Sites Like Angie’s List: Where Home Service Pros Get Reviewed

The main sites like Angie’s List are Google Business Profile, Yelp, Nextdoor, the Better Business Bureau, Thumbtack, Houzz and Facebook. For most contractors and home service businesses, Google matters most because that is where homeowners search first, followed by one or two platforms that fit your trade and area. You don’t need to be everywhere; you need accurate profiles and a steady flow of genuine reviews on the few sites your customers actually use.

Angie’s List rebranded as Angi in 2021, and many homeowners still use the old name when they search. This guide is written for the business side: which platforms to claim, what each is good for, and how to handle reviews on them without breaking their rules.

Why homeowners look beyond Angi

People searching for websites like Angie’s List are usually trying to compare contractors across more than one source. A homeowner hiring a roofer or a plumber is letting a stranger into their house and spending real money, so they tend to cross-check. They might find you on Google Maps, read your Yelp reviews, ask on Nextdoor whether anyone has used you, and check the BBB before they call.

That cross-checking is the reason your reputation can’t live on one platform. A strong profile on Angi does little if your Google profile has the wrong phone number and a two-year-old one-star review at the top. The goal is consistency: the same name, address, phone number, services and quality of experience wherever someone looks.

The main alternatives compared

Here is how the most common companies like Angie’s List compare from a home service pro’s point of view. Features and business models change, so check each platform’s current business pages before you commit time or budget.

Platform	How homeowners use it	What it means for your business
Google Business Profile	Searching “plumber near me” or your name on Google and Maps	Free to claim. Usually the most-seen reviews. You may ask customers for reviews, without incentives or gating.
Yelp	Browsing and comparing local businesses, reading detailed reviews	Free to claim. Yelp asks businesses not to solicit reviews, and its software filters reviews it thinks were requested.
Nextdoor	Asking neighbors for recommendations in a local feed	Business pages collect neighbor recommendations. Word of mouth matters more than star ratings here.
Better Business Bureau	Checking complaints and how a business responded	Profiles exist whether or not you are accredited. Complaint handling is visible and affects how the business is rated.
Thumbtack	Requesting quotes for a specific job and comparing pros	A lead marketplace. Reviews on your profile influence whether customers pick you from the list. See our guide to Thumbtack reviews.
Houzz	Finding remodelers, designers and builders, often with project photos	Strong for design-led trades. Portfolio photos and reviews carry equal weight. See our guide to Houzz reviews.
Facebook	Checking recommendations and asking friends in groups	Page recommendations and comments are public and social, so replies are seen by the customer’s network.
Angi (and HomeAdvisor, part of the same company)	Searching for and booking vetted local pros	Pro accounts and reviews are managed through the Angi business side. See our guide to Angi pro reviews.

There are also trade-specific and regional directories, such as sites for movers, pest control or pool services, and apps like Angie’s List that focus on booking rather than reviews. They can be worth a profile if they rank well for your trade in your area. Search your own trade and city on Google and note which directories appear on the first page. Those are the ones homeowners are finding.

How to decide which platforms to prioritize

Trying to build a strong presence on eight sites at once usually ends with eight half-finished profiles. A better approach is to rank them by where your customers already are.

1. Start with Google. Claim and verify your Business Profile, set the right primary category, add your service area, hours and photos of real jobs. This is the profile most homeowners see first.
2. Check where your competitors are reviewed. Look up the three or four best-known competitors in your area. If they all have dozens of reviews on Yelp or Houzz, homeowners in your market are using that site.
3. Ask new customers how they found you. A simple question on the intake call (“Where did you hear about us?”) tells you which platforms bring in work.
4. Claim the rest, even if you won’t be active. An unclaimed profile can show wrong details or be edited by others. Claiming it lets you correct information and reply to reviews.
5. Pick one or two secondary platforms to actively build. Put your review-request effort into Google plus the one or two others that matter most in your trade.

Our guide to review sites for businesses covers the wider set of platforms if you also serve commercial clients.

Getting reviews on each site without breaking the rules

Every platform has its own policy on asking for reviews, and the rules are not the same. What they share, along with the FTC’s 2024 rule on consumer reviews, is a ban on fake reviews, paying for reviews, and offering rewards that depend on the review being positive.

Platforms that allow you to ask

Google allows businesses to ask customers for reviews and gives you a direct link and QR code for it. Thumbtack, Houzz, Angi and Facebook also let businesses invite past customers to leave feedback, typically through their own tools or links. The rules on these sites follow a similar pattern:

• Ask every customer, not only the ones you expect to be happy. Asking selectively is known as review gating and breaks Google’s policies.
• Don’t offer discounts, gift cards or entries into a drawing in exchange for a review.
• Don’t ask family, friends or employees to review you.
• Let customers write in their own words, on their own devices.

Platforms that don’t want you to ask

Yelp tells businesses not to ask for reviews at all, including from happy customers. Its recommendation software filters out reviews it believes were solicited, so a push for Yelp reviews can leave you with fewer visible reviews, not more. A “Find us on Yelp” link on your website is fine. A “Please review us on Yelp” email is not.

Nextdoor works differently again: recommendations come from neighbors in a local feed, so the most useful thing you can do is do good work in a neighborhood and be responsive when people tag you.

The practical routine

For most home service businesses, the routine that works is simple. When a job is finished and the customer has checked the work, the technician thanks them and mentions that a review helps. The same evening, an automated text or email goes out with a direct link to your Google review form. For more on the timing and wording, see how to get more Google reviews.

Replying to reviews across platforms

Homeowners read replies almost as closely as reviews. A calm, specific reply to a complaint often does more for you than another five-star review, because it shows how you behave when something goes wrong.

Keep these points consistent on every platform:

• Reply to negative reviews within a few days. Thank the customer, acknowledge the specific problem, and offer to continue the conversation offline with a name and phone number.
• Don’t argue the details in public. Even if the customer is wrong about the timeline or the price, a public back-and-forth makes the business look defensive.
• Don’t share private details. Leave out addresses, invoice amounts and anything the customer would not want neighbors to read.
• Reply to positive reviews too. A short, personal thank-you that mentions the job (“glad the new water heater is working well”) reads better than a copied template.

If a review is fake, from a competitor, or describes a job you never did, report it through the platform’s own flagging tool with a short factual explanation. Platforms generally don’t remove genuine negative reviews, so the reply is your main tool for those.

A worked example: a roofing company in a new market

Here is an illustrative scenario. A small roofing company expands into a neighboring county. At home it has a strong Google profile and a solid presence on Angi. In the new county it has almost nothing, and homeowners there search differently.

1. Audit. The owner searches “roofer” plus each town name and writes down which platforms show up. Google and Yelp appear everywhere, Nextdoor comes up when he asks locals, and one regional home improvement directory ranks well.
2. Claim and correct. He creates a Google Business Profile with the new service area, claims the Yelp page that was auto-created from public data (it had an old phone number), sets up a Nextdoor business page, and claims the regional directory listing.
3. Build reviews where asking is allowed. Every finished job in the new county gets a text with the Google review link. He does not ask for Yelp reviews, but links to the Yelp page from the company website.
4. Reply consistently. The office manager checks all profiles twice a week and replies to every review.

Over the next few months, the Google profile builds a set of recent reviews from local jobs, and a couple of neighbors recommend the company on Nextdoor after seeing the crews at work. The pace depends on job volume and how consistently the ask happens. Nothing here is complicated. The difference comes from treating the new market as its own reputation to build rather than assuming the old reviews will carry over.

Common mistakes home service pros make

• Buying reviews or joining review swaps. Paid and exchanged reviews are fake reviews under the FTC rule and platform policies. They get filtered or removed, and platforms can add warnings to profiles that were caught.
• Different details on every site. An old phone number on Yelp and a new one on Google confuses customers and weakens trust. Keep name, address, phone and services identical.
• Ignoring unclaimed profiles. Many platforms create listings from public data. If you don’t claim them, you can’t correct them or reply.
• Asking for reviews in bursts. Twenty reviews in one week followed by silence looks unnatural to both readers and spam filters.
• Using contracts to block reviews. The Consumer Review Fairness Act makes clauses that stop customers from posting honest reviews unenforceable, and including them can create legal risk.
• Letting a lead marketplace be your only presence. If a platform changes its model or you stop paying, you want your reputation to live somewhere you control, like your Google profile and your own website.

When it’s worth getting help

A single-truck operation can manage two or three profiles with an hour a week. It gets harder with several crews, several service areas, or a history of complaints that is dragging down one platform. Our home services reputation management page explains how we help contractors keep profiles accurate, build reviews by the rules and reply consistently. If one negative review or complaint site is doing outsized damage, the BBB reputation management page may also help.

Frequently asked questions

Is Angie's List still around?

Yes, under a new name. Angie’s List rebranded as Angi in 2021. Homeowners still search for the old name, and the business side of the platform is now managed through Angi’s pro tools.

What is the best site like Angie's List for contractors?

For most contractors, Google Business Profile has the biggest audience because homeowners search Google and Maps first. After that, it depends on your trade and area. Check which platforms rank when you search your trade and city, and where your competitors have the most reviews.

Can I ask customers to review me on Yelp?

No. Yelp asks businesses not to solicit reviews from anyone, and its software filters out reviews it believes were requested. Keep your Yelp page accurate, reply to reviews, and focus review requests on platforms that allow them, such as Google.

Do I have to pay to be listed on these sites?

Most of them let you claim a basic profile at no cost. Some, especially lead marketplaces, charge for leads, advertising or premium placement. Pricing and plans change, so read each platform’s current terms before signing up.

Can I get a bad review removed from a home services site?

Only if it breaks the platform’s rules, for example if it is fake, from a competitor, or contains personal information. Report it through the platform’s flagging tool. Genuine negative reviews usually stay, so a calm public reply is your best response.