Free tool, bring your own quotes
What one closed job really costs you.
Retainer, pay per lead or pay per close. Put in the quotes you have and your own numbers, and see what each job costs under each one, side by side.
- Your quotes, not our prices
- Break-even points at your numbers
- Nothing leaves the page unless you send the form
Tell us about your business
Reply within one business dayThe calculator
Three ways to pay, one job to price.
Start with your business on the left, then the quotes on the right. The cheapest model at your numbers is marked.
At these numbers you close 10 jobs a month (40 leads × 25%), worth $30,000.
- Cheapest here
Flat monthly retainer
$2,000 a month, whatever happens
- Cost per closed job
- $200
- Share of revenue
- 6.7%
- A month
- $2,000
Price per lead
$75 × 40 leads
- Cost per closed job
- $300
- Share of revenue
- 10%
- A month
- $3,000
Share of each close
10% of each $3,000 job
- Cost per closed job
- $300
- Share of revenue
- 10%
- A month
- $3,000
What these numbers say
- flat monthly retainer is the cheapest per closed job at these numbers.
- The retainer is cheaper than the share of each close once you close more than 6.7 jobs a month. You close 10.
- Paying per lead is cheaper than a share of each close when your close rate is above 25%. Yours is 25%.
- The retainer is cheaper than paying per lead above 26.7 leads a month. You get 40.
If one quote mixes all three
Plans that combine a retainer, a per-lead price and a share of each close add up. At these inputs that is $8,000 a month, or $800 per closed job (26.7% of revenue).
When each model is cheaper
No model is cheapest for everyone.
Which one wins depends on how many leads you get, how many you close and what a job is worth. That is why the calculator asks.
Monthly retainer
Cheaper per job the more you close. At high volume it is usually the lowest cost per job.
You pay the same in a slow month as in a busy one. The risk of a bad month sits with you.
Price per lead
Cost follows volume, and each job gets cheaper as your close rate goes up. Good if you close well.
You pay for leads you do not close. Ask what counts as a lead before you compare quotes.
Share of each close
The same share of every job, and nothing in a month with no closed work. The agency carries the risk.
At high volume or on big tickets it can cost the most per job. Ask how a close gets counted.
What the math leaves out
Four questions to ask before you sign.
Two quotes can land on the same cost per job and still be very different deals.
- What counts as a lead: every call, or only ones that fit your area and services.
- How a closed job gets counted and checked, and when the fee is due.
- Who owns the website, the phone numbers and the lead history if you leave.
- How long you are committed for, and what ending it takes.
How our plans are built
All three parts, in one written scope.
A Frontend Horizon plan mixes a monthly retainer, a price per qualified lead and a share of each closed job. There is no setup fee. The mix depends on your trade and market, so we quote it on a call and put it in writing before any work starts.
Put our quote into the calculator next to anyone else's. The “if one quote mixes all three” line is the shape ours takes.
Want a quote to put in it?
Tell us about the business. We will price it.
The leads, close rate, average job and quotes you put in above come with your details. Tell us the area you work when we reply, and we come back with the retainer, per-lead and per-close numbers that fit, for you to run through the calculator yourself.
- Read by our team in Dallas
- Reply within one business day
- Priced in writing, no setup fee
Questions owners ask
About the cost-per-job math.
Are the prices in the calculator yours?
How is cost per closed job worked out?
Why would anyone pick a retainer if per close carries no risk?
How do Frontend Horizon plans price?
Does anything I type get saved or sent?
Next: what are slow replies costing you?
Before you buy more leads, check how many of the ones you get now wait too long. The missed-lead calculator takes four numbers.