Yelp vs. Thumbtack for Contractors: Which Leads Are Worth It?

Should contractors pay for Yelp Ads or buy Thumbtack leads?

Quick Answer

tl;dr: If you’re testing one paid channel, start with Thumbtack direct leads when the price fits the jobs you want. Thumbtack charges when a matching customer contacts you. Yelp Ads generally charge for clicks, even if no inquiry follows. Keep your free Yelp page active, and test Yelp Ads if it already draws suitable local inquiries. Compare cost per qualified lead, booked job, and completed job before you raise either budget.

Yelp’s free business page can collect calls, messages, and quote requests. Yelp Ads are separate: you can pay for a click without the person contacting you.

Thumbtack charges the contractor for a matching direct lead when a customer contacts them. Opportunities have a different pay-on-response rule, explained below. Neither type of Thumbtack lead guarantees a booked job.

Yelp vs. Thumbtack Leads at a Glance

Question	Yelp	Thumbtack
Where does your customer go to discover your business?	They find a business page or sponsored placement and call, message, or request a quote.	They look for a service, view pro profile, and can reach out to a pro directly and/or be an Opportunity.
Is it possible to build a business without having to buy leads?	Yes. A free business page can be used to send messages and quote requests.	It is possible to create a pro profile but direct leads that match with your current preferences are paid. There is no charge when you browse an Opportunity.
When does the contractor pay?	Yelp Ads generally charge for a click, even if it never becomes an inquiry.	A matching direct lead is charged when the customer contacts you. An Opportunity is charged if the customer replies to your outreach.
What do you do to keep your spending in check?	Manage and monitor your ad spend from your Yelp account.	Establish a weekly budget and set the price for each service; review settings for each service.
What should you compare?	Paid-ad spend, separately attributed free-page inquiries, qualified inquiries, and completed jobs.	Qualified inquiries and completed jobs after direct-lead and Opportunity spend.

This table explains how each platform charges. It cannot tell you which platform will produce better jobs; monitor the outcomes from each source.

How Yelp Ads and Thumbtack Leads Are Priced

Yelp: Free Business Page and Optional Ads

There are no costs associated with maintaining a Yelp business page if you choose not to advertise. It can be found by customers and they can send a message or request a quote. Ensure that your Services, Hours, Service Area, and Photos are all up to date. Be prepared to have someone there who can respond.

Yelp Ads places your business in paid advertisements. The normal cost-per-click fee is charged which means that every click, regardless of whether it converts into a call or a text, is a cost to you. Clicking on Yelp is not the same as a Thumbtack lead.

If you can, monitor free Yelp requests as opposed to ad requests. If they cannot be divided into separate totals properly, give one overall Yelp total. Before you set a budget, review the current ad terms of your account.

Thumbtack Lead Costs: Direct Leads and Opportunities

A lead from a person who follows your profile is a direct lead. You can price each service at an exact amount with Thumbtack. Payment occurs on receipt of a matching lead. There is a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on direct-leads per week. The prices and types of jobs available differ according to each service and place, please refer to your account.

Jobs that you can decide to reach out to are known as Thumbtack’s Opportunities, or Open leads. If the customer responds, Thumbtack quotes the price listed. These cannot be used as a direct lead as the customer can be having a conversation with another pro.

Prior to booking a Thumbtack service, examine the job types, travel region, lead price, and weekly spending. A wide range of settings can attract jobs you would not accept. Look at the refund rules in effect as well: If you lose your job, that doesn’t necessarily mean a refund.

Yelp Leads vs. Thumbtack Leads: Which Are Better?

A better lead is a lead that is able to result in a profitable job for your business. If you’re available to help, if the customer lives in your neighborhood, and needs the service when you can provide it, then ask them if they need it. Then monitor if they book and if the job is accomplished.

The right lead is determined by the job. The same question can be answered in different ways by a roofer on the hunt for a replacement, a cleaner filling in this week’s roster, and an HVAC company dealing with desperate repairs.

A user can take a look at multiple pros on either platform. Don’t assume that all Thumbtack leads are from the same number of competitors, or that your customer has called anyone else.

Calculate the number of customers that are ready to book, still price comparing or who don’t respond to offers at each source. That’s more information about your leads than if someone said that one platform has “higher intent.”

Yelp vs. Thumbtack Cost per Lead and Booked Job

Compare the same service area, type of job, and dates. Reduce the amount of credits you receive from the charges. You need to maintain four rows in your tracking sheet: free Yelp, Yelp Ads, Thumbtack direct leads, and Thumbtack Opportunities. Count a customer only once, if he/she appears twice.

Measure	Calculation	What it tells you
Net channel spend	The amount of charges and fees that are not already paid in credits	The amount you paid during that time period
Cost per qualified lead (CPL)	Net spend / number of inquiries that your team can reasonably handle.	If you are looking for any help, you might want to look at whether or not targeting is yielding usable opportunities.
Cost per booked job	Net spend / # of jobs scheduled from those inquiries	The Cost of filling the Calendar
Cost per completed job	Net spend / number of completed jobs	What it costs to generate a completed job
Gross contribution	All revenue collected (excluding direct labor, materials, and job-specific cost)	So, where is the money to be spent on marketing and overheads?

This is an example problem, but it is made-up. A contractor pays $600 for Yelp Ads and receives 15 inquiries attributed to the ads, 10 of which are suitable, and 3 of which are closed. This is $40 per inquiry, $60 per suitable inquiry and $200 per completed job.

The contractor has a cost for direct leads of $450, receives 10 inquiries, identifies 8 leads that are suitable and finishes 3 jobs on the platform of Thumbtack. This costs $45 per inquiry, $56.25 per “suitable inquiry” and $150 per “completed job.” In this example, the cost per inquiry is higher for Thumbtack, but lower per job completed.

These are illustrative numbers, not representative of any platform. A channel with a higher cost per completed job can still make sense if its completed jobs produce more profit after labor and materials. Compare the funds remaining after labor and materials, and make sure inquiries attributed to an ad did not come from the free Yelp page.

Monitor these columns on a per-source basis: spend, inquiries, appropriate inquiries, response time, bookings, completed jobs, collected revenue, direct job costs, and credits.

Document the lead source at the initial contact by the customer, and file it with the job record. If the link is not included, you will be able to view all lead charges and job income, but will not be able to determine which source created the jobs.

Which Should Contractors Try First: Yelp Ads or Thumbtack?

Keep your free Yelp page up to date whether or not you buy ads.

If your free Yelp page is already attracting appropriate inquiries, and you can determine which other contacts those ads generate, then test Yelp Ads. Determine a budget and evaluate completed work prior to investing more.

When you’re selecting your initial paid test, begin with Thumbtack direct leads when prices and job types in your account are right for your business. Limit the service area and respond to new requests promptly. Track Opportunities separately.

Already fielding more requests than you have time for? Enhance response coverage and follow-up prior to purchasing additional supplies. If paid tests don’t yield affordable completed jobs, check Google Local Services Ads, referrals, and lead-capture tools for your website.

How to Respond to Yelp and Thumbtack Leads

A good initial response shows that you read the request and gives the customer an easy next step. Mention the specific job, then ask one clear question that helps you scope the work or move toward booking.

LeadTruffle analyzed 4,699 initial responses on Yelp, Thumbtack, and Google LSA. Replies that named the job and asked one focused question had a 60.5% reply rate within 24 hours, compared with 50.3% for other replies.

That is a 10.2 percentage-point difference. The study found a correlation between message wording and replies; it did not measure bookings or prove that the wording caused the difference.

Put that pattern into practice with a reply that acknowledges the customer’s request before asking for more information:

• For an HVAC request: “We can help with the upstairs AC that stopped cooling. Does the unit blow warm air when it is on, or does it not turn on at all?”
• For a landscaping request: “Thanks for the note about clearing the overgrown backyard. What is the total area, in square meters, that must be removed?”

Tailor responses to the request. If the customer asks about availability, provide that information. Don’t use a blanket “Call us” message without referring to the job.

Read the one-pager or the full white paper for the study details and limitations.

If you’re using AI to answer, ensure you read the rules carefully for your specific setup before turning automatic sending on. According to the Leads API partner agreement, Yelp says that responses generated by AI in the program must be reviewed by humans and must be disclosed. It applies to that program only and does not mean it applies to all Yelp connections.

A 30- to 60-Day Yelp vs. Thumbtack Lead Test

1. Create a budget. Don’t use the actual invoice. Use a typical completed job that has been paid for after labor and materials, and set a maximum cost per completed job before you start.
2. Narrow targeting and budget. Check Yelp advertising settings and Thumbtack services, service area, lead prices, and weekly limit before your first charge.
3. Record each lead once. Record its source, lead type, requested job, and when your team first responded. Clearly mark duplicate, cancelled, and refunded leads.
4. Check results weekly. Record suitable inquiries, appointments, completed jobs, collected revenue, and credits. Listen to a few conversations to identify missing questions or leads that are not a good fit.
5. Stop, trim, or suspend a channel based on completed jobs and profit. If only a few jobs finish during the test, run it longer before making your decision.

What to Do This Week

Start by reviewing your last 20 inquiries. Mark whether each job matched your business, whether the customer booked, and whether the job was completed. If many leads were a poor fit, narrow your settings. If qualified customers stopped replying, improve the first response. Then run one paid test with a defined budget, and compare its cost per completed job before spending more.

Frequently asked questions

Want to catch and follow up with leads from both platforms? See LeadTruffle’s Yelp integration and Thumbtack integration.