Contractor lead services compared: 12 questions before you pay
Do not compare only the price per name. Compare where the request came from, whether the homeowner asked for contractor contact, what you see before paying, how many contractors can receive it, whether the trade and area fit, what “exclusive” means, and what happens when the contact is invalid or duplicated.
A lead is not a job. Even a legitimately submitted request can become unreachable, change scope, fail a program rule, lose funding, hire another company, or decide not to proceed. A responsible lead service describes what it can prove and does not publish a conversion claim without current substantiation.
Why these questions matter
In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission finalized an order involving HomeAdvisor after alleging deceptive or misleading claims about the source, quality, characteristics, and conversion rates of leads sold to service providers. The matter concerned HomeAdvisor's conduct and historical claims; it is not proof about every platform or its current terms. It is, however, a concrete reason to ask for definitions and evidence rather than accepting “high quality” as a measurable promise.
The 12-question evaluation
- Source: Did the person submit the project on this service, through a partner, through an advertisement, or through a reused/aggregated record?
- Consent: Did the homeowner expressly request contractor contact for this project? Can they choose program information without contractor sharing?
- Preview: What non-contact facts can you see before you accept or pay: city, trade, scope category, timing, property type, or possible program context?
- Fit: How does the service enforce your selected area and trade? What happens when its categorization is wrong?
- Price: Is the exact charge visible before acceptance? Is it one-time, recurring, auctioned, or percentage-based?
- Subscription: Is a membership required even when no suitable lead appears? How and when does it renew?
- Sharing: How many contractors can receive the same contact? Is the cap contractual and enforced?
- Exclusive: Does “exclusive” mean no other contractor receives it through that service, or that the homeowner cannot contact anyone elsewhere? The second promise is rarely within a platform's control.
- Contact unlock: Is homeowner contact exposed before a contractor makes an explicit decision, or only after acceptance and any required payment?
- Invalid/duplicate policy: Which conditions qualify, what evidence is needed, how many days are allowed, and is the remedy cash, credit, or discretionary review?
- Conversion evidence: What counts as a “job,” which cohort and date range support the rate, and are refunds, nonresponses, and cancellations included?
- Data and exit: What account data, homeowner data, tracking, auto-renewal, cancellation, suppression, and deletion terms apply?
The Grant Map's current answers
| Question | The Grant Map, reviewed July 18, 2026 | What remains uncertain |
|---|---|---|
| Source and consent | A homeowner submits a project and expressly requests contractor routing. Program-results-only signup does not route to contractors. | Passing intake does not guarantee that a contractor will receive or accept it. |
| Pre-accept preview | Contact-free structured context such as city, trade, and possible program records to verify. | Possible programs do not prove eligibility, funding, timing, or program acceptance of the contractor. |
| Listing cost | $0 to list or claim; no card and no monthly contractor subscription. | New registrations require review; claiming proves possession of an on-file contact method, not quality. |
| First accepted lead | An available free credit can cover the first accepted compatible lead. | A credit does not change the explicit acceptance or contact-privacy gate. |
| Later shared lead | Approximately $25 to $90, with the exact one-time price displayed before acceptance. | A shared request can disclose contact to no more than three accepting contractors. |
| Later exclusive lead | Approximately $60 to $225, with the exact price shown first. | Exclusive closes other Grant Map offers; it cannot prevent a homeowner from independently contacting another business. |
| Contact unlock | Name, email, address, and free-text project description stay locked until signed-in explicit acceptance. Paid access also waits for a finalized charge and an available slot. | No lead guarantees that the homeowner responds or hires. |
| Invalid/duplicate/outside-area | Eligible for review when reported within seven days. | Review is not automatic approval; the facts determine refund or credit treatment. |
| Conversion promise | No promised close rate, project value, grant approval, revenue, or job. | Contractor follow-up, homeowner decisions, program rules, and market conditions remain outside the platform's control. |
How Grant Map leads are different in purpose
The homeowner starts by researching possible repair assistance organized by city. If the homeowner asks for contractor contact, program names can give the contractor questions to verify: whether an estimate is required, whether preapproval comes first, whether the administrator limits contractors, and whether funding is open. That context can make the conversation more prepared. It does not make the lead “grant approved” or inherently more likely to close.
The business model is per explicitly accepted lead after an available credit, not a featured-listing subscription. Directory placement and The Grant Map's reviewed-profile label are not purchased. That is a product difference, not proof that every lead will be a better fit than every lead from another source.
What to track in your own business
Use a simple source-level ledger rather than relying on platform labels:
- Offers viewed, declined, accepted, refunded, and credited;
- Valid contact, response, appointment, estimate, and signed-contract counts;
- Spend, estimator/sales time, travel, gross contract value, gross margin, cancellation, and collection;
- Days from first contact to decision and from authorization to completion;
- Reason codes: outside area, wrong trade, no response, not funded, not ready, price, schedule, or selected another contractor.
Compare at least a useful cohort over time. One sale or one bad lead is real evidence about that event, not a stable conversion rate. Do not combine shared and exclusive leads, trades with different job sizes, or free and paid acquisition without labeling them.
Warning signs in any sales pitch
- A guaranteed close rate or income claim without cohort, date range, denominator, and supporting records;
- “Exclusive” without a precise definition;
- A price or renewal term revealed only after entering payment details;
- Claims that homeowners are funded or ready to hire when the service can prove only an inquiry;
- Pressure to buy a large territory before receiving the written invalid-lead and cancellation policy;
- No way to distinguish homeowner-requested contact from public-record, affiliate, or resold acquisition.
Primary source
Review the FTC's HomeAdvisor matter page and final-order record directly. Platform terms change, and a government action about one company should not be generalized into unsupported claims about another.
See the current offer before deciding
Listing is free. Learn exactly what a contact-free preview contains, what contact remains locked, and what current price ranges mean.
Review the sample offerAdd your businessCommon questions
Does a lead guarantee a job?
No. It does not guarantee reachability, fit, an estimate, funding, a contract, or completed work.
Does The Grant Map require a subscription?
No. Listing and claiming are free, with no card or monthly contractor subscription. Each paid lead is a separate explicit choice.
Are these approved grant projects?
No. Possible programs are research context. The administrator decides eligibility, funding, timing, contractor rules, and application outcome.