An honest comparison for contractors
Pay per lead, retainer, or pay per close?
Three ways to pay whoever brings you leads. Each one puts the risk in a different place. Here is where, what each does to your bill in a slow month, and who each one fits.
- Downsides of every model, ours included
- No prices, no made-up statistics
- Written for owners, not marketers
Tell us about your business
Reply within one business daySide by side
The three models, row by row.
Read across a row to see where the money and the risk sit in each one.
| Side by side | Monthly retainerA fixed fee for the work | Pay per leadA set price for each lead | Pay per closeA share of each sold job |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | The work, whatever it produces | Each lead that reaches you and meets the agreed definition | Each job that closes from a lead they sent |
| In a slow month | The same bill as a strong month | A smaller bill, because fewer leads arrived | A smaller bill, because fewer jobs closed |
| In a strong month | The same bill, so a strong month is cheap | A bigger bill, one lead at a time | A bigger bill, one sale at a time |
| Who carries the risk | You. The work gets paid for either way | Shared. They carry the cost of getting the lead, you carry whether it closes | Mostly them, until the job is sold |
| What has to be in writing | What ships each month and how results are reported | What counts as a lead, and how a bad one is handled | What counts as closed, where it is recorded, and for how long a lead counts |
| The quiet downside | Nothing on the bill moves when results do | It rewards volume. Without a tight definition, you pay for tire-kickers | Your partner has less reason to do slow-building work that pays off next year |
Monthly retainer
A fixed fee for the work
- What you pay for
- The work, whatever it produces
- In a slow month
- The same bill as a strong month
- In a strong month
- The same bill, so a strong month is cheap
- Who carries the risk
- You. The work gets paid for either way
- What has to be in writing
- What ships each month and how results are reported
- The quiet downside
- Nothing on the bill moves when results do
Pay per lead
A set price for each lead
- What you pay for
- Each lead that reaches you and meets the agreed definition
- In a slow month
- A smaller bill, because fewer leads arrived
- In a strong month
- A bigger bill, one lead at a time
- Who carries the risk
- Shared. They carry the cost of getting the lead, you carry whether it closes
- What has to be in writing
- What counts as a lead, and how a bad one is handled
- The quiet downside
- It rewards volume. Without a tight definition, you pay for tire-kickers
Pay per close
A share of each sold job
- What you pay for
- Each job that closes from a lead they sent
- In a slow month
- A smaller bill, because fewer jobs closed
- In a strong month
- A bigger bill, one sale at a time
- Who carries the risk
- Mostly them, until the job is sold
- What has to be in writing
- What counts as closed, where it is recorded, and for how long a lead counts
- The quiet downside
- Your partner has less reason to do slow-building work that pays off next year
Pros and cons
What each one does for you, and against you.
Every model has a real case for it. Every model also has a way to go wrong.
Monthly retainer
One fixed fee for the ongoing work.
Works for you
- A predictable bill you can plan around
- Pays for work that takes months to pay back, like SEO and a site that ranks
- A strong month does not cost you more
Works against you
- You pay the same when results stall
- Easy for an agency to report activity instead of jobs
- All of the risk sits on your side of the table
Fits best: Owners building a lead source for the long run, in a market where search takes months to move.
Pay per lead
A set price for each lead that reaches you.
Works for you
- You pay when a lead arrives, not for clicks or impressions
- Easy to compare against what a job is worth to you
- A slow month costs less
Works against you
- It rewards volume, so a loose definition means paying for junk
- Leads bought from sellers may go to other contractors too
- A strong month raises the bill, so plan your cash
- It pays for the lead, not the sale, so your close rate still decides the math
Fits best: Owners with steady jobs of similar size, a tight written definition of a lead, and crews to work more of them.
Pay per close
A share of each job sold from their leads.
Works for you
- You pay when you sell, the closest link between cost and revenue
- Your partner cares about lead quality, not just count
- A lead that never closes costs nothing on this line
Works against you
- Needs a trusted record of which jobs closed
- On a big job you share more of the upside
- Slow-building work is harder to fund on sales alone
- Long sales cycles mean agreeing how long a lead counts
Fits best: Owners with big tickets and longer decisions, like roof replacements, remodels and custom builds.
Why we mix them
Each model alone puts too much risk on one side.
A retainer alone leaves you carrying it. Per lead alone rewards volume over fit. Per close alone starves the slow work that pays off next year. So every plan we write uses all three.
The retainer covers the work that has to happen every month. The price per qualified lead ties part of the bill to leads that meet a definition written into your scope. The share of each closed job ties part of it to sales. How much sits in each part depends on your trade and market, and it is agreed in writing before work starts.
See how our plans workOne plan, three parts
Retainer
Covers the site, SEO, campaigns and the Friday read. Carries the slow work.
Per qualified lead
Moves with leads that meet your written definition. Keeps us honest on volume.
Per closed job
Moves with sales. Keeps us honest on fit.
No setup fee. Prices quoted on a call.
Before you sign anything
Three questions to ask whoever is selling each model.
Ask us too. If the answers are vague, the deal will be.
Selling you a retainer
- 1What exactly ships each month?
- 2How do you report results: in leads and jobs, or in traffic?
- 3What do I keep if I leave: the site, the content, the accounts?
Selling you leads
- 1What counts as a lead, in writing?
- 2Does this lead go to me only, or to other contractors too?
- 3What happens when a lead is clearly not a fit?
Selling you pay per close
- 1How is a closed job recorded, and where?
- 2How long does a lead stay tied to a sale?
- 3How is a disagreement about a close settled?
Which way should your plan lean?
Tell us your trade, a typical ticket and how leads arrive today. We will tell you how we would size the mix.
Questions owners ask
About paying per lead, per month or per close.
Is pay per lead cheaper than a retainer?
What is the catch with pay per lead?
What is the catch with a retainer?
What is the catch with pay per close?
Which one does Frontend Horizon use?
Can I see what my mix would cost?
Frontend Horizon, Dallas, TX
Your site should be paying for itself. Let's find out together.
Take ten minutes with us. You will leave knowing where your site stands and what we would do first, whether or not you hire us.
- Monthly retainer
- Pay per lead
- Pay per close
- A written read every Friday