Best 5 Sites Like Angi to Hire Home Contractors
By Corbin HartwickUpdated on March 6, 2022
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Angi is a popular site to hire local business, and offers a review portal for those who are looking for more information than simple contact details, and/or don’t trust anonymous reviews on free directory websites. All business reviews on Angi are written by paid website subscribers or verified third parties who have actually hired those companies before. These reviews also include, among other details, comprehensive ratings across five key service categories about home service contractors. Some companies on Angi can even be hired right through the website, and sometimes even at a discount (through the “Big Deals” section).
The main downsides to Angi are that it’s very difficult to use if you live outside of the United States, and that you have to pay to use the website in the first place. In addition, the basic-tier services on Angi, though cheap, are quite limited when compared to those of expensive plus-tier and premium-tier accounts.
If you want to know about your options like Angi, we’ve got you covered. We’ll explain each one in detail, as well as give you all the information you need, including:
Read on to learn more about your options, starting with the best alternatives to Angi out there.
Best 5 home service work sites like Angi
Here are the five best Angi competitors to try if you’re looking for a different place to look for hired help and home contractor listings.
1. Thumbtack
Thumbtack is an Angi alternative that works on a more personal level. Basically, you answer a few questions on Thumbtack about what type of work you need done. Then, professionals on Thumbtack who are available to take the job will send you custom quotes with estimated prices, business information, reviews from previous customers, and often a personal message. From there, decide which company you think will do the best job, and hire them on the spot. Opposite to Angi, Thumbtack is free to use for customers, but costs money to use for businesses or home contractors. Thumbtack is also only available in the United States.
2. Porch
Porch is an alternative to Angi that specializes in home renovation and repair. It works similarly to Thumbtack.com: first, you enter your project details into Porch, including photos of the area of your home that you want work done on, a description of the work that you want done, and an estimated budget. Then, Porch will connect you with professionals who have signed up with the website and are interested in taking on the job. They will send you text messages and emails about the job, and you can check their work history, licensing, company details, previous customer reviews, and so on (in addition to messaging them back). Then, you choose who you want to hire. Porch is free to use for both customers and pros, but is also only available in the United States.
3. HomeAdvisor
HomeAdvisor joins Porch as another of the alternatives to Angi that focuses on home property work. It’s free to use for property owners, but contractors have to pay a fee for each lead they get. HomeAdvisor has numerous tools for helping with home renovation, including: a guided process for finding the right contractor for the work you need done, general information and reviews of local home improvement businesses in your neighborhood, a guide to figure out your budget for the type of home renovation that you need done, and a design aid for helping envision what you want your project to look like by the end. HomeAdvisor is mostly only available in American territories. It is also owned by a parent company that purchased Angi in 2017.
4. Consumer’s Checkbook
Consumer’s Checkbook stands out among Angi alternatives because it is a project of the Center for the Study of Services, an independent non-profit consumer advocacy group. It surveys inhabitants of various high-population areas of the United States (such as Boston, Chicago, Washington, and San Francisco) and gets their ratings on their local business directory, from car repair to health care and personal finance to home renovation. Like Angi, though, you have to buy a subscription to see more than just general advice.
5. Houzz
Similar to Porch and HomeAdvisor, Houzz is another one of the companies like Angi that specializes in helping you find professionals to spruce up your home and surrounding property. It is very much like HomeAdvisor, with tools to help you design areas of your home, and discover and hire the right professionals to get the job done. You can also buy certain home furnishings through Houzz, and view advice on home care and decoration from users in the community. Houzz is free to use for both customers and professionals, and serves countries besides the United States, too!
Angi alternatives comparison table: cost, services, and more
Website | Cost | Services | Best Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| Top Pro status helps you find an expert and well-reviewed worked |
|
|
| Your Home Assistant assists you with your project – asking questions to lead you to the services you need |
| Free |
| “True Cost” Guide predicts how much your project will cost |
| $28/year |
| Includes unbiased reviews of doctors, which is difficult to find online |
| Free |
| Houzz Research gives you the latest trends in home repair and design |
How do home contractor sites work?
Websites that allow you to hire professionals work by giving you a rundown of the registered professionals in your area, what their skills are, what related previous experience they have, and how much they would charge (roughly) for your home project, or the job you have in mind for them.
The best home service contractor sites include reviews from previous users, so you know what kind of experience you’re likely to have if you hire this person, based on people who live in your area who required the same kind of work. They intend to help make the hiring process safe and easy for you, so you have trusted, well-reviewed workers entering your home, with pre-negotiated prices.
What’s the most important thing to look for in a contractor?
If you’re looking to hire someone for your home, you need to make sure that person is safe, trustworthy, reliable, and represented themselves accurately on the website you hired them from. You always want to make sure you are getting a fair price for their work.
Here are some basic tips for making sure you choose the right home worker:
- Read a variety of reviews – Make sure you read the best and the worst reviews of the person you are considering hiring. Sometimes reviews can be biased, so make sure you read a variety, and go back at least a few months to get the full scope of that person’s work.
- Compare prices to get a fair one – Even if you’re pretty sure you want to hire someone, make sure you look at other workers offering the same service in your area. It will help you determine if you’re getting a fair price.
- Perform an additional background check – Make sure you do additional checks outside of the website you are using. Trying looking up this person’s professional LinkedIn profile, or even their Facebook page to see what kind of person you’ll be bringing into your home.
- Contact them before you officially hire them – With this kind of work, there’s always room for negotiation. Make sure to set out a firm set of rules for the work done in your house; whether it’s a home repair, babysitting, or anything in between, there’s always a time to discuss what you want and see how willing they are to adhere to your expectations.
Helpful articles for keeping your home in order
These articles can help you with your home improvement projects, hiring home workers safely, and how to make sure the reviews you read online are actually useful to you.
- How to Cancel Angi – If you’re done with Angi, read this step-by-step tutorial on how to cancel your account to protect your privacy and personal information.
- How to Determine if an Online Review is Legitimate – This article can help you figure out the legitimacy of reviews so you can hire the best contractor.
- The 10 Best Sites and Apps to Find Local Businesses – If you want to check out the business a contractor may work for, these sites can help you find the best information.
- How to Recognize and Prevent Phishing Scams – Sometimes websites like these contain spam or scams; this article will show you how to spot them, and how to protect yourself.