First 200 Mississippi businesses are Founding Merchants
Switch from Thumbtack
Thumbtack charges you per lead — win or lose. Good Circles takes 1% of profit.
Thumbtack is pay-per-lead: you buy leads that are shared with ~4-5 pros and you're charged whether or not you win the job. Win one job in five and a $30 lead becomes ~$150 in lead fees per job — sometimes more than the job is worth. Good Circles has no lead fees and no merchant card cost — a 1% fee on profit, your customer saves ~10%, and a local nonprofit gets funded. Free to join.
A $400 job, side by side
A $400 job that costs you $150 to deliver, at a 25% tax rate. On Thumbtack, winning it at $30 per lead and a 1-in-5 close rate means paying for 5 leads (~$150.00) — and you're charged for the 4 you lost.
| Per job won | Good Circles | Thumbtack |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays | $360.00 (saves $40.00) | $400.00 |
| Cost to deliver | ($150.00) | ($150.00) |
| Lead fees to win the job | $0.00 (no lead cost) | ($150.00) |
| Platform fee | ($2.10) — 1% of profit | $0.00 (charges per lead) |
| Donation (deductible) | ($21.00) | — |
| Pre-tax profit | $186.90 | $100.00 |
| After-tax profit (25%) | $140.18 | $75.00 |
| Customer saves / community funded | $40.00 / $21.00 | $0 / $0 |
| Total local value created | $201.18 | $75.00 |
Thumbtack is pay-per-lead with leads shared among several pros and charged win or lose (verified 2026-06-22, help.thumbtack.com); per-lead costs are reported and vary widely by trade, so set your own in the calculator. Good Circles takes a 1% fee on profit, with no lead fees, no ad spend, and no merchant card cost. On smaller jobs, lead fees frequently exceed the job. Illustration, not tax advice.
Calculator
Run your trade's numbers
Lead-gen sites charge you per lead — win or lose. Enter your real numbers to see what it actually costs to win one job, and what you'd keep on Good Circles, where customers come from local nonprofits at no lead cost.
Lead-gen
$0.00
after-tax profit / job won
Good Circles
$0.00
after-tax profit / sale
Total local value created per job
$0.00 on Good Circles vs $0.00 on lead-gen
your after-tax profit + your customer's savings + community funding
Line-by-line, per job won
| Per job won | Lead-gen | Good Circles |
|---|---|---|
| Customer pays | ||
| Less: customer savings (10%) | — | |
| Less: cost to deliver | ||
| Less: lead fees to win the job | $0.00 (no lead cost) | |
| Less: platform fee | $0.00 (charges per lead) | |
| Less: donation (deductible) | — | |
| Pre-tax profit | ||
| Less: income tax | ||
| After-tax profit | ||
| Memo: customer saves / community funded | $0 / $0 |
Illustration only — not tax advice. Lead costs and close rates vary widely by trade and are reported figures, not official rate cards — set them to your real numbers. Good Circles applies its ~10% customer discount to the sale; lead-gen customers pay full price. Confirm tax treatment with your CPA.
You pay for the jobs you lose
The hardest part of pay-per-lead isn't the price of one lead — it's that the same lead goes to several pros and you're billed even when someone else wins. Your true cost to land a job is the lead price divided by how often you actually close, and for a lot of trades that math turns small jobs into money-losers.
Good Circles doesn't sell leads. Your customers come from local nonprofits and the neighbors who support them, so being matched costs you nothing, you keep about 89% of your profit, and every job funds a local cause. See the full marketplace comparison »
Questions
Thumbtack vs Good Circles — FAQ
How does Thumbtack charge pros - is there a commission?
Thumbtack doesn't take a job commission - instead you pay for every lead, and the same lead is sent to several pros, so you're charged whether or not you win the work. Per-lead costs vary widely by trade (reported anywhere from about $8 to $200+). Because you pay for losers too, the real cost is your cost per lead divided by your close rate.
Will I keep more on Good Circles than on Thumbtack?
In most cases, clearly. On a $400 job that costs you $150 to deliver, winning one job at $30 per lead and a 1-in-5 close rate means about $150 in lead fees - leaving roughly $75 after tax. On Good Circles there are no lead fees: you keep about $140 after tax, your customer saves ~10%, and a local nonprofit is funded. On smaller jobs, lead fees can exceed the job entirely.
Will I still get customers without buying leads?
Yes. On Good Circles your customers come through local nonprofits and their supporters, so being matched with a customer costs you nothing - there are no shared leads to bid on and nothing to pay when you don't win. It's free to join, with a 1% fee on profit only when you complete a sale.
Stop paying for leads you lose
Free to join. A 1% fee on profit only when you sell. The first 200 Mississippi businesses are Founding Merchants.