hipages Cost vs Airtasker vs ServiceSeeking: Real Fees in Australia

Here's what hipages costs: $139 a month plus GST on the Starter plan, up to $649 a month plus GST on Platinum, and the first term locks you in for six months. Airtasker has no subscription but takes 12.5% to 20% of every job, plus GST on that fee. ServiceSeeking sits in the middle with a flat membership from $129 a month including GST for most members, and it takes no commission. That's the sticker price. The number that actually matters is what you pay for each job you win, and that one changes a lot depending on how busy you are.

Disclosure: I'm Hadri, founder of Plan@Job. Plan@Job is a platform too, so I've got skin in this. It isn't a lead marketplace. It's project and operations management software for construction and property businesses, and in Australia it's on a reserve list right now because the UK is the live market. I'll show you the maths on all three so you can check every number yourself.

Prices checked: 5 October 2026, against each platform's own published figures (hipages membership page as published September 2026, Airtasker service fee range as reported October 2026, ServiceSeeking's June 2025 price update). These platforms change pricing. Check the live page before you sign anything.

What does hipages cost in Australia?

hipages runs four plans. You pay monthly and get a bucket of credits. Accepting a lead spends credits.

Add GST and Starter is $152.90 a month. Unused credits roll over for one or two months depending on the plan, then they're gone.

The contract is the bit people get wrong

Membership starts on a six-month introductory term, then auto-renews for 12 months at a time. Cancel mid-term and the remaining fees can fall due under their tradie terms.

So the real entry price for Starter isn't $152.90. It's six months of it. That's $917.40 including GST before you've had a chance to decide if it works for your trade. Read the terms on the day you sign, not the day you want out.

Credits are not leads

There's no fixed price per lead. The credits a lead costs move with your trade, your area, the job size and demand. Two plumbers in two suburbs can get very different value from the same plan.

Illustrative example only: say leads in your trade average 50 credits. Starter's 155 credits gets you three leads. That's about $51 a lead including GST. Win one in three and you've paid $152.90 for that job. If leads in your area cost more credits, the maths gets worse fast.

What does Airtasker cost?

Nothing up front. No subscription, no lock-in. Airtasker takes a service fee of 12.5% to 20% of the task price, with tax added to the fee, and it's deducted before the money hits your account.

The percentage sits on a tier system based on your recent earnings and completion rate. New on the platform, you start at the expensive end. Do more work through them and the rate drops.

Here's the maths on an $800 job:

• At 20%: $160 fee plus $16 GST, so $176 gone. You get $624.
• At 12.5%: $100 fee plus $10 GST, so $110 gone. You get $690.

The ugly side is that the fee grows with the job. A $5,000 bathroom refit costs you the same percentage as a $150 flat-pack assembly. And you're bidding against people who'll undercut you to get their first five-star review.

What does ServiceSeeking cost?

ServiceSeeking moved to a membership priced on how many leads they expect to send you. Their June 2025 update put monthly options from $129 including GST for most members. Price depends on your category, your area and how much competition there is. Coverage options run from 10km to 50km, with custom options through their sales team.

Pay quarterly and it's 20% off the monthly price. Pay annually and it's 40% off. On the $129 base, that's $103.20 a month quarterly or $77.40 a month annually.

No per-lead credits and no commission on jobs you win. Once you've got the customer's details, you deal with them direct. Your actual price only shows once you sign up and enter your trade and area, so the $129 is a floor, not a promise.

Side by side: same month, same work

Illustrative scenario, not real figures from any business: a painter wins three jobs at $800 each through one platform in a month. $2,400 of work.

1. hipages Starter: $152.90 including GST, if the credits stretch to the leads you needed. That's about 6% of the work. Run out of credits and you're topping up or upgrading.
2. Airtasker: $528 at the 20% tier, $330 at 12.5%. Between 14% and 22% of the work.
3. ServiceSeeking: $129 at the monthly base rate. About 5% of the work.

Now the bad month. Same painter wins one job. hipages still costs $152.90 and you're still in the contract. ServiceSeeking still costs $129. Airtasker costs $110 to $176.

Now the dead month. Zero jobs. hipages $152.90, ServiceSeeking $129, Airtasker nothing.

That's the whole decision in one line. Subscriptions win when you're busy. Commission wins when you're testing.

Which platform wins what

No platform wins everything. Here's how I'd award it honestly.

• Lowest risk to try: Airtasker. Nothing up front, nothing to cancel.
• Cheapest fixed monthly cost: ServiceSeeking, from $129 including GST against hipages Starter at $152.90, and no six-month lock-in mentioned in their price update.
• Most control over which leads you pay for: hipages. You choose which leads to spend credits on, so a sharp operator can filter hard.
• Best for bigger jobs: either subscription. Commission on a $5,000 job hurts. A flat fee doesn't care how big the job is.
• Worst fit: any of them, if you can't answer the phone within the hour. On every lead platform, slow tradies pay for leads that someone else wins.

The fee-free routes nobody sells you

Every platform above is renting you customers. The day you stop paying, the work stops. That's fine as a top-up. It's dead as a business plan.

When I ran my maintenance company in London, the work came from letting agents and housing associations, with a network of subbies doing the jobs. One good agency relationship was worth more than any lead I could buy, because the work came back every week without me paying for it again. Different country, same rule. Own the client.

Here's where the free work actually lives in Australia:

1. Property managers and real estate agencies. Every rent roll needs routine repairs, urgent repairs and work between tenancies. Get on their preferred supplier list. Have your state licence, ABN and public liability insurance ready to send, quote fast, send photos when you finish, invoice on time. Agencies drop tradies who make them chase.
2. Builders and main contractors. They need reliable subbies more than they need cheap ones. Turn up, finish the snag list, get asked back.
3. Your Google Business Profile. Free. Ask every happy customer for a review before you leave site.
4. Referrals. Every finished job is a chance to ask who else needs work done.

This is where Plan@Job fits, and I'll keep it straight. In the UK, property managers and contractors run their maintenance and project work on it. The Operator (the contractor business managing clients, delivery and subbies) gets help from Daniel Reed, our AI Operations Manager, who shares eligible jobs with the operator's existing vetted network and follows up quotes and proposed dates. A person still approves who gets the job and at what price. Once agency work comes in direct, you can split it into stages with dates and costs on the project management side, and your subbie costs stay internal.

In Australia, it isn't live. You can reserve a spot on the Australian contractors page. I won't quote you an Australian price for something that hasn't launched there.

If you're building a contracting business on direct relationships rather than rented leads, I write about the model on Construction Arbitrage.

My verdict

Use lead platforms to fill gaps, not to build on. Start on Airtasker if you're new and need reviews. Move to a flat subscription once you're busy enough that commission hurts. And spend every quiet afternoon getting in front of property managers, because that's the work you don't pay for twice.

If agency maintenance is where you want to go, put your name down on the Plan@Job Australia contractors page and you'll hear when it opens.

FAQ

Is hipages worth it for a new tradie?

Only if you can carry six months of fees while you learn which leads to accept. Starter is $917.40 including GST over the intro term. If you're not sure your phone will ring, test on a no-subscription platform first, then come back with reviews behind you.

Can I cancel hipages early?

The membership starts on a six-month term and then auto-renews for 12 months, and cancelling mid-term can make the remaining fees fall due. Read the tradie terms before signing and put the renewal date in your calendar. You can pause on some terms, but a pause isn't a cancellation.

Are platform fees GST-inclusive?

Not always, which is why comparisons get messy. hipages quotes plans ex GST, Airtasker adds tax on top of its service fee, and ServiceSeeking quotes membership including GST. If you're registered for GST you can generally claim credits on business expenses, but check with your accountant how that applies to you.