Getting Work

Pay per lead vs membership: which actually costs tradies less?

The real maths on what each model costs per booked job — not per lead — for Australian tradies in 2026.

A flat membership model is significantly cheaper per booked job than pay-per-lead for most tradies. On HiPages at $30 to $80 per lead with a 1-in-5 conversion, 20 leads a month costs $600 to $1,600 in lead fees for 4 booked jobs. A CoYoTrade Pro membership at $49 per month delivers unlimited exclusive enquiries for the same period. The maths is not close.

The number that actually matters: cost per booked job

Most tradies compare platforms on the per-lead price. That is the wrong number. The right number is cost per booked job — because you pay for every lead whether you win it or not.

If you accept 20 leads at $50 each and win 4 jobs, you spent $1,000 to book $4,000 worth of work. That is a 25% cost of acquisition before any other business expenses. On a $500 job that margin is brutal. On a $3,000 renovation it is more manageable. But in either case, the question is whether you could have booked the same 4 jobs for less money another way — and almost always, the answer is yes.

The real monthly cost of pay-per-lead

What a membership model costs instead

CoYoTrade charges $0 (Free), $49/month (Pro) or $149/month (Crew). There are no per-lead fees, no per-job fees, and no bidding against other tradies. Customers contact you directly. You respond, quote, and book the job. You keep every dollar the customer pays.

For a tradie who would otherwise spend $1,080 per month on pay-per-lead to book 4 jobs, a $49 Pro membership is a saving of over $1,000 per month on acquisition costs alone. That saving goes straight to margin, or back into building owned channels that generate even more enquiries at zero cost.

Why the maths gets worse over time on pay-per-lead

Pay-per-lead platforms are not static. As more tradies join a category, competition increases, lead prices rise, and conversion rates fall. A lead that cost $30 two years ago may cost $60 today. A platform that worked when you were one of five plumbers on it becomes harder to justify when there are twenty. The economics structurally worsen for you over time as the platform grows.

A membership model has the opposite dynamic. The more you use the platform, the more reviews you collect, the higher your profile ranks, and the more direct enquiries you receive — all at the same flat fee. Your cost per job falls over time as your reputation compounds.

When pay-per-lead still makes sense

Pay-per-lead is not always wrong. If you are starting out with no network, no reviews, and no online presence, a lead platform can generate early momentum while you build owned channels in parallel. The mistake most tradies make is staying on pay-per-lead indefinitely rather than treating it as a starting point to transition away from.