How much does a lead cost in 2026?

Botzmart · updated September 2026

If you have ever asked a lead seller for a price and been told "it depends", this answers the question properly. A lead is not a commodity — the price tracks what the job is worth, how urgently the customer is buying, and how many businesses are chasing the same enquiry.

The short answer

In the US market right now, exclusive leads sell in roughly these bands:

• Home services (roofing, HVAC, plumbing, pest): $40–$250 per exclusive lead, with storm-damage and install jobs at the top.
• High-ticket home (foundation, solar, pools, waterproofing): $100–$500, sometimes more where the average job is five figures.
• Dental and cosmetic: $75–$400, driven by case value — an implant enquiry is worth many times a hygiene recall.
• Medical weight loss and med spa: $50–$250 for a programme enquiry, less for a one-off treatment.
• Legal: $200–$1,000+, which is why personal injury advertising is the most expensive inventory on the internet.

Shared leads — the same enquiry sold to three or five businesses — run a fraction of that, often $15–$60, because you are buying a race rather than a customer.

Why the same lead is worth different amounts

Three things set the price, and none of them is the lead seller's mood.

• Job value. A $15,000 roof can carry a $150 lead. A $180 drain clear cannot, which is why cheap trades have cheap leads.
• Urgency. A homeowner with water coming through the ceiling is worth more than one planning next spring, because they will hire this week.
• Supply of competitors. If ten companies in your city will pay for the same enquiry, the price rises until only the most efficient can afford it.

Pay per lead vs a flat fee

Most small businesses are offered one of two models. Pay per lead means you only pay when an enquiry arrives — cheap to try, and the cost tracks volume. A flat monthly fee for an area means you pay the same whether it is a busy month or a dead one, which suits businesses that can absorb quiet weeks and prefer predictable costs.

Our own model is either: pay per lead or a flat fee, cancel anytime. If you are unsure, start per lead, measure your close rate for a month, then switch. A business closing one in three should almost always take a flat fee; one closing one in ten should stay per lead.

What actually determines whether it is worth it

A lead has no value on its own. The number that matters is: cost per lead ÷ your close rate. If a lead costs $90 and you close one in five, your cost per acquired customer is $450. If your average job is $6,000 at a 35% margin, that is an excellent trade — and if your average job is $400, it is a bad one.

This is why "are these leads any good?" is the wrong question. The right one is "what is my cost per customer, and does that leave a margin?"

How to tell if a price is honest

• Ask whether the lead is exclusive or shared, in writing.
• Ask how it was generated — inbound search means the customer was looking; a purchased list means nobody is expecting your call.
• Ask what happens if it is out of area, a duplicate, or the wrong service. A seller who credits those is not afraid of the numbers.
• Expect the price to be quoted per trade and per city, not one flat number — a pest control lead in rural Montana and a roofing lead in Dallas are not the same product.