I'm Ayman. I run Ayman Results, a small SEO agency in Western Sydney, and I spend most of my week working on Google for tradies. Plumbers, flooring companies, tank cleaners, pressure cleaners. When I ask a new client where their work comes from, the answer is usually "referrals, and a bit of hipages". Then there's a pause, and they tell me what they actually think of hipages.
This isn't a hit piece. hipages is a real business, it sends real jobs, and for some tradies it's the right call. But "is hipages worth it" is one of the most common questions tradies type into Google, and most of the answers out there are written by hipages or by people selling you something else. So here's the honest version, with the maths, from someone who sees both sides.
The short version
- hipages charges a subscription and you use credits to claim jobs. The same job usually goes to more than one tradie, so you're competing on speed and price.
- It's worth it when you're new, you need work this month, or your jobs are high value and you're fast on the phone.
- It's not worth it when you're winning fewer than one in four leads, or you're losing jobs to the cheapest quote.
- The long-term fix is owning your leads: a strong Google Business Profile and a website that ranks, so the customer calls you and only you.
- Don't cancel overnight. Build the owned side first, then cut back the paid side as your calls grow.
How hipages makes money
The model is simple. A homeowner posts a job. hipages matches it to tradies in the area, and those tradies use credits from their monthly plan to unlock the customer's details. Plans and prices change, so check hipages' current pricing yourself, but published comparisons in 2026 put plans at roughly $139 to $649 a month plus GST, depending on how many credits you want.
Two things matter more than the price tag. First, the lead isn't exclusive. The customer has been told they'll hear from a few tradies, so they're expecting to compare quotes. Second, the customer belongs to the platform. They found hipages, not you. If they need a plumber again in two years, there's a good chance they go back to hipages, not to your number.
You're not buying a customer. You're buying a ticket to a quote-off.
Step 1Do the maths on your own jobs
Whether hipages is worth it comes down to one number: what it costs you to win a job. Not per lead. Per job you actually do. Here's how to work it out from your last three months.
| What to add up | Example | Your numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Total spent on hipages in 3 months | $1,200 | |
| Leads you claimed | 40 | |
| Jobs you actually won | 6 | |
| Cost per won job ($1,200 ÷ 6) | $200 | |
| Average profit per job | $450 |
In that example, hipages is worth it on paper: $200 to win a job that makes $450. But add the hours spent calling 34 people who went with someone else, and the quotes you drove out to and lost. If each lost lead costs you 20 minutes, that's more than 11 hours. That's the hidden cost most tradies don't count.
Try this week
- Pull up your hipages spend for the last three months and count the jobs you actually won from it. Divide one by the other.
- Ask yourself honestly: on the jobs you lost, did you lose on price, on speed, or because the customer never answered?
When hipages is worth it
I'd tell a tradie to keep hipages, or even start on it, in these situations:
- You've just started out. No reviews, no website, no referrals yet. hipages gets you jobs while the rest is built, and those first jobs become your first Google reviews.
- Your jobs are high value. If one bathroom or one roof pays for a year of credits, the maths is easy.
- You answer the phone in minutes. On shared leads, the first tradie to call often wins. If you're quick, you have an edge.
- You have gaps to fill. If your calendar has holes next week, a paid lead is better than an empty day.
When hipages isn't worth it
And here's when it starts to work against you:
- You win fewer than about one in four leads. Below that, you're mostly paying to give other tradies practice.
- You're the better tradie, not the cheaper one. Shared leads reward the lowest quote. If you charge for quality, you lose a lot of them.
- You're on the tools all day. If you can't call back for three hours, the job's usually gone.
- You've been on it for years. If you're still relying on it after two or three years, you've paid for a lot of jobs and built very little of your own.
Step 2Owning your leads instead
An owned lead is a customer who searched Google, found you, and called you. Nobody else got their number. They saw your reviews and your work before they rang, so they're half-sold already. That's a very different conversation to a hipages lead who's waiting for three quotes.
You get owned leads from three places, in this order:
1. Your Google Business Profile
When someone searches "plumber near me" or "electrician Penrith", the map with three businesses shows up near the top. Those three get most of the calls. Your profile is free, and getting into that top 3 is the single biggest thing that moves tradies off lead platforms. I've written a full guide on how to rank higher on Google Maps.
2. A website that ranks and converts
Google checks your website against your profile. A site with a page for each service and each area gives Google far more to rank you for, and gives the customer a reason to call you instead of the next listing. STC Tank Cleaners had no website when I started. Three months after I built one, it had 182 clicks from Google search and a #1 ranking across most of its area for "septic tank services".
3. Reviews you keep forever
Reviews on hipages stay on hipages. Reviews on Google stay with you, help you rank, and sell the next job for you. Every job you win, from anywhere, should end with a request for a Google review. Here's how to get more Google reviews without being awkward about it.
hipages vs SEO, side by side
| hipages | Your own Google listing and website | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Leads this week | Usually 6 to 12 weeks to build momentum |
| Competition per lead | Shared with other tradies | The customer calls you |
| Cost | Monthly plan plus credits, forever | Upfront work, then upkeep |
| If you stop paying | Leads stop | Rankings fade slowly, if at all |
| Who owns the customer | The platform | You |
| Reviews | Stay on hipages | Stay with you and help you rank |
If you want results faster than SEO can give you, Google Ads sit in the middle: you pay per click, but the customer still comes to your website and calls only you. I've compared those properly in Google Ads vs SEO for tradies.
Step 3How to switch without a dry spell
The worst thing you can do is cancel hipages tomorrow and hope Google picks up the slack. It won't, not straight away. Do it in this order instead:
- Months 1 to 3: keep hipages running. Fix your Google Business Profile, get a proper website up, and ask every customer for a Google review.
- Months 3 to 6: track where every call comes from. Ask "how did you find us?" on every job. When Google calls start to match hipages, drop to a smaller plan.
- Month 6 onwards: keep hipages only for the gaps, or for jobs you particularly want, and let the owned side carry the business.
That way you're never without work, and the money you used to spend on credits goes into something you keep.
What owning it looks like
Jimmy runs Design Timber Flooring. He's been in the trade for more than 20 years and lived on referrals, with no website. We built his site and ran our local SEO process. He now ranks in the top 3 on Google for "timber flooring contractors" and similar searches.
Those 26 quote requests came from people who found Jimmy, not from a shared list. Nobody else got their details.
If you're a tradie in Western Sydney, here's how we handle SEO across Western Sydney. If you're a plumber, an electrician or a builder, we've written up exactly how we approach SEO for plumbers, electricians and builders.