How Much Should You Pay for Lead Generation?

Benchmark against the channel. On Google Ads, WordStream's 2026 study of 13,474 US campaigns puts the average cost per lead at $66.69 — from $26.84 (arts and entertainment) and $29.96 (auto repair) up to $90.92 for home improvement, $102.51 for real estate, and $131.63 for attorneys. On Facebook, WordStream's benchmarks average $21.98 a lead. First Page Sage's industry data puts HVAC leads at $115 paid versus $69 organic and construction at $280 paid versus $174 organic. If a lead-gen vendor quotes you far above your industry's paid benchmark, they need to explain why.

One that's well under what a customer is worth to you, after counting the leads that go nowhere. A plumber whose average job is $400 can pay $60 a lead if one in four closes; a roofer whose average job is $12,000 can pay $150 a lead comfortably. Use your industry's benchmark — WordStream 2026: dentists $72.97, physicians $40.04, home improvement $90.92 — as the ceiling for paid leads, and remember that organic leads (from search and AI recommendations) don't carry a per-lead bill at all.

Variably, and mostly not in public. Angi's own help center says lead fees change based on the task, the homeowner's location, and demand for the work, and that you're charged for leads whether or not you open or respond to them. The same lead is typically sold to several contractors. That's the real cost: you pay per lead, then compete for it against others who paid too. Price it against the Google Ads benchmarks above before signing anything.

Over time, usually yes. Paid leads stop the day you stop paying. Leads from your own visibility — ranking on Google, showing up on the map, and being named when someone asks ChatGPT who to hire — keep coming without a per-lead fee. First Page Sage's data shows organic leads cost less than paid in every industry it lists (HVAC $69 vs $115; real estate $416 vs $480). The catch is time: that visibility takes months to build. Our Get Recommended service does that work for $97 a month flat.

What happens in the first five minutes after it arrives. The average business takes 42 hours to respond to a new lead (Harvard Business Review audit of 2,241 companies), and responding within 5 minutes makes you 21 times more likely to qualify the lead than waiting even 30 minutes (MIT/InsideSales study). A $66 lead that waits two days for a callback is a $66 donation to whoever answered first. Fix the follow-up before buying more leads.