The table
Every cell comes from the site's own filings or help pages, or a dated news report; the source is in brackets.
| Site | Who pays | How listings are ordered | Reviews | Permits or inspections shown | License check | Cost to homeowner | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angi / HomeAdvisor | Contractors: match fees, ads, memberships (10-K, Feb 2025) | Matching algorithm by service, location, date and availability; paid promotion exists as Angi Ads (10-K) | Yes, 1–5 stars | No | Owner attests to licensing and passes a background check (10-K) | Free | US |
| Thumbtack | Pros, per lead (Housecall Pro, May 2026) | Not published (Thumbtack Pro Center) | Yes | No | Self-declared on profile | Free | US |
| Yelp | Advertisers, 95% of revenue (Yelp 10-K, Feb 2026) | Ads labelled; organic order not published | Yes | No | Business-supplied | Free | US and abroad |
| Houzz | Pros: Houzz Pro, sponsored placement (Houzz help) | Organic by relevancy and content quality; sponsored slots ordered partly by price paid (Houzz help) | Yes | No | No; links to state resources | Free | US and abroad |
| BuildZoom | Hired contractors pay a referral fee; rate not on its public pages (HigherVisibility, Oct 2025; BuildZoom help) | A score built from license, permit history, reviews, responsiveness and hire rate (BuildZoom help) | Yes, inside the score | Permit-derived project counts | Yes, from boards such as NYC DCA (BuildZoom NYC page) | Free | US, uneven |
| Porch | Pros: monthly plus per lead, appointment and job (Porch 10-K, Mar 2023) | Not stated | Yes | No | Not shown | Free | US |
| Nextdoor | Advertisers, substantially all revenue (Nextdoor 10-K, Feb 2025) | Neighbour recommendations and follows; no ranked list | Recommendations | No | No | Free | US and abroad |
| BBB | Accredited businesses pay dues (AP, Nov 2010) | Grade from complaints and other information; BBB says it never exchanges rating points for dues; in 2010 Connecticut's attorney general said members got extra grading points under the system then in use (BBB; AP) | Complaints and reviews; reviews not in the grade | No | Sometimes noted | Free | US and Canada |
| Google Local Services Ads / Business Profile | LSA per lead; Business Profile free (Google help) | LSA: bid, likelihood of a lead, profile quality (Google help) | Yes | No | Google Guarantee includes a license check, not shown in detail (SEJ, Sep 2020) | Free | US and abroad |
| HomeGuide | Pros, per lead (HomeGuide) | Not explained (HomeGuide) | Yes | No | Not shown | Free | US |
| Best Pick Reports | Certified firms pay a participation fee after qualifying (Best Pick) | Not explained; a few firms per trade | Survey score | No | Claimed verification | Free | About 11 metros |
| ConsumerAffairs | Authorized Partners pay; compensation "may influence" featured order (ConsumerAffairs FAQ) | A blend of other sites' ratings | Aggregated | No | Summarised | Free | US |
| Consumers' Checkbook | Subscribers; no money from businesses (Checkbook) | Share of surveyed customers rating "superior" | Survey ratings | No | Not stated | Subscription | 7 metros |
| Contractor Records | Nobody | You set the weights; the list re-sorts | No | Yes, from the city permit file | Yes, joined to board data and linked | Free | 53 cities |
What "free" pays for
On Angi, Thumbtack, HomeGuide and Porch it is the contractor paying per lead; on Yelp and Nextdoor it is advertising; on Houzz and Best Pick it is a subscription or a participation fee from the listed firm. So the paying customer is the contractor.
Whether paying moves a firm up the list depends on the site, and most do not say. Houzz does: sponsored placements are labelled and ordered partly by what was paid. Google says the bid is one of several factors in Local Services Ads. Angi's 10-K describes a matching algorithm by service, location, date and availability and sells promotion separately as Angi Ads; it does not say payment is a ranking factor and does not say it is not. Thumbtack, HomeGuide and Yelp do not publish their ordering at all. We do not know, so we do not claim.
What the free sites actually verify
Two columns in the table matter more than the rest.
License. Angi requires the owner to attest to licensing and pass a criminal background check (10-K). Google's Guarantee includes a license and insurance check. Thumbtack and Yelp show what the business typed in. None of them shows you the license status today, and a license can expire or be suspended after the badge was earned. In Seattle, of the ranked firms we matched to a Washington L&I record, 990 are Active, 83 Expired, 51 Suspended and 15 Out of business (our license match, L&I data, snapshot 2026-10-17).
Permits and inspections. Only BuildZoom and Contractor Records read the city permit file. That file is the one record a contractor cannot write for itself: the city issues the permit, inspects the work and marks it finished or not. Across our 53 cities it holds 1,538,085 permits from 167,325 firms. In Seattle, 85.6% of heat-pump permits were finished and the usual job took 105 days to final; in San Francisco, 87.3% of roofing permits were finished in a usual 36 days.
When each one is the right choice
- You want three quotes by tomorrow. Angi, Thumbtack or HomeGuide.
- You want to see finished work. Houzz, for photos, with the sponsored labels in mind.
- You want to know if people complained. BBB for filed complaints; Yelp and Google for volume of reviews.
- A neighbour gave you a name. Nextdoor got you the name; now check it against the board and the permit file.
- You want one source nobody paid. Checkbook if you are in one of its seven metros and will pay the subscription; Contractor Records if you are in one of our 53 cities.
What none of them show
Not one of the thirteen shows how many of a firm's jobs were finished, how long they took, or whether the license is active this week. Use Angi for quotes, Houzz for photos and the permit record to check the names that come back.
What we cannot tell you is whether the contractor is pleasant, on time or tidy. Whether they're nice. Not in the file.
How we know this
The table is built from each company's SEC filings, help pages and pricing pages, and from two news reports (AP 2010 on BBB; Search Engine Journal 2020 on Google Guarantee), each dated in the sources list. Our own numbers come from the city permit files for the window shown on each city page, joined by firm name to the state license board where the state publishes one. Name matching can miss, so "unmatched" never means "unlicensed" on our pages.
Numbers come from public permit records in 53 cities, data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Pick your city and the trade, and the list sorts by the record, not by who paid.
Questions
- Is Angi free for homeowners?
Yes. Angi's revenue comes from contractors, who pay for matches, advertising and memberships (Angi 10-K, Feb 2025). You pay nothing to search or request quotes.
- Which of these sites does not take money from contractors?
Two in the table. Consumers' Checkbook is funded by subscribers and donations and says it takes no advertising or referral fees, so the homeowner pays. Contractor Records takes money from nobody. Every other site in the table is paid by the businesses it lists, through leads, ads, dues or referral fees.
- Which site shows whether a contractor pulled permits?
BuildZoom shows permit-derived project counts on its profiles, and Contractor Records shows permits, inspections passed and license status for every firm in the city file. None of the other sites in the table shows a permit record.
- Does "free profile" mean the listing order is not paid?
Not always. Houzz labels sponsored placements and says they are ordered partly by price paid; Google says the bid is one factor in Local Services Ads. Angi, Thumbtack, HomeGuide and Yelp do not publish how organic results are ordered.
- What should I check no matter which site I use?
Two things none of the marketplaces show: the license status today on your state board's lookup, and the permit record with the city. Both are free and take a few minutes.
Build your own list
Pick your city and the kind of work. Every firm with a permit on record, sorted by what you value.
Related guides
- Angi Inc. Form 10-K FY2024 (2025-02)
- What is Thumbtack and how it works (Housecall Pro) (2026-05-05)
- Thumbtack Pro Center: Top Pro (2018)
- Yelp Inc. Form 10-K FY2025 (2026-02)
- Pros Shown on Houzz (Houzz Pro help) (2026-10-20)
- BuildZoom Help Center for Contractors (2026-10-20)
- Top 10 General Contractors in New York, NY (BuildZoom) (2026-10-20)
- BuildZoom Review 2024 (HigherVisibility) (2025-10-08)
- Porch Group Form 10-K FY2022 (2023-03)
- Nextdoor Holdings Form 10-K FY2024 (2025-02)
- Overview of BBB Ratings (2026-10-20)
- Better Business Bureau Accused Of 'Pay To Play' Scheme (AP via CBS New York) (2010-11-12)
- About ad rankings (Google Local Services Ads Help) (2026-10-20)
- What Are Local Service Ads? (Search Engine Journal) (2020-09-08)
- How it works for pros (HomeGuide) (2023-02-18)
- Best Plumbing Companies in Nashville, TN (Best Pick Reports) (2026)
- ConsumerAffairs FAQ: Our Business Model (2026-10-20)
- You Won't Find Anything Else Like Checkbook (2026-10-20)
- Verify a contractor, tradesperson or business (WA L&I) (2026-10-20)