Hipages vs your own website
Updated September 2026 · Written by a web developer who serves tradies — read to the end before assuming the obvious bias.
In its 2025 results, hipages reported $83.2 million in revenue from 36,600 subscribed tradies — an average of about $2,380 per tradie, per year. That's not a criticism; it proves the leads have value. The question is what you're actually buying for that money, and what the alternative costs.
Renting leads vs owning the asset
| Hipages (typical) | Your own website | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ~$2,400/yr average, ongoing forever | ~$1,200–$2,200 once + ~$1,000/yr care |
| Who else gets the lead | Sold to up to 3 competing tradies | Nobody — they called you |
| When you stop paying | Leads stop instantly | Site keeps working; you own it |
| The customer's intent | Shopping several quotes by design | Often referred, or found and chose you |
| Your reputation | Lives on their platform, their rules | Your reviews, your photos, your name |
When hipages genuinely makes sense
- Starting out with no reputation and an empty calendar — paid leads are instant work while word of mouth builds.
- Filling gaps — quiet weeks, a new service area, a new trade line.
- High-volume trades where quoting fast on many small jobs is the whole model.
Plenty of tradies run hipages profitably. The trap isn't using it — it's using it as your only channel, forever, so that every job forever includes a platform tax and a bidding war.
What the website changes
A website doesn't replace lead platforms on day one. What it does is convert the channels you already have and don't pay for: the "saw your ute" people, the "my neighbour recommended you" people, the "searched your name after a mate mentioned it" people. Every one of those currently either finds nothing, finds a dusty Facebook page — or finds a competitor's polished site. Those are the easiest, highest-trust jobs you'll ever win, and they ring you alone.
The honest verdict
If the budget only allows one: a young business buys leads; an established business builds the asset. If you can do both, the playbook is simple — use platforms to fill gaps, and let your own site steadily take over the base load until the platform is optional. The end state to aim for is the one hipages' own numbers imply: being the tradie other people's $2,400 a year gets compared against — and losing to, because the customer already chose you.