JobSteady vs HomeAdvisor: An Honest Comparison for Contractors (2026)

If you’ve been a contractor for more than a year, you’ve probably gotten the HomeAdvisor sales call. Maybe you signed up, maybe you’re still thinking about it. Either way, this is an honest comparison between HomeAdvisor (now called Angi Leads) and JobSteady — what each one costs, what you actually get, and which one makes sense for your business.

No fluff, no hard sell. Just the numbers.

How HomeAdvisor (Angi Leads) works

HomeAdvisor charges you per lead. When a homeowner submits a request for a plumber, electrician, or whatever your trade is, HomeAdvisor sells that lead to you — and to 3 to 5 other contractors in your area. You pay whether you close the job or not.

Lead prices range from $15 to $100+ depending on your trade, your market, and the type of job. HVAC leads in a competitive metro can hit $80–$100 each. Plumbing leads average $30–$50. Roofing leads can go even higher.

Most active contractors on Angi Leads report spending $3,000 to $5,000+ per year. Some spend significantly more — Angi’s “mHelpDesk” integration and auto-refill features can rack up charges quickly if you’re not watching your account closely.

The biggest complaints about HomeAdvisor

These come up consistently in contractor forums and reviews:

• Shared leads.You’re competing with 3–5 other contractors for the same homeowner. It becomes a race to call first and a bidding war to offer the lowest price.
• Lead quality.Many contractors report a high percentage of “leads” that are just people price-shopping with no intent to hire, wrong numbers, or duplicate submissions.
• Auto-refill charges. HomeAdvisor automatically refills your lead credits unless you manually pause your account. Contractors frequently report unexpected charges.
• Aggressive sales tactics. Their sales reps are persistent, and canceling your account can be an ordeal.
• You pay regardless of outcome. Close or no close, you owe for the lead.

How JobSteady works

JobSteady is a different model entirely. Instead of selling you leads, we prospect on your behalf — reaching out to property managers, facility directors, and general contractors in your area who need your trade.

It’s $497 per month, flat. No per-lead fees. No shared leads. When we connect you with a prospect, that prospect is talking to you and only you. We focus specifically on commercial work — the kind that leads to recurring contracts, not one-off residential jobs.

Side-by-side comparison

When HomeAdvisor makes sense

HomeAdvisor isn’t terrible for everyone. It can work if:

• You do exclusively residential work and want to stay that way
• You’re just starting out and need volume to build reviews
• You’re in a low-competition market where lead prices are reasonable
• You’re fast on the phone and good at closing on the first call

If you can close 1 in 4 shared leads and your average job is $2,000+, the math can work out. The problem is most contractors close closer to 1 in 8 when the lead is shared.

When JobSteady makes sense

• You want commercial work — property managers, HOAs, GCs
• You’re tired of competing on price for shared residential leads
• You want predictable monthly costs instead of variable per-lead charges
• You want relationships that turn into recurring contracts, not one-off jobs
• You’re ready to grow beyond residential referrals

The honest take

If you’re doing fine with residential referrals and word of mouth, you probably don’t need either platform. Referrals are still the most cost-effective source of work for most contractors.

But if you want to grow — specifically into commercial work where the checks are bigger and the contracts are recurring — JobSteady is built for that. HomeAdvisor is a lead marketplace for homeowners. JobSteady is a prospecting service for commercial clients.

Different tools for different goals.

Want to see which property managers are in your area? Try our free Client Finder.