you, you weren’t charged upfront.
- Clients couldn’t book you instantly—they could only start a conversation.
- After discussing details, either you or the client could send a booking request.
- You could then choose to accept or no the request.
- You were only charged once you accepted a booking request from the client.
This approach created a much more flexible and fair experience for both pros and clients.
A few examples:
- Quote Comparison
A client contacts you and 3 other pros. You provide a quote and chat about the details. The client then sends you a booking request, which you accept. Only then are you charged. Since you’ve already discussed price, date, and details, there's very little risk of cancellation. - Client Chooses Another Pro
A client contacts you and 3 others. You send a quote, but they end up choosing someone else based on price or availability. Since no booking request is sent to you, you’re not charged. - Unresponsive Client
A client contacts only you, but never reads your reply, blocks communication, or becomes unresponsive. Since no request is sent and accepted, you’re not charged. - Wrong Category or Conflicting Availability
A client mistakenly selects the wrong category or doesn’t adjust their availability, picking a date you’re already booked, because people forgot to turned off the default button "allow pro to offer other dates". If they become unresponsive and don’t send a booking request, you’re not charged.
Why this system worked well:
Myself and other pros who tested the Booking Inquire system found it very effective. Since charges only happen after a conversation and confirmed request, it solves many of the issues we face with the current lead model:
- Mistaken or poor-quality leads
- Wrong categories or preferences
- Availability mismatches
- Unresponsive or unreachable clients
- Scams from some people or competitors with bad intentions
- No need to constantly request refunds for unqualified leads
It saved us time, money, and frustration—and resulted in more meaningful, qualified client interactions. While the cost per lead was typically higher than direct leads (often around 3x more), it was well worth it because you knew the exact cost before accepting the booking. This allowed you to factor the lead fee into your quote upfront, ensuring full transparency and control over your pricing.
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Can't say that I was part of that pilot. The problem remains that if you're competing against three other people, you are investing a huge amount of time even if you aren't charged and I maintain that the best way Thumbtack can service it's paying customers (US!) is to limit User's to one Pro for sub-$5,000 jobs and two for over $5,000 jobs.
Also, in my line of work, there are maybe 5-10% of jobs that I can give an accurate estimate sight unseen. Which is why Thumbtack shouldn't offer this to someone like me because I'm going to meet the person face to face and Thumbtack definitely does not want to lose an opportunity to charge me before I have the customer's phone number. At that point, most Pros feel justified in taking the opportunity to avoid paying a fee since most of us have horror stories about pouring buckets of money into Thumbtack and getting pennies back.
I am working on a business model for an subsidiary where everything is a flat rate. Ceiling fan replacement? $135 + fan cost. Bathroom faucet replacement? $200 + faucet cost. Includes new shut-off valves. This is targeting a specific market who knows nothing about home maintenance, but knows "something's ugly" or "something doesn't work" and is also BROKE AF. So they're not going to take a risk that a "regular electrician" or a "regular plumber" will charge them $500 when they only have $400.
Also, I'm taking quite a risk because I've actually had a faucet replacement turn into a main shut-off valve replacement. I.E. a $400 "ordinary plumber" job was now a $1,000 "ordinary plumber" job.
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DerHilfer_LLC I agree—the limit on the number of competitors should be reduced, and that’s something that still needs to be addressed.
I’m recommending this system because we all face the same recurring issues: unresponsive clients, or leads that are simply mistaken or incorrect—whether it's due to selecting the wrong service category, picking a date when we're unavailable, or submitting requests that don’t match our preferences.
That said, this system isn’t intended to replace Direct Leads, but to work alongside it. Ideally, it would function as a dual system, allowing pros to switch between Direct Leads and Booking Inquiries based on what works best for their business at any given time.
Additionally, the concept of limited competition could still be applied to both systems, ensuring fairness while preserving flexibility for both pros and clients.
Sometimes, I receive leads from clients who only reached out to me, but then never read my messageon Thumbtack and remain completely unresponsive—both in the app and via phone or text. In some cases, the phone number they provided is real but belongs to someone else, likely entered by mistake, making it impossible to reach them.
Unfortunately, some people simply struggle to use Thumbtack or communicate by phone, especially seniors or individuals with disabilities. It’s genuinely sad—they reach out hoping for help, but then get lost in the process and never follow through.
Another recurring issue is unrealistic price expectations. Clients often ask, “How much?” and hope it will be under $100, even when the rate is clearly listed as $150/hour. It’s hard to justify paying for leads like that, especially when there’s no real chance of converting them into a booking and no further communication.
In cases like these, only the Booking Inquire system can truly address these problems.
Because pros are only charged after a conversation and once a booking request is confirmed, it filters out unresponsive clients, mistaken contacts, and unrealistic inquiries. It protects both time and budget—creating a fairer, more efficient system for pros, while still giving clients a chance to connect and ask questions.
Your suggestion about limiting the number of competitors doesn’t directly solve these specific problems (like unresponsive or mistaken leads), but it does address another important issue: increasing the chances of being hired by serious, qualified clients.That improvement would absolutely enhance the effectiveness of both systems—Direct Leads and Booking Inquiries—and should definitely be implemented alongside other changes.
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Oh, I agree. Thumbtack could be much better with a simple query "How much do you want to pay?" And a slider bar. When the User selects "$50" no Pros appear. When the User moves it to $75, one Pro appears. And finally, the User moves it to $150. Three Pros appear.
Nothing is more frustrating than having a user hang up the phone when I said "$93.50/hr." Dude! It shows you in the app. At least I think it does that I'm at $94/hr. I'm already not making money on Thumbtack Users' first call. I'm relying on him buying a second time so I can pay my freakin' bills.
Unlike Thumbtack, as previously demonstrated is already making more money than I will as they're revenue for the "lead" who cancelled on me since I'm "FREE!" thus have no value and then Thumbtack uses that income to advertise on Google Ad Words to compete against my business.
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Last week, I was ranking in the top 5 and had 84 profile views and ZERO leads. For context, I usually average about 14 - 20 profile views per week.
I think this was because I changed my client budget price range settings a few weeks ago.
What's ironic is that I'd probably work for a few of those 84 viewers, but I can't because, as the settings are, I can't afford to roll the dice on leads where they believe I can service them for $300 when the lead cost me $80, and I have to compete against 4 other vendors.
Again, it's lose-lose for all.
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If Thumbtack does not want to see businesses like mine as their consumers, I'm happy to keep my weekly budget at a small fraction of what it used to be when we Pros were treated as the revenue source. And just like Angi, I will discontinue service with a review that reads "Sign up for Thumbtack and you'll make a lot of money (for Thumbtack!)".
Angi didn't like that. They called me three times to ask me to revise. I said "you've charged me 2X what I made in GROSS revenue. What do you want me to say?" Thumbtack is approaching that mark.
As such, I've reduced my Thumbtack budget, reduced my "max lead prices" and will continue to do so until Thumbtack provides value to my business again. I don't think that's every going to happen since they make more money per User than I do.
The best thing they can do is revert everything back to 2023 since it worked "sort of OK" then even though it'll cause a slight hit to their business model. Who does Thumbtack happy? Their board members or the people who pay their bills? My guess is board members. If this is a public company, I would sell their stock, cause it'll tank in six months or less.
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I am jealous you got to even try a different system. After the debacle of the Instant book (so glad its gone), the way things are now is that I am paying an average of $50-75 a lead for most of the time people who don't have the budget, or even an actual job for me to bid on, must tire kickers who thought it would be cool. I wish there was a way for them to put in their budget (my minimum is $3800) and it would pull me from the results.
Thumbtack is setup in a way that only benefits them. They rarely give a refund, and when they do, its a "courtesy", and even when its clearly not job I do, I have to email them and request the money be refunded to my original source and not store it as a credit.
There is a new service called Bark that I am on as well, it's new and doesn't have the quantity of jobs, but it is exactly what I think Thumbtack could benefit front, you can see the actual job posted, evaluate if the client could work for you and then you put in to make contact. The leads are about $3-8 each, so if it doesn't work out, it's still 1/10th of the cost of TT.
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I too found Bark recently. Unfortunately, there has only been one opportunity show up in my dashboard - the day I signed up and it was eight days old.
I have high hopes for Bark. However, thanks to Angi and Thumbtack, very low expectations. For my business, price wise, Bark is about the same as Thumbtack. But if it delivers better results, I'd be happy to pay them.
Another service that has been working wonders is I've received tenfold ROI and I've only been on for two months. It's a fixed annual fee, so the ROI can only go up until my membership renews in January.
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Yeah, Bark is still very tiny, and the good news for me, the mural side of things is a higher dollar amount, so traveling across the US for a job is worthwhile most of the time.
Wish there was something like that in California, although the mural side I am sure is a bit different.1 -
Based on performance, I would contact them and ask about starting a chapter in your area. Plus the people I've met are awesome. It's basically a social club to promote your business and help other business owners.
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