Businesses
What Service Businesses Really Pay for Leads in Canada
Sanjay | Proferly Founder · October 2, 2026
Lead platforms charge $25 to $100+ per lead and often sell the same lead to several contractors. Here is the real math behind it, and a free way to get inquiries instead.
Leads are rarely free
Most platforms that send you customer leads charge for them. The common model is pay per lead: you pay a fee every time a homeowner's contact details land in your inbox.
For home service trades, contractors commonly report paying $25 to $100 or more per lead. Higher-ticket trades like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical sit at the top of that range, while cleaning leads cost less.
You pay whether you win the job or not
The part that stings: you pay for the lead regardless of outcome. And the same lead is often sold to four or five competing businesses at once, which turns every inquiry into a race to respond first and pressure to quote the lowest price.
Industry data puts realistic win rates on shared leads at roughly 11 to 20 percent. At those rates, the true cost of one won job in lead fees alone can run into the hundreds of dollars, before you have done any work.
The math almost nobody does
Take a simple example. If you buy 10 leads at $60 each, you have spent $600. Win two of those jobs, and each one really cost you $300 in lead fees. Win one, and it cost $600. The per-lead price is not the real price. The cost per won job is.
A free channel you own
There is a cheaper way to turn interest into inquiries: give potential customers an easy way to ask you for a price directly, without going through a lead platform.
Proferly Quote Card is free for businesses. You get a QR code and link that you can put on your vehicle, storefront, flyers, website, or social media. Customers scan it, describe what they need, and request a price from you without calling or sharing their phone number.
No subscription. No lead fees. No fees of any kind. You can also receive customer requests from the Proferly marketplace when a request matches your services.
