Twenty-five dollars per lead. Thirty percent conversion rate. That means every job you book through hipages costs you $83 before you've picked up a tool.
On a $400 job, that's 21% of your revenue gone to a platform. On a $250 job, it's 33%. That's not a marketing cost. That's a franchise fee, except you don't get a franchise.
If hipages feels too expensive, you're not imagining it. And the leads aren't even yours. They're hipages' leads, shared with two or three other tradies who are all racing to quote the same job. You're paying for the privilege of competing.
How much does hipages cost per job? The average Australian tradie pays $25 per lead on hipages with a roughly 30% conversion rate, meaning each booked job costs $83 in platform fees alone (20 Minute Marketing). On a $400 job, that's a 21% effective marketing cost. The most common hipages alternative is building your own landing page and Google presence, which typically costs a fraction of that per acquired customer.
The hipages Cost Problem for Tradies
hipages works. That's not the argument. Leads come in, you respond fast enough, you win some of them. The problem is what you're paying per win, and the fact that the moment you stop paying, the leads stop too.
It's a rental model. You're renting access to customers who are searching for tradies. Every month, you're starting from zero. No equity. No compounding. The leads you paid for last month don't make this month cheaper.
The real hipages alternative is owning your own lead source: a landing page that ranks on Google, a Google Business Profile that shows up in Maps, ad campaigns pointing to a page you control. Those assets compound. The SEO work you do this month still generates leads next year. The reviews you collect stay on YOUR profile, not hipages'.
What $83 Per Job Actually Buys You on hipages
A shared lead. That's it. You and two to three other tradies get the same customer's details at the same time. First to call wins (and 78% of customers hire the first responder (Lead Connect)). The rest get nothing for their $25.
No brand building. No website traffic. No Google reviews on your own profile. No SEO benefit. No retargeting. When the customer's job is done, the only thing they remember is "I found someone on hipages." Not your business name. Not your website.
At 10 leads a week, you're spending $250/week or $13,000 a year on hipages. At 30% conversion, that's 156 jobs at $83 each. What would $13,000 build if you spent it on your own marketing instead?
The hipages Alternative: Building a Lead Source You Own
The maths gets interesting when you redirect even half of what you spend on hipages toward assets that compound.
A landing page that converts. A custom-built landing page designed for paid traffic converts at 3-8% compared to 1-2% for a generic website (Unbounce). Point your Google Ads at a page built to convert, and your cost per lead drops. The page keeps working whether you're paying for ads or ranking organically.
Google Business Profile. Free. Shows up in Maps results when someone searches "plumber near me" or "electrician Parramatta." BrightLocal found 88% of local mobile searches result in a call or visit within 24 hours. Your GBP is the single most underrated free lead source for tradies. It just needs consistent updates and reviews to rank.
Google Ads on your own terms. Instead of paying hipages $25 per shared lead, run your own Google Ads pointing to your landing page. You control the budget, the targeting, the messaging. No sharing leads with competitors. An AI Ad Strategist can monitor the campaigns so you're not burning budget on keywords that stopped converting.
SEO that compounds. Suburb-specific landing pages convert up to 3x better than generic ones (Elite Property Marketing). A plumber in Parramatta with a page targeting "emergency plumber Parramatta" is building an asset that generates leads month after month with no per-click cost. An AI SEO Watchdog tracks your rankings so you know when something drops.
hipages vs Own Marketing: Tradie Cost Comparison
| Dimension | hipages | Own Landing Page + Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per lead | $25 (shared with competitors) | $10-40 (exclusive to you) |
| Cost per booked job | ~$83 | $30-80 (higher conversion rate) |
| Lead exclusivity | Shared with 2-3 tradies | 100% yours |
| Brand building | None (customer remembers hipages) | Your name, your site, your reviews |
| SEO benefit | None | Compounds over time |
| Asset after 12 months | Nothing (stop paying, leads stop) | Ranking page, reviews, brand recognition |
| Annual cost (10 leads/week) | ~$13,000 | $5,000-10,000 (ads + page build) |
hipages lead costs from 20 Minute Marketing. Google Ads CPC benchmarks from WordStream/LocaliQ. Landing page conversion rates from Unbounce.
When hipages Still Makes Sense
I build the landing pages and ad systems that get tradies off hipages dependence. Even so, I tell new tradies to keep it running while they build everything else. If you're brand new with no website, no Google presence, and no reviews, hipages gets leads in the door. It's a bridge, not a destination.
The mistake is treating it as your only marketing channel for years. I talk to tradies who've spent $50,000+ on hipages over three years and have zero assets to show for it. No website. No rankings. No Google reviews on their own profile. That's the trap.
Common Questions About hipages Costs and Alternatives
How much does hipages actually cost per booked job?
About $83 on average. hipages leads cost roughly $25 each, and tradies convert about 30% of them into booked jobs (20 Minute Marketing). Your actual cost per job depends on your trade, location, and response speed. Electricians and plumbers in metro areas typically pay more per lead than niche trades regionally.
Can I use hipages AND my own marketing at the same time?
Yes, and you should during the transition. Keep hipages running for immediate lead flow while you build your own landing page, Google presence, and ad campaigns. As your own channels start producing consistent leads, scale back hipages spend month by month.
How long does it take for my own marketing to replace hipages leads?
Google Ads can generate leads within days of launching. SEO takes longer: 6-12 months for consistent organic traffic (Ahrefs). A realistic plan is 3-6 months of running both channels in parallel, shifting budget toward your own marketing as it proves itself.
What's the minimum I need to start building my own lead source?
A landing page and a Google Business Profile. The page gives your ads a high-converting destination. The GBP gets you into Maps results for free. Add Google Ads when you have budget, and let SEO build in the background. Starting cost: $2,000-4,000 for the page, $500-1,000/month for ads.
What is the best hipages alternative for Australian tradies?
Your own landing page combined with Google Ads and a Google Business Profile. You control the budget, the leads are exclusive to you, and the assets compound over time. Unlike hipages, you're building something that keeps generating leads after you stop paying for ads, because your SEO and reviews stay with you.
Stop Renting Leads
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Last updated: April 2026