A clear look at what roofers pay for leads across every channel, why cost per lead lies to you, and how to find the number that actually predicts your profit.
Roofing leads are not cheap, and the price varies wildly depending on where they come from. Below is an honest, channel by channel picture of what roofers typically pay in 2026, followed by the one calculation that tells you whether any of it is actually worth it.
These are typical ranges. Your market, season and storm activity move them around, and roofing is consistently one of the priciest trades because each job is worth so much.
| Channel | Typical cost | Exclusive? |
|---|---|---|
| Angi / HomeAdvisor shared lead | Per lead, sold to several roofers | No |
| Thumbtack | Per lead or per contact | No |
| Google Ads (search) | High cost per click, you pay per click not per lead | Yes, if they call you |
| Local SEO / Google Business Profile | Time and consistency, not per lead | Yes |
| Exclusive performance leads | A share of jobs you close | Yes |
Here is the trap. A shared lead might look cheap on the invoice, but if it is sold to four roofers and you close it one time in eight, the real cost per job is many times the sticker price. Meanwhile an exclusive lead that costs more upfront but closes one time in three can be dramatically cheaper per job. The number that pays your bills is cost per closed job, not cost per lead.
The only formula that matters: Cost per job = total spent on a channel divided by the number of jobs you actually closed from it. Track this for every source for ninety days and your best and worst channels become obvious fast.
Imagine two roofers each spend the same on leads in a month. One buys shared leads and closes a small fraction because three rivals got the same calls. The other gets exclusive calls and closes a much larger share because no one else is on the phone. Same spend, very different number of signed jobs. That gap is why so many roofers feel like they are pouring money into lead platforms with nothing to show. The leads were not the problem. The sharing was.
One model sidesteps the whole cost per lead guessing game. With a performance share, you do not pay per lead at all. You pay a percentage, commonly ten to fifteen percent, of the revenue from jobs you actually close from the leads sent to you. If a lead never turns into work, it costs you nothing. That aligns the lead provider with your results instead of charging you for contacts that go nowhere. This is how AI Advantaged prices exclusive roofing leads, and you can see a worked example on the roofing pricing page.
Rather than chase the lowest price per lead, decide what a signed roofing job is worth to you and work backward. If your average job is fifteen thousand dollars, paying a fair share of that for a customer who was handed to you alone is a strong trade. Compare every channel on cost per closed job, drop the losers, and double down on the sources that consistently turn into signed work. For most roofers, exclusive and performance based sources win that comparison.
It depends entirely on the channel. Shared marketplace leads are priced per lead but sold to several roofers. Google Ads charges per click. Exclusive performance leads charge a percentage of jobs you close. The most useful number to compare is your cost per closed job, not the price per lead.
Roofing jobs are high value, often eight to twenty five thousand dollars, so demand for those customers is intense and the cost to reach them is high. That is also why sharing a single lead among four roofers is so damaging to your return.
Paying per closed job, as in a performance share model, removes the risk of paying for leads that never convert. Per lead pricing can be cheaper on paper but often costs more per signed job once you account for low close rates on shared leads.
AI Advantaged sends each roofing lead to one contractor only. Claim your market and pay only when you close.
Claim Your Roofing Territory →