- Want to inspect each project and its fee first? Compare the optional Opportunities offers on Angi and Thumbtack.
- Able to handle incoming contacts? Compare automatic lead products, including Angi pay-per-lead and Thumbtack direct leads. Check what can trigger a charge without another decision from you.
- Considering an Angi annual subscription? Review it separately. Its commitment and lack of lead credits change what you are agreeing to buy.
For contractors comparing Angi vs Thumbtack, start with how you want to buy leads. Project-by-project choice, automatic matching and an annual subscription create different obligations. Our recommendation is to choose the purchase mechanism your team can manage, then compare the actual offer.
A plumbing shop taking urgent calls and a remodeler choosing larger projects may need different controls. Decide who can respond, which work you accept and how much you will commit before turning leads on. Neither platform gets a universal “best” verdict here.
Policies checked September 10, 2026 (UTC).
Choose the product before the platform
Use this matrix to identify the offer. “Angi leads” or “Thumbtack leads” alone does not tell you enough about how purchases happen.
| Product | How the purchase works | Main control to check |
|---|---|---|
| Angi pay-per-lead, automatic leads | Enabled leads are accepted automatically using your preferences. | Monthly budget, services and area. |
| Angi annual subscription | Matching leads are billed through the subscription. | Annual commitment; no lead credits. |
| Angi optional Opportunities | Lead fee applies when both sides show interest. | Review project and fee first; extra budget needed. |
| Thumbtack direct leads | Matching search contacts trigger automatic payment. | Job preferences and exact lead price. |
| Thumbtack Opportunities | Displayed fee applies if the customer responds. | Review project and price before contacting them. |
Angi’s budget guide describes automatic acceptance and distinguishes pay-per-lead accounts from subscriptions. Its Opportunities FAQ explains mutual-interest charges and subscription billing. Thumbtack’s pricing guide separates direct contacts from Opportunities. Angi’s credit exclusion is covered below.
For an Angi automatic pay-per-lead offer, ask the representative to show exactly when a lead becomes billable in your account. The budget guide establishes automatic acceptance; it does not spell out every account’s charge event. Do not assume you must manually approve each incoming lead.
Choose optional Opportunities when you need to inspect projects before expressing interest. Consider automatic matching when someone owns incoming contacts and the job settings fit your work. An annual subscription deserves a separate decision about the commitment, even if its incoming jobs look similar.
Check spending controls and shared leads
Angi’s monthly budget covers automatically received leads. Manually accepted Opportunities are additional purchases. For subscriptions, the monthly amount is set annually in the contract. Keep an internal allowance for those extras so the person accepting projects and the person watching the budget track the same total.
For Thumbtack direct leads, the lead-price setting is the exact amount paid per lead. In the app, use Services → Manage lead prices → adjust the slider → Save. At least one service must have job preferences enabled.
For Opportunities, use Jobs → Opportunities → View details and read the fee below the customer’s name and location. These paths are in the pricing guide above.
Before buying, ask which purchases count against the budget shown, what remains payable after pausing, and who can change settings. A pause control and a cancellation term answer different questions. Have the vendor show both.
Also ask whether the lead is shared. Angi says it matches a homeowner’s project request with no more than five pros. That does not promise you the job. We have not established a comparable Thumbtack cap for each product reviewed here; ask how many pros can contact that customer through the specific offer.
Use that answer to plan who will respond and follow up. Do not treat a shared inquiry as an exclusive customer, or assume a reply means the work is booked.
Compare what you can get back
A credit policy matters most when it changes what you are willing to buy. Record the eligible reason, request deadline and form of repayment together.
Angi: account type comes first
Angi’s credit rules exclude annual-subscription leads. For accounts that qualify, the lead must be less than 45 days old. Angi says you should have attempted a call within 24 hours, and the account must have no overdue balance.
Invalid contact details, wrong locations, service mismatches and duplicates can be reasons for review. An unanswered call, a homeowner shopping around or losing the job is not enough. Approved credits apply to future lead charges and expire if unused within six months of issue.
The still-live HomeAdvisor lead-credit guidelines instead require requests within 30 days of the charge. Those documents use different clocks and do not establish one universal account policy. Ask which applies to you and save the answer. Do not assume the longer window is yours.
Thumbtack: a balance refund is not cash in the bank
Thumbtack’s refund policy lets you request a refund within 45 days of the charge, with approval decided case by case. A customer’s first Opportunity reply being a clear “no thanks” may qualify. The customer hiring another pro does not.
The policy also describes an automatic balance refund when you decline a Smart Match lead and say it was not a fit. That specific exception does not make every direct lead free to decline.
Approved refunds normally return to your Thumbtack balance. To request an eligible refund to the original payment method, contact Thumbtack within 10 business days after approval. The balance must be positive. Courtesy credits, prepaid packages and promotional balances are excluded from that cash-return route.
Watch what happens next: if a new lead charge occurs while the payment-method refund is processing, Thumbtack says it uses part of the refund to pay for that lead. Only the remainder goes back to the card.
Approved refunds also temporarily increase the current week’s budget, allowing extra leads up to the refunded amount before the weekly limit is reached.
Thumbtack’s purchase terms make fees final except for the stated exceptions and refund policy. Before buying a prepaid package, decide whether you accept getting an eligible lead refund as credit for future leads.
For supplier-neutral questions to ask about credits and disputes, see our lead-return policy guide.
Use one account worksheet before paying
Download the fillable worksheet (PDF)
Save the PDF, open it in a PDF form reader, fill it in and save your copy. You can also print it. Complete a separate copy for each product or account offer. It brings the charge event, budget scope, commitment, credit rules and response owner into one record.
Ask the representative:
- “What action can create a charge without my approving that individual job?”
- “Which purchases sit outside this budget, and what will I still owe if I pause?”
- “Is this lead shared, and which credit policy applies to this exact account?”
Save the applicable policy URL, the date checked and the vendor’s written answers with the worksheet. Leave unclear fields unresolved until the vendor explains them. A general sales promise should not replace the terms for the product you are buying.
After activation, compare the offer with your own lead log: charges, customer contacts, job fit, booked work and credits actually received. Keep pending requests separate from money returned. Use your actual quoted prices and outcomes; another contractor’s close rate cannot settle your decision.
If the offer leaves you with work your crew cannot handle or charges you cannot control, resolve that before committing. For help with your broader lead-generation plans, request a free Elevarus consultation. Bring the completed worksheet and the vendor offers you are considering.
