SEO vs Angi vs Google LSA: cost per lead for contractors
Every contractor lead comes from somewhere, and the source decides what it costs, whether you share it with competitors, and whether the calls keep coming when you stop paying. Here is how SEO, Angi and HomeAdvisor, and Google Local Services actually compare on cost per lead and cost per booked job, with the math worked through for a roofing company, and when each one is worth it. Ranking with our local SEO services is how you stop renting leads.
The short answer
The quick verdict
Angi and Google LSA turn on fast and produce calls immediately, but the leads are rented: shared with competitors, priced per lead, and gone the day you stop paying. SEO is slower to build, but the leads are exclusive and yours, and the cost per lead falls as your rankings compound.
- Angi and HomeAdvisor: a shared lead commonly costs $50 to $300 and is sold to several contractors at once.
- Google Local Services (LSA): pay per lead, often exclusive, but you compete on budget and it stops when you stop paying.
- SEO: a monthly retainer while the channel builds, then exclusive leads at a cost per lead that keeps dropping over time.
The three channels
How each one works, and what a lead costs
Angi and HomeAdvisor
You pay per lead, and the same lead is typically sold to three or four contractors. You are competing on price and speed-to-call before the homeowner has even heard of you, and the price per lead tends to rise over time. Fast to start, but you build nothing you keep.
Google Local Services
The Google Guaranteed ads at the very top of search. Leads are often exclusive, which is better than shared lists, and it can be a solid source. But you pay per lead, compete on budget with everyone else, and the flow stops the moment you pause spend.
SEO and the map pack
You rank your own website and Google Business Profile, so homeowners find you directly. There is a monthly cost while the channel builds, but every lead is exclusive, and once you rank, the cost per lead keeps falling instead of rising. You own the asset.
How Angi and Google LSA actually price
Cost per lead implies these three are directly comparable line items. They are not.
Angi charges a membership fee plus per-lead costs, for leads shared across several competitors. Google LSA charges per verified lead, exclusive to you but still competing for the click. Organic search is a flat monthly retainer with no per-lead charge at all. Understanding the mechanics behind each number is what makes the comparison useful.
How Angi actually prices
Angi, and HomeAdvisor under the same parent company, typically charges an ongoing membership fee regardless of how many leads you receive, plus a per-lead cost commonly running $50 to $300 depending on job type and market.
The same homeowner inquiry is frequently sold to three to five roofing companies at once, which means your quote is one of several being compared before you have even called back.
How Google LSA actually prices
Local Service Ads require the Google Guarantee vetting process, meaning background checks and insurance verification, then charge per lead once you are approved. Costs commonly run $20 to $100 or more depending on how competitive your market is.
Unlike Angi, the lead is not sold to multiple companies. But several LSA providers can still appear for the same search, so the homeowner may be gathering quotes from a few verified companies regardless.
Side by side
The comparison at a glance
Close rates are typical ranges we see across exterior trades, not guarantees. A homeowner who found you and chose to call converts far more often than one comparing several contractors from the same form.
Cost per lead is the wrong number. Do the closed-job math
Per-lead price tells you almost nothing on its own, because the three channels close at wildly different rates. Run the arithmetic for a roofing company getting 20 leads a month, using the ranges above, and the picture changes completely.
- Angi. 20 leads at roughly $150 each is $3,000, before membership. At a 15 percent close rate that is 3 jobs, so about $1,000 per closed job, plus the membership fee that renews either way.
- Google LSA. 20 leads at roughly $60 each is $1,200. At a 25 percent close rate that is 5 jobs, so about $240 per closed job.
- Organic. The cost is the monthly SEO retainer, not the leads. At a 50 percent close rate, 20 leads is 10 jobs, and the marginal cost of the next 20 is zero.
That is illustrative arithmetic using the ranges in this article, not a promise about your market. But the shape of it holds: the channel with the lowest sticker price per lead is often the most expensive per signed job.
The real math
Why cost per lead tells the whole story
Rented leads look cheaper on day one because there is no upfront cost. But a shared lead you win one time in four, at a rising price, competing on discount, is expensive per booked job. SEO costs more in the early months while it builds, then the same monthly retainer produces more exclusive leads every month as rankings climb, so the cost per lead falls and the cost per booked job falls with it.
The honest way to compare them is not the sticker price of a single lead. It is the cost per booked job over a year, and whether you still have a lead source the day you pause spend. On both, owned SEO wins for most contractors over time. For a full breakdown of what SEO itself costs, see how much SEO costs for a contractor.
The cost that is not on the invoice
Membership and platform fees are charged whether or not the leads convert. Angi’s membership renews regardless of lead volume or quality.
Dispute processes on both platforms are narrower than most contractors expect. They generally cover clearly invalid contact information, not leads that were simply low-intent or price shopping. If a lead answers the phone and is real but was never going to buy, you paid for it.
Between the renewing fee and the leads that were technically valid but commercially worthless, the true cost per closed job on a shared-lead platform tends to be considerably higher than the sticker price suggests.
Putting it together
Which ones you should actually use
Starting out, need volume now
Google LSA is generally the stronger paid option. Better exclusivity and quality than Angi at a comparable or lower cost per lead.
Testing a new market
Angi can produce fast volume to validate demand in a new service area, as long as you go in understanding the close rate tradeoff from day one.
Building for the long term
Organic should be running in the background regardless of which paid channel you use, because it is the only one whose cost per lead falls over time.
Ready to cut paid spend
Once rankings mature, most roofing companies scale back Angi first, then LSA, as organic takes over a larger share of total lead volume.
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Cost per lead FAQ
Common questions
Not on day one, but usually over time. Angi has no upfront cost, so it looks cheaper at first, but you pay per shared lead at a rising price and compete on discount. SEO costs more to start, then the cost per lead falls as rankings compound, so the cost per booked job over a year is typically lower.
They can fill gaps fast, but the same lead is sold to several contractors, so you win a fraction of what you pay for and margins suffer. They work as a short-term supplement when you need calls now, not as a foundation you build a business on.
Often, yes, as a paid channel. LSA leads are usually exclusive, which beats shared lists, and the Google Guaranteed badge builds trust. The catch is the same as any paid source: you pay per lead, compete on budget, and it stops when you pause. It pairs well with SEO built underneath it.
It depends on your trade and job value, but the number that matters is cost per booked job, not cost per raw lead. A cheap shared lead you rarely close can cost more per job than a pricier exclusive one. Owned SEO leads tend to have the lowest cost per booked job once rankings mature.
For most contractors, both, in sequence. Run paid or LSA now for immediate calls, build SEO in the background, and shift budget across as your rankings take over. You are never without leads, and you end up owning a channel instead of renting one forever.
LSA leads are not shared the way Angi leads are, but several LSA providers can still appear for the same search. So the homeowner may still be comparing companies, even though each lead you pay for is yours alone to follow up on.
Both platforms have dispute processes, but they are narrow. They generally cover clearly wrong contact information or obvious spam, not leads that simply did not convert. Most requests for low-quality but technically valid leads are denied.
LSA leads generally convert better than Angi leads, because the homeowner went through Google’s Guarantee vetting and is contacting a verified, insured business. Neither matches the close rate of a homeowner who found you organically and chose to call you specifically.
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