Somewhere along the way, calling a plumber or an AC guy stopped feeling like getting help and started feeling like getting sold. We're building the opposite of that. A simple tool that hands power back to the homeowner: a real price, real information, and real choice.
The problem
Get three quotes for the same AC replacement and you can easily see numbers from $6,000 to $20,000 for the same box in the same driveway. That's not a market. That's a game, and you're the one who doesn't know the rules.
Consumers' Checkbook found the same home service job can cost more than 3x as much from one company to the next. Not 30 percent. Three times the price.
Most homeowners don't call around. They pick the first company that answers, trust the person in the uniform, and sign. That's exactly what the industry is built around.
What's really happening
There's no menu, no published pricing, no easy way to compare. The number you get is whatever the salesperson in your living room decides you'll pay.
Many big companies run their techs on commission. Their bonus goes up when they replace instead of repair, and when they upsell instead of listen.
"This could take the whole system down." "You don't want to keep pouring money in." These lines aren't accidents. They're trained.
Trucks, TV ads, Google Ads, the wrap on the van in your driveway. You pay for all of it in the quote, whether you asked for it or not.
None of this is the fault of the person in your driveway. Most of them hate it too. It's how the companies above them are built.
The math
Contractors are openly coached to mark up parts at least 100%. Sometimes 300 or 400.
That advice comes from Jobber, one of the biggest software platforms the trades use. It's not a secret. It's the standard. A $600 compressor becomes a $2,400 line item. A $200 capacitor becomes $800. The labor to install it? That's on top.
Typical quote
$7,500
Actual job cost
$2,300
Money the industry keeps
$5,200
One real example we've seen on a 2-ton AC. Not an average. Just a snapshot of the gap we're closing.
Why it got worse
Since 2022, private equity has bought up nearly 800 HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies across the country. The name on the truck might still say "Family Owned Since 1978." The person deciding your quote is on a spreadsheet in another city.
The Wall Street Journal reported that after these buyouts, homeowners started getting pushed toward full system replacements instead of simple repairs. Because a $12,000 install hits the quarterly number a lot harder than a $180 fix.
The pattern
How we're fixing it
A photo of your unit tells us the make, model, and size. From there we can write the exact scope of work, no vague 'system needs replacing' language a salesperson can hide inside.
Before any contractor sees your info, you see a fair-price range based on what the parts and labor actually cost. That's your anchor.
Vetted, licensed local pros submit real numbers on the identical scope of work. You compare full profiles side by side.
You book in the app. Nobody shows up to your house to run a pitch. Nobody gets your phone number until you pick them.
What we promise
Our only job is to represent the homeowner. If a decision is good for pros and bad for you, we don't make it.
Lead-gen sites take your number and resell it to five companies who all call you within an hour. We're not that. Full stop.
No pay-per-lead. No pay-to-play rankings. A contractor only owes us anything after they've won a job and finished it, so nobody has a reason to spam you.
Compare, book, message, and pay inside the app. No phone tag. No 'I'll email you the quote' that never arrives.
Runs a marketing agency for home services companies. Spent a year inside real HVAC price books and invoices, which is where the idea came from.
Worked in operations for a Tampa Bay HVAC company. Saw the pricing and the process from the inside.
Helps build the homeowner side of plumb, from the first photo to the booked job.
Drop your email and we'll come back with a real number for your home.