Thumbtack Pro Review: Is Thumbtack Still Worth It for Contractors?

Thumbtack is a personal services directory that helps homeowners find local contractors to perform a wide variety of tasks. For professionals, Thumbtack Pro is a lead generation service that helps them find work.

While Thumbtack is marketed to customers as a place to find “care for your home,” this description is a bit misleading. The company may have begun that way, but these days, Thumbtack users are able to hire contractors for all kinds of personal projects—from A/C repair to wedding planning.

Eligibility requirements

Thumbtack has a short list of requirements that all clients and contractors must meet in order to use the app:

• Be at least 18 years of age
• Live in the United States
• Have at least one review or testimonial from a former client

In addition, Thumbtack requires that you use your real name and details when creating an account. You also need to offer services that they deem to be legitimate.

You don’t typically need to take Thumbtack’s background check to offer your services on the platform, but the site does say that many users are asked to take one, and you could be selected. This could be bad news if you haven’t got a completely squeaky-clean record. Some pros have reported that criminal records revealed in the background check have caused Thumbtack to deactivate their account.

Costs and fees

Thumbtack has no signup fees or memberships fees for contractors. You also get to keep 100% of your earnings on the platform. However, you have to pay to receive leads. Online reports indicate that these lead fees can really add up—even reaching hundreds of dollars per month.

How much you pay for Thumbtack leads depends on what you’d earn on the job, the type of booking it is, and your budget preferences. Different types of leads cost different amounts depending on factors like the value of the job and the job competition. In any case, you’ll never pay more than the amount you’ve specified as your maximum lead price and weekly budget.

Locations

Thumbtack is only available to clients and contractors in the United States. While you can technically offer your services in any of the 50 states, there might not be as much demand for them in more remote or less densely populated areas.

For instance, if you go to the list of states on Thumbtack and select Alaska, Anchorage is the only popular city that shows up. When you click “Explore more cities,” only three more appear.

Something that isn’t completely obvious when you first visit the website or app is the lead generation process. Leads on Thumbtack work in one of several ways, depending on the type of job booking. Here’s a summary of what you can expect.

Types of Leads on Thumbtack

All this is to say that Thumbtack will sometimes send you leads as they become available, whereas in other cases you’ll get them automatically from clients or apply for them yourself by contacting a job poster directly. Some leads you pay for automatically, others you don’t.

While Thumbtack won’t send leads once you’ve maxed out your budget, it’s still good to keep an eye on the cost of leads as you receive and apply to them. If you find that you’re not receiving enough leads or none of them turn into paid work, you might need to adjust your budget or the price of your services.

How you’ll get paid

There are a couple of tools you can use to collect payment for your Thumbtack services. One option is to use Thumbtack Pay, which is a no-fee payment processor available in the Thumbtack app. The other option is to take payments outside of the app using a payment method agreed upon by you and the client.

To go the Thumbtack Pay route, you need a Social Security number, and you’ll need to set up direct deposit. Once this is ready to go, you can opt to receive standard payouts or instant pay.

With standard payouts, you’ll get paid within 3–4 business days of your client paying their bill. With instant deposit, you’ll get paid right away, but you’ll need to pay a 1% fee for each payment.

How much can you make with Thumbtack?

What Thumbtack professionals earn from the app wildly varies depending on what services they provide. Here are a few other factors that will affect your earnings:

• Where you live and work
• Amount of competition
• Your skill level
• Seasonality
• Value of the service
• Complexity of the job
• Add-on services

Thumbtack claims that handyman workers on the platform earn an average of $60–$75 per hour, but you could be earning anywhere in the range of $40–$139 per hour. 1 If you’re curious to see which services pay the most, have a look at Thumbtack’s cost estimates page, which breaks down the average prices for the most popular services on the app.

It’s free to sign up with Thumbtack. You can create an account on either the Thumbtack website or the Thumbtack for Professionals mobile app. Simply follow the steps below:

1. Create a Thumbtack account: To create an account, choose a primary service and enter your location. You’ll then have to enter your email address or sign up via Google or Facebook.
2. Build your profile: Fill in as many details as you can about your work experience and the number of years you’ve been in business. Add links to any professional websites or social media pages you have, and upload relevant photos or videos.
3. Set your preferences: Outline the types of jobs you want, your availability, the maximum distance you’re willing to travel, and your pricing.

Although not always required, it’s worth considering completing Thumbtack’s background check. Doing so will open up more opportunities by giving you potential access to the “claimable jobs” board and making you even more attractive to clients.

Where to download the Thumbtack pro app

App Store Google Play

The platform has received a significant number of complaints from contractors over the years, which has made many hard-working independent contractors wonder whether Thumbtack is a scam.

Rest assured: Thumbtack is a legitimate company, and the platform is safe for professionals to use. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good app or that you won’t feel robbed by charges for leads.

Below, we’ll break down what Thumbtack workers have to say about the app—both the good and the bad.

Their business model is gradually getting worse for pros

A major talking point among long-time Thumbtack pros is that the business model has changed a lot the past few years—for the worse. The biggest issues seem to be their drastic increases in the price of leads and their new “instant booking feature,” which isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

It’s likely that Thumbtack introduced instant bookings to compete with the recent boom in work-on-demand apps, but it seems that it may be incompatible with the app’s other features. Pros complain that instant bookings lead to nonrefundable lead charges at extortionate prices for irrelevant jobs or ones that customers later cancel.

The general consensus is that the pricing model used to be at least somewhat fair for workers, but recent changes have made Thumbtack an impractical option for many professionals.

User reviews:

“I used them when I first started out in 2022 … They were decent for a while. Plenty of useless leads but not too expensive and the ones I did get hired for turned out to be good clients. Now they are ABSOLUTE garbage. They charged me $45 last time I tried them for a guy who wanted me to paint some ones furniture.” (Reddit, February 2024)

“While they originally delivered qualified leads with good conversion rates, things have changed significantly in the past two years.” (Sitejabber, February 2024)

“Used to be okay to get jobs for my moving company but a new mandatory feature called instant booking has almost ruined my business. Customers can instantly book a company and the pro will be automatically charged (a 4 item move in NYC was recently charged $65). If the customer does not cancel the booking within 15 mins, the fee is non refundable no matter what. You will pay for jobs you don’t get most of the time bcs customers will cancel.” (Google Play, January 2024)

“Their pricing was fair years ago, and they would verify the leads and refund the money if the lead was invalid without problem. Nowadays, they simply want to charge several people for one service that they link.” (Reddit, January 2024)

“A little while back they added the option to specify the max your wanted to pay per lead. And it seems like that has just resulted in a bidding war as the price of leads is going up.” (Reddit, February 2023)

“When i first started using TT it seemed pretty good. But it seems like every ‘improvement’ they push out just winds up costing me more money without any real benefit.” (Reddit, November 2022)

“They used to refund your account whenever you didn’t get a response after 2 days. They’ve changed that recently.” (Reddit, July 2021)

Leads won’t always match your preferences

Many users complain that they get matched with jobs that don’t match their preferences at all—whether it be because the job isn’t in their industry or it’s too far away.

While adjusting your targeting preferences in the Thumbtack app may help prevent this issue, it seems that Thumbtack hasn’t done much to protect workers from having to pay for these false leads.

User reviews:

“They auto bill you for bogus leads, and often dont even match the preferences- so you pay more for leads than the business you get.” (Sitejabber, September 2023)

“I am constantly paying for regular house painting leads and I am a muralist. I am also paying for sign painting leads.” (Sitejabber, February 2024)

“They charge you for exact matches that are not exact matches and sometimes not even close but they keep charging you.” (Sitejabber, September 2021)

“in the beginning leads were great with a 90percent close rate. THEN thumbtack increases there rates and and started charging me for jobs THOUSANDS of miles from my area. They said I had REMOTE work turned on. Which I didn’t … they use to be good then got GREEDY.” (Sitejabber, August 2020)

You might get more clients

One of the only positive remarks that Thumbtack professionals have to say about the app is that it can help you grow your business. Admittedly, however, many of the positive reviews to this effect are from 2022 or earlier.

User reviews:

“We receive about 2 leads per day and sometimes up to 5 after building our business and brand in Thumbtack and asking clients to review and refer to us … I’m happy with this service and have exposure in areas I wouldn’t normally be able to network in, i.e. Communities up to 30 miles away.” (Apple Store, September 2017)

“Thumbtack helped my company to find high-quality leads who have converted into clients.” (G2, March 2022)

“When I first started my IT service company, Thumbtack was a great resource to get things going smoothly at the beginning. Thumbtack helped keep my sales pipeline active, and created new relationships that turned into much larger opportunities down the line.” (G2, September 2018)

The leads structure is a big financial gamble

Because you have to pay for each lead you get on Thumbtack (whether you get the job or not), you may sign up to Thumbtack only to find they’re burning a hole in your wallet. You can even find horror stories of workers paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month only to get little or nothing in return.

If your reason for getting started on Thumbtack is to get a new side hustle up and running so you can earn extra income, Thumbtack’s approach will likely be counterproductive and could end up hurting you financially rather than helping you earn money.

User reviews:

“Thumbtack’s policy towards professionals has become unfair. The ‘zero refund’ policy for these unproductive leads makes it a gamble, and achieving high visibility requires allowing them to charge you hefty per-lead fees. If you refuse, you’re buried with no leads … Their current practices could leave you financially strapped before you even turn a profit.” (Sitejabber, February 2024)

“Currently, I receive one qualified lead per month versus four ‘doubtful’ leads who don’t engage (read messages, answer calls, etc.) … As a small business, I spend $800 monthly on Thumbtack, but my conversion rate has plummeted from 80% to a mere 20% in two years. While I still receive a few good leads, it’s a significant financial burden.” (Sitejabber, February 2024)

Refunds are hard to get

User reviews indicate that getting a refund from Thumbtack is pretty hard to achieve. This is because their service terms allow them to charge you for each lead pretty much regardless of what happens next.

It seems you’ll get charged if you don’t take the lead, if nobody gets it (i.e., the customer wasn’t serious about hiring someone), or even if the customer cancels. The only occasion in which they’ll refund you the charge for a lead is if the customer cancels within 15 minutes of booking your services.

User reviews:

“Thumbtack charged me 30 dollars for this lead and won’t give me a refund. They said it’s in their policy that if a customer cancels you still will get charged.” (Reddit, January 2024)

“They decline all requests for refund even if you send them proof.” (Sitejabber, September 2023)

“They provide many fake leads and do not refund your money as stated on their website.” (Sitejabber, February 2023)

All things considered, using Thumbtack seems to be a financial gamble that might not be worth it for a lot of independent contractors and business owners.

Thumbtack is best suited to people who have a fully established business or side hustle but are struggling to get clients. In this case, it could help you expand your client base. But if you have limited funds to spare or you’re attempting to start a new side hustle from the ground up, using Thumbtack could cost you a lot of money with minimal payoff and leave you feeling frustrated.

It’s possible the boom in work apps has taken some of the good business away from Thumbtack—and their attempt to compete by introducing “instant bookings” has been an unpopular move among pros, with many leaving the platform due to the combination of rising costs and low-quality leads.

Thumbtack pros and cons

Make sure to weigh up all the pros and cons before you commit to using Thumbtack.

How to protect yourself from false leads on Thumbtack

There are plenty of professionals on these review sites who have positive things to say about Thumbtack. However, it’s the steady influx of the same complaints that may discourage prospective professionals from wanting to sign up.

So, what do you do?

1. Understand that there are always risks working as a contractor: It’s just the nature of the job. Even self-employed contractors who don’t use gig apps run into flaky prospects, unresponsive clients, and scam artists.
2. Price your services appropriately: Market yourself effectively and price your services based on the quality of leads and clients you want. If you’re undervaluing yourself, you may be setting yourself up to receive low-quality leads. Charging too much can also harm your prospects.
3. Give lots of thought to your targeting preferences: Irrelevant leads may come from people who want a different service, are looking for cheap labor, or who live too far away. Fine-tuning your preferences and specifying what you’re willing to do (and not willing to do) can help reduce the number of charges you incur for leads you don’t want.
4. Communicate well with potential clients: When you get a lead, reach out with a personal message that clearly explains your pricing, and ask the customer questions about the work they want done. This personalized initial communication, along with following up, can help you turn leads into confirmed bookings.
5. Keep an eye on your lead activity and budget: Figure out how much you’re spending on leads each month relative to your earnings. If adjusting your budget and optimizing your profile aren’t helping you get good leads, then it may be time to try something new.

If you’re unhappy with how it’s going on Thumbtack, there are plenty of other gig apps you can use to make money. You can even be able to find apps specially designed for professionals in your industry. There’s no point using an app if your time and money can be better spent elsewhere.

Other apps like Thumbtack

Thumbtack isn’t the only platform you can use to expand your business and find new clients. Depending on the type of business or side hustle you’re running, you may want an on-demand job app or a lead generation service.

Here are a few alternatives to Thumbtack you might want to consider:

• TaskRabbit
• Angi for Pros (formerly Handy)
• Bark
• Upwork

To see how these apps compare, read other app reviews, such as our Wonolo review and TaskRabbit review. In many cases, app popularity varies by location. You may have a hard time getting new work with one, but you could have better luck with another.