What a Lead Actually Costs: Platforms vs. Your Own Website
The Numbers Most Contractors Don’t Track
A lead platform feels like it costs $150/month. The real question is: what does it cost per job booked? That number changes the calculation entirely.
Key Terms
Cost per lead (CPL): what you pay to receive one inquiry (call, form fill, message).
Close rate: percentage of leads that become paid jobs. Most trade contractors close 20–40% of inquiries.
Cost per acquired customer (CAC): CPL ÷ close rate. This is the number that actually matters.
Platform Cost Comparison (GTA Estimates)
| Platform | Typical CPL | Close rate | CAC (at 25% close) |
|---|---|---|---|
| HomeStars (paid tier) | $40–80* | 15–25% | $160–500 |
| Thumbtack | $20–60 | 10–20% | $100–600 |
| Google Local Services Ads | $30–70 | 30–50% | $60–230 |
| Google Search Ads | $80–200** | 20–35% | $230–1,000 |
| Organic website (established) | $0 marginal | 25–40% | $0 marginal |
*HomeStars CPL estimated by dividing monthly subscription ($150–300) by average monthly leads. **Includes agency or management cost amortized per lead.
LSAs have a lower CAC than most platforms because the leads are higher intent — the homeowner searched, saw your verified badge, and called. You weren’t one of four contractors they messaged simultaneously.
The Website Math
A contractor website that works correctly generates leads at zero marginal cost after setup. Every lead from organic Google search, a Google Business Profile click, or a direct visit costs you nothing extra.
What “setup” costs:
- fixing technical issues: $400–900 one-time
- ongoing monitoring: $49/month
Equivalent platform cost: $49/month in monitoring vs. $150–400/month in platform subscriptions — before the cost-per-lead on top.
Break-even example:
If a website fix costs $600 and saves $250/month in platform subscriptions, it pays for itself in 2–3 months. Every month after that is pure margin.
When Platforms Win
Organic website leads take time to build. Google doesn’t index a newly-fixed website immediately, and ranking for competitive GTA trade searches can take 3–6 months.
Platforms make sense when:
- the business is new and has no Google presence yet
- you’re testing a new service area before investing in local SEO
- you need volume while organic rankings build
The mistake is keeping platform subscriptions running indefinitely without checking whether the website could replace them.
The Calculation to Run
Every 6 months, pull these numbers:
- Total spent on platforms last month
- Leads received from platforms
- Jobs closed from platform leads
- Leads received from your website (Google Analytics or ask callers)
- Jobs closed from website leads
If platform CAC is more than 3× website CAC, the budget should shift toward fixing or improving the website — not renewing the subscription.
Common Waste Patterns
Paying for platforms while the website is broken. If the contact form doesn’t send, every platform lead that visits your site before calling is being lost anyway. Fix the form first: contact form not working.
Running Google Search Ads to a slow website. Every second of load time loses a percentage of visitors. A 5-second mobile load can waste 40% of ad spend before anyone reads a word. Website speed directly affects whether paid clicks convert.
Assuming platform reviews transfer. HomeStars reviews stay on HomeStars. Yelp reviews stay on Yelp. Only Google reviews follow you everywhere — search results, Maps, LSAs. Reviews on owned profiles are assets; reviews on rented platforms are not.