The lead model: pros pay for a chance, not a job
On Angi and Thumbtack, the product being sold is the lead. A pro pays for each lead or customer contact, the same lead is commonly offered to several pros at once, and the fee is owed whether or not any work comes from it. Win the job and the fee was a cost of getting it. Lose it — to a faster caller, a tire-kicker, or a job that was never real — and the fee is gone anyway. That cost does not vanish: pros price it into their quotes, so homeowners end up funding a lot of introductions that never became work.
The CRS model: nobody pays for a lead, including you
Coastal Repair Squad sells no leads. A homeowner pays nothing to request a job and nothing to be matched. A pro pays nothing to join, nothing to receive a request, and nothing when a job falls through. The platform earns a 20% commission only when a job is completed and paid — calculated on the pre-tax job price, with the pro's exact net shown before they accept. If no job happens, we make nothing. That alignment is the whole design: our income depends on finished work, not on selling chances.
The gates come before the job, not after a bad one
On a lead marketplace, the main qualification to receive your request is a payment method. On CRS, a pro cannot be dispatched until their record clears the gates: a signed agreement, a verified license for the trades and job sizes that require one — or the written disclosure Georgia law allows (§ 43-41-17) — an insurance certificate, a background-check clearance, and a W-9. Pros run their own businesses as independent contractors; the platform's job is verification, matching, and the money trail.
For homeowners: one price up front, and your money moves last
A CRS job starts with an upfront all-in price that already includes our 3% booking fee — waived on your first job. You authorize the payment when you book, but it is captured only after the pro checks out with after photos and you approve the work — or automatically 48 hours later if we do not hear from you, with a warning at 24 hours. The pro is the contractor of record, and you know who is coming before work starts. No chasing invoices, and no surprise line items after the fact.
If the work fails: a warranty with a fund behind it
Every CRS job carries a 90-day workmanship warranty. Behind it sits a re-do fund — $5 from our share of every job — that covers 25% of the job price per incident, up to $1,250, on jobs from $300 to $5,000. If covered work fails inside the window, you choose: we send a pro back to re-do it, or we refund the covered amount. A star rating cannot do that for you. A fund can.
Side by side: what actually changes
Same repair, two very different machines underneath it. Here is the comparison reduced to the rows that matter:
| The question | Angi / Thumbtack | Coastal Repair Squad |
|---|---|---|
| What does a pro pay for? | Each lead or customer contact — whether or not it becomes a job | Nothing for leads. 20% only when a job is completed and paid |
| Who else gets your request? | The same lead is commonly offered to several pros at once | One verified pro who accepts your specific job |
| When does the platform earn? | Up front, before any work exists | Only after the job is finished and paid |
| How is your price set? | In quotes you gather after contacting pros | An upfront all-in price before work starts — booking fee inside it, waived on your first job |
| When is your money captured? | On whatever terms you arrange with the pro | Authorized at booking; captured only after you approve the after photos, or 48 hours later |
| If the work fails? | Depends on each platform's guarantee program and its terms | 90-day workmanship warranty plus a re-do fund — you choose a re-do or a refund of the covered amount |
| Who can take your job? | Any pro who buys the lead | Only pros who cleared the agreement, licensing, insurance, and background gates — where a verified pro is accepting jobs |
The honest limits: they are bigger, and we are new
Angi and Thumbtack have been at this for years and have pros in places we have not reached. Coastal Repair Squad is new. Georgia is our first market, and our coverage grows one verified pro at a time — an area opens for booking only while a verified pro there is accepting jobs. Where we do not have one yet, the site says so, instead of selling you a lead-shaped promise. If you need a trade we have not onboarded in your town yet, the big platforms may simply have more names today. We would rather be smaller and straight with you.
Try the model from either side
Homeowners: request a job and see the all-in price before anything starts — the first job's booking fee is on us. Pros: joining is free, and the first dollar you ever pay this platform is 20% of the first job you finish. Either way, nobody here pays for a chance. The squad that shows up earns when the work is done — at the same moment you do.
