hipages vs Oneflare vs SureQuote: which lead platform actually costs less per booked job?

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Oneflare is closing: what this actually means for your pipeline

If you got the email, you already know. Oneflare closes on 30 June 2026, as stated on Oneflare's own site. The platform served roughly 14,500 verified trade businesses annually before the shutdown. 2startupdaily.netView source That is a lot of tradies who need somewhere to go, and fast.

Airtasker acquired Oneflare in May 2022. 2startupdaily.netView source The plan was to move into higher-value trade work. What happened instead: the brand is being wound down and Oneflare tradies are being pointed toward Airtasker. oneflare.com.au is in the process of redirecting to Airtasker.

The closure sets a real decision clock. If Oneflare supplied any part of your pipeline, you have weeks to find a replacement. The two obvious destinations are hipages (the AU incumbent) and Airtasker (the new owner). Neither is a like-for-like swap. Here is what each actually means.

The Airtasker landing: what you get if you follow the redirect

Airtasker is a task marketplace, not a lead marketplace. The model is different from what Oneflare tradies are used to. You bid for tasks publicly and pay a service fee on job completion: reported in the range of 10-20% of the task value. 3finder.com.auView source

On a $2,000 painting job, that service fee lands in the $200-$400 range depending on your tier. That is a real cost relative to a per-lead model. For higher-value work, the maths can go against you quickly.

Airtasker suits smaller, faster-turnaround tasks: furniture assembly, minor handyman work, cleaning. It attracts price-sensitive customers on small jobs. For licensed tradies doing work that bills in the thousands, the commission model works differently to what you have been on.

Why most Oneflare tradies will compare hipages next

hipages is the dominant AU incumbent. The platform has more than 34,000 subscribers 1accc.gov.auView source and reported 1.4 million homeowner connections and H1 FY2025 revenue of $40.6 million. 4ca.finance.yahoo.comView source For raw consumer volume and trade lead supply, hipages is the biggest option in the market.

That scale is why it is the obvious default for Oneflare tradies who need a replacement. It is also why it is worth knowing the subscription model before you sign.

hipages pricing and contracts: what the numbers actually say

hipages runs a subscription-plus-per-lead model. You pay a monthly subscription to access the platform, then pay credits for each lead you choose to quote on. The subscription range is about $25 to $999 per month for an initial term of six to 12 months. 1accc.gov.auView source Where your subscription lands inside that wide band depends on your trade, location and plan, so confirm the current figure on hipages directly before you sign.

Credits purchased to claim leads are separate from the subscription. That subscription covers platform access, not a fixed per-lead price. As at June 2026, tradies commonly report per-lead fees in the rough order of $30 to $80 depending on job type, and ProductReview carries recurring tradie reports of credit and lead-cost frustration. 5productreview.com.auView source Treat any per-lead figure as indicative only: it was not verified against hipages.com.au, which is a direct competitor we do not link to, so confirm it on the platform before relying on it.

What a lead actually costs you per booked job

The per-lead fee is not the number that matters. What matters is what you pay per job you actually win.

On any shared-lead platform, a lead is sent to several tradies and only some of those quotes convert. The real cost per booked job is the per-lead fee divided by your conversion rate, plus the monthly subscription spread across the jobs you win. That all-in number is always higher than the headline per-lead price, and how much higher depends on your conversion rate. Work it out for your own trade before you commit.

This is the number worth asking any lead platform before you sign up: not the per-lead fee, but the cost per booked job at your trade's typical conversion rate. Platforms that charge per lead and share that lead with multiple tradies will always run higher on this metric than the headline suggests.

Lock-in contracts vs cancelling any time

The contract model is the clearest structural difference between hipages and SureQuote. hipages runs on fixed-term subscription contracts: initial terms of 6 or 12 months, with automatic renewal. 1accc.gov.auView source SureQuote has no lock-in contract: you can cancel at any time with no penalty.

For context on how that renewal process has worked in practice: hipages gave the ACCC a court-enforceable undertaking in 2023 over how auto-renewal and cancellation terms were disclosed to subscribers between 2018 and 2022. 1accc.gov.auView source The undertaking expired in May 2026 and the matter is closed. hipages has updated its disclosure practices. It is worth reading the current renewal and cancellation terms carefully before you sign.

ProductReview carries 9,359 reviews for hipages, with recurring reports of difficulty around contract exit. 5productreview.com.auView source Those reviews span different time periods and should be read as a guide, not current policy.

On SureQuote: no contract, no lock-in, no exit penalty. Pause or cancel when it suits your workload.

Where hipages wins: volume, recognition, Tradiecore tooling

hipages is the largest trade platform in Australia by consumer traffic. 1.4 million homeowner connections in H1 FY2025 4ca.finance.yahoo.comView source means more jobs posted per trade category than any competing platform. If raw volume is your primary goal, hipages delivers it.

The review and profile system, with 9,359 ProductReview ratings 5productreview.com.auView source and its own in-platform review functionality, gives hipages tradies established social proof that newer platforms cannot match yet.

hipages is also building Tradiecore, a bundled CRM and job toolset, as part of its platform expansion. For tradies who want invoicing and CRM tools bundled with lead sourcing, this is a genuine feature advantage.

The case for hipages: if you do high volumes of smaller jobs, operate in metro areas with strong consumer demand, and are comfortable managing a subscription contract with good conversion discipline, hipages can deliver ROI. The issues are not with the lead volume. They are with the cost structure and contract terms.

Three models side by side: hipages, Airtasker and SureQuote

The table below compares the three live options on the dimensions that affect your cost per job won and what happens to your money. Oneflare is included as a closing reference point only. hipages and Airtasker figures are rough estimates from third-party sources verified June 2026; SureQuote figures are grounded against the validated internal pricing ledger. 1accc.gov.auView source 3finder.com.auView source

SureQuote: what the model actually costs on a real job

SureQuote charges a percentage of the estimated job value as a per-lead fee, capped at $300 per lead. Fee tiers: 1.5% at Base, 1.25% at Trusted, 1.0% at Pro. No monthly fee required.

In practice: on a $2,000 painting job estimate, the lead fee at Base tier is $30. On a $20,000 kitchen reno estimate, the cap kicks in at $300. You see the full job scope before deciding whether to buy the lead.

Credits never expire. Buy credits, don't use them, they sit there waiting. Unused credits are paid back to your original payment method. Promotional credits are excluded from that refund. Pause or cancel at any time, no penalty.

Each lead goes to a maximum of three tradies. If a consumer rejects you after review, you get a credit rebate. If a lead turns out to be fake, the refund is 100% but the process is manual: the team handles each claim individually, so it is not instant.

SureQuote is live across 59 trades, including painting, plumbing, electrical and carpentry. ABN and licence credentials are verified at sign-up. Insurance details are collected and displayed on your profile, but not validated by SureQuote. Reviews shown on your profile are publicly available reviews sourced from existing public sources.

First 5 leads at half price: what the signup offer means in practice

New tradies are enrolled in the first-5-leads offer on signup: no code needed and no application required. Your first 5 dashboard leads come at 50% off the standard fee. The discount applies to the per-lead fee only; promotional credits are excluded from the unused-credits refund policy.

Where SureQuote is still growing

SureQuote is a newer platform, actively expanding its consumer audience and taking tradie feedback to improve the product. In some trade categories it carries fewer posted jobs than hipages, which reported 1.4 million homeowner connections in H1 FY2025. 4ca.finance.yahoo.comView source If raw lead volume is your primary goal right now, hipages will deliver more of it.

A few features are still on the way: no native mobile app yet, no built-in CRM or job management tool, and reviews shown on your profile are publicly available reviews from existing sources rather than a first-party review system built within the platform. These are real gaps relative to a more established platform.

SureQuote is built for the tradie who wants lead fees tied to actual job value, no lock-in, and no credit expiry. The platform is growing quickly, and tradie input shapes what gets built next. If maximum volume regardless of contract terms is the priority, hipages is currently the better fit for that goal.

Which model fits which tradie: the decision framework

hipages fits you if: you want maximum raw job volume, you operate in metro areas with strong consumer demand, you are ok with managing a subscription contract, and your conversion discipline means you can turn enough leads into booked jobs to cover the subscription plus per-lead cost.

Airtasker fits you if: you do gig-style work, smaller tasks, or handyman jobs where the task-marketplace model matches the job type. For work under a few hundred dollars, the commission model is workable. For licensed trade jobs billing in the thousands, the commission rate becomes a real cost.

SureQuote fits you if: you are a licensed trade professional doing real jobs where the job estimate runs into the hundreds or tens of thousands of dollars, you want to see the job before you spend, and you want no lock-in, no credit expiry, and a per-lead fee tied to the job value.

None of these options is universally correct. The right question is: what does my real cost per booked job look like on each platform, at my trade's typical conversion rate, and what happens to my money if the platform changes or I want to stop?

With no monthly fee required and your first 5 leads at half price, SureQuote is straightforward to try alongside whatever you are already using.

Three questions to ask any lead platform before you sign up

1. What is my real cost per booked job? Work it out as: subscription plus per-lead cost, divided by your conversion rate. On any shared-lead platform that figure runs higher than the per-lead headline, because the lead is shared and only some quotes convert. For SureQuote, the per-lead fee is a percentage of the estimate with a $300 hard cap and no subscription component.

2. What happens if I want to cancel? hipages runs on 6 or 12-month contracts with automatic renewal. 1accc.gov.auView source Airtasker has no contract lock-in (task marketplace model). SureQuote has no lock-in, no penalty, and no contract.

3. How many tradies compete for the same lead? On hipages, leads are shared with multiple tradies at once. On Airtasker, the public posting model means anyone on the platform can bid. On SureQuote, the hard cap is three tradies per lead, and if a consumer rejects you, you receive a credit rebate.

These three questions are worth asking before you hand over your credit card details on any platform. The answers change the maths a lot.