Angi Alternatives for Contractors

Angi — formerly Angie's List and HomeAdvisor — is one of the largest home services platforms in the United States. It is also one of the most complained-about. In January 2023, the Federal Trade Commission ordered Angi's parent company HomeAdvisor to pay up to $7.2 million and stop deceptively marketing its leads after finding the company had misled contractors about lead quality for nearly a decade. If you are searching for Angi alternatives, this post covers the documented complaints, the real costs, and why the Merrisk Trusted Directory is built on a fundamentally different model.

What Is Angi?

Angi is the rebranded identity of Angie's List, which merged with HomeAdvisor in 2017 and dropped the Angie's List name in 2021. Today it operates as both a consumer review site and a lead generation marketplace — selling leads to contractors through Angi Pro Leads (formerly HomeAdvisor Powered by Angi). Contractors pay an annual membership fee plus a per-lead charge for every project request they receive.

The FTC Action: What the Government Found

The FTC's March 2022 complaint against HomeAdvisor documented a pattern of deceptive practices that had been ongoing since at least 2014. Specifically, the agency found that HomeAdvisor told contractors their leads came from customers who were ready to hire — when many were not. It found that leads frequently fell outside contractors' specified service areas and categories. It found that sales agents misrepresented an optional software subscription as free when it cost $59.99. The resulting order required HomeAdvisor to pay up to $7.2 million in redress and prohibited it from making false claims about lead quality going forward.

What Contractors Report After the FTC Settlement

Despite the FTC order, contractor complaints have continued at scale. ConsumerAffairs, Sitejabber, BBB, and industry forums show thousands of reviews describing the same issues. One contractor on ConsumerAffairs accepted seven leads in ten days, was charged $1,070, and was unable to make contact with five of them due to wrong numbers and invalid emails — with all refund requests denied. A Sitejabber reviewer described being locked into a 12-month contract by a sales representative who promised furniture assembly leads, then discovered Angi no longer offered that service — and received a $2,646 cancellation notice when they tried to exit. Another described being charged $800 per day in automatic lead fees before catching the error, with no cash refunds offered.

Key Complaints Across Review Platforms

• Leads sold to four to five competing contractors simultaneously
• Mandatory one-year contracts with $1,200+ early termination fees
• Leads outside stated service area and category
• Annual membership fee of $287.99 plus $15–$85+ per lead
• Refund requests limited to two per month regardless of lead quality
• Automated billing that can run thousands per month without warning
• Angi acquiring roofing companies and competing against its own clients for leads

What Angi Actually Costs

• Annual membership: $287.99
• Cost per lead: $15–$85+ (higher in competitive markets)
• Lead exclusivity: Sold to four to five contractors simultaneously
• Contract term: One year, with termination fees up to $1,200+
• Refund cap: Two leads per month
• FTC fine: $7.2 million for deceptive lead marketing

Why the Merrisk Trusted Directory Is Different

The Merrisk Trusted Directory does not sell leads, require annual contracts, or charge per contact. Every business listed in the directory has connected a real payment processor — Stripe, PayPal, Square, Clover, or Shopify — through a secure OAuth integration. Merrisk uses that verified data to calculate a Trust Score from 100 to 1,000, reflecting actual transaction history, chargeback rates, refund patterns, and business longevity.

A customer finding your listing in the Merrisk directory sees verified proof that your business is real and financially stable — not a profile you created yourself or a paid placement. There is no annual contract, no per-lead fee, and no sales rep calling you to upsell a software subscription.

Angi vs. Merrisk: Side by Side

Bottom Line

Angi's scale means there are real customers using it — but the business model requires you to pay whether or not those customers are real, ready to hire, or even in your service area. The FTC settlement confirmed what contractors had been saying for years: the leads were misrepresented. If you want your business found by customers based on verified data, no contracts, and no per-lead fees, the Merrisk Trusted Directory is worth exploring.

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