Thumbtack Reviews 6,474

I would say this is NO LONGER the old school Thumbtack that we are all used to. I paid more on leads than what I got back as ROI in profits. In other words, I came back at a loss. They require a full background check, but the customers are not vetted. Although it makes sense to give customers the "illusion of trust", on the other end the ones who pay for the leads are the "PROS". And boy, do they not care about the PROS> I guarantee you we are just a number. I come from an advanced leadership IT background in OPS, and I will tell you that instead of curated leads like back in the good days, they are now charging US the PROS that bring them the business for leads that make 0 sense from an automated pool. Basically, a gamble. In my experience, 20% success rate. Not worth it.

Do not use this service. Not one of their “pro’s” called me back. I check on my account online it says they are unavailable. I tried to go to their website to leave a review you have to install their link. Disappointing

BEWARE. Do not hire anyone from thumbtack. I hired someone to fix a leaking toilet and he destroyed my bathroom. Thumbtack is now saying their guarantee doesn't cover the damage and my only option is small claims court. He costed me thousands of dollars in repairs.

It’s a scam if you’re a small business, don’t waste your money

It started off great, then really raised the cost of leads for service providers. For instance a "lead" cost $120 for a $400 job (if a client will even pay that), that is for every service provider that gets that lead and if you even hear from the client at all. The costs are just to high to be a provider on Thumbtack. Leads should cost but need to be more balanced toward the service providers and not just the company. Very little transparency and good luck getting a refund on leads that don't apply to you.

Long-Time User Disappointed with Lead Quality and Support

We have been using Thumbtack for over 10 years, and unfortunately the platform has significantly declined.

Recently, the majority of leads we receive are cold and unresponsive. We are being charged for contacts that never reply, despite multiple attempts to reach them.

We have contacted support several times to report these issues and request refunds, but we have not received proper responses or resolution.

At this point, it feels like many of the leads are not real or have little to no genuine intent. This raises serious concerns about the value being provided.

How can we confidently recommend this platform to other small businesses when we are consistently paying for leads that do not respond?

We hope to see improvements in lead quality, transparency, and customer support.

I used thumbtack back around 2016 and even earned a best of badge. I had logged back in recently as customer and decided to go over to the professional side to see about picking up some moonlighting and weekend work (having my first child and all). I was required to update payment information to access that side of the site, so I did.

Unbeknownst to me, they have a direct lead system now that will charge you automatically. As I was reading my profile, my phone started blowing up with Credit Card notifications of charges and I immediately contacted customer service which took a few minutes to connect. The customer service agent was able to turn off my services (you can't just set a budget to zero, thank goodness I got it down to $50 before hundreds were charged).

I explained I just wanted to look at what they now call opportunities(?). So began my round and round with their support, trying to get these leads removed. The leads themselves were all from well over 100 miles away and support told me that because I had remote turned on for "computer tutoring", I would receive leads from across the country. They're poilicy clearly states that leads outside the service area would be refunded but they denied my refunds and are "confirmed valid". As if a repair in Massachusettes, I'm in California, is a remote tutoring service - their Support and Thumbtack Trust and Safety seem to be nothing but AI driven slop programmed to restate policies that you actually fall under as reasons for their charges.

TLDR: DO NOT ENTER PAYMENT INFORMATION - YOU WILL BE CHARGED.

Ultimately, support CHAT removed my card (thank you), deactivated my services (thank you), but when it came to getting the refund (of which you can only one mark one box for the reason), you're faced with a brickwall of incongruity. 3 Computer repairs and 1 Network Services lead charged and reversed later, I can only emphasize to NOT expect refunds for Spam leads, erroneous leads, or apparently any kind of lead and that their system is behind a paywall if you go inactive.

I think this is to cover up the fact they aren't getting used as with 3 million people in my "area" only 2 opportunites had been submitted in the last week for computer repair work. Maybe it's more for handyman stuff now?

If you do choose to use Thumbtack, be very careful with your settings and expect to spend hours writing refund requests...

Do not use this app; it is a rip-off—a massive scam. They took $600 from me. I deposited $150 in credit, yet they didn't send me a single job. Instead, they just kept charging my credit card without my authorization. They sent me fake leads and "ghost jobs"—requests from people who wouldn't even answer. These people are crooks who are only interested in taking your money and enriching themselves. Do not use this app; they are thieves, and it is a huge scam. In less than two weeks, they didn't provide a single job, yet they stole $600 from me. Do not use this app; it is a thieving, predatory service of the lowest caliber. This app should be shut down, as it does nothing but prey on businesses.

I had an experience where a serviceperson pulled my fridge out to do work so far that they dislodged the water line and caused damage to cabinets. I provided Thumbtack photo evidence- FROM THE INSURANCE COMPANY- of pre-work conditions including moisture readings showing no damage, then photos of the after as well as an appliance company repair invoice noting that the water line was not faulty but had been dislodged.

Thumbtack sided with the vendor doing the work who provided no evidence beyond (I didn't do this), which is ridiculous- they were the only party to move the fridge. When I asked Thumbtack what more evidence they would want, they noted direct evidence that the vendor caused the leak- like a video.

Unreal bias on this. I get they have to be fair and don't want false claims against vendors, but this is so biased and the fact one party just has to say "wasn't me" and another has multiple pieces of evidence from a third party and is only looking to recover additional repairs is rididulous.

Avoid them or you incur all risk.

Heed my warning. This experience felt misleading and financially exploitative. I hemorrhaged money to maintain leads/inquiries. If a contractor requests a refund for a lead that is clearly not qualified as a lead, they simply redirect by saying, “If you don’t like the prices, you can lower the prices in your services section.” Yes. You can. But when you do that, you get way less exposure and leads (sometimes zero). When you increase the amount per lead, you get mega number of leads but 90% are price shopping and GHOST the contractor. The clients reach out to multiple contractors at once (and each contractor is forced to pay for that lead).

My most recent lead was $60, but the lead literally stated, “Not interested, not in our budget.” That’s not even a lead, they weren’t interested. So I inquired about a refund but instead got denied and told “lower your prices if price is a concern.” Respectfully sir… mam… this was never a lead to begin with as they weren’t even interested! That was the final straw.
I assure you there are many many many more unfortunate examples. “Support” is NOT supportive and their entire platform is misleading. Unless you want to bleed money for.. vibes… I do not recommend this platform.

Thumbtack Pro is honestly one of the most frustrating platforms I’ve ever used. They charge you upfront for leads—whether the job works out or not—and those lead prices are not cheap. The problem is, a lot of these leads don’t turn into actual jobs, and when they don’t, Thumbtack still keeps your money.
Even when you have a legitimate reason—like the client’s needs not matching your availability—they make it extremely difficult (or outright refuse) to issue refunds. It feels like all the risk is on the professional, while they get paid no matter what.
A fair system would be performance-based—getting paid when the job is completed, not just for sending a name and a message. Until that changes, it’s hard to recommend this platform to anyone trying to grow their business.

Thumbtack has become unreliable for professionals.
We are being charged for low-quality or completely invalid leads, including disconnected numbers and customers who never respond.

Multiple pros are assigned to the same job, making it extremely difficult to secure any work and recover the investment.

This system is unfair and results in constant financial losses.
I strongly request a refund for these invalid leads and immediate improvements in lead verification and quality control.

If these issues are not addressed, this platform is not worth using for serious professionals.

The lead prices are absolutely insane. They often do not match what you are specifically looking for and even if you list that in your profile, they do not seem to care. Often when I apply for mismatched lead refunds, they deny me. I do make some money off Thumbtack and I’m trying to build my business so I have agreed to continue to do it so long as I’m not losing money but I feel very poorly treated. They are money hungry and they treat small businesses like shit. They consider “ large “ projects in a completely ridiculous way , for example I’m a muralist and they say anything over 100 ft.² is a large project and charge you anywhere from $35-$45 for that lead. Why it varies in price for anything that’s listed as a large lead I do not know, I think it is directly related to how much money they want to make that week and what they think they can get away with. it’s unethical how they charge people. 100 ft.² for a mural is very basic small size - that’s basically a mural for a residential nursery. They really need to update the job sizes relevant to actual real life work.

If anyone on Facebook needs a handyman, please don't hire michiana veterans out of South Bend Indiana.
I gave them 24,000. dollars, to change my not 1 kitchen, and bathroom, and back bedroom
And, my sterling, I have been cuss out by the owner Marc,not 1 but 2 times.
My house is a terrible nightmare, and still waiting for them to finish.
So, my husband can fix all of their mistakes!!!!
This company is michiana veterans.

I am very disappointed in Thumbtack Pro. While I understand there is a fee for connecting services with customers, they take money EVERY TIME someone emails you. These potential customers often email 4-5 others at a time, so the reality of you getting your $$ back is slim. If you are providing a cleaning job, you cannot even limit the size of the house, so someone with a 5-bedroom house can message you, and you pay a minimum of $80 the "lead", which they say is less competitive! The current fee system feels unfair and discourages honest service providers from continuing to provide services.

As I was setting it up, leads were coming in before I even understood how to use it. I was seeing charges fly in! It was odd that in the first moments of setting it up, I had 5 leads, but then there was radio silence the following day.

If you're starting and facing financial strain, it can be very stressful to see your bank account deplete with every job request, especially when you respond promptly but still don't hear back. I am exhausted by large companies taking advantage of hardworking individuals. There needs to be some middle ground! The current fee model, in which you are charged every time someone emails you, can lead to significant financial loss, making it difficult for providers to sustain their businesses or profit from their efforts.

It is a shame, as I did find it easy to set up, and liked the platform. Much easier than Task Rabbit, which I am still figuring out.

Stole over $450 dollars from me with zero leads. This app is a scam and will steal your money. Do not trust this app.

Pay a lot of money for an unqualified or illigitimate lead. Clients will give a generic response, to which you have to pay money for. Then you respond to the message and nothing. Customer service is slow and rigid and will not give refunds even though it's an obvious scam. They really need to reevaluate their model. It is scammy and they give preference to those that will pay more per lead, even when you don't get good qualified leads. DO NOT USE THEM.

I would give this 0 stars. It is a terrible app. Will charge you without consent for “direct leads” and refuse a refund. Even when it’s not something you do, in another state, or so old that the customer has already long found a contractor. 100 dollars for a lead that is no longer available at all. DO NOT USE. TERRIBLE PROGRAM. Will rip you off.

Unbelievable nightmare. 1st hire Tyler Smith, to upgrade master bathroom, he lied, didn't disclose (so lied by omission as well as commission) bathroom ended up costing over $25,000. Doesn't even have a tub. Failed to disclose things such as upcharging, that he and his 2 "christian" colleagues were charging me $100/hour/each. That's $300/ hour. I'm a disabled veteran and on a fixed income. He actually continued to refuse to not only provide receipts but even the stores he was buying things for my bathroom and master bedroom flooring. For example he charged me $1500.00 for bedroom flooring. I finally found it myself, it was $754.00 so he upcharged 100%. When he and his colleagues were drilling in my bathroom I became very ill, I developed a long never ending dry cough. My girl, my diva died and Tyler Smith killed her and almost put me in the hospital. He didn't think to turn off ac or tell us to leave or in any way protect me and my beloved dogs. I was nothing but kind and very foolishly trusting. He ripped me off by about $10,000 easily. I would never recommend him, except to enemies. Thumbtack will take no responsibility and has made it clear that they DO NOT VET ANYONE ON THUMBTACKS SITE. My 2nd experience, terrible. Handyman Ted assembled 1 small piece of furniture for $120. His girlfriend was committing some bizarre sex acts on her phone in my driveway while he was taking forever to put this 1 piece together. He then said he would take my ergonomic rocker recliner home to put together. We'll he's stolen it and refuses to return it. It's been 2 weeks dealing with him and then THUMBTACK. THUMBTACK REFUSES TO TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY. Because, again they state that they aren't responsible for anyone on their site.

So im really sick and tired of thumbtack, im a professional carpenter and not only will i get bogus leads, but i will get leads out of my area of which they will charge me, on top of that they have been making it harder and harder to get refunds even if i tell them the truth they still look at me like im lying. I wish craftjack was still around to get leads, but greedy angi ruined it. Also looking at the reviews on trust pilot it seems others feel exactly what im feeling. Thumbtack you have disapointed me and are a greedy app, overpricing leads that amount to nothing, once in awhile you get a good customer but other than that no serious people and i have 5 star reviews.